When we were house hunting in 2007 (after our first false move to Illinois), we kept asking our real estate agent to show us lofts in neat urban neighborhoods in the city. My sister is our agent, so she felt comfortable reminding us (repeatedly) that we were not, in fact, young movers and shakers, but middle aged parents without the mini-van. Because she’s GOOD at what she does, she found a house that had the neighborhood our kids needed, but the walkable urban feel the grown ups wanted. The house was a duplex that would need to be converted to a single family home. We were no stranger to home renovation and decided we were the right couple for the project.
During due diligence, our home inspector kept mentioning “steel frame construction”. He likened our house to a battleship. I didn’t really understand what he meant, but was assured by his words that we were getting a good one. One of our elderly neighbors used to stop by and tell us stories of how, as a young boy, he would play on the steel beams of our house as it was being constructed. Over the 13 years we’ve lived here, we’ve understood what he was referring to more and more…seeing hints of steel beams in our crawl space and between windows. We love this history and these details that (we’ve been told over and over again) are so unique to a residential 1950s build.
Within our first year in the house, the paint on our bathroom door frame chipped to reveal what looked like metal underneath. Eventually, curiosity won (as it so often does) and I decided to strip that bathroom door frame to confirm what that chipped paint hinted was underneath. Yes, indeed. Shiny, fabulous steel was suffocating underneath layers and layers of old paint. It took a lot of experimenting to determine the best method for removing it all. Heat gun. Sanding. Scraping. Many rounds of chemical remover. Airplane paint stripper was the clear winner. I LOVED the way the naked frame looked, but hated how labor intensive it was to get it that way. It had taken FOREVER. Alas, that bathroom doorway became the lone stripped door frame for YEARS.
At the start of a major renovation in 2016, I showed that doorway to our builder and said “I want them all to look like this”. He thought hiring a laborer of that level would add a lot to our budget and suggested I hire myself since I’d proven so capable. I love working on houses and wanted something to do while here supervising the project, so I took his suggestion and signed on. Fast forward to hell.
If you happened to talk to me during that time frame, you probably heard more about steel door frames than you ever wanted to know. It took 240 hours, many breakdowns, my sanity, and my sister jumping in to help to properly strip, sand, clean, and seal the 13 original door frames of the house. Luckily there wasn’t a shortage of masks then. It was a dark time under pressure of a deadline, but I was SO driven by how cool the end result could be. One time, the can of stripper exploded in my face, knocking my face mask off, getting all up in my eyes. I was convinced I was going to go blind as I fumbled my way to a working sink while calling for help – which no one could hear with all the air compressors on around the house. I still dream of getting up in the cracks and crevices with an exacto knife, chipping out paint like a dentist attacking tartar – which was oddly satisfying. I cried when I finished what I thought was the last frame, only to realize I had forgotten one. I may have had a hint of PTSD when I finally finished #13. After searching high and low for the best way to seal the steel in the final step, I settled on a sealant artists use to protect outdoor sculptures. It was not only a good product, but also felt appropriate somehow. When I stepped back to admire the end result, I felt like I’d created something by bringing it back to life.
So this week, we are selling our house and those precious door frames, that unfortunately won’t travel. We are thrilled that a wonderful couple, who seems to love the funky details of our house, are buying it. Thinking of the life that awaits them in this incredible neighborhood in this house that we love so much has brought us great joy. Of course, they may paint over the door frames. If that happens, friends, don’t tell me.
