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!

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!

Looking Back...And Ahead

The purple crocus down by the creek have finally awoken to signal the earliest signs of a much anticipated spring.  We still flip-flop between cold, dreary and thunderously rainy days to warm, agonizingly bright sunny days.  Currently, it's one of those bright, sunny ones but with a forecast of snow flurries tonight.  Such is Alabama and all this does wonders for my sinuses and bronchitis, which is still clinging for dear life.
So, in an effort to cheer myself by looking at what all we've accomplished this past year and what I want to get done this coming year, I offer you the standard Blog Year in Review!

In the Garden:
1.  We established a sizable asparagus bed with 1 year old plants.  I'm really looking forward to being able to cut a few stalks this spring.  If it comes up, that is.
2.  I redid my existing strawberry bed with plants more acclimated and bred for our southern climate.  It shows some promise already.
3.  Established a small grove of tea plants.  They are still alive anyway and hopefully will show quite a bit of growth this year.
4.  Planted yet another apple tree to replace the one decimated by moles (or whatever) this past year.

In The House:
1.  As you may see in the photo above, all of the incoming power and cable/ Internet is now underground. Just so happened that the phone company came out the next week to upgrade things for us (no charge) and happily ran new Internet/ phone cable through that dedicated underground conduit.  Now there are NO overhead wires anywhere around the house.
2.  Installed new kitchen cabinets!  Yay!
3.  Installed duct work and electrical for range hood vent and completely closed up the dividing wall in the kitchen.
4.  Painted main kitchen wall and trimmed out all windows.
5.  Started wall covering on west end of kitchen.
6.  We finished the clerestory area of the house completely!!  Way, way overdue.
7.  Also finished all the painting/ siding and miscellaneous on exterior of the house.  Even installed the porch light fixtures.

Chickens/ Land/ Misc.:

1.  Added a bitty coop to the Big Run so batches of young chicks can be more easily separated from grown hens and have more room.
2.  Built a large wood drying and storage shed. 
3.  Established my pottery business to a greater degree by securing 3 more outlets for sales and enlarging my product line/ new glazes etc.
4.  Added to the landscaping by enlarging my daffodil and iris collections.

There may be a few other things that have slipped my mind at the moment but I think that is the majority of it.  Seeing how long this post already is (more stuff done than I thought!) I think I'll do a separate post on what we want to do this year.  Now, if I could just get well enough to work before any more of this year slips away!

That Smell

With the recent painting renewal it also became time to deal with an issue that, over the past couple of years, has become a serious problem.  Carpenter bees have been eating select parts of my house, or trying to anyway.  Now really, they were only going after the few pieces of wood on the house that are pressure treated.  I don't understand that at all.  You would think they would avoid the chemically treated wood and go for the natural stuff but I guess these bees aren't interested in the 'green' movement.  When they first started coming around I didn't do much because it really hurts my soul to kill these creatures and they were just chewing on some boards that are probably going to be replaced anyway when I put up the real porch columns.  However, one thing I learned is that the offspring of these little piggies return each spring, somehow, to exactly the spot where they were hatched, even using the same holes sometimes.  Well, after enough generations these holes fill up faster and it's time for expansion!  Time to move to the suburbs!  When I noticed they were now crawling up under my roofing trim and flashing to get to the tops of my rafters, I said 'No more'.  I know you are a great pollinator.  I know you are a vital part of the ecosystem.  But I cannot let you eat my house.  I really, really, really hated it but we did kill a number of them to get them out of the rafters.  I do not want to continue such a thing though; neither the killing or the eating, so I did a little Google-fu and found this stuff.

It is an all- natural carpenter bee repellent that you mix in paint or just water and apply to whatever you don't want them to eat.  I was a little skeptical but willing to try.  It is also supposed to be time released so it lasts for several years.  Today I mixed it in the paint that I use on the rafters and some other trim and got to work.  Let me first just say that the odor is.....STRONG.  I would use caution if you have a bad problem with strong odors.  Secondly, nothing came near me the whole day I was painting.  No bees, skeeters, bugs, Jack, gnats, nada.  Even the dreaded deer fly stayed away if I had that bucket near me.  One dirt dobber buzzed around my head a couple of times and then flew off screaming.  Finally, towards the end of the day a lone carpenter bee appeared after I had put the paint up to do some caulking.  I got the paint back out and eased over to the rafters he was scrutinizing.  I gently brushed on some paint in his general direction.  He eased on down the other way about 8 feet.  I followed.  Little more paint near him.  He quickly buzzed off and went up to check out the eaves.  I followed.  A few more slaps of paint and he said the heck with it, I'm leaving.  Now, I don't know that it was the smell but whenever I came near him with that paint he left and I was being real quiet about it to try not to spook him.

