building for our future

Busy...busy...busy. That’s my primary excuse for once again being delayed with an update. Please forgive me!

Since the last time, the painters have been very busy getting the color on the walls and the trim and doors painted white. They did an awesome job, too. We admittedly chose some bolder colors for the multi-purpose room and the master bed room, but it turned out wonderfully. We also chose to use a new paint from Benjamin Moore called “Aura” on the walls. It’s expensive stuff, but provides a completely washable matte finish that looks very silky...almost like plaster. There is a silica additive in it that makes for a very hard surface without the sheen that you normally need for washability. If the weather starts to warm up a bit, they can also get back to putting a second coat on the trim work outside as well as getting the color on my shop building.

The floor crew started this week, too, beginning with sanding the beautiful pine flooring in preparation for color and final finishing. By this time next week, that job will be complete. Getting an acceptable color has been a challenge as pine is difficult to stain and we want the new floor dark enough that it will look at home with the existing wide pine flooring. That should be made easier, however, as it appears we are going to need to refinish the floor in the great room due to adding new material where there was none under the cabinets that were removed as well as the poor condition of the finish on that floor. Sanding it out will give us the opportunity to bring its color close to the new floor.

Dan the mason is back and working on the rear patio. The old, high-maintenance flagstones are gone and a new poured concrete service will be in place sometime next week. Unlike the old patio, this new one will be properly sloped and drained and effectively be a lot more usable for barbecue and leisure enjoyment. Removing the old was a lot of work, however...under that flagstone was a few inches of stone dust over 8-12" of old, hard concrete.

Lastly, I finished the installation of the wet bar cabinetry this evening and also ordered the glass for the upper doors and shelves earlier today. Like the bath vanities I created, I carried through the beautiful cherry “feather crotch” figure in the lower doors as a unifying effect throughout the addition. The credenza built-in for my new office will likely be handled the same way...that’s the next project on tap for me!

In the next week or so, we should see the soft-finished absolute black granite counter tops installed on the vanities and wet bar, the remaining tile work in the master bath completed and a start on the final electrical and plumbing work. Hopefully, we will be able to actually get our CO in just a few weeks and start to enjoy this new addition. And then, of course...some other work starts to make a bedroom for the older daughter out of our soon to be former master bedroom and some updating of the great room. Never a dull moment!

So, that’s where we are through today. I’ll start the pictures for this installment off with a few of the completed wet bar cabinetry.