DIY Network

1919 Washington Row-House Restoration: Introduction From "Restoration Realities" episode DRTR-110

	Historic Washington, DC row houses built in the early part of the 20th Century.
	Media Watch a video recap of this restoration project

In this episode DIY's Restoration Realities visits Washington, DC and the home of environmental specialist Russell Clark. Though some restoration work has already been done on Russel's 1919 row-house, there are a couple of projects he'd like a little help with: (1) Adding period-correct wooden lattice to his front porch; and (2) Adding antique glass to the cabinet doors on the bookshelves in his library/living-room.

In this first segment, we meet Russell and his friend Sam Droege who will be assisting with this project.

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Russell Clark is and environmental specialist for the Environmental Protection Agency and likes to do things the "right" way. He's asked his friend Sam Droege, to help him with some restoration projects on his 1919 brick row-house.

Sam is a wildlife biologist and amateur builder of "green buildings" -- including several straw-bale homes. He also enjoys traditional woodworking.

Russell Clark

Sam Droege

	Figure A
	Figure B

When Russ bought the house five years ago, it was crumbling, but today he is well on his way to a thorough and complete restoration. However, the outside of his recently rebuilt front-porch lacks handrails and appropriate latticework (figure A). With some help from Restoration Realities, Russel will mill, dado, and resurrect a replica of the original lattice and install it.

Inside Russ has already removed and refinished some wooden cabinet doors from the built-in bookshelves in his living-room (figure B), but is stumped on how to install the glass and use something other than glazing to hold it in place. Although he has a piece of salvaged glass to install, Restoration Realities demonstrates the proper DIY manner to cut old glass and make beaded wooden glass stays.

Before beginning any work on the exterior, Russell and Bill take a walk around the neighborhood to look at similar houses that have been successfully restored and get an idea for what might be the most suitable style of lattice to install. They see some styles of porch treatment that they don't deem suitable for the age and architecture of his house -- for example simple plywood or poured concrete. They ultimately locate a style wood lattice that is probably original to this area of the city at the time that these houses were built (figure C) -- a standard horizontal/vertical pattern (figure D) with wood framing. The next step is to take measurements of the openings on Russell's porch so that the new lattices can be designed and built.

Figure C

Figure D

Meanwhile, the living-room bookcase shelves have already been taken down, had the glass removed and been refinished (figure E). The old beading was damaged in the process of taking the glass out, so new glass-bead will need to be cut and installed to secure the new glass. Russell was able to find some salvaged antique "wavy" glass (figure F) that will look good in the shelves and suit the period of the home. The old glass will need to be cut to size and secured in the frames.

Figure E

Figure F

Our interior project: Install antique glass in the cabinet doors that will be re-installed on these built-in bookcases.

Materials and tools used in this episode:

Lattice Restoration

Framing hammers
Extension ladder
Saw horses
Air compressor for pneumatic tools
Pneumatic air nailer
10" table saw
10-12" Power miter saw
4' level
Chalk line
Framing square
Carpenter pencils
Reciprocating saw
Extension cords
Circular saw
1/2" VSR drill and or hammer drill
Cordless screw driver
Socket wrench set
Drop cloths
5/4" x 6x 12' treated wood stock
Lattice pieces 1-1/2" x 1/4 to 3/8" x any length over 36"
(16) treated 2x4x 10'
3" Tapcon anchors
Exterior oil-based primer
Mineral spirits
Rags
1-gallon pails
3/4" galvanized brads
3/4" galvanized staples
Polyurethane glue

Creating Glass Bead for Living-Room Cabinets

Air compressor for pneumatic tools
Glass cutter
Micro-pin nailer
Miter box
Back saw or fine-cut dovetail saw
1x6x6' of the same wood variety as the cabinets
Antique or art glass cut to fit

Safety Alert: Always wear eye protection when working with power tools or pneumatic tools.

RESOURCES :

Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes
Author: George Nash
Publisher: Taunton Press
ISBN: 1561585351
Order this title from Amazon.com.

Renovating and Restyling Older Homes: The Professional's Guide to Maximum Value Remodeling
Author: Lawrence Dworin
Publisher: Craftsman Book Company
ISBN: 1572180293
Order this title from Amazon.com.

Selecting and Renovating an Old House: A Complete Guide
Author: United States Department of Agriculture
July 2000
Publisher: Dover Publications
ISBN: 0486409562
Order this title from Amazon.com.