It says that it will also repel other bugs; ants, spiders and such so I think I'll mix some in some water and spray my foundation and bottom run of siding.  I don't have any problem with bugs coming in the house now but it never hurts to do a little preventative work.  I wonder if it would repel chickens??

Oh, one note: I realize the bees are not actually ingesting my house.  They are chewing it up and spitting it out.  Same thing.  Same problem.

The Follow Through

I don't think I ever showed ya'll the completely finished pantry!  This is pretty much it completed.  I do have a little touch up on the paint and a tad of shoe mould to run but it's pretty much done.  I was pleased with the final product.  You can see on the top shelf some of the stuff I canned this year.  Hopefully I will add a few more pints of things to this still.  I have about 12-14 half pints of jams, 4 or 5 pints of salsa, a couple of pints of pickles and about 2 dozen pints of pickled okra.  I know that's not a lot but it's better than I did last year.  I hope to can a few more tomatoes at least, as my Amish Paste are still coming in.  I have also harvested and dried a lot of herbs, which are in the glass jars on the countertop.  I also put up shelves over the window and door to hold canning supplies and extra jars, etc.

Directly opposite that wall is this wall with the electrical panel.  Code requires your panel to have at least 3 feet of clear space in front of it so we simply put it by the cased opening of the pantry so it would naturally stay clear.  We had room to set the little wall for it out slightly in order to make little storage cubby holes there too.  It's just right for a small broom closet type thing and to hide stuff like toilet paper and such but still be easy to get to.

 I put up a few extras like this bulletin board to record stuff I run out of and all.  The shelf above the door also holds table linens and such.

This is the hardware I chose.  I like the very streamlined and contemporary look.  I know a lot of people think homes in the country should look, well, country but that is just not my cup of tea.  All of the fixtures, appliances, switch plates, hardware and the like are brushed stainless in my house.  It's a very clean, minimalist look to me.  I think it goes well with the maple woodwork and cabinets too.

Leave The Bourbon On The Shelf

Not my personal philosophy mind you, just the title to an actual song. So, these are the shelves after loading them up. I didn't think I really had enough stuff to fill all of them but lo and behold, there is even more stuff I didn't get on there. Of course, once the base cabinet is installed a few items will go in there and that will free up some shelf space.
And yes, on that middle shelf is some very excellent Knob Creek whiskey that someone recently gave me. It's not as good though if you don't have someone to share it with.

I started out by attaching these brackets to the walls at the appropriate heights. I made these out of the little bit of leftover cypress I had. It is a beautiful wood also. They are 1 1/4" thick and 1 1/2" top to bottom. I cut the length so that the long point is about 1/4" shorter than the width of the shelf. I also think the angle cut on front just looks nicer that a square cut and doesn't give you something to poke your hand on. Not that you would really but you never know. Now, Allen talked me into sheathing the interior of the pantry with plywood instead of sheetrock and I am somewhat glad I did this. This way you can run a screw into any part of the wall; you don't have to worry about hitting a stud in order to have the screw hold. It is very important to pre-drill the holes in any small piece of wood like this and I also countersunk the holes so that the bugle head screws would sink up flush the the surface of the wood. I used something like 2 1/2" coarse-thread screws to attach these brackets to the wall.

Once I got the brackets up I simply laid in the shelves, one at a time and working from the bottom up. Starting at the bottom lets you have plenty of space to work above and not be knocking your head on a shelf or whatever. I also put two dowels along the length of the shelves, into the studs, to help support the back length but my pics of that didn't come out worth a crap. I believe I am also going to add a center bracket to each shelf though, to support the front edge.

I used these 2" trim head screws to attach the shelves to the brackets, predrilling those holes too. The trim head allows the screw to sink beneath the surface of the wood but leaves a very small, inconspicuous hole that can easily be filled if you want. These will never be seen but they were the length I needed. I used three screws in the each, evenly paced of course. I mentioned that if you have a wide board that has some cupping in it you can draw that out by installing the board with the cupped middle facing up. It is easier to draw the middle down with screws than to try to draw and keep the edges down. Screw the back of the board down first and then the middle. It sometimes helps to clamp or wedge the hump out and then run the screw in securely. When you take the clamp or wedge off the board will remain flat.

So, I was happy to get this done. At least one thing that makes me feel good. Work is fairly sucky right now, as is my personal life. I know I have a crappy attitude but I could really use a nice thing to happen now. In the meantime I'm just trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

* The Killers

Talkin' Smooth

I had to laugh today when I read Beau's account, over at Foxhaven Journal, of his construction of one, little chicken coop door that took him all day to do. I told him not to feel bad; it took me all weekend to install 3 measly shelves in my pantry! In my defence, these boards were a little rough when I got them. Apparently, they had been out in the warehouse of the lumber yard for some time and two of them had discolored somewhat. So, I spent all day Saturday sanding and filling and sanding and sanding some more before I got a consistent enough surface on all of them to finally apply the finish.
I got a pretty good deal on these though and they are basically clear (no knots), so I am very happy with them.

