Dawson St

2008-09-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

Wild Kingdom in Paint
A closeup of a series of four paintings I'm doing for the little guy's room. This is number one. I do a bit of sketching, but this is my first foray into paint. Acrylic to be exact. Pretty neat watching this little character coming to life. It's a cartoon, so not your 'high' art, but my audience is a little kid, so not too worried about critiques.

Here's the whole painting.

2008-08-15T20:50:00.001-07:00

Long Time

We wrapped up a majority of the basement back in May. Finishing trim is about all that's left. And hey, you can live with unfinished trim. Besides when the lights are down and you're

watching a movie you can't see the trim anyway. Did I mention the movie screen is really big? And yessir you really do notice the sound comes from the screen and not off to the sides or bottom. Super happy that I did the in-wall speakers.

We're still adjusting to having all this extra room and storage, and I have to admit it is nice. Hey we even have the makings of library. Yes all the books have been in boxes for the last 5 years.

We went and carpeted the floor in the basement with wool. Oh so nice to walk on and hopefully warm in the winter, and made our selves a low maintenance floor of slate off the back door.

2008-03-07T18:07:00.000-08:00

Built-in.......Part #2

So I made an early morning run to actual lumber yard and not a big box store. These guys have some great stuff. So walking out of there with a little less of my hard earned money, but happy that I didn't have to sort through piles of crap to find a few good boards and them having what I wanted is worth it. Since I constructed the built-in out of birch plywood, I figured just keep going with the birch theme for trimming it out. I'll get it stained up cherry to match some other wood work I've previously done in the basement. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Notice the yellow tools in the pictures. I especially like the little finish nailer.

2008-03-05T20:24:00.000-08:00

Built-in

Ok, my previous foray into finish carpentry went well with the new tools, so I stepped it up a notch over the weekend and decided to do a little rabbiting with the router table and make myself a built-in entertainment center/bookshelf. That was the plan all along, but I'm learning a bit as I go along, and reading up on this stuff as much as possible to get it right. I'm still in the process of finishing off this piece--need to pick up the solid birch stock for the top and the plywood edges and then stain. But you get the idea. Actual book shelves are next.

2008-02-17T18:14:00.000-08:00

Spring in the NW

Psyche! Actually, this weekend was pretty spring like. But only one day was playtime, and just part of it at that. So lets back up to Friday. I picked up one of these, because I found out how easy this makes the job. Then I took some black walnut that I picked up from my buddy Brian over to my buddy Doug's shop to get planed and jointed. Did I mention I really wish I had the space for a shop? After which I did some kayaking here, and then used this, from this guy through which I've acquired most of my tools. And the result is this ledge. There's more walnut pieces to come, but I really like the character of this piece. I'll be finishing this with urethane over the next week. So how many links did I throw into this post? Too many.

2008-02-07T19:33:00.001-08:00

Lighting up......

...the stairwell.

A couple weeks ago we get a card in the mail from many old house dwellers' favorite lighting store, Rejuvenation. Well they were having a sale, and a big one at that. So we made plans, actual plans, to go down there the first day of the sale. It turns out we got there shortly after the store opened, along with a lot of other folks, and the hunting for our light began. We knew what shade we wanted it was just a matter of the method to hang it from the sloped ceiling. Rod or chain? We wanted rod, but chain trumps rod in this case. Thanks to one of their employees we got something unique for our place (that computer mockup program is waaaayyy cool).

I have to say it's great to work with a company that is so customer oriented. So with the light up and the final coat of paint on, we are done with the major work downstairs and now it's on to the finish work. This could take bit.

2008-01-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

Progress

Well after priming last week, I lazed around all week and basked in the "almost doneness" of the basement until about 6:15 this morning. At that time I decided I'd start putting the color up on the hallway. We went with the classic, and neutral, taupe. Much like the beige that so many of us cube denizens have become desensitized to, but just edgy enough to be something different and therefore nothing like beige. Besides it's a color we have elsewhere in the house and ties the other colors together nicely and it isn't white. In addition to the painting, I also put up the wall sconces in the hallway, which match those in the "man room", which is also almost done, just starting in on the built-ins thanks to my friend over at OldStoneHouse sending me something to cut wood with. We wanted to go with movie house/deco style for the sconces and found these lights at a showroom in Seattle. This outfit definitely had items that you would not normally find at your big box and their prices were great. So here are some pics of the setup including the 100 inch screen. Very nice to watch movies on!

