Knock On Wood

I've really been trying to make a concerted effort lately to finish up a lot of half-started projects around the house, organizing and decorating in areas of the house that are mostly finished.  To that extent, I've gotten a couple of new pieces of furniture and some art and photos framed and hung.  I figure it will all help motivate me to keep plugging along to finish everything.  Now, this sideboard is not new at all really.  It was built sometime in the 1920's and has been in our family since then.  No one else seemed to want it but we didn't want it to be given away or get messed up so I took it to use in the living room.  My grandmother's husband was the warden at Kilby Prison in south Alabama for a number of years in the 20's and this piece was built by a few of the inmates at the time, so it makes for a good conversation piece.  It's probably the only material thing in my family that has much value.  Anywhoo, it had been stored away for years so I got it out, cleaned it up and refurbished the finish a bit.  Basically just re-oiled it and cleaned some stains off of it.

So, now it is our entertainment center I guess you would say.  I replaced the plain glass in the doors with architectural glass and replaced the drawer pulls with bronze ones that matched the knobs on the doors.  I did make a little removable shelf for the bottom to put the stereo system on.  I've always liked the sideboard as it has a vague Craftsman style to it.  It's fairly well made and still in excellent shape too.  Now I just need to trim out that one last window to the right of it.  Ugh!

Now, we will not speak of how long this little cabinet has been hanging around in the basement but I finally got it cleaned up and finished, installed the hinges and door, etc etc. and hung it in the bathroom.  I thought it came out nice but I think I want to replace that glass with a colored/ textured something kinda glass because the clear, textured just still shows too much of what is in the cabinet.  I had thought about making a very simple, stained glass window type panel for the door but for now I just need it done and functional.  I can do the other a couple of years from now.  Maybe.
So, that is just a bit of an update.  I am trying hard to keep my motivation up and I've been feeling pretty good lately so that helps.  Seeing more and more finish work done helps a great deal too because I can see just how cool things are going to look all finished.  My cabinet maker guy is going to be back out in about 2 weeks to measure for the built in bookcases that go beside the fireplace so that area is shaping up nice too.  It's really going to be great!  I'm excited about it!

How Dirty Girls Get Clean

Well, now that spring has really sprung, you all know what that means!!!  Time to CLEAN!!  Yay!!!  So, too further cement in your mind the idea that I'm bonkers, I'll admit that I love spring cleaning.  I love any excuse to clean and throw away (or repurpose, recycle etc) excess junk.  I just have to make sure that in my cleaning furor I don't throw away stuff I really need, bleach the dog or recycle all my underwear.  I've already been cleaning and reorganizing for a few weeks now and have a few big chores left so I thought I'd do a spring (green) cleaning post and give ya'll a few of my recipes and ideas for sprucing up the house for warm weather.  I think most of ya'll know I make most all of my cleaning supplies because it's cheap but mostly because it's better for our earth and I don't like washing nasty chemicals down the drain.  Plus, homemade cleaners work great.  Or at least I have found these to.  First, is the cleaner you see in the photo above.  Basically, I keep a half gallon glass jar and as I use lemons, limes, oranges or any citrus fruit like that, I toss the rinds in the jar and then fill it with plain, white vinegar.  I let this sit for about 2 weeks in the pantry and then I use to to fill my spray bottles in the bath and kitchen.  As you have new peelings just refresh the ones in the jar and add more vinegar as you fill your spray bottles.  That way you always have some ready.  If it sits for more than 2 weeks it's okay.  To clean sinks, tubs and such I dampen the surface with warm water, sprinkle some borax around the sink or whatever, spray everything good with the vinegar, scrub and rinse.  For toilets I pour about a cup of the vinegar in the bowl and then spray the seat etc.  Dump some borax in the bowl and scrub.  I let this sit for a while and then flush.  Meanwhile, wipe the toilet clean with a damp cloth where you sprayed the vinegar.  It cleans great and has a nice citrusy smell.
For tile showers I have a separate recipe but you could use this lemon vinegar in place of the plain.

Grout Cleaner:
7 cups of water
1/2 cup baking soda
1/3 cup ammonia
1/4 cup vinegar

Mix well and using a brush or sponge scrub over shower walls, let sit for a few minutes and rinse/ scrub off.  I actually have to about double this recipe for my shower but this stuff really works and the clean lasts for quite some time.  Of course, since it uses ammonia, please run your bath exhaust fan or open a window while you are doing this.  If you don't like using ammonia just leave it out.  You can also use a few drops of essential oil if you like for a nice smell.

And of course, cleaning windows are always part of the spring ritual so I thought I'd give ya'll that recipe too.  I think this recipe works great but you can adjust it a little too and I've found that you don't have to be real exact with the measurements.  I also use this to clean my stainless appliances as it doesn't streak but removes greasy fingerprints.

Glass/ Surface Cleaner:
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup isopropyl alcohol

There are tons of variations and recipes all over the place though.  Just Google and you can find all kinds of stuff.
Generally, for my spring cleaning, I do all the windows and dust/ clean the trim for each all around.  I wash all my interior rugs. (I do this periodically anyway but, you know).  Clean and sort all the pantry shelves.  Clean the refrigerator.  Clean/ dust cabinet shelves and all bookcases.  Clean all vents and filters.  Clean behind/ under all furniture and probably some more stuff I'm forgetting.
We are also trying to purge a good bit this spring because we have another town yard sale coming up in May.  Even though I try not to make any frivolous purchases throughout the year, and don't really, I still manage to some up with stuff I don't need.  Now, some of it this year is stuff I found I had stored at my Mom's from way back that I had forgotten about.  It's mostly stuff from my first marriage so it has absolutely no value to me and can make me a few bucks for something I do want!  I've always read how some people get like a "shopper's high" from buying stuff and use shopping, and buying, to alleviate stress and unhappiness but I think I have just the opposite situation.  I really love to find stuff I don't need anymore and am able to sell it!!  To get rid of all that stuff and pocket some money just gives me the biggest rush!!  Woowee Babyyy!!  Of course, I also love those uber contemporary houses with like 2 pieces of furniture and a bonsai on the counter; you know, nothing else.  I love Spartan aesthetics.