One reason I got a pretty good price is because they are actually stair treads and did not have to be milled specifically for me. These are five-quarter pine boards and you can see their original purpose by the bullnose on one side. I actually like square edges for shelves but was willing to live with this. It still looks nice. Now, when I say a five-quarter board, that means the finished dimension is a full one inch thick. All dimensional lumber refers to it's rough-sawn measurements, not the finished size, thus a five-quarter board does start out as 1 1/4" thick.
I could have gotten some 1x12's at Lowe's for a good price but I wanted something with more strength and heft. Besides, it just looks nicer.
Now, you can see in this pic, a slight bit of cupping in one of the board but some of that was cut out and the rest can usually be gotten out in the installation.

I ordered full 8' boards, knowing that my pantry is only 7'-6" wide, so that I could square up the ends and possibly cut off any rough end. Due to this, I was able to cut this knot out and get a perfectly clear board. You always want to check the ends for square before you cut. Don't ever assume the factory ends are going to be square. Sometimes I'll recut the ends just to get a nicer, smoother cut and then measure my length from that.

Since these boards are going to be in my pantry, loaded with food, I wanted to apply a very non-toxic sealer. Now, I realize that once a polyurethane is cured it is basically inert and probably not going to affect anything but I like the beeswax finish and I know it is pure and natural. Plus, it doesn't hurt that it makes the house smell like honey. Obviously, the far board on the right has not had the wax applied and you can see how much the finish darkens the wood. This is actually a 50/50 mixture of natural (no petroleum distillation) linseed oil and beeswax. It is almost solid in the can and you have to carefully heat it to apply. Once heated, it becomes very fluid and brushes on easily. I apply one thin coat and then let dry for 24 hours. Then it is buffed with a soft cloth and 000 steel wool. This has no stain on it at all; just the wax and I absolutely love how it brings out the beauty of the grain and does not obscure anything. I have a serious penchant for the looks of natural wood. Heh, that and men with neatly trimmed facial hair. Yum.
Ahem, okay...what were we talking about? So, anyway, tomorrow I'll show you the finished product. It is SO wonderful having usable, permanent pantry shelves! Now, I just need to see about having the base cabinet made and I'll be well on my way to finishing that room.

*Kate Voegele

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

Knock On Wood

This is a load of cypress from Louisiana that I had milled to use as the exterior trim on the house. It is beautiful wood; I almost hate to stain it a color but that's the way it goes. I am using Hardie board lap siding on the house but could not find a suitable trim board in the Hardie product so that is my reason for going with the cypress. The options for trim are very limited when it comes to pre-manufactured siding but you don't have to go with what they have. The boards here were milled down to a full 1 1/4" thick by 12" wide. We then ripped them down to 5" for window and door trim and one side of the corner boards. The other side is 3 3/4" so the corners are equal and it worked out to use some of the 3 3/4" boards for the bottom trim under the sill. The drop from ripping these boards was exactly the right size to make the sill extensions out of so it worked out perfectly. The windows came with sill extensions but they were sized for brick mould, which I hate. Since I am going with a 5" trim, the sills were too short. Not too big a deal to make more and the ones on the windows popped off pretty easy.
Here you can see 2 of the north windows trimmed out. Yes, the trim goes up first and the lap siding will butt against the trim. That way you don't have any spaces under the trim as you would if you were to lay it over the siding. That calls for more careful cutting of the siding but that's OK. I am just hoping that there in minimal shrinkage in the wood. I still need to put up my corner boards, which won't take too long, and then I can start actually running siding.
This is a little detail shot of the trim. The small groove in the back of the sill will cover up with the siding. The windows had a 1/4" tenon along the front that the sill extension fit over so we had to make these with the same thing. It will help keep the sill in line. I ran a bead of caulking in that groove and then slipped it in place. I also nailed, up through the sill, into the side pieces in order to hold that 1/4" reveal. Wider boards sometimes want to try to twist so I'm hoping to stop some of that. The sills extend past the sides 1" both ways, as does the header piece. That is sort of a Craftsman style trim and always been one of my favorites.
I am using an opaque stain on the trim and siding. It is basically an acrylic resin. Goes on like paint but you can actually see the grain in the wood well. I am very pleased with the look. I think it has something like a 20 year warranty. I am trying to avoid the peeling and blistering that you get with paint by using this stain. There are a fair amount of colors to choose from but not like paint. It is the Olympic brand. I wanted to use Cabot but they did not have the colors that I wanted.
I have never thought of myself as a great trim carpenter but am very pleased with how this is looking so far. The wood trim just has such a nice feel to it.


