Correct, small ventilation windows in closets back then were not out of the ordinary, in fact it was pretty forward thinking to be able to air out your clothes. What is kind of strange for a small house like this (1,400 s.f.) is that each of the two Bedrooms had walk-in closets. It was more common to see houses of this size with 3 Bedrooms, so with all that extra room, this house has larger than average rooms with a lot more amenities.tn535i wrote: Jul 30, 2020 12:18 PM Well done and well said. Your place is a few years older than mine but I recall a lot of even older houses where some sort of storage closet with a window was pretty common and usually on the second story. I love old true divided lite windows like that but hate the glazing and repairs. It's only really worth it if you have the old glass that distorts the outside world just a little. It needs a little distorting for me to tolerate it.
Adding to the fact that there was some higher-end electrical and lighting and finish details leads me to believe that this was an expensive house in its' day.
I will have a write up like this later this year once I finish what I started this time last year which was "winterizing" and rehab'ing all the casement windows and French Doors in this house. This house isn't very big but there are 6 casement windows, 4 French Doors, 3 smaller fixed windows (combo'd with those 6 casements), 1 large fixed window and the entry door just on the front facade alone.
This is our Breakfast Room off the Kitchen (you wouldn't know this since my wife's hobby kind of usurped the room and turned it into her plant nursery. I really would like to get this room back for its' intended purpose since we had to put a lot effort into reclaiming from a bad '70's Kitchen remodel. But happy wife, happy life, right?)
Over the decades through deferred & poor maintenance, bad paint jobs, foundation settling, etc., none of these windows are square and true anymore so every window, every sash is a custom job. Adding to the annoyance is that these are in-swinging which makes weatherproofing are real PITA. While these are all fairly well made units, they only built them with passive rabbet stops with no room for anything active (i.e. foam, spring-brass, etc.). The Living Room has 3 large double in-swinging casement windows; it took me months to go through just two of them (stripping off 75 years of paint, re-glazing half the panes, sanding, priming, painting, new weatherstripping, etc.).
All this winterizing was necessary to stop the air leaks and dust intrusion, not to mention sound abatement; on the few units I got done last year, it made a huge difference.
I may have to replace the 4 French Doors in the Dining Room since the bottoms look pretty bad; they're next on the list when I restart that project. I have to do all this in advance of getting the whole exterior re-painted. Oh and that doesn't take into consideration the 3 windows on the rear that need to be replaced all together. Sigh. It like painting the Golden Gate over here.
We are blessed with another similar type of lumber yard and hardware store nearby: Anawalt Lumber. Their lumber yard has more "exterior" type lumber stock (redwood, cedar, etc.). They've been at their location since the '40's (in business since 1923) and used to be supplied by rail (they had their own spur right into their sheds). They have several locations around LA, but the WLA one is their original. They are sitting on some very, very expensive real estate right now, which always makes me nervous for their future.tn535i wrote: Jul 30, 2020 12:18 PMI wish there were a place like Anderson near me... We have a good local hardwood shop that even has it's own mill nearby but nothing like that.
(Forgive the crappy, stock web photos)
We are very proud to support both of these local businesses and have been for as long we've been living in WLA; I will happily keep giving them my business for as long as I am still living here. Anything to stay out of the Big Orange Box or it's evil twin, the Big Blue Box.
Also a basic portable belt sander is a great way to sharpen the blades. My Bosch 3x21 belt sander bought on sale 20+ years ago is one of my favorite still working great old tools. I generally remove my trim or sash and if it's flat, then after heat gun or scraping it gets a pass with fine grit on the belt sander before the palm sander goes to work. For the muntins with all those wicked grooves I often use a sprayable paint remover followed by denatured alcohol with my odd shaped scraper tools to get all that old paint off.
