Baltimore's streets are lined with an astonishing array of original row houses. Old-House Journal August/September 2010
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Editor’s Note
It seems there’s no end to outdoor projects around an old house. Just when you get one job finished, another one crops up that requires immediate attention. So go the summers around my place, from roof repairs to paint maintenance to making sure all of the windows are operating smoothly. (Let’s not even get into all of the damage that needs fixing from this winter’s back-to-back blizzards in the Washington, D.C. area.) It’s nice to know that many of OHJ’s contributors are in the same boat—somehow, hearing about the work they’re doing on their houses seems to make mine move faster. And the approaches they take always teach me something new. Take Mark Clement’s roofing story in this issue. I wish I had known about that nifty tool for taking off shingles (the Red Ripper) when I had to replace the failing 30-year-old asphalt roof on my house a few years back. It would have made the job go much faster, as would the tip about taking the time to bundle up the old materials on the rooftop, instead of having to clean them all off the ground when they missed the Dumpster. This article is but one example of the types of practical tips our contributors bring to the magazine, and part of why I enjoy editing it so much.
Also in this issue, Lynn Elliott walks us through a repair project—fixing her Yankee gutters—that was pushed to the head of her list thanks to heavy winter storms. Her approach is one you can readily try at home. (If you don’t know your Yankee gutter from your elbow, you must live on the West Coast!)
Finally, if you’re lucky enough to live in a Sears house, you’ll find plenty of ideas for new paint colors in “Color Doctor” John Crosby Freeman’s story about updating the original palettes on these mail-order homes. We’ve got plenty of ideas in this issue to keep you busy before the fall weather settles in. Me, I’m headed back up the ladder to work on yet another roof; this one needs some two dozen snow guards replaced after they broke off during our triple-whammy blizzards. Another day, another project at the top of the list.
Demetra Aposporos, Editor-in-Chief of Old-House Journal