EDIT:  Some people do not consider alcohol and ammonia to be "green" choices for cleaning based solely on the fact that they can be irritating to breathe, to some people's skin etc. My choice for using them comes from the fact that they are naturally produced (our own bodies produce ammonia), biodegrade easily and naturally and I use them ONLY in very small quantities.  However, read up for yourself and make your own decisions.

Nothing I Can Do About It Now

Well, I got as much done as I could but, due to persistent rain, it didn't amount to as much as I would have liked. I did manage to get this window trimmed out. I thought they might want to take a photo of one of the few finished areas of the house! It looks so much better with trim on it. Nothing like a little publicity to throw yer butt in gear. I also got a few things cleaned up in different places and finally put a switch cover over the porch light switch.
We kept waiting for the rain to stop to attempt to get the brackets and pick board up on the roof but it just would not quit completely so we just went for it. Allen made the brackets (you can see one on the far right under the board) and we got them all ready and secured and hauled that heavy ass board up there. This is the 24' board and it weighs about 150 pounds. If the roof had been bone dry it would not have been as daunting but we got it anyway. As Allen said, things are better now because before, if we fell off the roof, we would hit the ground and roll off into the ditch at the foundation. But now, we'll just hit the ground!
In this photo you can (maybe) see that I had painted the plywood and I managed to get the rafter tails finished too. The wood looked so aged and bad I hated for them to take any photos of it like that. It looks much better now.
So, I'm going to try to get home tomorrow a hour or so before they get here and maybe tidy up some more. I just hope to don't say something too stupid in the interview part.

*Willie Nelson

Attitude Adjustment

I'm not sure what is going on but over the past week I seem to have developed a much more energetic and positive attitude about things. I mean, not that I've had a crappy attitude. Well, okay, (hush your mumbling..) occasionally I have but I just feel more like working I guess. Really working. I've just been kinda pissing around for so long now but I've got to make a stronger effort to complete things. I have decided a good goal would be that I must complete at least one project a day for at least 5 days of the week. And by project I don't mean really big ones; I just mean get something to a finished point. Like, I installed this skirt and drawer yesterday. Didn't take 15 minutes but it is one more thing done. Don't have to worry about that any more.
Didn't Mouse do a beautiful job on making this? This was his idea too; I didn't design it but after he showed me a little mock-up of what he was talking about it sounded great. I despise a lot of stuff on the counter tops and this let's me put most of my stuff in this little drawer, like that hairbrush sitting there which is now stowed in the drawer. He also designed and installed the drawer so that it pulls out at a slight angle, so it doesn't scuff the wall. Cool huh?
So, yesterday I also worked on siding and got this area almost done. However, right at the end of the day I discovered I had made a mistake in the top 4 pieces of siding. Ouch! So, I just put the tools up and first thing this morning I got up there and took those pieces down and corrected things. I did get this area topped out today and even caulked everything above the window. Tomorrow I'll need to go back and sand some places I patched. Well, the next day it's not raining anyway. I think we are supposed to have storms later.
So, finishing the west end has let me start again on the south side of the house and I began trimming out all the windows. I had to mill some more trim though and this takes a little while if you are doing it by yourself. I got a little further along than what this photo shows before the dark clouds opened up. It's so nice working off level ground too! I'll be so happy not to see that damn Tyvek anymore. The very first thing I did after getting the pick board set up was to clean those kitchen windows though! Gak! they were awful!
So, if it rains like they are saying I guess I'll spend tomorrow making pottery but that is a good thing because I owe several of you stuff. I haven't forgot! Just waiting for a rainy day.
The weather has just been incredible too. That may have something to do with my good attitude. It has been about 60-62 F the last couple of days so that makes for excellent working weather.


*Aerosmith

Smooth

This cabinet does have a door but I want to make a very simple stained glass insert for it before I put it on. Mouse made this for me, along with the coolest drawer and 'skirt' for underneath the bathroom countertop. He is, by trade, a cabinet maker and does some really pretty work. I wanted a very simple wall cabinet for the bath so he made this from my description. I've had it for a while but really need to get off my butt and get it installed, so today I started with the first coat of finish. I am using a spar varnish, as I did on all the woodwork in the bath. It is the best kind of finish you can use on anything that might be exposed to water. Not that I expect to be flinging water all over the walls and stuff but you never know....just messin'. The humidity produced in a bath is reason enough to use a spar. Now, spar is a type of varnish, not a brand. It has a slight odor until dry but not overwhelming and imparts a soft, golden glow to most woods. You can easily see which areas I have applied it to in the photo.
Now, your finish is only going to look as good as the tools you use, so buy a decent brush! A Purdy or similar and make sure it is for the type of finish you are applying. Not all paint brushes are for paint! Some are only for varnish or oil-based stuff etc. It will say plainly on the cover what that brush is for and yes, you should only buy brushes that come in the cardboard covers unless it is just for some real messy something that you are not going to see later.
Sand your piece well and the last pass should be with a fine paper like a 200 grit. Then, go over the piece well with a tack cloth, or at least a lightly damp cloth, to remove the dust. Make sure it's as clean as you can get it.
Apply one coat (not too thickly) and make sure you don't have any runs. Now, after this dries and you run your hand over the piece, it's going to feel rough but that's okay. Sand it again with the 200 grit and clean with the tack cloth. Apply a second coat of finish. When that dries you can feel it and decide if you want it smoother. The more you sand and reapply the finish, the slicker the piece will get.
This is an old painter's trick to extend the life of your sandpaper that some of you might not know. If you don't have a sanding block this is a good way to make a stiff surface for your paper and not screw your paper up. Fold one sheet in quarters to crease it and then tear one crease only to the center of the sheet.
Fold one quarter up so the the paper back is together.
Fold that quarter (which is actually two) over so that the abrasive side of one is touching the paper back of the other half.
Then, just fold up that last quarter. The idea is that none of the abrasive sides should be touching, so it will not wear itself out. You can then refold the paper as one quarter wears out and it provides a stiffer sanding surface than just one sheet of paper would. Pretty cool huh?! Those old painters do know a few things.
I also put the last finish coat on the drawer and skirt, so I should install them tomorrow. I'll post pics when I get that finished.


