September 2006

Skim Coat (almost) Like a Pro

Leave a Comment / plaster, skim coating / By /

Most people seem to like the flat, clean effect of drywall. Drywall is cheap, goes up easily and doesn’t take much acquired skill to learn how to tape, mud and finish the joints. Even drywall repairs are relatively painless. So what’s not to like? Maybe I’m just weird (well, there’s probably no contesting that) but I like plaster. I like the way side lights create shadows and textures over the natural unevenness of a plaster wall, giving it density and bulk. The problem is that I absolutely suck at plastering. My plaster work usually looks more like adobe, with half […]

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Compound Casings (or What To Do With Scrap Lumber)

Leave a Comment / finish carpentry / By /

One question I used to get asked on the old blog was, “where did you buy your window and door casings?” As any old houseophile knows, in the olden days trimwork wasn’t something you picked up at The Borg. Even in modest turn-of-the-century homes those mouldings were often designed by the home’s architect. Constructing them was the job of a master carpenter. Elaborate trimwork is one of the major details of an old home as well as one of its greatest attractions today. People with old homes go to great lengths to carefully strip and rehabilitate old baseboards and casings.

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The Plan

Leave a Comment / carpentry, finish carpentry, master bedroom / By /

From the future: I originally intended to make this Master Bedroom reno like the other project pages but as I got into the planning I saw that this was going to be several huge projects going on simultaneously and that it would involve three rooms and the common hall. It was going to be too large for a single page so I decided to present this is as a series of posts. We now commence with those posts: I psyched myself up and put down the plastic for the next and final major renovation project here: the master bedroom and

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Welcome to Brooklyn Row House

This blog is about the challenges of renovating an old (1903) Brooklyn, New York row house.

My last major renovation project was the master bedroom, most of which is about finish carpentry. You’ll find other completed home improvement projects in the Projects submenu at the top of this page.

I’m not a professional builder and don’t pretend to be. I’m just an experienced amateur raised in a family of committed DIYers. I try to closely follow local and national building codes but don’t mistake anything on this site to be professional or even accurate advice! Your mileage may and definitely will vary.

This is the third iteration of BrooklynRowHouse.com, from scratch-built to Drupal and now Wordpress. I hope you enjoy your time here.