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

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.

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!

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.

whitney biennial installation piece or master bathroom wall?

master bath as of April 7, 2008

Known to most of you as the guest room/camera room, it is now under construction as the master bathroom!

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.

master suite as of April 7, 2008

Here is the almost beginning of the construction of the master suite, which includes bedroom, walk in closet , and bathroom.