*Santana

Soak Up The Sun

I know this has taken forever and I have been teasing ya'll with bits of photos here and there but the time has come. I finally installed the stained glass window. I was going to wait until it was completely trimmed out and everything to show it but I'm having some issues with a little moisture between it and the exterior piece of glass, so I may end up having to take the window back out and seal things a little better, then reinstall the stained glass.
However, if I have to do that I believe I will wait until we have a warmer spell come along because there is such a discrepancy between the inside/outside temps right now I think it would just make things more difficult. As it is, a tiny bit of moisture between them is much better than the one piece of glass that was sweating profusely by itself.
So, here it is. I am quite pleased.




It does add a beautiful feel to the bath. A lot of people have questioned me as to why I insist on adding such touches to the house, because it takes so much time. Hell, I've questioned myself as to why I insist on such stuff! But once it's there it adds so much. It's just a nice touch.


*Sheryl Crow

Warm This Winter

If you look closely on the left side of the stove there, you will see some pipe rising up and going off to the left. This is a contraption I have rigged up to transfer some of the hot air blown out from the double walls of the stove, up to the bathroom. It works pretty good. There are three vents on the front of the stove that force the hot air out and into the room. I simply covered one of the side vents with a standard 4" boot, attached a 90 and a 4' section of pipe to get it up to the ceiling, another 90 etc and over to the vent in the bathroom floor. I had already cut this vent in the floor, in anticipation of the day I have some type of HVAC system, because it is a slate floor and didn't want to cut through that later. If the pipe could be straighter it would undoubtedly work better but as it is it keeps the bath anywhere from 69-72 degrees on a fairly cold day or night. It might do a little better if I insulate that pipe; not sure.

My intentions are to run another one of these off the vent on the other side, to go to the bedroom. The air blows pretty forcefully and warm air goes up anyway so it does help to get that warmth up there. I have discovered that, since I'm not here during the day to keep a fire going all the time, that the heater does not help a tremendous amount in keeping the rest of the house warmer. On the weekends when I'm here and can keep a continuous fire, you notice a big difference. The floor in the bedroom is very warm and the rest of the area of the house is more comfortable but during the week it just doesn't do much. I get a very hot fire going when I get home and it warms the basement quickly but the mass of the floors require a continuous heat. Still, it does help some and when I put in this other vent it will help the bedroom for immediate heat, I believe.

I bought a cheap bathroom exhaust fan and Allen installed the box in line with the duct work in an attempt to move more air up the pipe and into the house but it actually cooled the air too much to work any better. Plus, it was loud and required power. This method doesn't require additional electricity.

So, it has been pretty cold for here this past week and I've been burning a good bit of wood. We had a very light day at work on Wednesday, I think, so I came home and split the wood you see in my holder. We only poured a piddling 4 yards of concrete, and it was a footing, so I needed some exercise when I got home. I enjoy splitting wood actually. It is kind of soothing. If you have nice seasoned wood that is! I have read several other blogs of women that homestead and they express interest or a desire to be able to split wood but one said she was too weak. Now, I understand many women might have health conditions that make this type work impossible. And some women are built so petite that it would be very hard for them. But, for an average built, decently healthy woman, it is just a matter of conditioning. I swing a 8 lb. sledgehammer at work but it is just something I've gotten used to and that's the key to the whole thing. Just start out a little at a time but you have to do it everyday to build your muscles up. Most might not want to go to the extent I have but women need to build their muscles up in order to be more efficient. What if your husband gets bad sick and can't do some of that work? And I've read about that very thing happening on one woman's blog. Women need to become more self reliant about such things. The way things are going these days, manual labor or just doing more things by hand, is something many women might find themselves at the mercy of. Splitting wood is not something that requires massive brute force to a large extent. It is mostly technique. And a matter of a sharp axe and good maul or wedges. Of course, you have to be able to move the sections of wood around in order to get them into position but even this can be accomplished with a pry bar. So, ladies, build those muscles up! It will make you feel better in many ways.

Echos Round The Sun

This is the design I'm thinking about using for the window in the bath. I came up with this myself, sort of. I combined elements from several windows I have seen to make this. The BFA has been telling me that he would come up with something but he is just too busy to fool with it and I can't wait any longer. I am going to use a lot of clear, textured glass to maximize the amount of white light that comes in for solar gain but am going to put some lightly colored glass in it too. Some light blues and yellows, stuff like that. The window is about 32"x 38" I think. Something like that. I am also going to try to use glass and materials that I already have to make the window. I am going to have to buy a little bit but not much.
So, what do ya'll think? Of course, the house is quiet contemporary in design so I wanted to go with a modern looking window. The top most arched area will be a light blue, to symbolize the sky and the wavy streak running down through the area will be pale yellow to symbolize the sunlight coming in. The other lines and blocks stand for the structure of the house etc.

I might can even get started on this today. I have the table and materials all ready. I need to cut some firewood today and finish that freaking patch in the bathroom wall (I'm almost done) and paint that. Of course, there is always 27 million things to do here so I just pick the most relevant and try to finish that. I am very close to having the bath absolutely, completely done. I think that will help my feelings immensely. After the bath I need to go back out and start working on exterior projects. If I could just clone myself about 3 times.... Eeeew, on second thought, I wouldn't wish that on the world!

Hope everybody is having a good weekend and I'll try to be back soon. Not a lot going on here; kinda boring. Maybe I need to go out tonight.