2008-01-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

Almost done

We took a bit of a vacation from house related projects over the holidays, with family in town and a kayaking vacation in Ecuador for the two of us. But with the start of the new year we had the pros come in and hang drywall in the stairwell and wine cellar. So far it looks real good and the crooked old house didn't really slow them down. They'll be mudding and taping next. If you're in the Seattle area and need drywall work done I recommend contacting Brian at Seattle Mudworx. After this it will be onto the finish work. So close to being done on Dawson St. Now if only I received a box with a router in it, I could really get some work done on cabinets....

2007-12-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

Test run

The projector mount I ordered from Amazon showed up today. It is a stout unit by Peerless and lets you adjust the pitch, roll and yaw by screws so it won't move around over time. All told maybe 10 minutes to get up and running. And simple. I like that. The test run was with HDMI feed to get the overall screen size and in-wall speaker placement. Right now I'm throwing an image 7 feet by 4 feet. I'll be ordering the screen material now that I have the final dimensions and the missus said "woo hoo!" when she saw it. Here's some eye candy of the setup. Note the rectangle on the picture is the template for the in-wall speakers.

And if you haven't seen some of the devestation out here in Washington check out these pics courtesy of SeattlePI of the Chehalis area and the I-5 closure. Some really powerful stuff.

2007-12-03T17:56:00.000-08:00

4 INCHES

That's a little more than your standard 2x4. Anyway the weather jockies--my fav is "Danger" Jeff Renner-- are saying 4 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. That's on top of the wet snow from the weekend. Yeah we've had some flooding. Good news, I did fix a leak on my roof. Bad news, I had another leak other than the one posted previously--it's still leaking--but I think I have it corralled and will get the permanent fix in when the weather lets up and I discovered the water table in my neighborhood. Luckily it found the floor drain. But in all actuality we got off easy. My neighbors on the other hand didn't. I spent part of the afternoon at their place with the wet vac drying out their basement. Good news, is I think the drywall is saved, but they'll need new carpet.

Until then check those drains and gutters.

2007-11-26T18:57:00.000-08:00

It's raining...indoors

So when we moved in the previous owners had put in a skylight over the shower in the bathroom. This was a nice perk when showering, looking at the trees, moon, clouds, passing airplanes... There was some evidence that it had been wet before, but I thought that was all fixed with the new work done on the bathroom and we did have one minor leak that I fixed with roofing cement back when the weather was nicer. Well, now when it rains, really rains, it starts leaking in the corner, and not in a nice convenient, next to the glass kind of way that would be easy to fix. Nope. The water is taking the path of least resistance and going down the inside of the roof, through the drywall and coming out at the bottom of the skylight tunnel. Unfortunately, with the weather being in the mid 30's here in Seattle, and rainy and dark I haven't got a chance to fix this issue.

Anyone out there have suggestions on leaking skylights?

2007-11-25T15:56:00.000-08:00

The fun house....

Final push here to get done. Originally, I was going to leave the stairwell alone and just put new drywall up. However, there's a bit of a twist in the roof line, and when viewed from the bottom of the stairs it was quite evident that one side is lower than the other and it didn't look good.

I decided to "level" the ceiling out by firring it out. This did a couple things for me, in that it provided some room now to run wiring, and also add some more insulation. Hopefully, I'll have the drywall guys in here soon to finish this part up. Then on to the finish work.

I got a little bling from Amazon for the media room just before the weekend and just had to put them in and test them out, and there's a few more coming to finish off the room. You all can keep your speakers in boxes, I'll put mine in the wall. And as promised here's what things look like. More to come with the paint and built-ins going in.

