Labor Day Weekend

Coming down the homestretch. We started the cabin in February 2008... it's been 2 1/2 years. Wouldn't be as far as we are if not for Chuck, Millican's crew and Jas'n. Plus moral support of our followers. But here we are, painting and finishing floors.

Lovely weekend. Perfect weather for doing a whole bunch of work. No leaves are changing yet but low humidity and temperatures in the 80s, 60s at night!

Carolyn hadn't been to Richmond Woods for a while, busy on work travel and visiting grandchildren. Russ and Jas'n had installed a red oak plank floor and sanded it. Russ finished it with his mother's recipe: turpentine, linseed oil and added a tiny bit of stain. It looks great (left, below)! Two coats and he wanted to add a third then wax it. Russ also had some outside work to do: removing a fascia board and cutting down a barge rafter that was too long so the fascia fit properly without bowing out (right, below).

Do you like martinis? Real ones with an olive? Then you would like the historic preservation color called Homestead Resort Moss that Carolyn painted the inside of the cabin. We call it "Martini Olive Green". She's thinking about painting some orangey red around the windows just to finish the effect. It's a bit strong but we are going to have lots of wavy board trim the honey color same as the outside (we will have contrast: deep walls, light trim, as we were advised to do by Bobby and Randy)... around the windows and doors, as baseboard and "crown" molding. So there will be far less green showing than now.



Russ did the floor finish on hands and knees. Here he is, doing coat 3 then the finished look, right.

And here's some of our contrast: creamy white beadboard ceiling, creamy white windows on the moss green.

It wasn't all work last weekend. We had time to sit around a campfire in the cool night air. Russ sipped a Rebel Yell. I just had a lemonade. Join us if you enjoy such simple pleasures!

Big news: Russ ordered all the stovepipe and we are picking it up this weekend and taking a bunch of furniture up. YAHOO!

Floor Finishing

This is how I planned to sand the floor. A 4" wide belt sander. Big mistake. Jas'n tried to tell me. After hours and hours of coarse sanding we had only about 30% of the floor done and we still had two more grits to go.



Jas'n's new boss loaned him a real floor sander and I rented a floor edger. We headed up Thursday evening to get an early start Friday morning. By the time we broke for lunch (about 5 hours after starting) we had finished the coarse sanding with 36 grit.



After lunch we followed up with 80 grit and finished out with 100. Then I quickly mixed up my mother's secret furniture finish solution (50/50 boiled linseed oil and turpentine) adding a touch of Minwax for color.



Another hour on my hands and knees with a rag and the first coat was done - and so were we. Another two coats followed up with some paste wax and a buffer and you will see the most beautiful fine-furniture-like wood floor ever!

Hot Hot Hot

This has been the hottest July in a long time. Here's what we've managed to get done...

Built & installed a crawl-space door.



Added hot and cold waterlines for kitchen sink. Before you go gettin' all excited, there is still NO running water. This is just thinking ahead. Initially, I will install a small reservoir in the attic for a gravity feed to the sink. No 'hot and cold' but rather 'attic temperature'.

Added electrical outlet for stove. Same as above. No electricity yet, just thinking about the future.

Finished hanging drywall - mudded, sanded, and primed. Waiting for that globe-trotting Carolyn to get back to the good ole USA and do some serious painting.




Laid hardwood floor. This is 5-inch red oak toung-and-groove 3/4 inch thick kiln-dried plank flooring. I chose #3 grade for its character and for its price. But because this stuff is hard as iron, I'm going to pay the price when it comes time to sand it. :(





Cut and framed porch attic access opening. There is not a lot of head room above the porch but a good bit of storage space for items seldom accessed.

Wired, insulated, and paneled screen porch walls and ceiling. Only two outlets one on each long wall and a single overhead for a fan/light combo. We insulated because we will eventually use this space in the winter by inserting panels into the screen openings. When not needed (9 months of the year) the panels will live in the porch attic out of the way. We used the same bead-board plywood for the ceiling as in the main cabin just for continuity (and also so there would be no overhead sanding). The walls are paneled with 5/8 T-111 plywood stained with the same sealer as the exterior of the cabin. This provides good strength in sparsely-studded walls.





Next up are:
1) sanding and finishing the oak floor
2) painting the interior walls
3) interior window and door trim
4) install chimney and wood-burning stove
5) build counters, install sink and gas stove
6) finish screen porch
7) finish back porch
8) build master suite and bathroom
9) retire
10) everything else.