Two men, Three boys and a Horse!

Anyone wanting to build an authentic period brick sh*thouse needs to get one of these!

Here is a pre Civil War advertisement that I found amusing.



If you were to ask what you could achieve with two men, three boys and a horse today, you might find yourself in front of a judge. I'll bet even money that the horse would have a lawyer, too!

Maybe I'll try this next year!

I found another interesting Victorian solution in "Lee's Priceless Recipes". Just think, if I had done this a few months ago my pipes wouldn't have frozen this month and would be doing the Happy Dance and not singing the Plumbing Blues

Cellars, Freezing In.- Paste the wall and ceiling over with 4 or 5 thicknesses of newspapers, make a curtain of the same material, paste over the window at the top of the cellar; paste the papers to the base joist overhead, leaving an air space between them and the floor; it is better to use a coarse brown paper; whatever paper is employed sweep down the walls thoroughly, and use a very strong size to hold the paper to the stones; it is not necessary to press the paper down into all the depressions of the wall; every air space beneath it is an additional defense against the cold.

Rejuvenation Lighting Analysis

I got my 30th anniversary edition of the Rejuvenation Light Fixtures catalogue yesterday and promptly sat down and "Ooohhed and Ahhhed" at the fixtures. Then I thought about when I got my first light fixtures from them in 1997 and whether the prices were much different. So, what do you think I did? Actually I went to my closet and looked through a bunch of old catalogues that I have kept and found the 20th anniversary catalogue from 1997 and the 12the edition catalogue from 1998! Then I went through and compared some fixtures. My findings are quite interesting. If anyone from Rejuvenation is reading this I'm certain there is a perfectly good explanation to what I am about to reveal and it would be quite appropriate to post it in the comments. I am posting this purely as information and without malice or intent to cause problems. I would expect a 30% average increase over a 10 year period based on a 3% cost of living adjustment per year so any results in that range would be satisfactory. Some of the results are way beyond that range.
There are many more fixtures now then there were in 1997 and some of the old fixtures have been discontinued or at least aren't listed in the new catalogue so I can only compare fixtures that are still in production or only slightly different from the original. I am also only listing the fixture price without any shades since that could cause the price to vary in an unfair manner. I'm not going to post pictures of the fixtures, you can go to their website to view them if you want. I haven't listed all of the fixtures either because I don't have the time. Instead I have listed 10 fixtures of increasing compexity and then another 5 with a big increase over the 1998 catalogue price since some weren't in production in 1997. I have listed the current name and model # of the fixture and have listed prices in the catagory 1 finish (the least expensive) since I understand that metal costs have increased substantially in the last three years for certain metals. I have also listed the 1997 price as well as the current price and the % increase as a % of the 1997 price. I shall not express any opinions or conclusions other than, if you plan to purchase certain fixtures in the next ten years you may want to do it now. Otherwise start saving.

I can't post this in a chart format with Blogger so the figures may not line up properly with the column title.

The "Not so Bad News"

Model # /NAME /$1997 /$2007 /$Increase /%Increase

AA9479 /Burnside / $54 / $79 / $25 / 46%
AB0976 /St Helens / $57 / $72/ $15 / 26%
AB6982 /Carlton / $112 / $126 / $14 / 13%
AA2513 /Upshur / $63 / $81 / $18 / 29%
AA4819 /Mocks Crest / $156 / $212 / $56 / 36%
AA0399 /Abernethy / $310 / $409 / $99 / 32%
AA3858(4) /Brooklyn / $284 / $375 / $71 / 32%
AA9047 /Fremont / $272 / $352 / $80 / 29%
AA1696 /South Shore / $1269 / $1595 / $326 / 26%
AA6068 /Nob Hill / $2255 / $2836 / $581 / 26%

The "Really Bad News"

Model # /NAME /$1998 /$2007 /$Increase /%Increase

AA1312 / Vincent / $115 / $223 / $108 / 94%
AB4868 / Lafayette / $74 / $128 / $54 / 73%
AB3763 / Oceanside / $70 / $140 / $70 / 100%
AA2417 / Drake(Salem) / $895 / $1549 / $654 / 73%
AB5685 / La Grand / $65 / $113 / $48 / 74%


The "Excellent News" for you Art Deco people. These two are on the clearance list and discontinued. Per their web site.

NAME /$1998 /$2007 /$Increase /% Increase

Clearance Lotus Isle / $270 / $190 (orig $353) / -$80 / -30%
Clearance Tropicana / $215 / $160 (orig $297)/ -$55 / -26%


Other interesting information is that the push button switch plate (single) was $9 each in 1997 in one finish only and are now $15 each with a choice of 14 finishes for the same price. A 66% increase only if you buy the polished brass finish. In 1998 they offered a catagory 2 finish for $11 each and a catagory 3 finish for $13.50 each.( An increase of 27% and 11% respectfully)

The old style carbon filament bulbs were $10 or $11 in 1997. They were $10 or $12 in 1998 and are now $12 and $13.

I have not been compensated for this report but if anyone from Rejuvenation would like to compensate me for my time and want a few photos of their fixtures in the "Old Crack House" for the next catalogue and wonderful praises for the life of this blog, there are a couple of ceiling lights I have had my eye on for the last six years that I won't be able to afford in another 4 years (unless they are discontinued) that would look perfect in my house!

Oh No! It's ANOTHER Shellac Post

I'm just feeding the frenzy.