I think we'll be painting the media room here soon too, as we've come up with some paint colors we like. Until then, if you get to Seattle, check this location out--I sea kayaked through 'em before gorging on turkey. And if you haven't had it yet the Anchor Christmas is tasteeee this year (remember it's different each year).

2007-10-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

No more walking through walls.
The drywall is up in the basement, rec room and hall, which is basically most of it anyway. Things are looking like a house downstairs, and now I can't do my Casper imitations anymore. Next up is the stairwell, and I've got a guy for that, but first I need to get a little wiring and just a touch of shimming done in there before it gets sealed up. I'd post some pictures, but it's drywall and well it's kind of boring. But I'll put some pics up on here (it'll be linked) when I get a chance.

Right now getting on the rio is a little more important since Mother Nature is giving us a little burlesque with the colors and light on the water up here in Washington.

2007-08-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

FOUND: more than slightly used
11 days after my truck disappeared from in front of the house, SPD called me to let me know they recovered it and arrested someone in relation to the theft. Sweet!

I took a look at the truck at the shop this last Friday and made a list of what's been damaged. Good news is the body stuff looks pretty much cosmetic, scratches etc. But the interior has been worked over. Mud everywhere and some unusual odors--use your imagination here. Also looks like they did a bit of 4 wheeling as there is some damage to the drive line and undercarriage. And in the "strange" department, they took the canopy off the truck, hauled a load of dirt or dirt like substance, and then put the canopy back on the truck. Now just need to find out how much to fix everything.

2007-08-11T08:29:00.001-07:00

Lost:
Walked outside this morning to load my truck and this picture is what I'm greeted with. Moment of pause while the thought develops, then the realization, "My truck has been stolen." This puts a crimp in doing any big projects now. I think most of those are done anyway, but now my truck, that was the go to vehicle for Depot, trash runs and just generally dirty stuff is gone. Our quiet little neighborhood here in West Seattle has been seeing a rash of car theft lately as my neighbors tell me. But honestly, who wants an almost 10 year old Dodge? Answer: Obviously someone. Anyway the whole process has been alright so far. Police report filed, insurance claim filed and now I get to wait for "the call". Regardless, I'm not expecting to get my truck back in usable shape. At least we have another vehicle and we're already figuring out how to live as a one car family. So it really isn't all that bad.

2007-08-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

Making the better basement
It's time. I'm finally tackling the basement. Most of the overall wiring is done and the drywall was about to start going up when I discovered the wet spot. Now the basement has been dry overall, save for one spot that had a drainage issue I fixed with the new patio. But this was a new spot. KT had been out watering the strawberries next to the house when I found this issue. Water seeping in at the top of the footing. It doesn't surprise me. It's 84 year old concrete and I'd probably be leaking too if I was that old. I'm glad I discovered this issue before the walls were finished however. Now I get to go dig in the dirt and seal some concrete. Fun.

2007-05-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

Another project finished....almost

This weekend has been the final push to finish the bathroom. Everything is in and working, just waiting for towel rods. No more trapsing down to the basement for a shower. Plus the heated floor is so totally nice, even with summer making cameo appearances here in Seattle. Just something about walking around barefoot on tile and having it be warm. We wanted to replace the doors on the bathroom and the adjacent bedrooms as well and if you'r in the area I highly recommend Frank Lumber. Definitely not your big box product and they used the old doors as templates for the new ones. Somehow the new doors fit better in the jambs than the old ones do. Just need some stain on them and they'll be done too. Here's some pix of the what we've accomplished over the last few months. One note, my camera for some reason doesn't want to capture the blue on the wall quite right.

2007-04-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

A weekend of trials

This weekend was an interesting one working on the bathroom. Thursday night I put the Heat Weave down on the floor and did a dry layout of the tile to finalize the pattern. Things at this point were still going well. The heat mat adds about 1/16th to the height of the floor. However, it doesn't do this uniformly. In other words there are some dips between the wires. No problem. Thinset should take care of this issue. Well not so fast. At least where the little hex tiles are concerned. These tiles have to be the toughest tile I've worked with. Granted they come in nifty little mats, and they do look cool, but this outward show of convenience and coolness are just a show. The tiles are truly the work of a sinister force. Lets just say there is a fair amount of thinset on top and in the joints of these tiles that I have to clean off before grouting. In retrospect I should have poured some leveling compound over the Heat Weave and then applied the thinset. A couple pictures of the electric mat and the final tile pattern (I'll be cleaning that).

