by Magi Rail
house, meaning that when we are finished it will look as much like it did at the
turn of the century, inside and out, as we can make it and still be able
to live a modern life. Trying to figure how to have all of the modern
conveniences and have them discreetly hidden away is challenging and
fun. After spending our entire adult life in an extremely quiet south hill neighborhood I can honestly say that I wasn’t planning to enjoy Hillyard, but I do. In just eight short months of living here, I have grown to feel a part of the fiber of the community. The people of Hillyard are involved in, and responsible for, the positive changes that have taken place, and are continuing to take place, in the neighborhood. This place ‘Hillyard’ feels like a place of its own, separate from, yet not opposed to Spokane.
When I walk down Market Street early in the morning with the baby and his tricycle I could be in any small town in America. The shop keepers are second to none and nowhere else in town are you so readily greeted and recognized as a familiar face. There is truly a warm acceptance within this community. Before we even moved into the house we were welcomed and included in the neighborhood. We are pleased to be a part of the ever-unfolding rich history of Hillyard.
We began by removing all of the floor covering, each room had carpet, carpet pad and two layers of linoleum, except the kitchen, it had concrete board and quarry tile over the linoleum; except for the kitchen each room had carpet, carpet pad and two layers of linoleum. The kitchen was concrete with quarry tile over the linoleum. Once the flooring was removed, we started removing the paneling in the stairwell, living room, upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms. Having done all of that we were finally able to look at the house to see what we really had to work with.
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The front porch
was unsafe, totally rotten and in need of replacement, so we
started there. We held the roof up, removed everything
underneath and replaced the posts and beams. The fir T&G porch floor was salvaged from a house built in 1904 that had burned and was doomed for the wrecking ball. We made minor changes, but stayed within the perimeters of what would have been typical of a vernacular home built in 1903. The sill plates on the east side of the house had rotted away years ago, causing extreme settlement, which explained the funky tippy-tilt of the stairs! To correct this, the house got new post and beam support in the basement, was jacked up, straightened, and a new sill board was installed. New 2’x4’s were sistered on to reinforce the ones compromised by decay. Of course the siding was rotten as well and T&G
to match the existing is no longer available. But in our effort
to stay authentic, we decided to undertake the laborious task of
cutting our own out of standard lumber. The final look was well
worth the effort. The sill plates on the south end of the west
wall were rotten also, so we followed the same process for that
repair. |
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It was necessary to replace the kitchen and both bathroom floors. We did this using ¾ inch plywood underlayment and we used the original underlayment for the finish flooring. It made great stock after a few passes through the plainer. The largest floor joist the house is a 2x6, which is too small by today’s standards, so we cut ¾ inch plywood into 5 ½ inch strips and attached it to the side of each floor joist with adhesive and ribbed nails. We are not finished with that yet, but it seems to reinforce the floors dramatically. |
One of
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The original stairs were steep with small treads, and due to the
years of settling they were tipped in a way that made you feel as if you
were going to fall backwards. We removed the old ones, saving the wood
used for the risers; we made new carriages that are less steep and
longer treads. The new stairs look just like the old ones but are safer
and easy to walk.
The south end upstairs was a very small closet with low head clearance
because of the old roofline. We changed this to a standard gable roof
with a dormer on one side and gained a little over 150 square feet of
living space.
The
old back porch was too small, unsupported and in desperate need of
replacement, before it fell down. We put on a slightly larger ‘porch’
that is totally enclosed and insulated with a wood cook stove in it, it
will be a perfectly suited ‘mud-room’ just off the kitchen.
The siding on the new porch, gable and dormer is ‘off the shelf’ it is
slightly different dimensionally but since they are not sitting side by
side the slight difference is acceptable.
‘Old Gladys’ the coal furnace has been replaced with a 90+% efficient gas
furnace, it is cleaner and more convenient, but even with the messy
inconvenience old coal furnaces are wonderful contraptions! The whole
manner of operation is so nostalgic that there is a large part of me
that was sad to see her go.
The stone wall around the front yard will be finished soon and we will
put a twisted wire double loop ornamental wire fence on top. It should
look fitting for the era, and act as a containment field for the baby
and puppy.
Eventually, when we decide on colors, the house will get painted, but
until then we’re letting that set on the back burner. This spring we
will be planting a vegetable garden off the kitchen and flower gardens
bordering everything. In addition, we will be putting up a ‘carriage
house’ and full fence in the back.
In the meantime we will keep working on whatever is at hand for the day,
and when the house is done we will truly be able to enjoy our home in
this quaint part of the world called Hillyard.
Woodwork numbered for reinstallation
| Vol. 2, Issue 6 |
March 20, 2005 |