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Burnt Creek Farm Historic Farm restoration

06/30/2026

Video of the newly restored circa 1918 GE AUU brass blade fan.

The latest project. I had restored a Westinghouse fan a few years back, but living in a terricotta tile/brick house, it ...
06/30/2026

The latest project. I had restored a Westinghouse fan a few years back, but living in a terricotta tile/brick house, it can get a little warm in the summer so the fans help quite a bit. Here are pics of the restoration of the 1918 AUU GE brass blade fan. This was bought online and restored. It was in really good condition mechanically for the age. It had absolutely no wear in the bearings/shaft, but was in need of new wiring and degreasing, the paint was dinged up and the brass was tarnished, so I pulled it apart, cleaned it, rewired it, repainted it, polished the brass and it should be good for another 108 years. It runs incredibly smoothly, is very quiet, and moves a lot of air. These fans were build to last forever!

Bathroom Remodel Post 7: Before and After The before photo shows the original bathroom when i bought the farm. The a...
04/04/2026

Bathroom Remodel Post 7: Before and After

The before photo shows the original bathroom when i bought the farm. The after photos show the nearly completed bathroom. With most remodel projects, you can go to a big box store, pick out what you need and have it wrapped up in a couple weekends. This project, however, was a 3-4 year project for a couple of reasons. The fixtures needed to be sourced and repaired, plaster takes a lot longer than drywall, and there is also a bit of a learning curve. It was also a backburner project that I would work on when I had some free time. Everything in the bathroom, from the flooring, plaster, paint, trim, plumbing fixture are from the early 1900's or use 1900's technology. Even the rug, towel bar and towels, wicker basket, etc. date back to the 1920's. What i found in doing this project, is that the technology relating to the functionality really hasn't changed in the past 100 years. What has changed is the quality of the materials and the convenience in construction. While the project took a lot of time, the quality and warm aesthetics can't be matched with modern finishes.

Bathroom remodel Post 6: Plumbing Fixtures. All of the bathroom fixtures, faucets, etc. are over 100 years old. The sea...
04/04/2026

Bathroom remodel Post 6: Plumbing Fixtures. All of the bathroom fixtures, faucets, etc. are over 100 years old. The seals were replaced, faucets were repacked, and the items were repaired as needed. This took quite a bit of time, but was worth it. Huge thank you to Travis Berger at Redline Plumbing for running the plumbing to the fixtures. They did a great job on a not so typical install!

Bathroom remodel post 5: Paint The bathroom was originally a mustard color, so I wanted to go back to the original colo...
04/04/2026

Bathroom remodel post 5: Paint The bathroom was originally a mustard color, so I wanted to go back to the original color and I also wanted to use milk paint which would have been common in homes in the early 1900's. As the name implies, it is paint made with milk protein (casein). Milk paint was used for centuries prior to modern commercially made paints. It's non-toxic, and the colors are very rich with almost a velvety look. It is very durable and won't fade. The one downside is shelf life prior to application which I assume is a big reason modern paints came to fruition. I used Farmhouse Finishes Safe Paint, which comes in a powder (powdered casein and pigment). When painting, you just add water until it is the consistancy of a milk shake. The color is Marigold which is tough to capture in photos.

Bathroom remodel post 4: Flooring. The flooring on the main level of the house is maple. The subfloor of the bathroom h...
04/04/2026

Bathroom remodel post 4: Flooring. The flooring on the main level of the house is maple. The subfloor of the bathroom had some rotted planks from moisture, so those were replaced, felt was laid down, the maple planks was installed sanded, and coated with garnet shellac. The original floors were also shellac and I wanted to keep it true to how it was originally finished. It's tough to beat the look of new shellac floors. I will have to be more careful with them than the floors with modern poly or lacquer finishes, but they look better and are easier to repair.

Bathroom remodel post #3- Stripping/finishing the trim- This was also a tedious job, but well worth the effort! All...
04/04/2026

Bathroom remodel post #3- Stripping/finishing the trim- This was also a tedious job, but well worth the effort! All the paint was stripped from the trim inside the bathroom and then various species of wood, with various ages, and levels of original finish were matched to pull the bathroom together. Shellac was used as a topcoat, which isn't great for high moisure areas or sitting water (a polyurethane is better but not traditional). If you're careful, however, it can be done. Shellac provides a beautiful finish and is easily fixed if it does get scratched or messed up somehow. When wiping shellac on, it will melt into the layer below. It can also be softened by brushing with alcohol, so if you're careful, scratches, etc, can be hidden.

Bathroom remodel post #2- Plaster Once the walls were prepped the plaster was done. While most people would use drywal...
04/04/2026

Bathroom remodel post #2- Plaster Once the walls were prepped the plaster was done. While most people would use drywall, I wanted to stay with the historical materials which was lath, plaster and horsehair. This was a long process taking quite a few different sessions to allow for curing, to determine the best next steps, etc. Felipe Ortiz was a HUGE help on this project (by that, I mean he was the brains behind it and did most of the plaster work using skills he picked up in Costa Rica, his native country). Using lime plasters is a skill that is very difficult to find anymore in this region.

Ok, I am finally to the point to where I'm going to show some of the bathroom progress. I have had a couple of posts in ...
04/03/2026

Ok, I am finally to the point to where I'm going to show some of the bathroom progress. I have had a couple of posts in the past with elements, but not the whole thing. Im going to go over the process start to finish in a couple of posts. This is the main bathroom downstairs which as dated and as with many older homes there was moisture damage in the shower area with crumbling plaster. There wasn't originally a bathroom in the home, this was a nursury, but within the first few years a bathroom was added. This is the demo portion of the project.....

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Bismarck, ND
58503

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