Painting…Day 16

Rick from Carmichael Decorating is back today staining doors and preparing the second floor trim for spraying. The two photos below show Rick getting started on the first floor laundry doors and the pocket door in the kids bathroom completed. The stained poplar doors look really nice framed by the white trim.

The next photo (shot this evening) shows the pocket doors leading to the first floor laundry after Rick finished staining this afternoon.

The last photo shows the windows in the end wall of the bonus room masked and ready for the enamel spraying operation that is sure to start soon. These guys have a whole lot of masking in their future.

Flooring…Day 0

The cork flooring for the kitchen, dining room, and foyer was delivered yesterday. We are using New Dimension narrow plank natural cork from US Floors. The narrow cork planks, with beveled edges and ends, have the look of a traditional hardwood floor.

Sheet Rock…Day 28

The Big Sky Construction guys are back to installing sheet rock in the basement. Yesterday they worked in the stairwell and the closet under the stairs. Today they are working their way across the ceiling in the family room and will start on the walls shortly. The two photos below show family room from opposite ends of the front wall. It is really exciting to see this last area of the house get finished up!

Painting…Day 15

The Carmichael crew spent the day staining cherry cabinetry and masking in preparation for the varnish. The first photo shows the dining room hutch stained with the cherry stain Steve concocted. In the end we decided thin the stain a little lighter anticipating that the cabinetry will darken over time. The second photo shows the vanity in the first floor bathroom with the cherry stain applied to the wood.

The next photo shows the vanity and linen closet in the master bathroom after staining. The rich red tones look really nice with the tile selections in the bath area. The last photo shows the bookshelf cabinet in the living room as Rick prepares to spray clear varnish on the maple cabinetry. He will mask the cherry top…spray the maple…then stain the cherry…and finally finish coat the whole cabinet. There is going to be a lot of masking and spraying over the next few weeks!

Sheet Rock…The basement

The drywall for the basement was delivered to the “L” Shaped House this afternoon. They used a boom truck to swing the material down to the walk-in doors and have it staged all around the basement. It looks like they will be installing about 100 more sheets of sheet rock and burning through 10 more pails of mud!

Painting…Day 14

Rick and Martin from Carmichael Decorating sprayed the second coat of polyurethane varnish on all of the doors in the bonus room last night and are hard at work today staining the cherry cabinets on the second floor…The doors look fabulous!  The photo below shows eight of the doors lined up in the far corner of the bonus room where Rick left them to dry last night. This shot did the best job of showing the color and finish…but you really have to see them in person to appreciate the nice job they have done.

The next photo shows some of the work that has gone into the process of picking stain colors and finish. Starting at the floor and moving clockwise there is…

• A piece of maple (from the cabinets) coated with clear polyurethane.
• A piece of cherry (from the cabinets) clear coated on the left and stained with a cherry stain on the right.
• A piece of the cork flooring (New Dimensions natural cork…Corte).
• A leaf from our current dining room table (Deb likes the color).
• A section of the oak banister rail with three stain colors along its length (coffee, cherry, and Wisconsin oak).
• A can of the Sherwin Williams varnish.
• EZStains (located in St. Louis Park) has a very helpful stain guide on their website.

We plan to use the clear coated maple…the cherry stained cherry…and the Wisconsin oak stain as we finish the woodwork and cabinets in the “L” Shaped House.

The last photo shows the linen closet in the kids bathroom with the cherry stain applied. Here you get a very good idea of how the cherry cabinetry is going to look as the Carmichael crew moves through the house.

Painting…Day 13 (Doors)

Today’s posting is all about doors at the “L” Shaped House…In the first photo below we get our first look at one of the Simpson exterior doors without the packaging materials. These doors are all full glass and are made from hemlock. The next photo was taken in the bonus room just a few moments after Rick sprayed the second coat of polyurethane varnish on three of the interior doors. Rick and Martin are busy staging the remaining doors for their production spraying operations.

 

The last photo shows the dog door in the mudroom being held in place by our camera shy construction supervisor…Paul Winters. The door is a double flap Endura pet door from Patio Pacific and includes the interior locking panel seen in the photo.

Painting…Day 12

The Carmichael painting crew has been working at the “L” Shaped House the last few days as they prepare to start finishing the doors and trim. The first photo shows five of the stained doors set up in the bonus room after sanding the first coat of polyurethane. They plan to apply the finish coat later this week.

Filling nail holes and sanding the trim have been the primary activities of the painting crew. Its almost impossible to get a photo that shows the progress…so I decided to just put another shot of the arch in front of the book nook here instead. Steve plans to start the (daunting) masking process shortly and expects to be spraying enamel on the window and door trim early next week.

Ceramic Tile…Day 27

Matt worked this afternoon on the ceramic tile in the first floor shower and second floor laundry. The first photo shows the shower with 6” square wall tiles coming up the walls. The second shows the 12” square tiles on the floor of the upstairs laundry room. The 3”, 6”, & 12” square tiles look surprisingly different even though they are all exactly the same tile.

 

Ceramic Tile…The Mudroom wash-down area

Matt Sletten has the Wash-down area in the mudroom coming along nicely. While some of the construction details in this area have evolved along the way the basic plan remains the same…we want to build “real” mudroom. The photos below show the underlying elements of the space just before the tile will be applied. In the first we see the platform for the dog kennels and the recessed shower base & drain in front of the dog door and water supply along the back wall.

The next photo shows the sample floor grate sitting on 3” ceramic tile Matt will use in the floor of the shower base. We plan to bring the top surface of the grate just below the curb and platform providing a flush surface across the entire wash-down area. The grate will be purchased in at least two (possibly three) sections to make it easy to remove and clean. While we originally planned a built-in bench across the wall opposite the dog kennels we have since decided to simplify the construction and use a free standing bench instead.