*Paul Weller / don't care for his music but liked the title

Fixing A Hole

I messed up on my placement of the sink in the bathroom counter top so I needed to move one of the two sconce lights on that wall in order to get the mirror to center up properly over the sink. It wasn't off by much and I guess some might have not bothered but it was aggravating to me. So, Allen said he would move the light for me and I could do all the patching. Fair deal I thought.
There are several ways to patch drywall but this one is fairly easy. This way uses the same pieces you cut out and you just tape the cuts. This is 1/2" drywall installed on wood studs so I used 1 1/4" coarse-threaded drywall screws. You need to countersink the screws between a big 1/16" to 1/8" so that enough mud will cover the heads and the spots not pop back out when the mud dries. Now, you must tape your joints will either regular drywall tape or you can use this mesh sticky tape. If you don't your joints are going to develop cracks. This mesh type is handy and easy to use and it sticks on the wall itself so you don't have to apply the mud first and bed the tape in it. Not that that is hard to do but it just saves a step.

Next you just skim your first layer over the patch and no, it's not going to look good the first patch but you're not worried about that yet. You will probably have to skim out at least 4-6 inches past the cuts in order to feather the mud out properly. Don't worry about completely concealing the patch on this first pass either. If you look closely, you can still see the tape through the mud. You are going to have to make 3 or 4 passes. This is easier than trying to gob a bunch of mud on and sand it back down. Lots of people don't do well trying to patch drywall because they want to fix it as fast as possible, one pass and forget it, you know. Well, this is one of those things that you are just going to have to accept takes a little time. Use a big enough mud knife also. I used a 6" knife on this and that size should be fine for most patches. It's hard to describe the action of applying the mud. You scoop an even line of mud about 2" thick across your knife and then just smear it down the joint kinda thickly. Scrape excess mud off your knife on the edge of the pan and then draw the clean knife back down the joint, smoothing the mud and removing the excess. Keep repeating this around the patch, kinda feathering the mud out as you go around. You just have to keep practicing and you will see how the mud works. Don't work it to death though. Once you get a thin layer all the way around with no huge ridges, stop! Let that dry, scrap or sand those ridges down (and yes, you will have some small ridges at first) and apply the next thin layer of mud. Repeat, sanding in between. As you apply the last couple of layers it sometimes helps to thin the mud a little with water. then sand and prime. After you prime it you may see some small scratches in the mud and you can touch them up then.
I still haven't finished this patch myself! Hopefully I can get it done today and paint it soon. Most of the time it seems that I am just going at a snail's pace towards finishing this house but I guess as long as you are moving forward, no matter how slow, that's what matters. I guess.

*The Beatles

A Little Better Explanation

OK, this is a crappy little drawing but if you click on it and enlarge it you might be able to make sense of what I did with the sink counter. I know my photos of the pouring did not show things well. I was in a hurry and didn't realize I had not taken any photos until after I already had one bucket of mud in the form.

Basically, I located all of my wall studs that were withing the boundaries of the counter and drilled a 9/16" hole in each stud about an 1 1/4" down from the top of grade. Which is to say, down from what would be the surface of the concrete. It is 2" thick concrete and I tied a mat so you have to account for stacking two layers of rebar. I then inserted #4 rebar into each hole in the studs, glueing each one very well with construction adhesive and letting them extend out into the counter about 12". This gave me two #4 bars in each wall, which gives you more strength since the dowels are on 2 sides, rather than just on one wall. The countertop being set into a corner allows for both of your outermost corners to be supported. A triangle is one of the strongest forms and if you can keep the back corner down, the front can't tip forward.
I then tied #3 rebar to the #4 bars and long enough to run the length and width of the counter. I used #3 because this would take up less space, allowing more concrete around the bars but wanted stronger ones (the #4's) in the wall for obvious reasons. You can bend #3 bars pretty easily but #4 is much harder to bend.

I had to bend two of the #4's to get them to go into the studs straight but miss the sink area where they extended into the counter area. Now, I have a rebar bender to make this easy but you can bend it using a long secure pipe (a cheater bar) or a stump and nails etc.

I think I actually tied more rebar in the counter than what the drawing shows but I can't remember exactly. You get the idea though.
The counter is 42" long and about 22" deep, so it is not really that big of a surface. However, it is still pretty heavy and I think if I had made the counter any larger I would definately put 2 brackets under it for support.

So, FC, basically, it is attached to the wall the same way your mantel is.

Carved In Stone Part 2

OK, here is the countertop after the form was dropped out and the styrofoam block out for the sink pulled out. I let the concrete cure for 4 days before removing anything and it's not a bad idea to wait 7 days. I also kept a wet towel over the slab for mot of that time to help the concrete cure. As you can guess, I made the blockout from rigid styrofoam just so it is easy to get out once it is encased in the concrete. You can cut it up if you have to but being rigid it does not give against the weight of the concrete. I traced the outermost diameter of the sink shape and then came in about 3/4" all the way around to get the size for the blockout. That leaves the sink edge resting on about 3/4" of concrete all around. The sink sits off to one side of the countertop but is centered over the plumbing stub outs. Now, I made another mistake doing this. I did not notice until later that this makes the sink slightly off-center the two light fixtures, thus any mirror hung between the fixtures will not center up over the sink. This is what happens when you let it take so long to complete a project: you forget what your original thoughts and plans were on the project and you get in such a hurry to finish eventually that you don't think about stuff like that. So, I'm going to have to move one light fixture out slightly to correct this. No big deal but still aggravating.
I also poured a two-part backsplash for this countertop but did not get photos of that process.

This sink, along with 2 more, were salvaged from one of the hospital remodels we did a couple of years ago. They are practically brand new Kohler sinks and came with the fixtures and all. Now, I hate those fixtures and will replace this one shortly but for now, this is what I got. Now, when I wrecked the form off it left a sharp edge on the top of the slab but there is an easy way to remedy that. The bottom edge was very slick and rounded due to the silicone caulk I ran in that crack.

