Restoration Realities

Detroit 1907 Queen-Anne: Dining-Room Makeover

Bill Swanson, the son of an antique dealer, has a fine appreciation for old things. So when he and his girlfriend Vittoria saw a neglected old foursquare two doors down from her restored house, he jumped at the chance to buy it. However, what he bought was nothing short of a wreck. Years of neglect has left this two-story turn-of-the-century wood foursquare in extremely poor condition. In this episode, DIY's Restoration Realities helps with the initial phase of this exciting makeover -- the restoration of the dining room. We show Bill and his team of helpers how to strip the wallpaper and patch the plaster. Once that's done, a new coat of primer and paint is added. We also clean the hardwood floor and apply an oil finish.

Wilmington, NC: Hurricane-Damage Repair

Restoration Realities visits Wilmington, North Carolina and the home of Doug and Karan Witt. Located in the main historic district downtown, their Victorian style home was originally built in 1885 and then rebuilt in 1898 after a fire. Doug is a contractor doing historic restoration work, and is known as, "the mayor of Old Wilmington". Their house was in good condition when they bought it, mostly needing some general maintenance and painting. Then in 1966, Hurricane Fran damaged many homes in Wilmington -- including Doug and Karan's. When our hosts Bill Click and Chris Babcock arrive, the owners are asking for help with two projects: repair and re-install shutters blown off by the hurricane, then re-create and install missing and damaged decorative porch brackets.

Knoxville, TN: Stairway Restoration and Plaster Repair

Sean Bolen and his wife Jennifer were expecting to spend a lot of time restoring their 1904 home in the "Old North" neighborhood of Knoxville, Tennessee. They just didn't plan on. . . expecting. That's right, three weeks after they purchased their historic home, they found out they were pregnant. That gave a certain urgency to the timetable for getting their newly purchased -- but dilapidated -- home into live-in condition. The Bolens were successful in restoring several rooms on their own, and they've had a new roof installed. Now, Restoration Realities steps in to help remedy several plaster cracks in the upstairs bedrooms. They also spruce up the stairway with period-appropriate anaglypta wallpaper and a beautiful red oak chair-rail.

Portland, Oregon: Colonial-Revival Door and Entry Makeover

DIY's Restoration Realities visits Portland Oregon and the home of John and Kelli Bohls. John is a graphic artist and works from home. Kelli is a project manager with a graphic design firm. This young, fun, and stylish couple purchased a 1925 Dutch Colonial house, (their second restoration) and immediately started restoring the interior. They've restored their kitchen, a bathroom, and most of the rooms in their house. But they still have a few nagging projects left to do. DIY steps in to help with restoration of the front door and entryway restoration. We help them to remove glass blocks, install window-sash style sidelights to match the door and re-work the door hardware. Our hosts Bill & Chris are there to help John and Kelli bring their entryway back to its original 1925 design.

Atlanta, GA: 1896 Queen-Anne Victorian -- Kitchen and Bath

Bill Dougherty and his wife Stuart met in Atlanta, Georgia during the summer Olympics of 1996. Little did they know then that one year later they would be married and restoring a Queen Anne Victorian home built in 1896. After baby-daughter Elliott came along, it became vitally important to restore their vintage claw-foot tub that was covered in peeling paint. Along the way, they also picked up four leaded glass doors from an antique store that would look perfect on a cabinet in their kitchen -- if only the cabinet existed! Join Restoration Realities as we help the Dougherty's return their claw foot tub to its 19th century glory and recreate a beautiful kitchen cabinet from historic pieces and parts.

Wilmington, NC: 1903 Victorian -- Fireplace Restoration

Restoration Realities visits Wilmington, North Carolina and the home of Rick and Helen Williams. Both Helen & Rick are the self-taught type and that's certainly been their experience when they decided to buy this 1903 Victorian, 2-story, about 2300 sq. ft. To solve a problem with leaks, the couple had the metal roof coated with rubber. They also restored several interior rooms with repairs and fresh paint. When Restoration Realities hosts Bill Click and Chris Babcock arrive, Rick and Helen are asking for help with an upstairs bedroom. It seems they discovered a fireplace hidden behind a recently added closet wall and the couple would love to see if the fireplace can be revealed and then restored. Our hosts Bill & Chris are there to help Rick and Helen bring their old fireplace back to life.

Washington DC: 1919 Brick Row-House -- Porch and Cabinets

Russell Clark works for the EPA and likes to do things the "right" way. He and his friend Sam Droege, a wildlife biologist and amateur builder of "green buildings" -- including several straw-bale homes -- tackle Russell's restoration of a 1919 brick row-house. 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. 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 the cabinet doors, 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.

Nashville, TN Victorian: Entry-Hall Revival

Erik and Allison Lund love old houses. This young couple purchased a one story brick Victorian in a historic Nashville neighborhood. Over the course of the past year they have been reclaiming the house as their own with a new kitchen addition and painting the house throughout. But their entry hall and front door have been altered. They noticed that in
the front entry hall that the doors to the right and left have a painted surface resembling a transom over each door. They believe it may be painted wood and wonder if they removed the surface, that they might discover a transom light window which would allow more light into their entry hall. They also have a drop ceiling and wall paneling that they would like to remove. And finally they would like to locate a salvaged Victorian front door that has window glass to allow more light into their entry hall. Restoration Realities comes to the rescue to help this couple take on this exciting
restoration project.

Detroit, MI: 1913 Craftsman-Style Cottage -- Windows Rehab

Scooter and Kolleen Jones are new 'old house' owners and have embraced the challenges of restoring a 1913 two-story craftsman cottage. The Jones say they have abandoned the suburban life for good in favor of the great neighborhood atmosphere of historic Indian Village -- the enclave their home is in. Kolleen's engineering background and Scooter's problem solving skills as a sound/lighting rigger has left practically no place on the house untouched. But owning this charming period house has provided some real challenges -- including rebuilding the rafter tails of the roof and hanging copper guttering. After stabilizing the roof and gutter system, the Jones turned their attention to a number of interior projects. Now, because of the cold Michigan weather, Scooter was considering the replacing the drafty old windows. That is until he met a local craftsman who explained the merits of his old windows and that they were, in fact, worthy of rescue. Scooter and Kolleen now seek to strip the windows and re-hang the original sashes. That's where Restoration Realities enters the scenario. We teach the couple how to replace the sash cords and put new stops in the window to keep out those winter drafts. On the outside, their window sills have rotted from age and weather. We remove the rotten sills and show them how to install new ones.

Charlotte, NC: Craftsman Bungalow -- Period Hardware Replacement and Mortar Repointing

Phil Bosche is a Captain with the Charlotte Fire Department. But when he's not putting out fires, he and girlfriend, Amy Barber, are restoring his 1930's Craftsman bungalow in Charlotte, North Carolina. They've either restored or are in the processing of restoring most of the rooms in his house.

Now, with the help of Restoration Realities, they're going to tackle a door that's seen better days, replace a 1980's doorplate with something more period appropriate, and repoint mortar on the exterior brick.