Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Pick Up The Pieces

 So I promised to show ya'll a few photos of some actual work I have done around here.  I was never really enthused about the idea of painting this bar wall, so when it hit me to sheath it in pallet wood I jumped on that. Allen had been scrounging pallets for me for months and I had stripped a lot of them down to usable wood where they were just waiting for finishing.  So, I finally bit the bullet and sanded, stained, painted, sanded again, and patched for two days to get enough planks to do these 2 walls.  I didn't make a lot of effort to hide any patches, dents, or bangs in the wood.  I mean, it's obviously pallet wood and obviously reclaimed, so there's the "charm".  Ha! Anyway, I thought it came out rather well.  The corners are done in 1 1/2" angle iron and these make helluva good corner guards..  The iron is just stuck on for now because I'll have to take it back off and cut to fit when I run the finish floor and baseboard.  In person it looks better.  The color is a bit washed out in this photo because, due to low light in the warm months in my house, I have a devil of a time getting decent photos.  I often have to use a flash and it just doesn't look right.

 This photo is a little better but it's a little washed out too.  Anyways....I finished this counter top and back splash and wanted to run a little of the glass tile just to see how that was going to look.  I'm very pleased with this but please note; the tile has not been grouted yet, so it will look a little different when finished.  This gives me a lot of motivation to keep going.  I'm very anxious to get the kitchen finished because I think it's really going to be awesome.

 However, I had to take a break from all that and take advantage of the fact we are in an extended drought.  I have needed to fix this basement wall for years after I discovered just how much rain floods down the mountainside during the winter rains.  If the rest of the house were built this area would remain dry but.....we all know that has not happened yet so....I have to treat this as if it is forever an exterior wall.  Which meant chopping the bottom 2 feet off of the wood framing, forming a 4 inch thick wall and pouring it in concrete.  Here you can see the girls inspecting my forms.  It came out real well.  I even played around and did a faux board formed look on the outside.  This 11 foot section is a little less than half of what I need to pour but it's the worst part of the problem.  I admit I should have done this to begin with..but I did not realize the amount of water etc. around here.  And I was under the supreme delusion that the rest of the house would come along soon enough. Ha!!
Anyways, this form has been dropped, the wall sheathed back, and also insulated and covered on the inside.  Snug as a bug!  I'm now running multiple shelves on the inside in an effort to better organize the basement and my studio there.  I'll rub the exterior of the concrete here, below grade, to produce a smoother finish, then waterproof heavily and backfill.  There is still no sign of any rain anywhere in our near future so I shouldn't have any issues finishing this in the dry.

I also thought I'd take advantage of the drought in other ways!  We have ample dried foliage, leaves, flowers, grass and any things else you can think of here, so I gathered up a armful of stuff, a couple handfuls of feathers via some molting chickens and threw together this autumnal wreath.  Not too shabby I guess.  Certainly was cost effective.  haha!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

As always, I enjoy the way you show and explain what you've been doing. I love the angle corner guards. Now there is a corner guard you don't have to treat like fine china! The pallet wood is neat too. The label in my mind says, "This wall may contain some imperfections and flaws; this is normal and indicates the hand-made, artistic nature of the product." :)

And concrete pouring is always interesting. It's not something I've worked with much, so it doesn't come to my mind as a way to do things on my own projects. Out of mind out of site, I guess. But I can see how useful it is.

Anon-R.

JO said...

I really like the look of the pallet wood it gives a nice rustic look that I love. And the glass tiles are great I have been wanted to do that in my kitchen but well.... I know poor excuse haha.
You sure have been busy.

Anonymous said...

Gee, when you're done there, can you come to my house and work on my list?

Ed said...

I'm still so in love with your concrete countertops. I have a friend now who dabbles in making concrete countertops for clients and I've been leaning over his shoulder quite a bit. One of these days when I start on the kitchen remodel on our house, I'm trying to get up the courage to give it a go.

Hermit's Baby Sis said...

Annie - I'm so delighted that you are up to doing this much work - and it IS a lot! Love the wall and corner guards, but I am totally enamored with that wreath! WOW! Now there's something you could make some money on - make a few, post the pics, and get ready to rake in the cash. Only difficult part (I say, since I'm not making it!) would be the shipping. But I love it, and even more so because it's just "stuff" from around your place ...Good job!

ErinFromIowa said...

It's so good to hear from you! Everything looks awesome. Especially the wreath.

MamaHen said...

Hey R! Tough corner guards was exactly what I wanted! I installed enough crappy ones that never lasted when I worked construction. These should last! Your label is right on too!
Concrete is a wonderful product and I think very beautiful.

Hey Jo! thanks! I have been busy in spurts! haha! trying to get the spurts to last longer.

Hey Paul! Hey, I'd love to get outta here for a while! but the drive would be a rough one! lol!

Hey Ed! thanks! I love them too! just do a few outside concrete projects first; you know, just some little tiles or a little table first, to give you an idea of how it's going to go. It's not hard but you do need some experience.

Hey Ann! thanks! yeah, the wreath has gotten a LOT of response. The only problem is it's mostly hydrangea blossoms, which are very fragile. They come apart easily so I'm not sure how transporting them would work. I am looking into maybe using some other material though or maybe doing something for Winter, as evergreens are much easier to work with.

Hey Erin! thanks! good to hear from you too! I think the wreath may have gotten more response than anything! lol!

Linda said...

You are talented! The thing I like the most is the color of the door!
pparsimony

MamaHen said...

Hey Linda! Ha! everything that I don't care much for, everyone else thinks is great. lol! I've actually wanted to repaint that door cuz I'm not sure I really like the color.

Anonymous said...

MH
Beautiful wreath. Door, counter, everything is so nice. A true artist you are. Hens... eggs? Reckon not. Moulting season.