Timelines

WEDNESDAY: Radiator pipe in parlor is found to be leaking. Water has damaged finished floor. Ross unhappy.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Around 11PM, Ross has visions of the leaking pipe bursting and destroying the house. Ross struggles NOT to drive back to the house and make sure all is well. A fitful sleep ensues.

THURSDAY MORNING: Ross texts Justin, who was scheduled to arrive at Cross House at 8AM: “Is the house OK?” Ross stares and stares and stares at iPhone until Justin replies: “Yep.” Ross breathes again.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON: After radiator system is shut down and drained, the damaged radiator is disconnected, and the issue is resolved. The bad radiator is then reconnected, system re-filled with water, and boilers started again. And…and…all is well. No leaks. No problems. It is like yesterday did not happen. Save the damaged flooring. Ross, nonetheless, is quite happy.

 

The SE corner of the parlor last week.

 

The corner today. The edge of the damask field now has a border, and the border has the applied leaf molding.

 

 

14 Comments

  1. Tony Bianchini on February 8, 2018 at 8:06 pm

    Very unique look! I like it, like Victorian meets Space Age meets…

  2. Seth Hoffman on February 8, 2018 at 9:14 pm

    It all looks great!

    What was the cause of the leak? Was it a corroded pipe at the radiator, or just a joint that wasn’t adequately sealed?

    • Ross on February 8, 2018 at 9:38 pm

      The latter. Just silly human error.

      • Seth Hoffman on February 8, 2018 at 9:52 pm

        Those really are the most frustrating!

  3. Glenn on February 8, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    I’d love to see those sconces lighted up in an evening shot! Will you be using low wattage bulbs in them? Early electric bulbs were extremely dim… but had a ton of ambience… Just curious… 🙂

    • Jonathan W on February 8, 2018 at 11:52 pm

      Yes, and new LED tech looks like old edison type bulbs, with the lit visible wires. I believe they can be dimmed as well. Sure, they aren’t 100% replica, but they’re pretty close and they save a ton of energy. I see them every time I go to a home depot and I always stop to look at them. I love/hate LED tech. The cheap stuff, you can definately tell, and most people think of them as daylight bulbs only, however, I live in a smaller home, about 1500sqft and we switched all our lights to LED(from CFL), it dropped our bill by at least $30(possibly @60 at times). A house like Cross, with its size and amount of lighting, LED tech would benefit its owners greatly.

  4. Patti on February 9, 2018 at 1:07 am

    Glad the radiator was an easy fix. It’s too bad the floor was damaged. I would be so paranoid I’d have to check all the fittings in the house every day.

    I’m liking the parlor 3.0. The applied leaf is a great touch. The fireplace wall just looks off to me, unbalanced or something. I probably would have ended the treatment to the left of the left sconce and let the fireplace stand on it’s own. It’s ornate enough as it is. Although in the context of the room as a whole it’s probably fine.

  5. Rachel M on February 9, 2018 at 10:31 am

    It’s amazing how big of a difference a small change like a border can make. Something seemed off initially when you painted the panels but then when you added the border it all clicked! Wonderful!

    Also glad the radiators are behaving again.

    • Ross on February 9, 2018 at 11:41 am

      Yes, I do love well-mannered radiators!

  6. Mike on February 9, 2018 at 2:27 pm

    I think someone else mentioned it on another thread, the hot/cold sequence of the system can cause a few little leaks to pop up at the beginning of the heating season. After I fire up the boiler for the first time in late fall, we watch closely for leaks for the first week or so. One point that I have had the most issues with over the past 17 years is the shut off valves; the packing around the stem (that the handle goes on) sometimes loosens up over the summer, and I have to put in new stem-packing. Any system, whether forces air, electric, heat pump, or hot water, has issues once in a while; the comfort, benefits, and economy of the hot-water radiators are why it is my favorite heat.

  7. Sandra Lee on February 9, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    The damask is lovely! Thank goodness radiators are behaving and the fix was not too difficult!

  8. Jarrett L. on February 9, 2018 at 8:21 pm

    The border looks lovely! Makes it look a lot less “cheap”.

  9. Grandmere Louise on February 12, 2018 at 8:42 am

    The moldings really are surprising. I did not expect them to pull everything together, but they sure do.

  10. Barbara V on January 27, 2021 at 5:40 pm

    Yes, Ross, you nailed it – looks great!

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