Item number 2, lighting. My wife bought a nice light for over the medicine cabinet and I went to install it today. Guess what? The electrical box for it is not centered over the cabinet. And no I can't center it over the cabinet without cutting out a stud. Guess I could have gone there, but just didn't want to. Return the light and find something else, not quite as nice, but still pretty good.

What went well? Well I got the medicine cabinet in and the molding around it and the top of the wainscotting. A little action with the scumbuster this week to clean off the thinset frosting and there'll be grout down by the weekend.

2007-04-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

Flooring, cabinet and sink...almost a bathroom
After breakfast today, KT convinced me that it would be better to work on the bathroom today than go play in water in my kayak. Something about working now meaning I wouldn't have to work later was mentioned and combined with no caffeine today I immediately agreed this was a good idea. Actually it turned out quite productive. Originally we were planning on putting a built in cabinet in the bathroom complete with laundry chute to the laundry room directly below. Unfortunately, there is a 220V power supply for the dryer running right in the path of where the chute would go. Not good. I decided I didn't want to deal with rewiring electrical and that we've been making do quite well without a chute for some time so no laundry chute. Consequently, a quick stop later at our local furniture place (Village Woodworks) and we had a very nice mission style cabinet. I'm going to make it look built in anyway. Additionally, we picked up a pedestal sink at Rejuvenation, very nice, so now all I need is a faucet with porcelain cross handles. That's turning out to be the difficult item. Ahh, but that's 2 out of 3 items of the title you say. I started in on the flooring as well. Backer board is down and the heating mat is going down tomorrow with tile to follow shortly thereafter. Warm floors in the winter are going to feel decadent. I'll take some pics of the bathroom after everything is in.

2007-04-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

Tile issues

So this is my fault for not getting enough tile when I started this job. However, I got the amount of tile I could get at the time, figuring I'd need less than a whole box to cover what I didn't have, and could get that easily. Fast forward 6 weeks (yep that was my original estimate to complete everything) and I'm still tiling. Or more to the point not tiling because I ran out of subway tile. So I stop by the local big orange box. No subway tile. Go to the other local big orange box. No subway tile. Find someone to help me out (this can be an adventure). Am told, "Oh yeah those 3x6 subway tiles weren't selling at all so we sold them back to the supplier. If you want some accent tile we sell a lot of that." I try Lowes. Yes they have the tile, but it's a different supplier. I take a chance, buy a box and nope it's not quite the right shade of white. I need something with just a whisp of gray in it. So now I'm going to try the Daltile store and see if they'll sell me a box even though I'm not a contractor. I'm hoping they have it in stock.

2007-03-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm......Thinset.......

It's creamy, not unlike cream cheese actually, but I don't recommend eating it.

Anyway, I spent 5 hours last night getting the plumbing finished for the tub. Had a bit of an issue with leaks on the threaded fittings (not a fan of Price Pfister). Just didn't seem to be able to get the right amount of teflon tape on them, or tight enough or some combination of the two. But eventually I succeeded.

With all the plumbing in, and not leaking, the rest of the conrete board went up and shortly thereafter the tile. We're going for the classic, early 20th century look in the bathroom to match the age of the house. The glass tile is the nod to the modern and it just makes it sparkle a little bit more. Sparkly is good especially with the light from the skylight. Now for the other 2 walls around the tub and I can grout. I had hoped to get the entire tub finished before the wife got back from her work trip, but she'll settle for 1/3 done.

2007-03-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

Rub-a-dub-dub here is a tub....

