Shop Staining Started

Started staining the boards for the shop siding this week. Plan is to stain the main boards for each wall, then install them before moving on to the next side. This keeps me from having to keep so much of the wood standing in the shop after it's stained and will hopefully minimize the amount of handling. I'm starting with the front of the shop and built some stands inside to sit the wood on while I'm applying the stain with a sprayer. I can do 3 boards at a time and have 4 stations set up to hold the boards but will drop to 3 stations as I get to the longer boards. The first side material are only 10' long.

The first picture shows 3 of the boards ready for spraying, the next is the boards after the first coat. Only took about 30 minutes to stain 40 boards with a single coat of stain and about 20 minutes to clean the sprayer! If only I was using a latex stain, it would be a lot easier to clean up. Stain needs to dry 24 hours between coats. Will probably have a bit of touch up to do once all the boards are up but wanted to limit the ladder time.

The last picture shows one of the boards after a second coat has been applied standing against the front of the shop. I hope to start putting on the siding next week but still thinking through how I'm going to reach the other sides since they are 1 1/2 to 2 stories, may go with just a ladder but also looking at trying to rent some kind of a lift as well. If I do end up with some type of lift, that might change the stain plans considerable as I would want to have all the wood ready to go before I start paying for the equipment.

More pictures next week.

Mudroom Cabinet Installed

The mudroom cabinet/sink unit was delivered and installed this week, came out great. Another nice piece of work from Gary Metcalf who did our kitchen cabinets as well. Here are a couple of pictures showing the sink and top. The other pictures shows the front of the cabinet, the door on the right pulls out and contains two large covered baskets that we plan to use to store our dog food. Check out the bookmarked figure/grain on the front of the 3 doors, very unique.

House Interior

Here are a few pictures of the house interior after most of the cleaning was completed. First shots are from the great room, then to the kitchen, master bedroom, and up to the loft and guest room. Some minor touches to complete but we're nearly there!

Temporary Power Pole Gone

For those who've followed this blog from early on, you'll remember one of the first build posts was when the temporary electric power was installed, this was a big step. Last week, the temporary power was removed so we're down to a single electric bill. The power to the house and garage now runs from the last electric pole in the cul-de-sac under ground to the house. A couple of pictures of the pole coming out.

Fence Gate

Started some work this week on some gates to shut off portions of the decking to keep the dogs confined. I'm not happy with how they've come out so far. We're using a piece of the railing but having a hard time getting the gates to stay straight- for the railings, they're anchored to posts at both ends so no issue but with one end loose for the gate, it wants to bend a bit. Will try a few ideas later or may decide to go a different route. Plan is to have one of these by the back door as well as at the entrance to the decking on the front of the house.

We also had a local fence company, Bland Fencing, come in and set the posts for our fence. Thought about setting these ourselves but decided to hire a pro given the shale and slopes involved. The posts are set and will post a picture or two next week. We'll be doing a four board, paddock style fence. I have a number of logs from a neighbors downed oak that I'll be milling in to 1x6's to use for the fence rails. There will be a 4' high wire mesh on the posts as well to keep the dogs in and hopefully some critters out.

Log Splitter & Wood Stove Prep

In preparation for installing a wood stove later this year, we picked up a log splitter this week and tested it a bit. Have some wood ready now for our outside camp type fires now that the weather is starting to turn a bit cooler. Here's a picture of the splitter and first test pile. It worked well and with all the downed tress we have on the property, we should be able to make good use of them as a supplemental heating source.

We're still investigating wood stoves, the location in the basement will be a bit of a challenge since it will have such a long chimney and draft to overcome to get a fire started. Will probably go with a bit larger stove than originally planned, we're told that starting a hot, large fire will get the draft going and then we can bank it back down as originally planned. There are many stove brands out there and a lot to figure out, right now, we're looking at an Osburne unit, from Canada that looks like it would do the job and comes highly recommended by a local seller. The dealer told us he knows of a few of these stoves installed in a similar situation as ours in the basement and they have worked well. We don't have to decide on this for a while so will continue to check out some other models too.

Hot Tub Pad

Things have slowed a bit over the the last two weeks, no big deal but the work is not as visible. More cleaning and touch up. Plan is to finish up most of the remaining work this week and hopefully, we'll have our final inspections completed soon so we can move some furniture inside. Here's a picture of the hot tub pad and the conduit ready for the electric run, tub will be delivered later this month.