Howdy Ya'll

Alan Trout

Member
Messages
199
Location
Texas
I am new here and generally a lurker. I am a member or contributer on several forums but tend not to post very many comments or start a ton of threads. My wood working has generally been architectural in nature for the last 10 years being I own two 90 to 100+ year old houses in a historic district. At the pace I work I will probably be working on them for at least 10 more years. However from time to time I do get to build some tool furniture and furniture for the houses. I tend to lean towards the Arts and Crafts style because the homes I live in are Bungalows of which one is from a Stickley plan out of the American Craftsman. I am Kind of like my old man a jack of all trades and a master of none. So I hope y'all don't mind if I lean on you a little when I need advice. And I will try to contribute when I think I have any valuable information.

Reading these forums I find Family Woodworking to be a friendly forum without the anarchy that is present at some. Which is one of the reasons I am hear.

It is great being here and thanks for the opportunity to participate.

Thanks,

Alan Trout
 
Welcome to the family Alan! :wave: Would love to see some pics of your work. I tend to do a lot of Arts and Crafts too, some with a modern twist, but the influences are there. Glad you came out of the shadows.
 
Being a self employed Professional Inspector I always ask my clients that are buying old houses if they really understand what they are getting themselves into. I tell them that it is a lifestyle as much as a house. They are not practical, comfortable, or really built all that well as far as engineering goes but there is a cool factor that makes it worth it for some people. Not everyone is cut-out for the lifestyle. I think to many people get caught up in the glamor of "This Old House" and think it is just a few weekends out of their life to fix-up a old house. It typically turns into years along with untold thousands of dollars which most are not prepared for.

However the one thing I can say about old houses is that they make it easy justification for new tools. :D

I am getting ready to start building 15 interior doors for my most recent bungalow. None of the doors in the house match so I am building all matching frame and panel doors. As I progress I will post some pics.

Thanks for the welcome.


Alan
 
I think to many people get caught up in the glamor of "This Old House" and think it is just a few weekends out of their life to fix-up a old house.

Yup, just a few short 5 years of it.

However the one thing I can say about old houses is that they make it easy justification for new tools. :D

Amen

I am getting ready to start building 15 interior doors for my most recent bungalow. None of the doors in the house match so I am building all matching frame and panel doors. As I progress I will post some pics.

Looking forward to this! Been wanting to do some doors for a while now myself.
 
Thank y'all for such a warm welcome. I am humbled.

Funny how that works just did a few inspections for LOML's boss they just have to have a 200 year old house. Neither one of them has a clue of which end of the hammer to hit the nail with. But they are going to fix the old place up. My guess is that they move with in 2 years and the place will be worse off when they do.


Chuck, I know what you mean. I had one that I Inspected that only lasted a little over 6 month's. It was a couple of doctors in the military with one going to Iraq for 6 month's the other being stuck in the old house with an infant and toddler in the inner city. I ask them when they bought the house if they new what they were doing. They said, "yes they just loved old houses because of the charm." I told them all of the possible pitfalls and went on. about 8 months later I got a call asking for a copy of the report. I just live about a half mile from the house so I took it to them. They told me I was right and they were not prepared for all the work and not having a place for the kids to play. They sold the house at a loss and bought in the sub burbs.

At least being in a historic district our local design a review commission controls the facade and insure appropriate remodeling in those areas. however some of the interior remodels scare me. Lets just say many remodels are less than appropriate for the house.

Thanks again for the welcome,


Alan
 
You must mean like the kitchen remodel we did a few years back. Gutted the old kitchen in about a 150 year old house. Installed flat European lament cabinets lime green in color with lino that had a splash of the lime green in it.
Lets just say it was not what I would have done in my house.

Chuck, thats exactly what I am talking about :eek:

Thanks

Alan
 
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