Month: November 2018

The carport in back of the hotel was built in the 1950s and was not really a historically proper element to the hotel. Originally, there was an extension to the back of the hotel that housed the hotel’s kitchen on the first floor, several guest rooms on the second floor and the catwalk to the two story outhouse in the rear yard. At some point in history, the extension was removed and possibly replaced with a balcony. I can’t be sure when that was but it was most likely after the turn of the century because all the nails in the balcony were round wire nails. The carport was later added in the 50s and we know this because there was a building permit drawn for the construction.

This is what the carport looked like when we bought the place.

It was dilapidated then and after two winters, it was getting a little scary but it served the purpose of keeping building supplies dry and sheltering contractors on their smoke breaks thus it stayed up for longer than we had planned.

Ironically, the carport’s final demise was triggered by cherry wood counter tops. It was my job to climb inside the kitchen cabinets and screw the counter tops to the cabinets from the bottom which seemed like a simple enough task. The problem was that cherry wood is extremely hard and even after drilling pilot holes the lag bolts were just snapping off like toothpicks. After several failed attempts I took my frustrations out on the carport which we had to tear down anyway for the certificate of occupancy. So with a fresh saw blade, I started chipping away at the roof.

I started with the rotted parts which came out easily but the roof soon started to put up resistance. There were three layers of asphalt roofing sandwiched between three layers of plywood which was just murderous to cut through. Luckily,  some of the plywood had totally de laminated and it was easier to break it up with a pickax than to actually saw through it. Then I could saw through the timbers underneath without too much trouble.

The big question, at that point, was where to stand. Cutting from underneath required standing on a ladder and pleading with the laws of gravity to not drop anything more than 20 pounds on my head. Of course, everything up there was more than 20 pounds thus my dislike for that option. The other tactic was to cut the beams while standing on the increasingly shaky roof. This offered the distinct possibility of hanging ten and crying out “Kowabunga” as the roof collapsed underneath leaving me to land gracefully on the beach of nail infested debris below.

In the end, I did a little of both with a concentration on sawing through any connection points between the carport and the two surrounding structures, the hotel and the neighbor’s brick wall. Once the carport was disconnected from the buildings and was wobbly enough to give me the willies, I tied a rope to the most vulnerable looking column and gave it a tug.

It all came down with a big crash missing everything that I hoped it would. In the fall zone were several windows, the electric meter and the gas meter and nothing was even scratched.

And now, the scariest task of this project is done. As for the cherry counters, I discovered self tapping lag bolts which drill their own pilot holes. I think they may just work.

 

Halloween has come and gone and I’m proud to say that we hosted our first batch of trick or treators. Since purchasing the hotel, Katie and I have watched the place on Halloween just in case of any mischief but we’ve never seen any children before. It was a pleasant surprise and we sincerely hope that the first sighting of costumed creatures on the doorstep is a good omen for things to come in the Dayton downtown area. Once the children were properly sweetened up with Snickers and Reese’s Peanut butter Cups, Katie and I went back to our card game with the new neighbors.

Along with our bony companions, the table and chairs are a new/old addition to the hotel. They are 1800s originals from Virginia City which have, most assuredly, witnessed  many an intense poker game and much boozing. Katie fell in love with them at the local antique mall and they have become a perfect addition to the saloon.

You’ll note that under the table, the floor has made a miraculous transformation. Katie and I decided to get some help from a flooring contractor to sand and top coat the floors that we nailed down. Of course, between sanding and top coat, it was our job to apply the stain.

This turned out to be a tedious and messy process that required us to be on hands and knees for hours doing the Karate Kid bit of “wax on, wax off” with the only difference being that we were using stain instead of wax. As for our new pairs of his and hers knee pads, they’re now worn out but the end result is pretty spectacular.

The look is really close to what the original floor looked like and has the added benefit of not having the pet urine smells that were present when we bought the place. But, to reassure the historical purist, we still encounter small reminders of the stench that was. When we sand the bottom of the door jambs, the delicate fragrance still gently wafts from the wood fibers. We plan on heavy coats of primer to encapsulate the experience for those who wish to sniff out historical clues in the future.

Another spectacular creation was the vanity for the first floor bath. Katie and I had been scratching our heads trying to figure out what to do with the space. We had been looking for an old piece of furniture to repurpose but to no avail. We could not find anything that was both attractive and the right size.

In desperation, I descended upon my prized stash of redwood church paneling that had been given to us by our friends Gail and Tom. Most of the panels were huge but there were a few smaller scraps that worked out pretty well.

I added antique ice box hinges, a cherry butcher block top and a talavera sink from Mexico. Now, it needs knobs for the doors and I’m thinking of Victorian brass filigree to complement the hinges. The mirror frame above is something that I made years ago and it will be perfect once I put the mirror back in.

Stay tuned for more fun additions. We are getting closer to receiving our Certificate of Occupancy and this requires more of the creative finishing touches that I’ve been looking forward to.