2020 – Not a Complete Disaster!

December 24th is upon us and I almost missed the opportunity to wish you all Happy Holidays! Talk about waiting until the last possible moment!   

Speaking of late (as in a Lustron progress report) we have been busy navigating the challenges that 2020 has dumped in our collective laps.

I will skip over all of the minutia and cut right to the chase…

WE ARE IN!!! 

Our last hurdle to livability was finishing the hardwood flooring and shoe base.  With that project complete, I began moving 23 years of accumulation into the new digs.  The last items – sofa, chair, coffee maker and doggo (in no particular order of importance) were moved in right before Thanksgiving.  

Would you all like to take a little tour?

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There are still a few little tweaks that need to be made on the ground floor level – a bit of trim here and there, replacing some window glass etc.  The plan going forward is to work on the basement during the winter months.  Spring and Summer will find us tackling exterior work and landscaping as well as building that addition to the garage  

Our journey continues so don’t fret, there will be lots more to look at and talk about!

Until next time, be well and be kind to one another.

Joyce

Moving Right Along

I hope this installment of Lustron or Bust finds you all well and adjusting to our collective new normal.

Just a quick update for today. 

We have wrapped up the interior painting projects with just a wee bit of touchup to do.  We are now moving on to flooring (yay)! 

Last week we installed Armstrong VCT in the bathroom.  I decided on yellow to brighten up the space a bit.  There are hints of the creamy tan-ish color so I felt this choice would tie the walls in nicely. 

Next up is the kitchen and utility room.  Both will be done in VCT as well but in marbled black.  I think the contrast with the walls and cabinetry will be sharp!  Both floors will need to be sealed and waxed when we are finished with the installation. 

Rather than do everything in VCT, we decided on hardwood for the balance of the house. I wanted something with very little grain and I think our choice of grey pecan will do nicely. 

The entire house will be finished off with rubber base shoe in black. 

Our appliances were delivered a month and a half early but at least I have someplace to keep the beverages cold! 

Once we get all of the flooring in we will switch gears and work on outside projects specifically building an addition onto the garage, repairing and painting damaged porcelain panels and adding concrete hardscaping.

After months of searching and countless disappointments, we were successful in our quest to find scalloped concrete edging.  Acquiring breeze blocks is next up on the agenda. 

I can hardly wait to get this baby up and running!

Until next time, be well and stay cool!

Déjà Vu All Over again

It’s been more than 75 years since the start of World War II – a time in our history when all were asked to make sacrifices for the greater good of our nation.

Americans both in combat and at home were compelled to make individual concessions. Some went to war in much the same manner as researchers, doctors, nurses and essential workers are doing today in the battle against our new unseen yet deadly foe Covid-19.

In the 1940’s, citizens were forced to make adjustments to their lives. There were  rations imposed on everything from meat and sugar to rubber and penicillin, yet many folks willingly did more than was required of them.

They made-do.

Women drew lines up the back of their legs because nylons were in short supply.  They contributed their precious metal jewelry to the war effort opting instead to purchase brightly-colored, inexpensive plastic jewelry from Woolworths to both cheer themselves up and to show their neighbors they were a patriotic team-player (in much the same manner as we don our cloth face masks today).

The Roosevelt administration determined that things like tin can drives in one’s community and planting victory gardens were important in giving Americans a shared sense of purpose.

V for victory!

Fast-forward to 2020.

We find ourselves in challenging and uncertain times yet again but are making proverbial lemonade. Being deemed non-essential, I have found myself with quite a bit more time on my hands to work on the Lustron.

As I putter I think about the history of my home, the circumstances it’s former owners may have experienced just a few years prior to its building (for the first time) in 1949/50.  What hardships did they endure?  How were their lives forever changed?  Did this humble home fulfill their post-war American Dream?.

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The Lustron is truly is looking more like a house now. We have gotten over the stressful “hump” (errrr, humps) and have moved on to “normal”  home construction projects that don’t require an erection manual. I will let the photos tell the rest of the story for today.

It’s easy to keep track of your notes when you can stick them to the wall with a magnet as you go from room to room.

I can’t begin to count the number of times I have moved these piles!

Wall panels are going up!

Holes.  So many holes…

Vast improvement (and throughout the entire house)!

utility room

kitchen

dining room

bathroom

living room/hall

guest bedroom

master bedroom

Until the next installment, I hope you are all coping and doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Stay strong. Be safe.

xoxo – Joyce

Happy Dance!

A lot has happened since we last chatted back in August. 

