before and after closet

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

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….

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).

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!

new old floors

I salvaged the floor of the loft of the barn and it is becoming my new bedroom floor. Pretty awesome wide planks. And that is totally not not me with the ruler measuring to make sure the nails are spaced out evenly and in a straight line.

master bed in the works as of April 7, 2008

The master bedroom has undergone many changes in the last few months. I am totally moved out of that room and happy to be living in a room with a door instead of surrounded by plastic.