A 4" side grinder is one of the best tool investments you can make. They make an endless variety of discs for these things for use on everything from wood to concrete. They are not just for metal anymore! I simply used an 80 grit sanding disc but, if you want to spend the money, they make a bunch of diamond-coated discs and blades sized for these tools.

So, WETTING the edge of the concrete, I simply rounded that top edge off until I had the contour I wanted. Now, even these sanding discs will take off quite a bit if you are not careful so you have to pay attention to what you are doing. You don't have to wet the concrete but if you are working inside it's a good idea. So is wearing a dust mask. I just kept the faucet running slightly and would periodically scoop a little water over on the edge as I passed by. Now, this does make a mess in your floor and on the walls so cover stuff that you can't just mop clean.

I then used a hair dryer and heater to dry the concrete thoroughly before applying the sealer. There are many types of sealer for concrete but I simply used a 50/50 mixture of beeswax and naturally derived linseed oil because ya'll know I try to only use natural products. For kitchen countertops, you can get a food-grade beeswax to seal those with. We have used that to seal limestone countertops and it works fine on concrete. The mixture I used darkened the slab considerably but it will lighten up some as the product cures. Either way it is fine with me. I then used silicone caulk to glue the two pieces of backsplash into place. In a couple of days I will caulk the cracks between the countertop and backsplash and against the wall. The beeswax/linseed oil is very sticky and thick at first, so you have to heat it to apply it smoothly, but it soaks in quickly and after about 30-60 minutes I wipe off the excess and buff the surface. It will not make it shiny but has a nice satin finish. If you want to use concrete for a finished product you need to be able to accept a certain amount of surface variation. It will not look like Corian or limestone. It has veins and mottling and even some tiny surface cracks so you have to accept that. Now, I don't say that to make excuses for poor workmanship; it is just the material that you are working with.
I was kinda surprised at how many of you are wanting to do concrete countertops so I will do another post on tools and more specifics on how to finish the concrete. I will tell you this, concrete is a wonderful material but it is very unforgiving. You need to practice on some things before you start your real project if you don't have much experience. It takes a real touch and lots of experience to be able to get that hard, slick finish and once the concrete starts 'going' there is not much you can do to stop it. There are some tricks and such and I will try to give ya'll some more info on that. If you have any specific questions or something I didn't even show, please ask.

Carved In Stone Part 1

I'm so happy that I finally just bit the bullet and poured my concrete countertop in the bathroom. It was no big deal but I just kept putting it off. Well, I did (and still do) have more pressing exterior issues to deal with but it is nice to have this done. I was actually able to beg a day off from work last week and knock it out. Sunday, Allen set the sink and hooked everything up for me so it was functional for Christmas, which was nice.
Excuse the poor quality of the photos. I almost forgot to even take any and then I was in a hurry so they didn't come out too well.
First, I determined that I wanted the top of countertop to be at 32". Standard height is 30" but that seems low to me. The countertop itself is 2" thick and I used 3/4" material to form the bottom, so I dropped down 2 3/4" to the top of the 2x4's that I attached to the walls to support the "floor" of the form. I ran 3 1/2" screws through the 2x4's into the studs so that makes for strong support and can be easily wrecked. Well, should be. As I mentioned before though, I was in a hurry and not paying attention so I ran a few screws in that could not be gotten to after the concrete was poured and so some of the form just had to be busted to be removed. Even us "pros" make mistakes if we are not thinking.

I found some kind of plastic trim (I think it was for screen doors or something) that made a perfect flexible edge. It bent lengthwise but not widthwise. After I had my 2x4's attached to the wall I scabbed two 1x12's together to make the floor and temporarily attached it in the corner so I could draw out the shape I wanted. I made this base a little oversize and square so I would have plenty of room to draw. I also made a template for my sink shape and placed that on there to help determine the shape of the countertop. I just free handed the shape I wanted for the outer edge with a pencil and then took the base down and cut it with a jigsaw. I glued together 4 small sheets of Dowboard and cut the sink template out of that. the red line you see on the back wall is my grade line. I doweled four #4 bars into the studs in the wall which protrude about 12 " into the slab. I tied a grid within the form out of #3 bars. I had to use slightly thin rebar to get it all within the 2" of mud and the #3 bars are easily bent too. I used lots of construction adhesive on the dowels where they went into the studs. I put 2 dowels in each wall and so that makes a nice perpendicular grid to support the slab once the forms are dropped out.

Here you can see the shoring underneath: the 2x4's on the wall and I cut three 2x's to shore up the outer edge of the form. Even this tiny bit of concrete will be heavy. The countertop has a slight drop to the outer edge. I think about an 1/8" from back to front. I just didn't want any water to run towards the wall and you will never see that slight of a fall. I used 100% silicone to caulk all the cracks where any concrete would be. This prevents a mess from running down the walls when the mud begins to weep and gives you a nice slick finish on the front, bottom edge. The top, front edge I'll have to grind smooth.

Now, I used a mix of one bag of Sackrete to a 1/2 bag of non-shrink grout. Non-shrink grout is mostly portland cement and will help strengthen the mix and I think it helped give it a nicer finish. This is what mud looks like right after it is floated off. I tapped the underside of the form with a hammer to "vibrate" the mud and remove as many air bubbles as possible. You always need to vibrate your concrete in some way. This helps in surround the rebar fully and become as dense as possible. Vibrating also helped the concrete flow down to grade pretty much on its own. Of course, this is such a small amount of concrete it's almost on grade as soon as you get it in the form!

When it is vibrated correctly, this is what it looks like. It gets really wet looking on top and you start seeing these little volcano-looking air pockets pop up. Now, you can vibrate too much but unless you are using the big, mechanical vibrators like we use at work, that is not going to be a problem. I then floated it off one more time to make sure it was on grade and get a little smoother finish. You then just have to let the mud sit and start curing. The more you mess with it, the longer it will take to start setting up because you need to let that water rise up to the surface and start evaporating. And remember, concrete cures, it does not dry. I will show the rest of the process in the next post and the finished product. I think it came out well. If anybody has any questions so far please ask. I know I don't always explain things well.