Big progress today, sort of. The 1955 American Standard, cast iron, curb special (it's free don't you know) has been placed in its new residence. Still have to hook up the drain line, but the heavy part is done. All 350 pounds of it went into where the existing tub used to be with 1/8 inch to spare. My neighbor came over and helped me haul it out of the basement and place it. Surprisingly I think it took us all of about 5 minutes, literally to get it in. I'll be finishing the plumbing and starting the tiling after work now. Realistically, this tub saved us a bunch being free--as if that wouldn't be the case. It's in almost showroom finish still after 50 some odd years of use. It's exactly what will work in our plan for the bathroom, and I really like the fact that we were able to take something and keep using it. I know this always can't be the case.

I'm conducting a virtual soak here while enjoying some local suds.

2007-02-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

Uh oh. No more tub....

Hit the powder Saturday and spent the morning Sunday making a whole bath not a whole bath--good thing we have another bathroom. Also there's something poetic about listening to Johnny Cash "5 feet high and rising" when tearing a bathroom apart. The fiberglass tub surround is out along with the rotted drywall. The good news is no rot anywhere else. I'll move some framing this week--things are just a touch tight--and make a solid floor for the new tub to sit on and I can install the new cast iron tub maybe this weekend. 6 weeks on this project is the current estimate. So far I'm thinking that is doable. Here's a pic of the demo aftermath.

2007-02-19T19:22:00.000-08:00

I've been here before...

A while back I said was starting on the bathroom and then I switched and did the basement bedroom instead. It's my perogative--as Bobby Brown says (sure to be corrected if I'm wrong)--to change what I work on. Well, while showering today I noticed something odd. No not on myself. But part of the ceiling over the shower is visibly sagging. There's only so much strain that latex can take before it reaches its mechanical limits. So with that in mind I will be moving back upstairs to really start the bathroom remodel. It's time and I'm scared.... stay tuned.

2007-02-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

I'm tired of hanging drywall.

Actually, I'm tired of mudding and taping and then all the sanding that goes along with it. Good thing that is all done however with the basement bedroom and with it my second career as a drywaller--I'm hiring someone for the rest of the basement. Recommendations in the Seattle area are appreciated. The walls are primed and lightly textured. I just couldn't convince KT to leave them smooth. Now the paint decision starts, but I've got some time luckily before that has to be finalized.

2007-01-15T20:22:00.000-08:00

Drywall goin in...on the ceiling

Started in on the bedroom again. Holidays, travel and more travel has been the ticket this past month around here. A day after our latest excursion found the missus and me putting drywall on the ceiling of this new room of ours--we decided a lazy day wasn't going to happen. She even drove some screws with the drill. Check out the action shot.

2006-12-11T20:52:00.000-08:00

The bedroom has power

I finally ran power, at least for the lights, to the downstairs bedroom/office. It's a smaller room (9x14) with a lot of can lights (6 in this case). But I didn't want it to be dark, and honestly was worried it might be too bright. Well, with the lights put in and dimmer switch installed I am happy to say it's just right. At least I seem to have located the lights to evenly fill. Additionally, the brick wall, now fully stripped, looks great with the lighting scheme. Just need to get the outlets hot and string the cat5 and cable and telephone. Another couple weeks or so and I might be putting up drywall.

2006-12-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

Stripper update

That might skew the search results a little. From the previous post I was trying to find a way to strip the paint off the bricks in the bedroom. After a good deal of research and a fortuitous click I found this product called Peel Away. It looked like just the stuff that I was interested in trying. Yesterday I picked up a quart of Peel Away 6 and some of the stripper paper from Lowes and went to town covering a section of the brick. 24 hours later this is the result. I need some more of the stripper to finish the job, but I'm happy with the result so far. The wall just has a warm, tactile sense to it where before it was just non-descript.

2006-11-26T17:53:00.001-08:00

...And now for a change of venue.
Yes, I was supposed to be working on the bathroom. However, I am having diffculty locating the desired plumbing fixtures--I can find them, I just can't seem to actually purchase them for some reason. Anyway since I don't have these items, and I generally like having the major items in hand before starting a project--it cuts down on scope creep and seems to make things go faster--I changed my mind and started on the basement bedroom. Of course I was prodded along a little on this too.