In between holiday shenanigans we were able to install the balance of the electrical conduit on the interior, outside  walls. We ran power to the original locations of the plugs and added a couple more here and there. 

There was no plug in the living room on the entry door side wall so we added one there.  This wall is the perfect size (and quite frankly the only suitable place) to accommodate our vintage secretary which functions as both a makeshift bar/display and a spot to put our tv.  

We also put a new outlet in that same wall to the exterior (on the enclosed porch) as there was no power out there originally save for the hardwired porch light. 

While we were at it, we also put an exterior plug underneath the kitchen window to provide outside power to the back of the house. 

With this part of the electrical in place we had a sufficient amount done that we could call in the Underwriters for a preliminary inspection. We only had to make two minor changes to get our provisional ok. We still need to put in a few more plugs but that project is on hold until the interior walls go up. 

taping of seams and covering of windows etc. with plastic complete

With the electric approved it was time to foam the walls. We spent a few days taping all of the vertical channels in the framing (the panels get screwed into them) and covering anything else we didn’t want covered in goo (we didn’t want a repeat of the last time when the foaming company did the roof…).  Although a bit tedious, this job was completed in a few hours.  

With the foaming of the exterior walls complete, things start to get exciting! 

We could now begin reconstruction of the interior!  The first part of the program was cleaning the ceiling panels. I’m guessing the majority of you folks have never had to actually “clean” a ceiling. A fresh coat of paint usually does the trick.  Not the case if you own a steel house.  Nope.  71 years of gunk and cigarette smoke make the job a tad bit more tedious and time consuming.

tools of the trade

First I sprayed them with that miracle Awesome cleaner from the Dollar Store and washed with a scrubbie sponge followed by a second washing with warm water and automotive wash and wax. Next the panel was dried and a coat of  caranuba  wax was applied which once dried was buffed out with an orbital buffer.

Wax on, wax off… 

After all were cleaned and polished, we hoisted each 4 x 4 steel panel up using this nifty contraption Keith McGivered. Once in place the panel was screwed into the bottom of the steel truss.  The next one was put in place, its gasket covering the flange of the previous panel (thereby concealing its screws) and so forth and so on. After a row was in place we added a layer of pink insulation on top.  

making some minor adjustments

Despite our best efforts to measure and square throughout the rebuild, we found we were out of square by about 1/4”. As we went along (frustrating ourselves) we eventually came to the realization that at this point in the game there wasn’t much we could do about it so we made adjustments as we went along to compensate for this flaw. We ended up having to cut off the flanges on one side on the last row installed but they did end up fitting which was a huge relief. 

Done.  Now it’s time for some walls. 

Happy Dance!

Reunited and it Feels So Good

Hey y’all I’m still here!  It’s been awhile I know…

Things are moving along, albeit slowly.  Life just keeps intervening in our ability to get things done. We are still working on plumbing, duct work and electrical but lookie what we accomplished a few weeks ago!   

During his “spare time” Keith would venture down to Westfield to add bracing to the interior of the Lustron garage. A little bit at a time.  Unlike the frame of the house (which is made of steel) the garage is stick built with porcelain panels attached with screws.

Between the unrelenting rain storms in the spring we managed to put the cinderblocks in place on the concrete pad onto which the garage would eventually be placed, filling the cells with concrete to accommodate the bolts which would be used afix the wooden sill plate to the block. As with most of this project, coordinating schedules delayed the process. We needed a truck with a flat bed trailer as well as an escort vehicle.  Driving an oversized load such as this requires a permit which is only valid for one day.  If the stars don’t align and all parties don’t come together, the permit expires and another $250 would be coming out of my pocket. 

After a few false starts the day finally arrived. We left early in the morning to finish the remainder of the prep work. We stacked additional cribbing so as to get all four jacking points to the same elevation of 38”.  When that task was completed our driver carefully backed his trailer underneath the bracing. Once the trailer was in position, the garage was lowered onto it and chains placed to secure the load to the deck. When the escort vehicles arrived we had additional work to do – flags, banners, light bars and flashers which (or course…) didn’t work properly.

just clearing the ramps on the trailer

ready to hit the highway

Once satisfied we were in compliance we were on our way.  Keith and I were in the lead vehicle, following the designated route and setting the pace. It was a pretty straight route but we did manage to loose the garage while attempting to make a turn at a downtown traffic light. Then there were those railroad tracks we had forgotten about and that last sharp turn onto our street with a hill to climb. With only about 12” clearance from the bottom of the garage to the pavement we were a bit stressed to say the least!

In the end we got her down the road safely and off the trailer without incident.We spent the next couple of days squaring up, pushing and pulling, jacking up and lowering until we got her situated just right.Now all the bits and pieces have been reunited – a definite load off my mind!

