HendersonWorks: March 2015

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Wainscoting Install in Whitehall

A wonderful wainscoting install popped up in Whitehall last week and what a joy it was to do!

The homeowner selected a very nice hardboard from Lowe's. Traditional wainscoting is comprised of individual interlocking boards and would be much more labor intensive.

Here the chair rail and baseboards were in great shape, no need to remove them if it can be avoided. With the traditional wainscoting, it would all need removed. The hardboard can be cut to fit between the existing moulding.

After set up, with the remaining furniture and floors covered, we chipped away any paint curls and defects in corners that would inhibit the board from laying flat against the walls.

We cut and dry-fit all the panels before installation.

Once all was in order, we applied wallboard adhesive and nailed it in. If you have a few minor seams and gaps showing at this stage, no worries. In the finishing stage they will all go away.

Here we are, all the boards fit, glued, nailed and finished. Caulking the edges, seams and nail holes is a great finishing process.

Then a fresh coat of paint to make it all come together. The hardboard panels come primed and ready to paint.

The upper walls were painted a darker color to offset all the white trim.

And there you have it.

Another fun and rewarding project completed! Another happy customer.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Kitchen Redo! Another Remodeling Job

Here we go again, another kitchen in dire need of a redo!

Mix a hundred year old house together with Hendersonworks and you get a recipe for remodeling!!

We started with old wallpaper on older plaster walls, damaged woodwork and quite a few holes.

Even a large poorly patched area of the ceiling.

Cabinets were not on the original list of things to redo but once the rest of the kitchen was done the cabinets really needed a redoing of their own. The cardboard on the cabinet door was actually glued on.

Some of the paper was already falling off and there was a large hole next to the back door from the dogs pressing to go out.

Overall needing a face lift. Yep this is another remodeling job.

Here was an interesting find. Some sort of green patchwork under the wallpaper.

Lots of cracks. That's usually why wallpaper goes up in the first place.

Let the patching begin.

If you haven't had a chance to sand plaster and joint compound this will help you to understand the mess of it all. But it is progress.

Once the ceiling was evened out and sanded a coat of PPG Manor Hall Flat White was applied. We'll need to do something about the old ceiling fan too. Also the new wall color is going on behind the refrigerator.

Wall color in entryway. Woodwork still needing attention. To help with the woodwork and safety we called in Rian Corcoran. You can see some of his work on Instagram.

Now to the fun part, cabinets. Oh yeah, did I mention we had lead based paint on all the woodwork. Check Rian's Feb 18th post for our test!
This caused quite a few issues. Everything was covered in plastic and any loose paint chips were scraped and all contained lead chips were removed. A coat of primer/sealer was then applied.

Here is the woodwork all primed. Without a major budget, we were limited on how much work we could do on the wood. Minor cracks and hard edges were filled but sanding was limited to the layer of primer.

Now onto the cabinets. Yes one color would be easy, but sometimes beauty overrides the basics.

Using a darker blue we did a two tone with white on the cabinets. The homeowner was in complete agreement and exceedingly joyful with the suggestion and result

Here we are, before hardware and final touches.

In older homes, the basic medallion above a ceiling fan adds a very nice touch.

This awesome and functional transom was going to be removed by the workers who replaced the old back door. Our advice to the homeowner was a resounding NO! These little touches in an older home add character and charm. Especially if they still function!