Gloomy Sunday

These photos don't look gloomy but they were taken last weekend I believe. This weekend is drizzly rainy and dark but not too cold. It has been raining on and off for several days now and we are all very glad. So maybe it's not so gloomy after all. I actually had to go into work today as someone from our company has to be on the job if a subcontractor works, so I was the lucky one to get to go in. Anyway, I have been working on some stuff at the house but not anything really big or exciting. I ran some trim around the windows and worked on getting more of a temporary kitchen set up. Things are going well; just not enough money coming in fast enough to do some of the big projects that I need to do. You can see from these photos a little better the amount of sunlight that comes in. The book that I went by said that for people in our region, we should not have any more than 7% (of your square footage) in glass on the south side. I think that is actually a little slim. I think I could have gone with 10% and done OK. Of course, unless I just ran windows solid across the back, I could not have gotten too many more in. I did need some wall space. This is taken from the other side of the living area. There is a lot of work still to be done. This wall obviously needs sheathing and the tile work done and I think I will build a small hearth under the little heater. I am not really satisfied with the supplemental heating of the house. Even at 70 degrees inside the house still just feels cold. So, by way of an experiment and at Allen's insistence, we started heating the underside of the house, the basement area and turned this heater in the house way down. We put a propane heater under the house and directly under the bathroom where I had poured a small concrete slab for the water pump that did not end up going there. Well, the results have been astounding. That slate floor in the bathroom heated up (and the bedroom floor too) and it just warmed that whole area so incredibly. Before, that slate was so cold I could hardly stand to step on it. I knew it would be cold before I installed it but it seemed to chill the entire space. Now, it is so nice. When I have it heated you can't pry Grendal off that floor with a crow bar. I even laid down on it myself. It is really amazing how much difference having a warm floor makes. It warms the whole floor too; even out in the living room etc. Now, I have noticed that at 67-68 degrees the house actually feels warmer. I think that psychologically, having cold feet makes you cold all over. I was afraid that this would double my gas costs but the heater in the living room rarely comes on when the one in the basement is going so I think that it will not add that much at all.
I'm thinking now that if I install a good, efficient wood burning stove under the house and some vents in the floor, I could heat the house very nicely at very little cost. And on days that I don't feel like fooling with the wood stove I still have my gas back up. There is plenty of head room for such and it's all on concrete down there. I just need to figure out where to vent the smoke from a wood burning stove. I don't want it coming up right beside the house. As I mentioned before, I would also like to preheat my water through the use of a wood stove because that would save money on the water heater and I am also having some trouble with condensation in the house. The water going into the toilet and kitchen cold water line is SO cold the tank on the toilet and water lines sweat almost constantly.
I tried to get a decent photo of the bath since it has gotten a little more completed but there is not much room. This will one day be the guest bath so Pablo, if you and Libby come visit, this will be for you. I'll make Grendal stay on the other side.

Move Over

I think I have mentioned several times how happy I am with my shower but even Grendal loves it too. She gets very impatient for me to get out and will stick her head in and whack on the curtain with her paws. She wants to lick the water off the walls for some reason. I don't know. She has plenty of fresh spring water in her bowl, which she drinks, but she likes this. If I could just get her to clean the shower somehow...
She loves to lay in the patches of sunlight around the house too. I figure she may be adding somewhat to the heating of the house because she is dark colored and very large so her thermal mass is significant. When I mentioned this theory to Allen, he said that molecules produce more heat when they are agitated so therefore I should let Grendal soak up a lot of the sunlight and then kick her in the ass. That should agitate her pretty good and she would release a lot of heat. I said I did not think much of that theory. Seriously, Allen doesn't kick my cat but he likes to talk bad about her. Grendal is enjoying the house very much though. She plays a lot more than she used to.

I have been working on the kitchen some lately; mainly trying to get it more organized. I put up some temporary countertops and a wall shelf for dishes. I've run some more window trim and OH! Man! I almost forgot!!! I bought a new washer and dryer! They are beautiful! They are GE Energy Star models. Wonderful appliances. I will post about them soon. I know you are on the edge of your seat! But they are very nice and work so quickly; it's amazing.

The phone company came out this week and ran my cable for phone and internet, etc. it is not completely hooked up but it's getting close. Hopefully I will soon be posting from actually inside my house!! That will be so cool.

Stormy Weather

Well, this photo does not look all that stormy but we have really gotten some bad weather today and more is coming. They called a rain out today at work so you know it was bad. We always joke that we don't get rained out anymore unless they hear the tornado sirens go off. The lightning finally convinced them today.
Not much going on at the house. I think we may try to rough in for the washer and dryer this weekend and I am going to trim out some windows on the inside. The next big projects are going to be the exterior of the house. It looks awful on the outside and I have got to get something started there. I did find out this week that there will not be any construction costs for the phone company to run lines to my house though, so that is some good news. I guess I will have a land line but I am more concerned with getting Internet connections and maybe some TV. I haven't been able to watch CBS Sunday Morning lately. That is about the only show I much care to watch. Well, Antiques Roadshow too. Am I a nerd or what?
The water filter seems to still be working fine although I did have a brief period of dirty water about a week ago that I can't figure out. It was right after a very heavy rain so I suspect maybe it was from runoff into the spring. I am going to observe everything after this rain and see what happens. I guess the filter is backwashing itself. It is set to do it after midnight and I never hear it. I am tempted to get up during the night that it is scheduled and see if it is actually working.
Several people have asked if I have noticed if the house seems to be functioning as far as absorbing the heat from the sun during the day etc. I want to keep some records of temperatures inside the house to see what it is doing. The last weekend I was off I did notice that the heater did not run any during the day and the house was staying about 69-70 degrees. I believe this was with the outside temps being in the mid 50's. But does this occur in regular houses? Does anyone out there have to run their heat in the daylight hours under the same conditions? There is quite a bit of sunlight coming in the house at this point. If I can get a day off so that I am home during the day I will try to photograph some of this! We have been having warmer than normal temps this week (after that terrible cold the week before) so anything I would record now I don't think would really count. I do know that the underside of the house stays fairly warm now even when it is really cold outside. When I backfill that concrete wall it will get better still I believe.