I am now going to show you how to take cheap crappy "Made in China" door hinges that cost $1.07 each at Lowes and make them look like they fit in an old house. Now, I will admit that if I had a can of black gloss spray paint, this would have been an easier task. I don't have any black gloss. I only have white gloss and clear varnish sprays. So I am going to use something that I have, hmmmm, what could that be? Oh look, I have walnut colored, aniline tinted shellac left over from the floor and the stair risers that I did in 2005!

This stuff looks really good when it is painted over polished steel. I used it on an Eastlake latch lock that I found for $4.00. It only needed one or two thin coats and then I sprayed it with varnish. I don't have any photos yet but I'm sure I will when I mount it on the door that these crappy hinges are for.
So what about those crappy hinges? Well here they are.


This is them with one and two coats of tinted shellac to show you the effect.



I want them to look painted and dark so I have to apply many coats of shellac. The end result is a very dark brown that appears to be black. When done I spray them with enamel gloss varnish to protect the finish. Here is the end result.



The hinge on the right shows the reverse side where I had to ensure that the visible part of the hinge was coated. You can see the broad range of color that adding additional coats creates.

Based on the position of the door, no one is going to notice these hinges anyway which is why I went "cheap, cheap, cheap" when I saw them.

I think I can lay off the shellac posts for awhile. The word is out.
For all the guys out there who read this, the word of the day is "Legs." Help spread the word......

"Yeah. That's the ticket!"

One by one I am creating converts. If I were saving souls I'd have a front row seat on the highway to heaven!

It has only taken two years and umpteen dozen posts but finally the two most resistant hold outs have succumbed to the charm of shellac! Now here is the challenge. If John and Chris can admit that they have tried shellac (and like good presidential candidates, neither have inhaled, or so I have heard.) then so can YOU. Yes I mean YOU! You know who YOU are. YOU are the one who has read all my posts. YOU are the one who hasn't decided whether to stain or paint your wood. YOU are the one that has said "I MIGHT try some of that there shellac one day." You are the one that remains sceptical about this lost secret in wood finishes. YOU are the one that hasn't been SAVED!

YOU need to check this page out and click on the link about shellac finishes if YOU still won't believe me or the dozen or more houseblog reading converts that I have guided towards achieving spiritual homeowner nirvana.

Yes YOU are the one that is preventing Zinsser from offering me stock options!

I need to form a non-profit corporation for my converts. I need to elect a board of directors. I need to raise money to build a shrine to the lac bug. I shall need a lac bug or two to worship and sacrifice vegetables to. I need a good name...... how about The "Community Alliance of Shellacked Homes"?

Just make your checks out to C-A-S-H.

Howdy Ho Boys and Girls!

"You smell alot like flowers!"

We've been teaching Elizabeth to read. She formed her very own first sentence today and found it highly amusing...








It reads "the brown poo-poo can dance on water" and was entirely her compilation. We started teaching her to read in December and she currently has a reading vocabulary of 70 words. We add several new words each day. Todays new words were fingers, reading, look, stand up, on and poo-poo. She can count to 50 easily and has a broad Spanish vocabulary as well which is good because she will be able to translate those signs for me in Home Depot and Lowes in a few years when I think speaking Spanish will be mandatory.

She will be four next month!

*If anyone is interested there is a program that we are using that works on the same principle as baby signs. Your child can actually be able to read by 18 months of age if you start them in the first year. We discovered it in November and Deborah can take orders for it. It consists of 5 DVDs and cost around $70. It obviously works. There is also a cool website called STARFALL that is geared towards early learning too for those of you who have pre-schoolers.

What's On Your Wood?

I know what's on my wood (since I put it there) but do you know exactly what is on your woodwork or floor? I found some recipes in my new Bible for old house renovators; "Lees's Priceless Recipes" published in 1895. These may open your eyes a little.

Cheap Oak Varnish
Clear pale resin 3 1/2 pounds, oil of turpentine 1 gallon; dissolve. It may be colored darker by adding a little fine lampblack.

Varnish For Woodwork
Powdered gum sandarach 8 parts, gum mastic 2 parts, seed lac 8 parts, and digest in a warm place for some days with alcohol 24 parts, and finally, dilute with sufficient alcohol to the required consistence.

Dark Varnish For Light Woodwork
Pound up and digest shellac 16 parts, gum sandarach 32 parts, gum mastic (juniper) 8 parts, gum elemi 8 parts, dragons blood 4 parts, annotto 1 part, with white turpentine 16 parts, and alcohol 256. Dilute with alcohol if required.


The source of the resins are generally trees and would be the sap or bark. Reading through several of the recipes, common resins used were amber, copal, sandarach, camphor, mastic, anime, elemi and dragons blood (which has a dark red color). I wouldn't know where you could buy this stuff today!

Back in "The Day" there weren't penetrating wood stains like we use now. The varnishes were colored and translucent allowing the wood grain to show through the finish. So, if you plan to refinish your woodwork and want it to look like it would have in the original condition, don't use stain and polyurethane because all you end up with is a coat of plastic varnish over colored wood. You would do better to use a topical stain/varnish combined or do what we have done (and many other houseblog readers), use amber or colored shellac over natural or stained wood. You can wipe polyurethane over the varnish to protect it when you are done.

If you are fixing up an old house, any books giving recipes for paints and varnishes are a good resource because you gain an understanding of what you may be dealing with in your particular work. They also give you an understanding of what items are used in modern concoctions bought from store shelves. Now when you read the words "Resins" in the ingredients, you will know what those resins may be. Some of these same resins are used in medicines and incense but don't go around drinking varnish or inhaling aromatic smoke if you get a cough!