Windsor Terrace Reno

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May 20, 2007

The sound of crickets interrupted.

Err, ahem. We are a bit red-faced about not having any interesting tidbits to share on this blog for a while. I wish I could tell you that the reason for the Internet silence has been a bluster of activity and our renovations are now complete. Unfortunately for us, its much less happy news. Nothing much has been happening. Or I should say nothing blog worthy.

We've had a few more marathon sessions with our architect to finalize plans but we have at least one more long meeting to go. I wish I had some cool photo of the plans with red marks all over but we handed those to the architect.

We've made some good progress on figuring out what our heating/cooling system will be but we haven't finalized anything. And there really is nothing to show for that anyway until it gets installed.

We are very close to bid packages and getting started...but not quite there. We are trying our best to sit on our hands and be patient.

So being the visual person I am, I haven't had anything to show you for our efforts. Therefore, no posting.

The one good thing we've done is that we made some and are close to some other final decisions about the various fixtures around the house. Since a lot of these plumbing items seem to have extremely long lead times, we figured we best get cracking. Thus far, we've got the following on order/about to be ordered.

These bad boys end up costing considerably more than their modern toggle switch brethren but since its what's there now, it seems right to replace them with like. At least for the parlor floor.

Trying to be true to our restoration hopes, we've tried to find some older items on ebay. Mr Limestone ordered some Victorian corbels and I found a period lighting fixture. Corbels came the other day smashed to bits and the lighting fixture never arrived. So while Im still a fan of ebay, Im pretty soured on it right now. I guess we'll have to stick to local sources for a little while until my anger has receded.

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Comments

Welcome back! We installed push button switches exactly like the ones you have pictured. Bought them from Rejuvenation Lighting. We love the look though do be aware that if you plan to install more than one of them in the same place, two don't fit side by side in a conventional electrical box. Your electrician will need to do some adjusting. Also, over the course of 7 years, out of about 10 push buttons we installed, one packed up altogether and one no longer dims (just turns on and off). St Thomas Creations -- strange name, I know -- has a great line of classic 1930s bathroom fixtures, available from quite a few suppliers. For plaster details (corbels etc), I recommend a small company nr Philly called Felber -- google them to see their online catalog. We bought beautiful new medallions from them.

Posted by: NeoGrec at May 22, 2007 4:02 PM

Thanks NeoGrec.

Thanks for the info on the push button switches. Do you regret the push buttons since you've had some trouble with them? I know how to change a switch so I can replace them myself if need be but they are pretty pricey so I dont want to waste the dough.

We actually considered a St. Thomas pedestal sink when we saw one in Seattle. But they were a little on the small side. But thanks for the reminder..maybe they have some larger options.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at May 22, 2007 9:08 PM

What are you using corbels for? And who makes the sink you have pictured above? I really like it. Actually I like that whole bathroom a lot, but don't need any more tile. Thanks in advance for your reply.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 23, 2007 7:02 AM

The corbels will be used for the arch we are putting between the kitchen and dining room. We are taking out a wall to make a large kitchen/dining area but I didn't want a really sharp looking header so I thought a corbel bracketed arch would be more attractive. We'll see how it goes.

The kitchen sink above is a Rohl "Shaw Original". The bathroom sink is a Kohler Bancroft pedestal. The photo is from Kohler, not me....those yellow tiles are so not my style.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at May 23, 2007 8:03 AM

Hi Mrs. L. we have a limestone in Bay Ridge that looks similar to yours with similar details, ours is 2.5 stories though, not 3. We bought it in September 05, we considered having all the switches changed to the pushbutton but our electrician talked us out of it saying they wouldn't fit in the current boxes; we instead just had all new toggle switches put in (all in the same color as opposed to before!). We also thought for ease of use, toggle would be easier. We also used Rejuvenation, we changed all of the light fixtures in the house, Rejuvenation is great! We are thinking about redoing our upstairs bathroom, have you check out Porcher? They have some nice looking stuff, they are the higher more artistic line of American Standard; I haven’t seen their stuff in person but online it looks good. Also, I found a site called QualityBath.com, they seem to have great prices, they are authorized dealers, and charge no tax or delivery. I will check out Rohl also, I feel like Kohler is everywhere so if possible I’d like to avoid them. Thanks and keep us posted!

Posted by: Anon at May 23, 2007 9:58 AM

We don't regret the push buttons, though I admit they are an extravagance. Even if you decide not to go for them, I do think those small details make a big difference so perhaps there are other period looking switches you'd like that are less temperamental. Try Simon's Hardware on 3rd Ave in Manhattan or one of the many lighting stores on the Bowery for more options. Another useful source is the website of Traditional Building magazine which lists lots of small, specialized suppliers of hard-to-find old house "stuff."

Our St Thomas pedestal sink is plenty big. It's called the Richmond. Paste this link into your browser:
http://www.stthomascreations.com/Products/productDetail.aspx?sku=5124.080&familyID=73

Posted by: NeoGrec at May 23, 2007 10:48 AM

I just saw a old, possibly antique, farm sink just like the last picture at Anthropologie on 5th avenue@16th(manhattan). I don't remember the exact price, but it wasn't outrageous.If you are interested, call them. It was sitting in the sale section.

Posted by: Anon at May 24, 2007 3:01 PM

Don't make the mistake we did and order big items on the web. If they come in wrong you will get killed with the return shipping fee and the restocking fee. Park Slope Plumbing has the ability to order a lot of items or else George Taylor in Manhattan. And they will deliver for free and actually have live human beings there for your questions. We still are missing 1 part from a major online plumbing parts supplier and we can't get a straight answer about what is going on.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 24, 2007 11:01 PM

I used push button light switches and dimmers for some of my lights but you can get the exact same ones they sell at Rejuvenation direct from the manufacturer Classic Accents at www.classicaccents.net Their website isn't great but they are very helpful on the phone and they cost much less. Also, they will trim them for you for $1 additional, so you can fit them side by side in an electrical box. They also offer more options than Rejuvenation for the wattage load.

I also got the Rohl sink! And at Park Slope Plumbing because I wanted to be sure it wasn't chipped or unlevel and had the drain on the side I wanted, which I'd heard bad stories about when people have ordered the Rohl online. It's expensive but I love it.

Posted by: Julie at June 13, 2007 9:33 AM

where is park slope plumbing located?

Posted by: bklynborn at July 2, 2007 5:27 PM

Thanks Julie - I plan on ordering from classic accents so its good to hear you had not problems with them.

Brklynborn - Park Slope Plumbing is on 5tb Avenue & Prospect (its on the corner where the Grand Prospect Hall is)

Posted by: Anonymous at July 26, 2007 4:21 PM