I got a new tool last week from Donut--many thanks my friend--and just had to try it out. So I started framing in the walls of the bedroom. Now these walls sit atop the footing and against the basement wall. I'll be insulating them after I get all the wiring done. Besides this was good practice for when I get to framing on the media room. Additionally I installed and wired the can lights in the ceiling as well as insulating the ceiling. Now I just need to run power to everything.

The pics show 3 of the walls. The one on the left is going to have a secret door that will allow access to our large crawler and storage area. The one on the right I intend to strip the paint off the brick if I can figure out a way to do so without breathing a lot of toxic fumes or spreading lead dust through the house. Any thoughts on products I could use would be much appreciated for accomplishing this task. I already tried grinding it off with good results until I realized I was probably dealing with lead paint.

So I got all this done and snow shoed here this weekend. The snow is epic out here!

2006-11-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

The great bathroom remodel begins...
At least I have another bathroom to use while the upstairs bathroom undergoes its transformation. This will be a big project. New--1955 cast iron tub (reuse), built in for towels with laundry chute, heated floors and tile...lots of tile. I'll get some before pics up, and more during the project of the stages. Rotten drywall starts coming out this weekend...

2006-10-20T15:57:00.000-07:00

After the flurry--honest it was a flurry-- of activity at the end of summer, I looked around and had actually completed a number of projects. Always like to have a couple going, just in case. So the rubble pile that was the patio has been removed--thanks to Craig'sList. The "new" pavers are installed along with added bonus features; a cesspool and drainage for the down spout. The cesspool will be a pond next spring when I get a pump installed. However, the drainage was the big reason for this project. Water and foundations and the desire to finish a basement don't mix well. The drainage works great and it creates its own water feature but only during flood events--just like NW rivers!

Just a note on the pavers--as with most projects around this old house, recycled materials are utilized when possible-- they are recycled from the Fisherman's terminal in Seattle. These could have ended up in the landfill or hopefully recycled into other good concrete uses. But I got a few and feel I have a little Seattle history residing in my backyard now because of it. Besides the project doesn't end up having that big box look to it.
... and the cesspool. The rock on lower left will be the foutain part. Trust me it will look cool, and might be suitable for foamies.
And finally, yes I did get the shed done. I haven't sealed it yet, but will let it weather for the season and see how it turns out. Have to admit, I am pretty happy with this project too as we can finally move around in the basement and get some work done down there. Speaking of which it's getting to the dark season up here, so working downstairs isn't going to be so bad.

So the next projects are moving onto the downstairs bedroom, and redoing the upstairs bathroom while working around family visits and business trips.

2006-07-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

...From the town of Bedrock....

What: 154 square feet of old concrete and a 60 pound electric jack hammer plus 4 and-a-half hours of vibrating numbness.

Result:
Now to clear the rubble, put a little drainage in and then lay some nice pavers pulled from a redo of Fisherman's Terminal in Seattle. If you're wondering why hammer out the patio. Well, the slab had settled something like 6 inches and I needed to put the drainage in anyway. A little plug for the small local tool rental. This guy has everything and is really helpful and hey, creamy, White Center is pretty dope.

Until then, entertain yourself with this.

Next update will be the finished product.

2006-05-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

We put the "Ace" in furnace. Yeah, no not really.

We've been wanting to replace the old furnace, I dubbed the coffin--because it's about that big.

This old thing used to be oil fired. Then it was converted to gas back in the '80's (I know this because that's when it says it was) , then the motor blew up in it, and now it's going to the scrap heap to become something useful like a teapot. To put it mildly when this thing would fire up the house would start vibrating. Nothing like coupling with a structural mode. Besides it was on it's last legs and the local utility is offering a killer rebate for high efficiency furnaces.

So the new one goes in along with some new duct work to give us a little more headroom in the basement. No more bumpy head for me. That little thing is the size of a dorm fridge and puts out 70,000 btu of pure warming joy. Not to mention, it's 93% efficient.

A couple days during the week and help from my buddy Mike and the furnace is in and running. Here's a pic of Mike looking at all the wires. Yeah the red and green go to that little dohickey. Actually, Mike designs this kind of stuff for a living in houses and businesses that are way more expensive and complex than what I have going on. His engineering expertise was greatly appreciated.

