before and after closet

master bath before and after

So there is still some touch up work to do  and more art to hang … but … here she blows.

the location of the bathroom was a bedroom, i blew threw the wall to my bedroom and created walkin closet and bathroom. the downstairs bathroom is now the kitchen and 3/4 bathroom (well soon to be).

downstairs bathroom before it got demo’d

guest room before it became a bathroom

before and after bedroom

this post is a work in progress … but was dying to get some pictures up.  more details to follow ….

Quadra light fixture from Y Lighting

Joe Wardwell

Integrity Casement windows by Marvin

Biasi radiator with radiant heat design by Rob at Northeast Radiant Technology

another room painted, another floor done

This pine is newer than the barn board that is now in the master bedroom.  It was my old bedroom floor, but I took it up and flipped it over (it had a hideous brown stain on it).   I hand sanded this as well – which was a major pain in the ass.   It took about 5 times as long as bedroom which is twice the size.  And I’m not as happy about the imperfections because they aren’t as old.  However, the Osmo looks great and in general the floor kicks ass.  We leveled it out, and it beats that god awful pergo that was there before any day.

sweeeet bedroom floors

So I finally got the master bedroom painted and the barn board I ripped up from the loft of the barn to make the floors (hand) sanded and treated with Osmo Polyx Oil from FW Horch.

Love love love the oil.   It’s a nice matte finish that goes well with the irregularities of the old wood.  I applied it with a cheap brush and then rubbed it in with an old t-shirt.  I’m so pleased to almost have a bedroom!

sanding sanding sanding

Not only did Moira give me the best birthday present (a whole day of her work crew to come on over to my house) she also joined team sand sheet rock for an afternoon. I am so close to finishing the upstairs I can taste it….

she’s cunning, ain’t she

I dashed home from work to meet Levi the plumber and we installed the toilet and tub upstairs. This is very exciting because a) it means I can finish demo downstairs; b) it means I have a clean bathroom; c) it means my tub actually works and kicks ass (just got done with a long soak). More detailed posts to come but had show off the wonder of a real bathroom….well almost real, sink & faucet still on order. Because I agonized over purchases, for those of you in the market, the toilet is a Toto Aquia dual flush from FW Webb in South Portland and tub is from Wilbur’s antiques in Greene, a pain to paint but worth the cunningness.

measuring didn’t really seem to help much

however, sheetrock is a sign of progress…..I totally surprised the delivery guy from Hammond, buy helping him unload the first 35 pieces (2 at a time!). Little did he know I was numb enough to lug the sheetrock upstairs and hang it by myself. Thankfully I stopped that nonsense and did my best to be patient until help arrived.

It was a tuff day getting things to look normal in a room/house that has absolutely nothing level or square, but I think Chicky and I did a pretty good job in the master bathroom even if we only cut 1 in 10 sheets right the first time. And the first coat of mud is on! Thanks to Seamus at Rosemont Market for pairing lovely bottles of wine with sheetrock install.

blown in cellulose insulation is sexy

Now that everything is ruffed in and the plumbing inspector FINALLY approved the stink pipe, the fellas from Ace Insulation came and blew in the cellulose upstairs. Gerard (the delightful owner) sealed up the cracks with a foam spray, then they put up plastic (that kinda looks like that heavy duty packaging tape) and made a super duper air tight seal – so tight the plastic was like a drum when you touched it, then they blew in the cellulose. It’s a recycled product from wood pulp (newspaper?) and is totally non toxic, too. They also used denim to seal up the tricky spots.

I decided to rip out all the plaster and lathe and sketchy sketchy rock wool insulation that was previously blown in (see demo pictures) so I could get the tightest seal possible. All that demo is not necessary, they can blow from the outside, but it since I was ripping everything apart to re-wire and re-plumb, it seemed like the more effective thing to do.

And it is one of the few “green” products that doesn’t make you fall off your chair with cost. It was only a little over $3, 000 for the entire house (about 1000 sq ft).

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.

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!

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.

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!