Flooring

We knew it was time to pick out a stain for the floors so

Mrs. OSH set up a staining test location in the garage. On my side.

She picked up a piece of oak panel from the local big box and used that

to compare stains and shades.

She tried Cherry and even mixing Cherry with other stains

She tried Weathered Oak and Early American

(and what's up with Google? It keeps flipping my pics.)

And Early American and Cherry

(I'm beginning to think Google has an issue)

We were concerned that we weren't getting the test staining right because

of  the type of wood that we were using. So I ran over to Lumber Liquidators

where they gave me a few unstained pieces of white oak to use. Free.

This color test came out much better because we were using actual flooring.

We decided to go with the English Chestnut (right side).

It was exciting to go over and find that the flooring had been delivered.

It was from a company in Virginia named Ten Oaks

You can see Stuart Virginia stamped on to the backside of the wood.

Stacks and Stacks

Spread around to the different rooms

And once acclimated to the house conditions it will be ready to be installed

It was exciting to stop by the house and find that the hardwood flooring had arrived. It wasn’t just the fact that the wood had arrived, but it was knowing that this is the last phase of major construction. Once this is done the only work remaining will be the installation of all the parts that make the house go (outlets, lights, switches, faucets, etc.).

Like any decision with house building, selecting a floor and the color stain is not something that you want to do in haste. We were originally going to go with Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors in the main living areas and carpet the bedrooms. But after looking at stains and worrying about the dark wood showing every scratch and not to mention the impact on our budget, we decided to go with white oak. White oak is the old standby but it’s found in many houses with hard wood floors. Sure, there are many beautiful exotics available; they were just beyond our budget. The upside to using white oak was that we could now afford to do the bedrooms too.

We also decided to go with the unfinished boards and have them finished on site. I wouldn’t hesitate to go with the prefinished pieces if doing an individual room, but see we were doing the entire house, we felt it was a better route to have the floors finished as part of the install.

Mrs. OSH experimented with the actual stains on a piece of oak paneling. Colors on a company supplied card just don’t cut it. You really need to stain wood and bring it on site to get a better feel. We weren’t sure the colors were accurate so I ran over to Lumber Liquidators where they gave me some sample pieces. Free. It may sound simple, but I was impressed that they gave me the pieces. They now have a future customer.

After testing many samples we decided to go with the Minwax English Chestnut. We think it will give us the right shade of dark, but not too dark. It will also show the grain of the wood nicely. The only thing we didn’t do that might not have been a bad idea was to cover the stains with a few coats of poly because this can darken the wood further. We were OK with a slightly darker color though and didn’t bother.  

We can’t wait to see it start to be installed.

Enjoy your weekend.

Painting Wrap Up

Master Bedroom

Rockport Gray

Guest Bathroom

Misty Memories

Hallway

Collingwood

Dining Room

Collingwood

Dining Room

The painters have wrapped up the interior painting and cleaned up their gear and moved onto the next house. The ceilings, walls, trim work and doors are all done and they look great. Of course, I was so enthralled by it all and how it looks I just didn’t take enough pictures.

I’m glad we decided to stick with a few primary colors until we move in and get a feel for each room and the lighting. I found that with walking from room to room or even looking at the walls in any one room, the shades of color seem to change. What makes it even more interesting is the Collingwood, which we used in all of the main living areas, seems to take on a different color as you move from the hallway to the Living Room to the Dining Room. The amount of natural light coming in really makes a difference. Who knows, we may never need to repaint any time soon.

The other part that paint really makes interesting is how you can now start to see the character of the house and every room starting to come through. All that planning. All that swearing (yes, I’ve had some moments) seems to be paying off. Having it go from a piece of paper to a plan to something that you can touch is awesome and makes it all well worth it. Most of the time.

So what’s next? The floors should be coming in and I expect that part of the project will take a couple of weeks. 

Enjoy your weekend.

