649 6th

fast acting kitties

I was sanding back some spackle the other day and realized I didn't have the vacuum. So, I sprinted to the basement to get it before the cats noticed what I was doing.

...best laid intentions.

rounding the bend

It was long time coming but we're finally putting the last touches on 649 6th Ave v1.0. More than 6 years in the making, I'm certainly glad our quirky design didn't align with one particular seasons fashion.

We are aiming to be done by the first of February, so stay tuned for a few more posts as we near the end, including the party in February.

Finally, Tim was over the other day and shot some pictures of Michael and I hanging a large mirror. Made me stop to reflect for a moment, if nothing else, we really have found how to be a joyful team of two as we knock this work out...and they said it would only end in divorce.

complete dining room

...well not completely done, but I can fake it with this photo!

With the help of our dear friend Jordan we got the entire shelving apparatus installed in the dining room today. The four upright metal poles have adjustable posts with feet that are screwed into the ceiling and floor (4 screws per foot). Meaning, it's not going anywhere. The oak planks and cleats match the installation of the open riser stair treads (jut off to the left in this photo). They feel tight as a drum and strong enough to be building support rather than shelving.

Oh, and we finished installing all of the low voltage tech lighting. Hard to see the fixtures in the photo. They have a lovely crackle white glass finish.

crown molding

Final pieces of molding in the dining room are going in-- the crown molding to be exact. Well, craown molding is a pretty fanciful term in this case. It's really 3/4" MDF cut into 8" strips to match the soffit drops on the second floor.

Not nearly as hard cutting around the beams as we had expected. We decided not to trim out where the chimney juts out. We liked the implied line that passes through without a ton of fussy molding.

stair finish

rack'em (in the name of cosmogonism!)

Here you see the drying rows of polyurethaned oak treads that perhaps as early as tomorrow will be installed as:

1. shiny new and 100% DIY stairs!!!

2. or the completion of a project that started long, long ago in a far away place...

3. or was it way over there that other time ago?

4. or will it be at last the conclusion to the VERY FIRST act of destruction-in-the-name-of-construction (that this property ever saw (under our watchful gaze))!?

(((stay tuned)))

installing window trim

Things were a little more slow going this weekend than we had hoped. Yesterday was sort of a bust, but today we methodically stepped through all of the routing and cutting that needed to be done for both the dining room and kitchen molding. Here's a time lapse of the Dining Room. It'll get a little caulk and one more finish coat of paint, now that it's installed

By the way, the music is a "Maps" tunes called "Don't Fear". One guy from Portland that the Genius side bar suggested to me-- all that Dandy Warhols I would guess.

primed

All of the remaining trim material has been primed and Michael's finishing up the last bit of sanding now (I can hear the orbital whine from where I sit). Tomorrow morning we break out the router table (in the back yard) and fabricate the various notched pieces we need. After that, chocolate brown paint is applied, cut them to length, and nail them up.

With the exception of the crown trim in the dining room this entire house could be finally trimmed out by the end of the weekend!

This little point and shoot digital camera I got recently has a time lapse mode. I hoping to document something good with that tomorrow.

back to the depot

It's been quite some time since we visited the Home Depot just down the hill from where we live. We went earlier this morning to get the remaining pieces of poplar we're milling into the remaining trim on the first floor. It was raining and about 9:00AM on a Sunday morning, we had the place to ourselves.

We had originally thought of using a hand truck to wheel it all back, but as it was pouring when we were ready to go we splurged and got the Jamaican van service (not really a service as much as a bunch of giys from Jamaica with vans). $20 to help you load, drive your home, and unload, the rain was all we needed to tip the balance.

Later in the day we realized that we were a couple of 1x6's short; so for the first time in MONTHS we went to the depot twice in one day. We must really be back in the reno business. We carried home four twelve foot pieces. Looking like a Laural and Hardy accident waiting to happen, we josseled our way home none the worse for wear.

dining blue

Love the color. Really enjoy the pleasure of painting new construction. Absence of molding is such a relief. Remarklably clean experience.

Looking forward through the stairs at split view of 1st and 2nd floors is going to be so hot when we're done. Very exciting.

Toby found a metal manufacture and is discussing specs and cost estimate for the dining table frame.

Ideas are popping. Toby has a great design for shelving that integrates the chimney-sides both upstairs and downstairs: floor-to-ceiling poles that will likely be ordered from same shop that makes the table. Assuming that order goes well.