Friends visiting Lewes

Our friends the Steiningers (Jim and Anna) and Shockleys (Carolyn, Jerry, Dylan + Jenna) visited us before Thanksgiving. Tom used to work with Jim and Carolyn. We all had a lot to catch up with post General Electric. What happened to Jenna in the picture?....must have been in back of the camera!

First Floor Floors

The house originally had pine plank floors. A Lewes “old timer” told us that when pine floors were painted, it was called “Lewes carpeting”!

White Oak floors were installed on the 1st floor and landing on the 2nd floor in the 1920’s (we think?). In the 1980’s, when the house was split up into a two family house, pass through walls were boarded up and the dining room was turned into a kitchen (with hole drilled right through the middle of the floor for water, drainage pipes).

We’ve taken all the protective sheathing that we installed when we began renovation and are now working on the floors. We’ve taken up and reconfigured some of the flooring and installed flooring in some areas where there was no floor (such as the areas that were walls/pocket doors that divided the living room). We purchased 500 square feet of quarter sawn white oak from North Carolina, cut into the same widths of the original floor. We’re using the new flooring in the 1st floor bedroom/office and hallway.

In the photos:
1-3 – front entrance – before, during and resulting square pattern
4 – what a mess!
5- pile of new flooring
6 – pencil patterns on floor of bedroom/office
7 – Tom installing floor in bedroom/office

The wood on the staircase, 2nd and 3rd floors will be addressed during the next phase of renovation.

Kitchen Counter Tops

We selected “soap stone” for the kitchen counter tops. Let's put on our geology thinking caps (the cloth ones).....soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs at the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx of fluids, but without melting. It has been a medium for carving for thousands of years. True Soapstone is inert. Alkalis and acids won't affect it as they will a granite, marble, or slate. For over one hundred years, soapstone sinks and tiles have been used in science class rooms and labs along with work tables and counter tops. Its longevity to long term - high traffic use is amazing!

Trim Work

We’re re-using all the original doors in the house. These doors need to be stripped, hung then re-painted. Several new doors (to match the original doors) were ordered and installed for the kitchen broom closet + coat closet as well as the 2 coat closets in the living room. You’ll see in the photos that some of the doors have been stripped prior to hanging. Also, we’re using the original design for wood trim around the windows and doors.

Tiling the 1st Floor Bathroom

Here is Tom tiling the full bathroom on the 1st floor. Good thing his Uncles were tile masons!

Tiling the Kitchen Floor

We first "dry laid" the kitchen tiles to figure out the pattern, then we put down a layer of Schluter-DITRA; this orange “waffle-like” layer allows “…uncoupling, waterproofing, and vapor pressure equalization”. Get it? If not, check out their web site: www.schluter.com/index.aspx. Next, the tiles were laid down over "mud" then finally grouted.

Kitchen Cabinets

The kitchen cabinets are installed. We’re in the process of installing the appliances and water/gas connections. Soon, we’ll start to lay the tile floor. Notice the "before" and "after photos", Richard demonstrating where his cook range will be and Tom installing the cabinets.