NEWARK -- Terry Shipman lives in a house, built around 1890, that could use some work. He's committed to doing as much of it himself as he can, and in the process has learned plenty about the challenges of renovating and restoring a historic house.
Shipman, asked for three pieces of advice for others about to embark on a similar journey, sat at his kitchen table in the historic Dearing House and thoughtfully pondered.
First piece of advice:
"If you want to put it back to the original, you have to know what was there."
Old photographs help. In lieu of photographs, he said, "you have to go by the tracks of what used to be there -- a door opening, or a flue, or the ball at the end of the post."
In the Dearing house, the ball at the end of the post is attached to a mahogany staircase and railing, all of which was painted over decades ago.
After knowing what was there, as well as can be known, determine "what you want to do and how far you want to take it."
Second piece of advice:
Plan to spend plenty of time on the Internet and the telephone finding the proper materials.
"Back before the Internet, where did you find a transom rod?" Shipman did, through Internet research.
The crown jewel of the home, he said, was the living room. One of its features was crown moulding, taken down decades ago when the house was modernized.
"The last time I saw it was when I was 11 years old," he said. "I've spent hundreds of hours but can't find it. I'll have to guess" when choosing a replacement.
Third piece of advice:
Consider the cost, especially the cost of labor.
"How much can you do yourself?" Shipman, who is retired, said he has done about 75 percent of the labor thus far.
One of the porches has gingerbread balustrades, many of which he has made by using one to make a cardboard template.
What else has he accomplished?
"I'm now a master transom rod installer," he quipped. "But there's not much call for that skill."
HomeStyle on 11/29/2014