May 1-5
 Ben took a day off from his own (Holy Cross Carpentry) projects, to help out on
Wednesday (perfect timing) when the plumbers were here to finish pipe work for the bath tubs. Ben & I built a
platform for the Bathroom 2 tub - the tub had to be lifted 8 inches off the floor because of the change from a
shower to a tub in that room (the room was smaller than the architect's plans!) The Bathroom 1 tub needed a 2x4
deck for support. Having installed both tubs, we finished the drywall and wonderboard in those two rooms.
The rest of the week we prepared for spray painting - caulking each log where the
drywall transition left a gap or an imperfect join; masking each log and dusting off the textured drywall. Duane
kindly loaned us a power paint sprayer, and on Friday Kevin and I finished the primer coat - it would have taken a
week using rollers and brushes! It was a filthy job, but we enjoyed it because it was so fast! I miscalculated the
amount of paint needed, so before lunch Jenny dashed off to Walmart to buy another 15 gallons of primer!
Duane came by to collect the check for his work and he charged $400 LESS than his
estimate - that's a first on this project! One of his guys came back late Friday and Saturday morning to
finish the small bathroom (that wasn't ready when they were here before) - at no extra charge! Next week he will
lend us a tile saw, saving us $150 in rental costs. Thank you again Duane - you've renewed our faith in local
contractors.
May 6-11
 Ben, Kevin and I worked all 5 days and
got a lot done. I finished spray painting the top coat on Monday while Ben and Kevin started mounting the doors.
Then I started staining the doors and window and door trim/casing (knotty pine), following behind as "the boys"
fitted them. By Friday all the doors were in and almost all the casing was in place. There's a LOT of staining
still to do though.
RMI (Rocky Mountain Infrastructures) returned to build a retaining wall and
finish the garage and all grading around the house. The retaining wall also doubles as natural stone steps down
the side of the garage; Miguel, operating the big backhoe, did a masterful job. By Saturday we could walk down the
steps and actually park a vehicle in the garage!
Also by the end of the week the family room was ready for a ping pong table and
some games were actually played - time to relax and have some fun!
On Saturday Jenny stained the bathroom bay window - Ben & Kevin finished the trim
and sill on that window this week, in time for Mother's Day ("mother" had been looking forward to this!)
May 13-18
 Monday and Tuesday RMI finished the grading and brought in 8 truck loads of top soil
to do the rough landscaping. It looks so much better!
We boys continued sanding, staining and fitting baseboards, door and window
frames, etc. A more fun job was building the "pub" bar and a matching wainscot at the end of the family room. We
plan to "distress' the cedar paneling and stain everything dark to match the bar beams. Greg Gimble supplied us
with two perfect old planks to make a bar counter.
The MBE electricians (Dusty and Paul) finished their work giving us power and
lights downstairs again, so we were able to connect a rope light and see the feature Spanish galleon stained glass
in all its glory. This is another almost century-old heirloom made by my grandfather.
I drove to the Grand Junction Home Depot to collect the sink base cabinets for
the powder room (upstairs) and the main bathroom downstairs. I also bought an old sink base ($30) for the "pub",
which we plan to distress (there's no point distressing a new one!) I bought two pub mirrors on Ebay (Newcastle
Brown and Guinness), so the atmosphere will be authentic. I can't wait to pull the first pint!
 Friday dawned early with a call from
(soon-to-be-Uncle) Kevin: Ben had called to say Jennifer was in labor (since 11 last night!)
Owen Michael Daly was born at 05:51 Saturday May 18th:
IT'S A BOY!! We thank God for this precious gift to our
family. May 18th is also the 1 year anniversary of the start of this project: we broke ground May 18, 2001. Some
coincidence!
May 20-25
Now Ben is a new Daddy and enjoying his duties, Kevin and I worked without him this week. We tiled both bathroom
floors, faux painted the pub walls (very cool color!), finished the wainscot and "distressed" the paneling (using
chain, nail, hammer, etc., etc.!) Next we need to choose several stains to achieve a consistent dark "pub" look.
We also ordered equipment for the pub (beer taps, handles, drain tray, beer
lines, CO2 tank, etc.) The speakers arrived, so while Jenny and I were visiting Ben, Jennifer and Owen (can't stay
away long now we are grandparents!), Kevin installed the speakers - a fun job - and hooked up his old stereo to
test the system: works fine!
On Friday, after arriving back from Edwards in a snow storm (much needed as we
are in a serious drought), we cut the countertop for the pub sink, and started to do the same in the main
bathroom, but discovered that the wrong sinks had been delivered (4" centered tap holes instead of 8"), so now the
bathroom won't be ready for a while.
During the week, we also sanded the stairs (from time to time - it's a tedious
job). I spent all of Saturday sanding with 60 grit - tomorrow it'll be 120 grit for a nice finish - filling in and
around the logs with caulk and touching up various spots with drywall "mud" and paint. I also ordered the carpets
(for installation June 3rd).
May 26-31
This hectic week saw lots of tiling and grouting, plus finishing most of the pub bar and starting the staining of
the pub, the wainscot and some of the logs. We are on a tight timescale to get ready for the World Cup (of soccer
- the biggest sports event in the world!) which starts May 31st.
The plasma TV was delivered on Thursday as planned. Ben came down on Friday and
we spent most of the day setting it up - in time to watch the first soccer games. On Saturday Kevin came down and
we worked on wiring up the Stereo receiver and DVD player - and watched England's first game (a draw with Sweden).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Come back soon to check on our final stage in our project - one which could last months!
God bless,
|
log home
