Fixing The Foundation

 

Clay dirt dug out from under the oldest part of this farmhouse, has been re-sifted and used to fill in around the old foundation stone wall which will make it less permeable. All ivy vines were pulled and the fill dirt stamped and leveled or pitched to drain. The old stone porch foundation had to be dug out and removed as it trapped water and was disintegrating wooden structures connected to it.

Christian has also cleared the nearby downspout drainage pipe of a 15 ft. twined mass of roots leading out to the road, barely discovered by running a water hose through it. The entire clog was pulled out by hand and he is now trying to restore the old well pump housed by a lovely round stone well reservoir underground and next to it. The connecting pipe shows this well to be the original water source to the house when built.

Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets

 

The kitchen cabinets here are all vintage, solid dense wood and definitely worth refinishing. By stripping them all, the cabinets have beaded doors in a lovely varied color Poplar wood which is sturdy and looks wonderful exposed. The cabinet boxes will be painted in Benjamin Moore's White "Advance" latex paint highly recommended for it's durability and viscous leveling quality. We've used a china brush and dense foam roller after to eliminate brush strokes on all surfaces. Only the inside of the glass door cabinets will be painted the color "Ash" by Restoration Hardware, which is a pale beige like the cabinet doors now. It has been important to keep the colors as light as possible since the kitchen is shaded and surrounded by many old trees nearby.