Back to work. 

The Good, The Bad and the Meh (a year in review)

As 2018 draws to its conclusion I am compelled to evaluate the year’s accomplishments, fraught with setbacks as they were. 

Progress on the Lustron was going according to plan initially but came to a grinding halt in July.  We never seemed to regain momentum after that.  With the furnace and hot water tank in place we refocused our attention on getting outside work done.  This included the trenching for drainage pipes, gas, water and electric and digging for a septic tank and system.  We did as much as we could with our tractor (with a trencher attachment) but needed a backhoe for the larger task of the septic system excavation.  The availability of this piece of equipment and the operator kept being pushed back and by the time they were made available to us late in October, the rains began…and they didn’t stop… The yard was a mucky mess, too soft to bear the weight of the equipment needed to get the work done.  Somehow between the unrelenting rains and super-saturated soil, the project did get done.  

With the septic and utility lines in place, we brought in additional gravel fill, backfilled the trenches and graded the property (it had stopped raining for like 3 days).  Feeling hopeful, Keith seeded and spread straw.  You guessed it, that night the winds kicked up (blowing all of the mulch into a pile) then it poured, washing all of the grass seed down the slope.  Just could’nt catch a break…

Also, the garage still sits on its foundation, 52 miles away. (((sigh))). 

Ok, lets focus on the positives:

1. Utilities are in place.  We just need to button up a few holes in the exterior and hook up the hot water tank in order to have the gas meter installed – then we can have heat and light to work inside over the winter.

2. We got the underside of the roof foamed (insulated) so that has helped keep the panels in place.  Walls will be done once we re-do the electric throughout the house.  The installers made a  huge mess (rant for another time) but it’s correctable (ie. more work for us – eyeroll).

3. The majority of our big expenditures have been made and although close, we are not totally broke, lol!

So instead of Christmas morn spent sipping coffee and opening up presents in the glow of the color wheel spreading out over the porcelain-coated steel walls, we will have to settle for the twinkling boughs of the aluminum Evergleam.  We will gaze out the picture window from our house across the street and dream of our mid-century modest year to come. 

We have come too far to “Bust”.  One should never give up on ones dreams despite the obstacles encountered.  If its a dream worth having, its worth the blood, sweat and tears incurred (yes, there have been all three) to achieve it.

Until next time, I wish you best wishes for a happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous new year.

Check

File this entry under “one more thing off of the Lustron list”. Behold my glorious new-to-me pink toilet and sink! The sink has an impressed manufacture date of July 4, 1956. I would assume the toilet is of a similar vintage. A bit of Internet sleuthing and an Instagram query suggests that they may have been manufactured by American Standard.

I absolutely adore vintage bathrooms. I am forever snapping photos of estate sale powder rooms, often throwing caution to the wind, sneaking into off limits rooms just to get a glimpse of linoleum floors, etched shower enclosures, wallpaper and black bullnose tile detailing.

I dreamt of one day having a pink and black bathroom of my very own, resplendent with kitschy poodle decor. My plan was to hit up my local ReUse and similar salvage places in hopes of finding vintage pink fixtures for the the Lustron garage. Before I had the opportunity to check, these beauties just about fell into my lap through a friend who’s neighbor was demoing a property.

I am so happy!

Another friend graciously gifted me a set of pink wall inserts for above the sink, the kind that hold a water glass and bar of soap. I’m now on the hunt for the matching recessed wall mounted toilet paper holder.

It’s these little victories that keep me inspired to press on when other aspects of the project seem to be progressing at a snails pace. I have a feeling this may change shortly.

Time Flies!

Oh my goodness!  I can’t believe that its been three months since I checked in with you lovely folks!  It seems to me that we were able to achieve more tangible and timely results when the worksite was an hour plus drive away!  Looking at the job site directly across the street from where we live presently seems to be both a hindrance to productivity as well as a constant source of anxiety, a reminder that we do not appear to be making visible, tangible strides in the process.

Life happens.  Spring rolls around and there are other obligations.  The weather breaks and the yard needs tending to, especially after a rather relentless winter.  Part-time job gets busy, consultation season gets up and running, the studio is full of client projects and so forth and so on.  I tend to forget what we have accomplished so much with our own four hands when things don’t appear to be moving along at a pace which I had envisioned.

