More than ten years ago we moved into a small town and I commented “we got what others replicate.” It was obvious that more populated areas were recreating the small town "main street" in their retail centers to create the appeal of a neighborhood. When we built our house we wanted an old farm house look, so the same holds true for the Humphreys House–there is no substitute for the real thing.
I fall in love with this house more every hour I spend fixing it up. That is not to say it is all sunshine and roses, there are arguments and stress, but now that we have entered the final stages and even though we still have a long way to go, I can identify the projects in the house that I will be working on for years to come versus what needs to happen now in order to get moved in. The cabinets started and drywall is ready for sanding. The excitement builds by the day for the holidays, and time to be finished.
The technical question is how to set a brand new square and plumb cabinet on a floor that seems to resemble an undulating sea surface. In most new construction there are tolerances of how out of level a finished product can be. Typically there is practical tolerance of ⅛ to ⅜ However, in a 100 year old home there is an acceptable tolerance of up to an 1 ½. As with everything in life, it is best to find a happy medium and learn to live with the imperfections. I just hope the refrigerator door will stay closed.