Well, I'll try to have something a little more interesting next post. Right now my big excitement is to turn the stereo up and take a good hot shower. I have to say, that shower is worth the money and effort I put into it. Allen said the only problem with it is that you don't want to get out. Amen.

Minute By Minute

Here is some of the stuff we worked on this weekend. I bought a vent free propane wall heater for the house and installed it on this wall between the kitchen and living room. This gives it a central location in the house. Sorry the photo is bad but I have trouble getting good detail at night. I framed out the middle section of that wall to give it some visual substance and the chase formed by that will accommodate the ductwork for the vent for the range hood on the opposite side, gas lines and some electrical. I sheathed the wall in Durock because I want to tile this wall. Being a ceramic artist, I must make some tile of my own for the house and thought that this would be a nice accent. Plus, I'm hoping that the tile will absorb heat from the heater and help warm the house. I have had a lot of questions about the heating and air system for the house and I'll tell you why I put this thing in. I am planning on installing a HVAC system but I would like for it to be a geothermal system which means it uses underground water to supply the heat and cooling. It is obviously more complicated than that but that is kinda basically it. They say the systems are like 400% more efficient than normal HVAC systems and use a lot less power. They are also more expensive to install. If I go this route I would prefer to put it in after all of the house is built, not to mention, I can't afford any kind of HVAC right now so temporary heat is it. Now, after finding a wall unit this attractive, I may keep it permanently installed because in the case of a power outage, any kind of HVAC is going to go out. And if I am old and/or sick I don't want to be chopping wood to keep warm. The looks are a little deceiving though. From this photo and the one on the box, it appears that the heater is recessed into the wall and that is not the case but after installing it I think it still looks OK.
This is just the backside of that same wall and you can see some of the wiring for the kitchen counter tops. Oh, there will be bookshelves on either side of the heater up to that bar height which is 4 feet. On top of this wall I can display some ceramics or sculpture.
And look! that is HOT water coming out of that shower head. Wooohooo!! No, I have not actually taken a shower yet. I can't find a #$%^&* shower curtain rod that I like. And I really need to install the new sediment filter, which came today, and get the water cleared up. The filters that I have on the lines now also greatly reduce the water pressure so I am anxious to get them off and this new filter on. It is supposed to only reduce pressure by 1 psi which should leave me plenty. I'll show lots of details about that as we install it.
And I painted this wall, almost. It needs another coat as I saw tonight that I have lots of holidays in it. I also need to get a taller ladder or shorter scaffold to do the rest on the right there. The color is a darker version of what I did the bedroom and clerestory walls in. I like earthy, vibrant colors as you can tell. Wait 'til you see the kitchen color! You can also see one of the ceiling fans here. I don't remember if I have shown them before. They are an industrial type fan in brushed nickel.
Well, the countdown is to be in before Christmas. I told the guys at work that I am going to go ahead and buy the biggest Christmas tree that I can afford and keep it outside until I move in so there is no backing down now! I might be decorating that tree on Christmas Day but it will be there!!

I'm Just A Lucky So and So

Edit: Pablo noticed that I have not used a song title for my post title in some time, so I came up with this good one. Extra points for anyone that can name either the original composer or any singer since then. The lady that did the version I am familiar with is one of my favorites.

Here are just a couple of pics of the tile work in the shower. I have most of the tile installed at this point and will have those photos up soon I hope. I picked a commercial, unglazed porcelain tile in a speckled light brown. I think it goes well with the slate and I just love the unglazed texture. It won't be slippery when it's wet either. I think it has a nice contemporary look too in the 2x2 size. It comes in 1'x2' sheets so it actually goes down pretty quickly once you get the lines laid out. Now, I ordered this from a local tile company rather than buying from Lowe's or one of those stores. The selection is so much better from a good tile supplier and they know what you need. I did try to find something at Lowe's because they had 2x2 tiles for about half what I paid for this but they just can't get you all you need. I wanted the cove tiles for the inside corners, bullnose for the edges, etc. and the people at Lowe's just look at you like you are asking them to pull a camel out of their ear if you want them to order such a thing.
Here you can see that I laid out 2 walls so that I could establish the joints going across and back. I installed these tiles and then had a secure basis for starting the tiles going up the walls while still having room to stand in the shower and work on the walls. I hate to sound like I am bragging but my good karma has just been hitting right on lately. If you look at the tiles closely you might see that the tiles all work out perfectly with no cuts at all across or back. The joints are all evenly spaced etc. Well, when we built this shower, I had no idea what kind of tile or anything that I was going to use so the size of the shower was just kind of arbitrary. We did not try to size the shower for the tile or anything, yet it hit dead on! If I had tried to size it I probably would have screwed it up royally. I got my mojo going on! Well, anyway... I really like those cove bottom corners because it gives you a nice smooth corner to clean. No sharp corners to try and get in there and scrub.
I'm still having to work Saturdays in Birmingham so things are not going as fast I would like although they never do. Tomorrow I hope to install the last pieces of tile that required cuts. These are the ones on the end of the curb, the vertical corners and I installed 2 cool shelves and need to cope the tile in around them. Then maybe one night during the week I can grout the whole thing. Allen installed the shower fixtures today so I could have a working shower by next weekend.

We're Baaaaack!!

