Hi all- We purchased an old Sinclair station several months ago and finally took possession. The station had, unfortunately, been neglected for many years due to lack of funds. We've been working like crazy for 2 weeks to get the buildings emptied out so we could get a handle on what is needed for the renovation. The additional building is probably going to end up requiring more rehab than the station- today the roof on the station is being replaced and when they pulled off the bad roof, 99% of the water damage was restricted to the main office area. So that's being addressed and the roof should be finished up tomorrow. The secondary building is probably going to require significant re-framing. Part of the original tile roof trim was removed years ago, but fortunately the previous owner just left the tiles on the roof. We removed those and are going to re-do the original tile trim, and found a supply for the original 1937 tiles and have a shipment on the way. The interior of the station was full of clutter, and 90% of that is gone. The paint is coming off quite nicely with a pressure washer, so plans are to re-painting the bay to the original green/white color scheme. The one exterior bathroom had been boarded up for more than 30 years. We removed the steel plate, and shoveled out loads of debris. After all the junk was taken out, the majority of the stall woodwork is going to need minimal repair to restore. The door is totally gone, but we'll find one to replace it. The interior of the secondary building had been paneled over the years and pulling that out is a pain, but we're getting down to the original walls pretty quick. Once everything is out, plans are to go back with runners and sheetrock/insulate the interior. Going to leave the ceilings out and sprayfoam insulate the buildings. Then it's time to address the windows. I'd like to keep most of the old metal ones, but will probably go with double-pane insulated ones in the office area.
Still dabbling with this one until it cools off enough to get going on the other one. We’ve had a couple of meetings in here and some of the older folks were a little iffy getting up the one step! So I had one of these extra and decided to give it a try as a handhold for the step.
Still plugging along. Got notice today that the signs are ready to ship. Can't wait to get them up if we ever get to the painting stage! I super-sleuthed out a company that was able to make the signs by using the small "eBay SINCLAIR" sign as a go-by, they duplicated the font and used my pictures from old stations and the dimensions I provided based on the marks I measured on the station and made the signs. They really look good....
Another update. All the exterior steel-frame glass has now been replaced. The bathroom glass turned out really nice. Spent part of 2 days up on the ladder cleaning the paint off the "marker" tiles- the north wall ones are in really good shape and they cleaned up nicely. I can't believe they had painted over them. Began the process of cleaning the roof tiles- the process is apply stripper, scrape, more stripper, scrape, wipe off, more scrape, etc..... It's going to take a while but the tiles are cleaning up pretty well. Today the gutters are going up on the back, tomorrow more demo in the secondary building. I was able to find a local young guy that's a fireman and he's been doing some demo- finished up the ceiling removal in the station and now he's gutting the secondary building. The bay doors are on order and should be in in a couple of weeks. At that time I'll get the "office" glass installed- the countertops are removed and there is just a small amount of water-damaged wood to replace so that should go pretty easy. I started cleaning the ridged transom glass- what a job! The previous owners painted inside and out. The outside is smooth so that's basically brush on acetone, wait, then scrape with a razor blade. The inside is ridged so it's acetone, rub, acetone, rub, acetone, wire brush, etc... But they are so pretty when cleaned may end up keeping them....
The alcove ceiling- and I had an old set of horns that had been laying around for years so I gutted them and mounted some LED lights inside and they are going in the alcove to be a downlight.
Thursday I was driving down the road on our way to Lake Texhoma and saw this great looking old station and said to myself, “I’ve see that station before” and it clicked it was yours DH44 and I had seen it here on Oldgas! Your station is an eye catcher from the road for sure! Keep up the good work! We snapped a picture as we drove back by this afternoon.
The other evening I decided to check and see if the canopy wiring was still good. Replaced all 4 of the bulbs (I'll bet they had been burned out for 25 years) and they all work. We're in a debate right now about how to address the tin ceiling under the canopy. There are a couple of rusted patches that I want to repair to keep out birds and wasps. A guy here in town that has old buildings says you can patch them by taking some strips of hammered tin, then inserting them in the holes and epoxy them in place then paint. I am leaning towards doing that, and painting the ceiling white, but the Missus is leaning towards just spraying the tin with a sealer and leaving it as is. I guess we'll decide that after the stucco/tile/paint work is done.
New windows in the secondary building today. Waiting on the doors- they are slower than windows for some reason. Also got the big windows removed in the station and are framing them in for final glass measurements.
This week the tin ceilings are being installed. Took for-frickin-ever to get the tin tiles made and delivered. Doing black in the main room and kitchen, also in the front two rooms of the station. White is going in the bathrooms in both buildings.
Here's a better shot of the interior of the accessory building. Hanging over the counter is an old bridge beam I had planed down. Then we routed out a channel and I mounted an LED strip to provide light for the countertop.
I cleaned and stripped and chipped the lift to where I wanted it. Coated it with 6 coats of poly and now I'm waiting on the painter to finish before I mount the top.
Yesterday the window trim guys came back and trimmed out the interior using the same aluminum as the outside. That seemed to be the best solution for covering up the old plaster and wood around the new windows.
Yeah sorry been getting a lot done. Paint is almost finished and it's looking great. All the HVAC is installed and operational. Next week or two it's floor sealing time in the station. Then final plumbing and that's everything but outfitting both buildings.... I'll try to get some photos up soon. Here's a teaser of the inside of the bays. We were able to color match the green using an old shelf board we demoed early on. And one of the outside- I painted the hose hangers and bay bumpers red since when I stripped off the old paint the original color was red.
![[Linked Image]](http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=download&Number=209574&filename=11_30_11.jpg)
This week the tin ceilings are being installed. Took for-frickin-ever to get the tin tiles made and delivered. Doing black in the main room and kitchen, also in the front two rooms of the station. White is going in the bathrooms in both buildings.