Some Finishing Touches...

This past week has brought us sunshine & snow.....Very unusual weather for this time of year & for around this part of the island. It's rather unsettling - doesn't lead to very much gardening or yard work but we've got lots to do inside still, so as long as we are moving around, the cold isn't too noticeable.
On Tuesday I painted like a crazy person ~ again ~ & this is the loft in Barefoot Beach. I had to maneover the scaffolding as close to the edge of the loft as possible, stand on the stair half wall & climb up. I didn't feel much like that today when I took the photos (yes, I'm on top of the scaffolding!), so the colour isn't as sharp as it could be in the photo.




I also finished working on the south facing window wall - it's now got 2 coats of red & I just might have to put on a 3rd coat....it's just so hard to tell if this is necessary because of the lighting!!



This is just a funny picture taken while I was on the scaffolding looking down my red wall.....









Big thing to note is that our decks are now complete - well, the top deck still needs a bit of work with the 2nd row of posts & some trellis work & stabilizing....but essentially, it's done.



Upper deck by west side entrance....see the cedar top rail..!! We'll probably sand them a bit & put a finish on them....The 2 tall posts seen need to be tied into the house with some horizontal beams on the top & a bit of decorative trellis...






The bottom deck is done - done - done. All I need to do is clean it up a whole bunch & hang up my hanging baskets - which are in the green house. I will hopefully not loose the plants I put in them the other day while we are down in Florida....I think as long as the weather remains cool like it is (not even 15 degrees yet!!), that the plants will be fine.

Nice cedar top rails along the railing...











Phil had Wednesday & Thursday off to work on the house. We had the Dude show up & we got some help from Steve as well. The big chore for the day was to plane the cedar stair stringers. These chunks of wood were very heavy - I couldn't help Phil with this - it was definately a 'man' job. The idea that was suggested was to move the planer down the wood instead of the wood through the planer (the planer weighs a lot less!).

So, the boys set up some saw horses with the cedar on top & then the planer was flipped upside down - yes, upside down! - so the blades were planing the underside of the cedar & Phil & Steve moved the planer down the cedar. Whenever they reached a saw horse, one person would lift the cedar up while the saw horse was moved back behind where the planer had just moved down.

Took a bit of coordination & a bit more time, but the end effect was just what we wanted. Then came the 'dueling palm sanders'. I didn't get a photo of that - was quite funny. Steve had one sander on one stringer & Phil was on the other. Lots of noise & lots of sawdust flying through the air, but the stringers needed another sanding - evening out any ridges left by the planer blades & any gouges or rough spots.

I even got to get into the sander action! Sure is dusty business!




Phil applied a light coat of varethane to the stringers to stop any checking (cracks) & to protect it a bit. The stringer on the left has a really interesting red vein down the middle - this will be visible into the living room. The knots & other little flecks are all interesting features that we hope will work nicely once the stairs are assembled & in place.


These are both now coated with varethane & work will hopefully commenced on the router work soon.....








These are the fir treads that will fit into the routered grooves on the cedar stringers. They need a bit more planing - to make them as close as possible to the same width. They will be varethaned - but I'm wondering what to do to make sure that they don't become slippery and dangerous to walk down in socks...



During my last painting marathon I got into the closet & turned it yellow - once the light is installed in here it will practically glow....the ceiling is yellow too!!

So, I took some time & 'organized' some of the stuff sitting around upstairs. All the paint & painting supplies are now in here - to be used in the office when we unpack that & I found a shelf unit to put some of the tools onto. I hope the boys see that there is now a place for their things & use it appropriately...

We cleared out the corner where the pellet stove is going to be & painted the floor. Now all that needs to be done is to paint the stove pipe pieces, cut a hole in our repaired roof...ha, that makes me laugh - putting a hole in a perfectly solid roof...




We are also doing some crazy work on the floors. We want to have a painted plywood floor for as long as possible before we decide what the final flooring will be. So, we are sanding it down - it was rather roughly treated during the building process - filling in the nail holes & cracks & gouges with filler & then applying the floor paint. Will look quite good & since we've sanded it, it won't be too rough on the feet. But it is a bit more work - all to save a few dollars....~ sigh ~

So, the upstairs kitchen area is all ready for the cabinets...we just need to find some time to get them here & get the cabinet maker to install them. He phoned on Saturday to say the base cabinets were done - but there's no sense in storing them in the kitchen area when they could be installed instead. So, I hope the upper cabinets won't take too much time to finish & then he can start from the top & work his way down the wall.......We just need to move the stair treads out of the way....