Hey! We are up and running again! We had a thunderstorm here about Monday, I guess, and it zapped the computer even though we have a surge protector and all that. I know I am a moron for not having hard copies of a lot of stuff and I lost most everything. Most of my house photos, files, documents, etc. Anyway, it took a couple of days to get our programs loaded back up after we got the computer back but I am posting again! Quite a bit has been happening at the house. I have finished painting the bedroom and clerestory wall after much touch up. This is a real sagey (sp.?) color. I like it and think it will look good with the natural wood trim. I will start running trim tomorrow as a matter of fact. It's some really nice pine I had leftover from a job so I won't have to buy any of that for a while.
We have set the toilet but have encountered a problem with that. Here, Allen is removing the center of the toilet flange. It's made to pop out like that; they make it in there so that debris does not get thrown down your drain during construction. The toilet is left over from one of Allen's jobs and it's practically brand new. It's been several years since that job and we both forgot why the owners didn't want it. Well, we found out after hooking it up. There is a slight crack in the upper part of the bowl, so it leaks! But, I have various products for repairing porcelain and ceramics so I drained the toilet, let it dry and then patched the crack with a glazing material that you don't have to fire. Should work fine but it has to cure for at least 10 hours so it will be tomorrow before I know if it is OK. But that's what you get when you use reclaimed material. Most of the time stuff is in great shape but sometimes you do have an issue to deal with like that. Some people won't accept anything but perfect stuff but it doesn't bother me. The crack is on the side away from the door and under the seat, so no one will probably see it anyway.
Here we have put the wax ring on, note the kind that has the little plastic ring built in. Allen thinks these are better than just the wax. I know this is just riveting information but I don't have photos of much else! If you have never installed a toilet before though, this might come in handy someday because you never know.......
Allen secured the brass bolts in the toilet flange and then placed the toilet carefully down over them. It helps here if you have someone (me!) guide the bolts up through the holes in the toilet bottom because he was mostly concerned with getting the wax ring in the right spot. Then you press down evenly on the toilet to squish the toilet down over the wax ring. Allen just sits on it backwards; that mashes it down pretty good. Then you put the washers and nuts on the bolts and carefully tighten to snug the toilet down. I grouted under the toilet instead of just caulking because the slate, being natural stone and therefore of varying thickness, left a little bigger gap between the toilet and floor than say, VCT or linoleum would.
Well, hopefully my next post will be a little more exciting or at least more aesthetically pleasing. I am about to start setting light fixtures on the clerestory wall and I am going to be making these myself so you all have to help me and tell me if they look stupid or not. I'll show you what I'm thinking of doing; it's one of the best recycling projects I've come up with. Anybody out there drink a lot of wine?

Under Pressure

Here is a different view of the clerestory wall and windows that I don't believe I have shown before. I took these while up on the scaffold I am using to sand and paint this wall and the ceiling. Lots of things are happening since I have so much time now to work on the house. I have primed almost all of the walls that got Sheetrock. I completely finished painting the bathroom and it's ready for flooring. More about that later. This wall is primed and ready for the final color. The title of this post refers to the extreme difficulty I have in picking colors. The BFA is of no help lately. He is very busy on real projects so I am mostly on my own with this now. I have only my concept of what he verbally described as wanting this room to look like, which is probably nothing like what he imagined. So, we'll all get over it. It's going to look good I think, at any rate.

I also cleaned the steel beam here and it's waiting it's final coat of wax. Lots of people ask me if this beam has been painted or if I'm going to paint it and I'm not. I left the mill scale, which is a natural, blackish coating that forms on the steel as it is rolled. I love the way it looks and a good coat of wax will keep the edges from rusting. I have installed the screens in these windows so that I can keep them open all the time now. Normally, you would not put the screens in until a house is completely done (they don't usually come with the window anyway) but these windows are not likely to have anyone messing around them. I think having them open helps a lot to vent the hot air in the house. I have a thermometer in the house and with no air conditioning, the house usually stays about 10-12 degrees cooler than the outside on a sunny day. Now, that's not too bad but on days when it reaches 95, that can get warm. I think with the addition of ceiling fans, it will be a little cooler or feel like it anyway. I plan on having air conditioning but it will probably have to be a window unit for a while.

This is just a close up of the rafter tails. I am using a natural polymerized linseed oil/beeswax finish on the rafters and plywood decking. It is a beautiful golden color, completely natural, biodegradable finish, VOC-free and smells wonderful. The beeswax gives it anti-static properties also so they claim surfaces finished with it won't attract dust. I had to order this stuff from New York and it was kind of expensive but I think its worth it for the health factor. By getting so much salvaged material for free etc. I feel I can splurge some on a few things like this. These rafters don't have anything on them in this photo. The tail part (spruce) of the rafter ( #2 yellow pine) is going to be stained a slightly darker color (which I started today) to accent them a little from the rafter. It took a long time to finish around each of these tails and make the Sheetrock look good.

This is not a very good shot but I was trying to show something of the bathroom. I am having to mix my own colors due to the fact that I was given various paint. You get it free but have to take what is available. Hey, but I'm not complaining! It's worked out really well. I was able to mix up just the right color in a kitchen and bath semi-gloss. The colors are not showing up well in these photos though. This is a light sand color that goes great with the slate floor and I will have white trim. I wanted to show the shower to show that you can finish Durock just like Sheetrock. It would be pretty pricey to tile the shower all the way to the ceiling so I am going to stop it about 18" from the top. You have to skim the Durock maybe a couple more times than Sheetrock but you can't tell where one leaves off. Here, I have cut in my corners and am about to roll the walls.

I did a little investigating on the VOC levels in paint as far as what is considered unhealthy and all. Anything above 150 grams per liter is generally considered not good. All paint, stain etc. now has this information on the label so I checked out the stuff I got and it was all around 60-85 grams/liter except the semi-gloss in the bathroom. It was 163 g/l but I figure I will just leave the windows open slightly until I'm sure the paint has dried to let everything air out good.

Tomorrow I plan to continue finishing the ceiling and rafters so maybe I will have photos of that soon. I think it looks great so far. I am very excited!!!