if 1/4″ cedar plywood wasn’t $65/sheet i would order a lot more of it

I found Maine Coast Lumber in my research on sustainable plywoods. I ordered 6 sheets of 1/4″ aromatic cedar to line the master bedroom closet – sight unseen (not how i usually like to do things). Another fantastic design moment when I unwrapped it at home and found it to be more beautiful than I ever imagined. It should be for $65 a sheet. And when I went to pick it up, my little heart skipped a beat, as I have never seen a lumber yard so organized in my life.

andrew saves the day (again) — 2×12’s at restore!

Restore got a slew of lumber this week, so I stocked up on 2×12x8′, x10, and x14 + x16 (which Andrew will deliver!) for $4-$7 a piece. I can’t tell you how great I feel buying lumber used, even if we have to do a little ripping here and there. It kills me to place those lumber orders, although thankfully Hammond uses FSC certificated lumber, has their own mill, and supports the Maine economy.

Anyway, Elizabeth was kind enough to lend me her truck (again) but I forgot the straps (!!) so Andrew hooked me up with some rope and tied them down real good. Also, thanks Tom for picking out the good ones, and Tammy and crew for loading me up. And to Chicky who helped me unload. If I only I had all of you in residence…….

PS. Apparently a giant lot of sheetrock is coming into Restore next week. Yahooooooooo!

living room demo is underway

who knew a stinkpipe could be such a pain?

I started off with no stink pipe and plumbing upstairs, so progress is being made. I wish Mark, the plumbing inspector felt the same way!

its portrait time

So I realize documenting the house isn’t exactly art, but…I have been making pictures. To start off, we have 3 key members of this project, Chicky Stoltz: team leader; Hal Barter, City of Auburn-the man who actually secured the financing and also project manager galore; Levi Robinson, plumber extraordinaire. Then we have Chicky disconnecting the heating pipe with a sawsall down celler. And couldn’t help myself with my 2×6″ cutting station outside (love the Makita chopsaw) and the ladder ready to install windows. If they ever come….

i love you too, dumpster number 3

it would of been great if they delivered the other dumpsters with the door facing open.

was your house renovated by a jackass too?

I’m thinking of holding a photo contest of the most ass backwards renovations discovered during demolition. I mean really – are all these layers necessary? I started in on the downstairs bathroom demolition so a new wall could go up to house all the upstairs plumbing. In an effort to have at least one bathroom operational, I didn’t do the whole room (thank god). Not asking for walls or a sink, just a shower and toilet.

Behind the wall that held the door, were layers of sheetrock, particle board, and paneling. No studs.

Behind the north facing wall where my toilet is and pipes to the kitchen addition, was a layer of faux beedboard, sheetrock, plastic faux tile in sheet form, sheetrock, white plastic in sheet form, plaster and lathe. I’m guessing I just gained about 3″. No insulation except in one sketchy corner and I think that was a bed for critters.

Beneath the “tile” floor was an insane amount of glue, piece of plywood with brad staples ALL OVER, nother piece of plywood, original floor. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get up 5 sq ft.

So we did manage to get a little wall up, as square as we possibly could, but not only was the floor not level, one of the beams appears to be sagging a good 3″.

i love a square…the first new (old) window is in

So, my very first window is in (thanks Chicky and Paul) and I am elated. I spent an ungodly amount of hours on window design – and up until today, doubting myself through the whole process. I struggled with creating a passive solar design and something that opened up the dark spaces. I went with a 40×40″ window (that I got for $80 at Restore!) for the north facing wall – much to the chagrin of my radiant heat experts at Northeast Radiant Technology (sorry Rob) in jacob’s room and it is amazing. Not only because it makes the room look so much bigger, and lighter, but also the views are fantastic.

I really want to thank Michel Gaison (the architect I consulted with when I first drew up plans) for encouraging me to trust my photographic instincts on light and space. And also for just being super cool and sitting down with me and making me design, redesign, and design again. And for making me do cardboard markups. And for making me rethink how I use space and objects. And for giving me a roll of trace paper. And for not charging me a ridiculous amount of money.

So here are before and after shots – it’s been raining for days so not the best picture, but you get the idea anyway.

denim insulation is the bomb

After much research on insulation for interior walls, mainly for sound proofing, I settled on ultra touch denim insulation. I was initially drawn to it because it is such a cool product – insulation out of recycled jean scraps. However, it is expensive at about $90/100 sq ft. But let me tell you, this is the only project I have tackled so far, where I actually exclaimed to myself “Wow, that was easy”.

It comes pre cut to hang in sheets 8′ high and 16″ on center. I scored it with a utility knife and then tore, yes I said tore it to fit bays that were either too short or bays that were smaller. No staple gun, it just snugs right in. I used the little pieces I tore to fit around outlets. And because it is 100% non toxic, a dust mask is all you need!

another floor down

So, Jacob’s room has a new old floor thanks to Carl. This was the floor of my bedroom. I flipped it over, got rid of that nasty stain and faux old timey nails. I think if Jacob comes back he will be relieved to never look at pergo ever again and to not roll from the window to the door downhill.

i miss my dumpster, but dump run wasn’t so bad

can you believe somebody actually threw this chair away?

might as well take them all

My sister Amanda hit the Portland ReStore with me on Saturday, and after a week of eyeing the 4×4″ tumbled marble tiles, I decided to get the whole lot. Initially I thought I would pick out enough to make a back splash for the stove, but after it became to difficult to choose which ones, I decided to just take them all. And I’m glad I did because every time I walk by them I get excited all over again.

to sand or scrub? is lo voc poly worth the price?

So – I’m in a quandary on whether to sand the barn board or just scrub it with steel wool. I’m leaning towards sand…And I also did a test with the lo voc Osmo Polyx Oil which I got at FW Horch in Brunswick. Not too glossy and amazing how slight the odor. I really like it, however its $90 for 2.5 litres!

old old old school washin machine turned bathroom sink pedestal

So this was a hand washin’ machine, now its going to be a pedestal for my bathroom sink. Thanks Aunt Daryl for keeping this in your barn for a million years and then giving it to me….And thanks Carl for cleaning her up and reinforcing her.

Eames: baby @ Restore

Okay, maybe not Eames but I found these little guys in the free pile at Restore….even the little ones need to take a load off .