I used warm water with dish washing liquid and a brush and was able to wash away decades of dirt successfully. I modified a couple nails to attach one of the loose bands. The nails were modified to match the originals. I used 6" pine to make the base and I used some things around the shop to 'distress' the wood. I think I may try to make the base a bit darker. I'm working on buying a 'Country Club' tap handle. Country Club was a Goetz beer. If I can buy it, I'll rig up a simple looking tap to attach to the keg. I know that's not authentic but I haven't found much info on the keg anyway other than it is a 7 3/4 gallon keg and figured the tap handle will add to my display. I talked to the author of a book on Kansas City/St Joseph area beers and he had little additional information other than the size. What you can't see on the other end of the keg is that it has a hole drilled in it for a tap. I'm not really a breweriana collector but I thought this old beer keg makes a nice additional to my man cave!

You know that old saying about expensive stuff ... if you have to ask how much it is, then you can't afford it. That's what I thought as I read your post, regarding the feasability of your proposed timeline. To me this sounds like a lot of work to get done in a fairly short, finite, time span, GC'd by a non-professional without long-standing (and on-going) relationships with all the inter-locking subs and trades. Your project probably doesn't come with the promise of additonal jobs for them over many years so you won't have the leverage a good GC would have to make the necessary, but impossible, things happen to keep such a complicated project on schedule. Is the end date a hope, or a hard date with a CO issued and move in readiness? If you could stand to have it carry on into the winter, then it would be more do-able, I think. The complications will come in integrating all the various tradesmen. For example, you're getting a new roof, but before the roof goes on it would be better to know exactly where the vent stacks for the new furnace and the new bath and kitchen are located. Yes, you can add them later, but you've a better chance at a no-leak roof if they're up before the roof guys get there. You're putting in radiant floor heating (love it BTW), but that means every single tradesman has to know where those lines are, or one gets punctured. Kitchens and baths are notorious for needing sustained, cooperative layers of tradesman. GC's will know which crews get along, which can be counted on to work the extra hour or two in order to prep for the next guy, etc. Do you have to do all this at once? (Regular readers here will know where I'm headed and can skip ahead....) I think old house renovations are best done after you've been in the house for some time. The ideas you have now, especially if you're not working with an experienced old-house minded architect, are surely not going to be as good as what the house will tell you is needed after you've been there for some time. The other reaon to slow things down is that old houses are (in my opinion) must vulnerable to to regrettable owner-caused (though entirely well-meant) damage when they renovated at the beginning of the ownership. Take, just for example, your plan to install radiant floor heating. If you have more than one story, that means you'll be pulling the ceiling of the first floor for access. What the heck you say, you're already planning on pulling the plaster in the walls for insulation. Okay, but I didn't hear you say you'd need to have the walls replastered. Perhaps you think it doesn't matter: sheet rock, even skim-coated sheetrock, vs old plaster, same difference, right? Um, no. Plaster is a lovely-to-live-with amenity that many people just casually disregard, not realizing how intergral it is to their buildings. And you won't know this until you've owned and lived with an old house for awhile and studied the unique concerns that old houses raise for thoughtful, respectful, owners. And of course, there's the money. I would plan on having at least 75% more cash on hand than the wildest estimates you have if you go ahead with this amibitious plan to get it all done by a date-certain. All old house projects have the virtual certainty that more funds will be necessary than you planned (or hoped), but combined with a tight deadline, sometime the only thing that will get you there is extra fees for overtime, express shipping, replacement materials, more expensive solutions, etc. With old houses, there's always a dynamic, usually reciprocal, relationship between time and money: more of one, less of another. Sometimes, more of both. Almost never less of both, alas. And, if you start out with modest experience, tight funds and a very amibitious deadline, you're only setting yourself up for misery and stress. (Read some of the "I hate my house" threads as cautionary tales.) But as discouraging as I know I must sound, I don't want to discourage you from using this resource. Please consider this an invitation to keep coming back for help and encouragement. Welcome to the company of old-house afficionadas. Molly~

You cannot replace the windows of a building in a condo without getting approval from the condo. In general all construction in a condo is subject to the rules of the condo but windows are especially under their control because they are considered a part of the building that is supposed to be maintained by the building and replacing windows can have structural implications. Also windows (just like front doors to hallways) are supposed to have the same look as all other windows. If windows are as bad as you say, I would check with the condo in terms of how well they are maintaining the actual structure of the building. Bad windows are not just unsightly but they can cause water leaks - not to mention having impact on energy efficiency. If the building has deferred maintenance on major structural issues, take this as a red flag because they might also be deferring maintenance on other expensive structural stuff and either the building is poorly run or at some point in the future you will be hit with a large special assessment to cover the costs of doing all the maintenance that was deferred.

We use Diamond Vogel opaque deck stains with good results. Needs to be renewed about every4-5 years. As bad as that wood is, however, I would not expect too much. Were it my deck I would set all the nails, rent a floor sander and try to get down to good wood before staining. To answer your questions: 1. Can anyone tell what type of wood my decking is made of? Treated pine 3. Can I wood-fill smaller cracks and splits instead of replacing? No. Wood filler is not for unstable environments like a wood deck. 4. Do I need to prep my railing differently than other surfaces? Only the top of the rail should be weather-worn. Sand it down before staining. 5. If I replace some boards, any tips for trying to blend the old and new boards? Blending is not really possible. The new wood is full of treatment solution and will take stain differently than old wood. The usual recommendation is to let new wood sit for a minimum of six weeks before staining.