Stairs, Hardwood Pine Treads, Stair case,Finish Carpentry 

Staircase with hardwood pine treads

As the total gut renovation continued with new sheetrock and paint, it precipitated  reconstruction on the center staircase in this house. The new sheet rock required new moldings, though we did choose to keep the original hardwood pine stair treads which were lovely  and had great color. You don't realize it when you are not involved in construction, but a staircase is just an added element in the house and it does not automatically fit right into the interior of the house. It requires quite a bit of fitting and finish carpentry to make it look as if it had been there naturally and forever. Gaps of space exist between the wallboard and the wooden sides of the staircase. This space needs to be pleasantly eased into connecting the wall and the floors.

hardwood pine treads, white risers, transition molding on top of staircase edge

hardwood pine staircase treads

In this case we left the treads of the staircase the original golden hardwood pine. The sides were painted white.  On the top edge of the white sides of the stairs, was fitted a narrow molding, painted white. This molding was to transition one surface into the other, to cover the gap in the spacing of the two elements, and to add a decorative touch of molding to match the other fine finish work in the house. The riser on each stair is painted white, and the bright reflection of the white riser looks super contrasted to the grain of the hardwood pine. The molding edges of the sides of the staircase were also painted white. The walls of the staircase are painted "Lovely Bluff" a Valspar color we picked up at Lowes. We have been very pleased with the Valspar paints. Previously we only used Benjamin Moore paints, which are a very high quality and make the work very uncomplicated. When we moved here to the Eastern Shore of Maryland there are not many Benjamin Moore paint dealers and the price of a gallon was nearly $50...well beyond what we were used to paying for it in New York. We tried the Valspar and so far so good. After much painting it is our go to paint.

finish moldings on staircase

finish carpentry bottom of staircase

Posted 12th November 2012 by http://shoresidefarmhouse.blogspot.com/

Before and After, In the beginning....

Before: the burst pipes disaster

We did have a beautiful cottage. Everything was clean and perfect. We worked tirelessly to save the money to buy it, and very obsessively to make it perfect, clean and up to date. It was a perfect residence for escaping the world and tuning into nature and the water. It was bright, had beautiful water views and beautiful waterfront location in a lovely community of delightful neighbors. Then the damned nut on the hot water faucet split open and ruined the whole house while we were away to New York on vacation. Nightmares in day time soon prevailed. I will record what is happening here for our friends and family. It is really unbelieveable to anyone who knows the place and knows us, to think it has come to what it is right now. We might as well have been located in hurricane Katrina, when you look at what the burst pipe wrought. http://housedamagephotos.blogspot.com/

Here our story and photos begin. They will go on, and the tale will go on while the whole reconstruction and demolition continues. Drama, that's all I can say to describe it. Lots of drama.

We entered through the kitchen door, on the left is what it looked like when we left for vacation. Below is what we found when we came in the kitchen door.

After:ceiling on floor, inches of water, iron sediment from the hot water tank which emptied after the pipe burst

The floors are flooded and the ceiling is disintergrated onto the floor. It soaked and then collapsed crashing onto the floor below.  As I said, lots of drama.... 

Kitchen flooded with water seeped from flooded bathroom abov,e resulting from a bust water pipe

Burst Pipes, Disaster History

Bathroom covered with iron sediment after pipe burst emptying hot water tank contents onto bathroom 

 It is amazing how much one broken plastic nut can cause. That is the story with this mess. The plastic nut on the hot water line into the upstairs bathroom faucet caused all of this. So much for plastic nuts, and two story houses.

The pictures tell the story of the resulting damage. Hopefully as time goes on, and the goal here is six months, it will all come back together somehow. I am going to post the distaster photos in all their glory

They will progress from what we found when we returned from vacation to recovery, the photos will tell the story of the deconstruction and reconstruction of the house.

I hope that shortly it will reverse and I will post pictures of the rebuilding. The jury is out on that part. This blog is the story in pictures!
http://housedamagephotos.blogspot.com/

This mess seeped its way from the top of the house to the bottom: the house was gutted as a result of this burst plumbing. Check out my other postings at http://housedamagephotos.blogspot.com/