*Eddie Floyd

I have finally finished the clerestory wall! Wooohooo! I ran all the trim and installed the base of the light fixtures yesterday. Did some touch up on the trim; filling nail holes etc. Oh, I do need to touch up a little paint on the wall where I smeared it putting up one light fixture but other than that, it's done. Now, I just need to insulate the wall on the right (against the attic) and sheath it once and install the ceiling fans (which I don't have and can't afford right now) and I can get rid of the scaffold.
This is just a close up of the windows. I built the picture frame trim down on the ground and then just carried it up in one piece and installed it on the windows. This was easier, given the circumstances of the windows, than taking it up there and nailing it up a piece at a time. The inside trim has the linseed oil/beeswax finish on it. This is all a select pine that has been stained with Olympics new, custom-color premium stains. I really like them. You don't have to use a wood conditioner on soft woods with these stains. You can see in this photo the beginnings of my light fixtures. More about those later. I'm still working on the globes.
On the exterior of the windows I wanted a finish that would hold up to more strenuous conditions so I used a Spar varnish. This is the best type of clear exterior wood finish that looks really great too. This type was rated as an interior version also, so it had very little odor. I expect these windows to be open a lot so I extended the Spar inside on the sashes too. The large overhangs on these windows don't allow much rain to get on the windows but it can happen and during the winter, these windows will receive a lot of harsh sunlight as they are south facing and work to absorb heat for the house.
Allen installed a temporary kitchen sink that he had salvaged out of an old house he has been working on. He loves these old cast sinks but I hate them. It will do for now though. So, the water is working in all the house now; kitchen sink, toilet. No shower yet though. I imagine that the kitchen will be the very last thing to go in so it will be pretty rough for a while.
I think I need to add to my water filtration system too. I have one separate sediment filter now but I think I may need a finer one to help cut down on what goes into the last filter. The filter cartridges in the main one are $100.00 each so I must help extend it's life as much as possible. They said the cartridges should last 3 years but with these heavy rains lately we were getting a lot of sediment out of the spring. We raised the foot valve below the pump to about 4 feet off of the bottom of the spring and I think this helped also. I also need to shock the water system once before we really start drinking it to make sure and flush out any bacteria. At times, the water has sat in the system for a few days without new water being pulled in and it got a little smelly at one point. We try to run the water a good bit every day just to keep things fresh.

I will try to post again soon; it seems like I have been very unorganized lately but I think I am getting back on track. I am kind of running out of things to do that don't require a lot of money so I have been trying to assess things and see what can come next.

Edit: Allen says I have to correct myself about the sink. It is not a cast iron sink but enameled steel. So there.

A Slow Go

Man, this is taking forever to put this oil and beeswax finish on. You can see in the above photo the difference in the color of the wood after the application. Part of this has just been put on; it does seem to lighten somewhat after it cures for a couple of days. The rafter tails have been stained but you can see that better in the next photo. You have to keep the oil/beeswax fairly warm also for easier application so that has been a challenge. At first I just heated a small amount in the microwave and carried it up the scaffold with me but then I remembered that I had an old, mini crock pot that I got at the thrift store for when I thought I was going to make some candles. I took it up the scaffold and ran an extension cord up there and just keep it full of the mixture. That works really well. Even though I am trying to apply the oil very sparingly, some of it still drips on me. My hands and arms are getting really soft from having this stuff on them so much.

This is a closer view of the stained and waxed rafter tails/rafters. I wanted the tails to look more like they were just another type of wood rather than having a heavy stain on them. I think it looks good. We'll see what the BFA says; I sent him photos this afternoon. I think he will hate it.

I'm not sure if you can make out what this is or not; it's not the best photo. I was trying to show the entire rafter tail, inside and out. I have gotten a lot of hits on this site for people looking for adding tails to rafters. I thought this shot might make it more obvious what we did. This is taken as I was looking up through the window. The main rafter (and what's really bearing the weight) ends inside the wall. The exterior tail is sort of capped over the end of the rafter and extends inside the house also. Now, this made the cost of each rafter just about double but, I don't have fascia or soffit board to buy since my tails are decorative so I save there. I could have just scabbed a fake tail on one side of the rafter but that doesn't look very pretty or substantial and is why most people cover it up with soffit.

I'm hoping the ceiling here will be done by the weekend and we should start the bathroom floor in the next day or two. Not much else happening. It has rained almost every day here for the past week I guess. The spring is up and I have squash out the wazzoo.

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!!!