Paint in Progress

Master Bath Vanity

As you may have seen in the last post, everything was masked off. Once that was done they spray painted primer on all the walls and ceilings. With everything masked off, this made for quick work.

Living Room

I stopped by after work one night to see how the paint was progressing. They were using a sprayer to do the ceilings.

The air was thick with latex paint spray. The painter wore a respirator.

I didn't have one, so my time was limited to a about two minutes. Long enough to get a couple of quick pics.

Dining Room

After the primer and ceilings were done, they went to work on the wood trim. Again, having it masked off enabled the painters to use a sprayer.

Even the doors were sprayed. I liked the idea of spraying the trim and doors because it gave the woodwork a smooth, even finish. That's hard to do with a brush.

Dining Room

The bottom half with the wainscoting was sprayed white. The upper half will be painted Collingwood like the Living Room and Kitchen. We may change that once we move in and get a feel for the room.

Room Over Garage Stairs

Even the oak treads were masked off so that they could paint the stair trim.

Room Over Garage Stairs

The next step was to paint all of the walls using an 18" roller. This made for quick work.

18" Roller and Tray

I was thinking that "I need one of these". Then I thought, "maybe not". Mrs. OSH will then have my weekends booked if she changes her mind about the colors.

Guest Bathroom

The first coat was put on as a base with cutting in around the windows and corners done later with a brush. Then they will then go back and do the final coat with the roller.

Tools of the Trade

Now that everything is masked off the painters (DJ Rasmusson Paint Restoration Co.) are making quick progress. 

First it was painting primer over all the drywall to provide an even background color and give the paint something to stick to. Then they painted the ceilings using a sprayer which I’m guessing saved them a ton of time. After they were done with the ceilings, they went on and painted all of the trim work in place. They are painting the walls so this doesn’t hurt anything doing it this way. They also spray painted all of the doors giving them a nice smooth, even coat. Now they’ve broken out the rollers and started on the walls. 

We can’t wait to see what the finish colors look like in our new rooms.

Enjoy your weekend.

Paint Prep

Paint Swatches

A - Guest Bath

B - Master Bedroom

C - Master Bath

D - Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen

Masking off the Cabinets

Nail Holes are Filled and looking like a bad case of Measels

Windows are All Masked Off

Misty Memories

Benjamin Moore - 2118-60

Like a long-ago memory, this light, misty shade of gray-lavender is soft around the edges.

The above from the BM website - Who thinks of these descriptions?

Colors from My Perfect Color

Silver Lake

Benjamin Moore - 1598

This color is part of the Classic Color Collection.
Is that like a Classic Car? And who names these colors?

Rockport Gray

Benjamin Moore - HC-105

Steeped in tradition, the refined, elegant colors of the Historical Collection deliver timeless color that can be used in traditional as well as contemporary spaces.
When I think of Rockport, I think of fishing. And fog.

Collingwood

Benjamin Moore - OC-28

These timeless, elegant, Classic Colors guarantee beautiful, usable color all the time, every time.
In their other job, they write for Hallmark.

(These colors actually have more color than the gray that appears above. Not sure why I can’t get the true color.)

The painting prep has started with the nail holes being filled with putty to be sanded smooth later. Last minute electrical outlet additions have been installed and popped screws and random holes in the sheetrock are being filled and sanded. Also,windows have been masked off and the kitchen cabinets have been covered and taped off.

Paint choice can be difficult particularly in a new house. Having never spent a night or a full day there as the sun shifts through the windows we decided to play it safe. Not to mention the fact that the builder gave us up to four colors (not counting the white trim) to choose from made it a little difficult. Each additional color was going to be an additional cost of $250. I’m not sure if they do that to keep it from getting too crazy with colors or just a way to make additional money. I’m guessing it’s probably a little of both.