All said, I have new duct work in for the entire house, it's tucked up out of the way in what would be an otherwise low ceiling basement. This gives me lots of nice room and will make the job of finishing the basement that much nicer when I get around to it. The worst part of this whole job, well for now, was tearing out the old ducting. The big old furnace is still sitting there. Swing by and you can help me take it out.

2006-04-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

Take it to the Shed

Yeah, just about finished up making a garden shed to store our stuff in. The basement was getting a little overrun. And since we don't have a garage or space to put one, the next best thing is a shed. I used a lot of recycled wood on this project. Where I work has a factory that puts together big things that fly in the air. A by-product of all this manufacturing work is wood crates, pallets etc. This stuff is made of some incredible wood products (all marine grade plywood, and dimensional lumber you won't find anywhere else) and to my knowledge the crates and what not make a one way trip from our suppliers to my company. At least my company offers this "refuse" to its employees before it is crushed up and trucked to the landfill. The only catch is that you have to dismantle the crates. But hey, it's free wood.

Here's the progress so far. I'll get around to siding it. I'm going with some reclaimed cedar shingles. Ought to look pretty nice when done.

2005-09-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

Old homes can be a lot of fun. Old growth, full dimension construction, and sometimes treasures found in the walls. Ours had been a rental for several years before we bought it and had seen less than its share of care. So this is the story of an 80 year old house as it goes through its transformation.

While not the first project we tackled, this by far was the most critical... the all important kitchen remodel. First a little before pictures (note the hand knit cabinet door).

We replaced all the appliances with new ones, and yes the old appliances were avocado and falling apart. The joke now is that stainless is the new avocado.

My wife and I had been planning this kitchen from the time we first moved in. We deliberated for 2 and a half years on what the finishes were going to be. Also I don't work that fast and get easily distracted. The general layout was the most efficient for the space, but we wanted some things changed and having half the cabinets not really usable finally forced me to get started. Besides, our friends got tired of us talking about what it would look like.

The demo. Got to love tearing things apart, or dread it.
A nifty little item uncovered during the demo. The subfloor doesn't go all the way to the wall!

The new floor went in and we used bolivian cherry that I found on Craigslist one night goofing around. Man this stuff is beautiful. And here it is after 4 coats of urethane.

The cabinets go in. Nothing super special, just basic Home Depot, but realistically a box is a box and we had a limited budget.
Speaking of soapstone. I cut the counters myself. It wasn't really that hard, although it was very stressful making that first cut and VERY dusty. I set up a jig and just took time and let the diamond blade do the work.

And finally, the project was completed! From start to finish in 6 weeks. The shaker style cabinets tie in with the age of the house and the maple contrasts with cherry floor and soapstone counters. We used some recycled glass tile from Bedrock industries in Seattle as a backsplash.

2005-03-28T17:44:00.000-08:00

Editorial note: This is a backdated post and coincides with us getting the digital camera. Everything before this time was documented the old fashioned way with film.

The deck. Seems most houses have one. The one that was attached to our house when we bought the place was in sorry shape. Nonetheless we used it for a good 2 years before replacing it. This deck had been constructed of non-pressure treated, or for that matter any kind of treated wood 30-40 years ago. The neighbors have been in there homes 50 years and remember the deck going on when one of their children was born--the child is in the mid 30's now.

We had one last blast --our wedding--with this deck and then 2 weeks later it camed down. The amount of rot, both dry and otherwise was scary. The general shape was kept the same--basic rectanlge, but I built in some dry storage underneath it and a special place for the BBQ used all outdoor and pressure treated wood and lots of flashing--it sits under a hemlock tree that drops needles like no tomorrow. Anyway we're quite bit more comfortable using this space now. The railing is hog fence and cedar. I figure if the stuff can keep hogs in it will keep people in. Besides it doesn't obstruct the view of our backyard from the kitchen and gives it that kind of rustic feel and its spacing is small enough for the Code ball.