Anyway…

When I last posted, the frame was erected and we were making slow but reasonably steady progress on assembling the exterior of the Lustron.  Once the majority of the Surf Blue panels were installed, we addressed the roof.  We began on the “field side” aka “kitchen side” of the house.  The plan was to first install the gutters followed by the leading edge row of roof panels and subsequent two courses of panels by means of a ladder and scaffolding situated within the interior of the Lustron.  From there, the remaining eight rows would be placed more easily from the roof.

With three rows in place, disaster struck again.  High winds began lifting the roof panels at the weather side of the house.  By the end of this latest weather event, we had lost two and a half of the three rows we had just finished installing. Dejected once again, we spent a week banging away on the detached panels in an attempt to salvage their twisted flanges.  Cracked off porcelain will be addressed at a later date. 

 

the aftermath of our latest windstorm – ripped off like post-it notes

bent and twisted flange – one of many

Having gone through this experience, we realized we needed to get each side of the roof, all eleven rows, done in its entirety and that we needed to get the ridge cap on asap to hold the entire system together.  We hired a couple of guys and did just that. 

three more to go then the ridge cap

With both sides of the roof and ridge cap in place, we thought we were home free.  NOT!  Again with the gale force winds…!!! This time the roof panels started lifting off which necessitated climbing on the roof mid-storm , drilling holes in the leading gable end panels and adding exterior screws to keep the roof from being ripped off.

 

here we go again…

So, three months later, the roof is still in place!  I spent a month and a half shooing robins out of the structure, hell bent on setting up house before us.  Also tired of paying rent on a trailer, we purchased a tent in which to house the interior panels, cabinets etc.  We spent a few days unloading and stacking.  From the outside things don’t look very different but we have been working inside as time and finances have allowed.  The heating and cooling system was ordered and is in the process of being installed.

 

Scheduling other folks has been our latest dilemma.  We have been scouting quotes for closed cell blown insulation.  The plan is to do a light spray on the underside of the roof and the inside surface of the end gables to hold things together.  The interior walls will get three and a half inches blown in once the electric has been replaced.  Logistically it will be impossible to spray the top side of the ceiling 4×4’s so we will probably add a layer of foam board insulation cut to size and an additional layer of pink rolled fiberglass as we go along.  Our hope is that doing it in this manner and keeping the gable end soffit vents unobstructed will help us to avoid condensation in the “attic” space.  The basement will be foam board with metal studded walls covered in either drywall or pine paneling.  We are also waiting on the heavy equipment guy’s schedule to clear up so we can dig and install our septic system, trench for utilities and bring in additional gravel fill to bring the yard up to grade.  Once that is complete, we can retrieve the Lustron garage and place it on the slab.

In Like a Lion

We were on a roll and then March hit. We fared a bit better than our neighbors to the East but a series of four Noreasterns in three weeks blessed us with 20 inches of heavy snow and frigid temperatures. To make matters worse, gusty winds in the 40 plus mph range blew off all of our front end gable panels leaving the flanges bent and corners crumpled. Porcelain does not do well when it hits the ground from a mere inch – you can imagine how it might fare from a height of ten feet!

Apart from the weather, we also had some technical difficulties with the rebuild. The crew Keith hired to dismantle the frame failed to mark the location of the bolts they were taking out. Sections of the frame have a series of holes rather than a single option. We discovered that when we went to put in our first course of blue exterior panels (ones which set the elevation for the whole shebang) we ended up being 3/4″ out which is basically the distance between holes when there are multiples. Not only was the frame not square, it also was not level. It took us weeks to get these critical issues resolved, tweaking walls and moving trusses to get it right.

Now confident that the frame is square and level, we have made progress on the exterior. The panels go together relatively easily and a tad “faster” than dismantling as we are not dealing with rusted or stripped old screws. We opted to replace the original flat head screws with Phillips head ones which drive more easily.

Special Delivery

Last week was amazing! We were able to secure a crane, flatbed and crew of guys to take down the trusses and frame. On Monday Keith and I loaded up the last of the bits and pieces into the trailer.

The following day the house was down, loaded and transported to the building site by the end of the day. Everything arrived safely including the windows which we left in the wall sections.

Wednesday we worked in the rain and managed to get the walls, back roof gable and three trusses up.

Thursday it snowed but the remainder of the trusses were installed by lunch time.

We were pleased that the the house went back together pretty easily and fit on our foundation with a few modifications. We had to cut off a few misplaced anchor bolts within the concrete and increase the size of a some of the holes in the bottom of the framework to accommodate those that remained.

We did have one disappointing development though. The wind whipped up this morning and without roof panels installed, all the front gable porcelain pieces where blown off and subsequently damaged when they hit the ground. We believe we can salvage them but are disappointed by this setback.