Archive for December, 2006
My small house now has its own unique front door. The house is a “Charleston Single House” design, so the front door actually opens onto the porch. Mine’s a louvered screen door. Here are outside and inside views … (click to see larger uncropped photos)
Yes, that one wall of the porch is white while the others are green. Don’t ask why; it’s art.
Details around the front door are in place too … the house number, the fancy nickel screendoor latch from VanDyke’s (which looks great but works crappy), the stainless steel post caps (copper is just so … common … don’t you agree?).
Inside the house, I now have heat. Yesiree! It’s simple baseboard electric heat. I bought programmable thermostats to help keep heating costs under control. The thermostats are line-voltage units, which aren’t easy to find. I ordered mine online from Atlanta Supply. They’re made by Honeywell, are nice and compact, and easy to use.
More big news … the kitchen cabinets are here! Made by KraftMaid and installed by Peninsula Cabinets today. They’re cherry in a sort-of Shaker style. I’ve got quite a bit of storage in the kitchen — more than I expected in an 8×8 room. The upper cabinets go all the way to the ceiling.
That’s all for now. The next steps are to finish the trim in the kitchen, tile the shower, lay the bathroom floor, and install the bathroom vanity. All in preparation for the plumbers to do their thing.
Merry Christmas!
December 19th, 2006
I still haven’t grouted the kitchen’s slate tile, due to other things going on (and some apprehension over doing it). But the tile is in place, and here are a few pics of how we did it. First, Sandy sealed the tiles so the grout will release from the surface. Meanwhile, I cut, glued and screwed half-inch B/C underlayment plywood to the subfloor. Then we mixed up thin-set, troweled it on, and set the tiles in place. We didn’t have to cut any tiles because they fit perfectly in the 5×8 space.
Yesterday, the electrician (Rick Burke) installed many of the light switches, plugs and other electrical stuff. Walls suddenly look “done”. Even the outside porch lights are up.
Today, the pine-board-ceiling in the stairwell was completed. Some paint and trim will finish the stairwell — the spiral stairs will arrive in a few weeks.
I also made a shopping excursion to Salisbury today. I bought the baseboard heaters, bathroom vanity, medicine cabinet and a small storage cabinet that will mount above the toilet.
Want to see something cool? Google updated its satellite images for my part of the world, and now you can view detailed images of my town … and my house under construction! Go to this page to view the satellite image, then ZOOM in. The pointer isn’t exactly on my house, but it’s close. My house is slightly to the left and up a bit.
December 7th, 2006
The annual Onancock Christmas Homes Tour is this Saturday, the 9th, 2:00 to 6:00 pm. 8 homes in town are on the tour, including historic Kerr Place, built in 1800. Most of the other homes are Victorians from the turn of the century, but one is (maybe) the oldest house in town. Tickets are $15 per person, with all proceeds going to charity. You can buy tickets the day of the event at Kerr Place (Google map).
On Saturday there will also be a free concert of Christmas music at historic Cokesbury Church in Onancock, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm. The roof of this church blew off earlier this year, but it’s now better than ever. The metal roof has been replaced with a historically accurate cedar roof that looks great.
If you’re within driving distance of Onancock, Virginia you should consider taking advantage of these holiday events. Great for anyone who likes to look at houses.
Onancock is a “quaint” tiny waterfront town on the rural Eastern Shore of Virginia. Make a day of it by eating at one of our restaurants (we’ve got 7) and doing some Christmas shopping at the unique shops in town. Stay overnight at one of the bed & breakfasts or the Charlotte Hotel.
My unfinished house obviously isn’t on the tour — but it probably will be next year.
December 5th, 2006
Today’s high temperature was 37, with strong winds too. That may sound mild to readers in the mid-west, but it’s brrr cold for us. The wind rattled the vents in the kitchen and bathroom and I could feel a draft around them (I should stuff something in them until the ventilation fans are connected). And the heat won’t be installed until later this week.
Luckily, the sun came out mid-morning and the house warmed up quickly. The temperature inside got up to about 58 degrees, which was fine for working. That 20-degee heat gain is also a good sign for the (basic) passive solar features I designed into the house.
My east-facing patio doors pick up lots of morning sun, and my 4 big south-facing windows gain heat all day. My plan is to put tubes filled with water (like these) inside the south windows to gather the sun’s heat all day, then slowly release it into the house at night. The windows will get insulated covers to prevent the heat from just leaking back outside.
December 5th, 2006
We installed the pine “roofers” on the bedroom and bathroom cathedral ceilings. The things they call “roofers” locally are pine boards, 3/4 inch thick and 5.25 inches wide. They are tongue-and-groove and have a beveled edge. The color is warm, the grain is interesting, and knots add character.
I needed almost 80 of them at 8-feet 6-inches long for the bedroom and almost 40 at 6-feet 6-inches for the bathroom. I cut, sanded, and finished them all using a clear semi-gloss water based poly-acrylic. That’s a nice product — it doesn’t smell bad, is easy to clean up, and leaves a hard finish. The bedroom boards got two coats and the bathroom got three.
Installation: we screwed furring strips horizontally across the roof rafters. Then we put trim screws through the tongue of each roofer into the furring strips. The roofers run vertically up the ceiling. The pieces fit together fairly easily. When we ran into a warped board we just wedged it to bend it to our will. Notching them around the exposed ceiling joists took more time than anything else. We’ve cut cap-trim pieces to cover the gap at the very top, but haven’t installed them yet.
The louvered screen door that will act as a front-door at the end of my porch has received stain and polyurethane. Dark mahogany stain and three coats of “spar” urethane that should hold up pretty well outside. It doesn’t look like a cheap pine door anymore!
I’ve ordered a brushed-nickel screen door latch set from VanDyke Restorers. Once it arrives, we’ll put it on there and install the door.
Otherwise, there’s been a lot of boring painting with plenty of help from my sister and brother. Thanks! It’s a never-ending task … the downstairs trim still needs more paint. I hate painting, but a high-density foam paint roller sure makes painting trim faster and easier. You should give it a try.
I painted over the orange paint in the bathroom. It’s back to classy white now. Whew.
Oh yeah — Sandy and I put down the slate tile in the kitchen yesterday. I’ll make another post about that after it’s grouted. KraftMaid shipped my kitchen cabinets to the local dealer three weeks early (!) so we’re racing to get the prep work done in there.
December 4th, 2006
