One Thing Leads To Another

Last week was quite a week for BHH. First, one of the faucets fixtures on the clawfoot tub blew apart and sprayed water all over the upstairs bathroom. Fortunately, we were present, and we turned off the water immediately, so there was no damage other than a wet room. It is nearly impossible to damage something that is already a mess, right? The plumber’s bill was minimal considering how much clean-up was required. The actual faucet connection is something that we will have to change completely when we remodel that bathroom. However, in the interim, we have a solution that should hold. As a precaution, we will make sure to turn off the water to the house when we vacation. That is actually a good practice anyway.

In other surprise news, BHH is also getting a little facelift. I mentioned in my previous post that getting a new roof created some crown molding and fascia damage. Exterior painting and repair were most definitely not on the to-do list this year, but the damage was significant enough that Andy and I decided that it had to be addressed before winter.


How the trim got damaged is kind of a long story. I will say that in the end, we got a very nice roof, and every bit of crown and trim was retrieved from the trash heaps. With a house such as ours, it would have been in our best interest to choose a roofing company that had historic home roofing experience. I think it was a simple case of ignorance vs. negligence. Lesson learned.

With the roofing project fresh on our minds, we chose our painters carefully. Neither Andy nor I had the time or safety equipment to dangle from the eaves of our 22-foot roof. After receiving a few bids, we settled on a local company who had a great deal of experience painting very old homes. An added bonus was that they use our favorite Benjamin Moore paint. The timetable for completion was “sometime before winter.” We did not need a specific date, so it worked for us.

On the same day as the plumbing explosion, I received a call from the painting company owner. Our project had been moved up. Way up. They would be able to arrive within the day, and the painting would be done within a week. I needed to choose a paint color immediately. I do not work so well with immediately. For months, I had been thinking about potential exterior paint colors, but I had not reached any decisions. Prior to the roof project, Andy and I both thought that having the exterior painted was about 2-3 years away. We had planned to use our color-matched paint until then.

I rushed into the paint store and hastily chose some samples. I decided that since I love the white in our living room, I would focus on choosing a similar color. I really should write a separate post about the craziness of my thought process when it comes to choosing paint. Perhaps I will at some point. If I add it to this post, you will be reading all day. I just find it extremely difficult to make a mostly permanent and costly choice. Anyone who says that paint is cheap has either not had to hire painters or they have not had to buy 15 gallons and counting, for a whole home renovation.

I settled on Monterey White by Benjamin Moore. It is from the Historic Home collection. Monterey White is a beatiful creamy white neutral. It is versatile enough that when we start to paint the rest of the exterior next year, we will have some flexibility on color choice. We can choose to paint the house green again. or we can choose an entirely different color, and it will coordinate beautifully. We also chose to spend the extra money for the top-of-the-line Benjamin Moore exterior paint, which has a ten-year warranty. We chose the high-end paint because we know we can touch up lower portions ourselves, but under the eaves will require calling painters again if the paint fails. The company we hired also guarantees their work for three years.

We are so pleased with the color and the workmanship. They will be finishing up in the next day or two, and I will post more after photos.

Seeing fresh paint really makes the rest of BHH’s exterior look shabby.

We look forward to the day when we can do justice to this beautiful old home, by completing the rest of the exterior painting.