So we (OK. Really? Like I had any say at all.) decided to go with Benjamin Moore’s Rockport Gray for the Master Bedroom, Silver Lake for the Master Bath and Misty Memories for the guest bath. For the rest of the house we decided to go with a neutral Collingwood. I don’t think the fact the same color will be used throughout the remaining rooms will be as noticeable given the different levels of lighting in each room and hallway. Plus the dining room will be white on the bottom half with the wainscoting. 

Once we get settled in we’ll most likely repaint the two front bedrooms and perhaps the dining room and/or kitchen. We’ll see how it looks once we’ve moved in. Whenever that may be.

Enjoy your week.

Chandeliers

Niche ModernTerra Pendant with Plumen 001 Light

My better half and I (OK, mostly me) have been looking for months for the right light for our dining room. We have a beautiful hand blown light picked out from Niche Modern but it’s a bit more money than we want to spend at the moment. We noticed though that they have factory sale in April so our plan is to do a road trip.This means driving about 5 hours, spending money on gas, food and a hotel, and then saving some money on the light. Ya, it will probably even out, but it will be cool to go to the factory to see how they are made. And save some money.

So in the meantime, we need a light. Now I’m a Craigslist hound and have been able to discover some pretty good finds along the way.  Unless you type in the word “chandelier” in the Craigslist search bar. You’ll get thousands of chandeliers. Most are ugly which is why they’re being sold to begin with. So in the interest of sharing, I’m posting the pics of a few of the special ones. If you find them attractive, don’t be insulted that I don't. 

Crystal Chandelier from Prague for Sale-it is gorgeous and very unique. 
I no longer have room for it. Call xxx-xxx-xxxx. New price - great gift for Christmas

$300

I think it needs to go back in the box. And sent back overseas. And fall off the boat...

$65

Based on the date on the picture, after over a year of trying to sell it, I think they need to just wrap it up in that cloth. And  throw it away.

$175

Antique Oman Chandelier

Rewiring needed

Cash only, thanks

I'm not sure I would want something that looks like a cremation urn hanging over my dining room table. Put it back into storage. For another hundred years.

Free Chandelier with frosted glass. You can also have two matching sconces not pictured if you want. All free.

There is a reason for free. I wonder if it will fit in the trash can behind it?

I think I'd be taking that little gong hammer and plinking away at each one of the crystals until it was all gone.

Gorgeous Beveled Glass Panel Chandelier Price just reduced - $310

This is a huge gorgeous beveled glass panel chandelier.The picture speaks for itself. Make your home look like a mansion.

Oh good the price has been reduced! And it's "Gorgeous"! Um, no it's not.

 Showstopper Chandelier - $600

Unforgettable chandelier is made of brushed nickel with frosted glass shades.

Showstopper? Unforgettable? There aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe this one.

 Ships Wheel LED Chandelier - ONE-OF-A-KIND - $125

Signed and Numbered (1 of 1)

There is a reason why it's 1 of 1.

The One

After lots of searching this is the one we found and are going to put up temporarily. It's a heavy brass chandelier with six lights and it's not at all like the pendant that we want but we need something in the mean time for lighting. I like it and I think it will look good until we get the Niche Modern pendant that we really like. And for $100, it was a "good find". 

Although Mrs. OSH really did not want a brass one, I think she half believed me that brass was making a come back. And I convinced her it will work until our road trip which I promised to make. 

I'm sure she won't forget that promise.

Enjoy  your weekend.

Kitchen Granite

Our base Kitchen cabinets are all installed and ready to have the countertops brought in. It was exciting to have the cabinets installed but now they just seem like boxes until the counter tops are added. With the backsplash between the countertops and window we're a little concerned about how the outlets (sideways with wires sticking out), which are required by code, will look.

The stove will go in the middle with a granite backsplash going up the wall behind it. The drawer microwave will go in the opening in the center. 

We looked at the different types of countertops that are available such as quartz, concrete, silestone and even the ones made out of recycled material but found that we kept going back to granite.

So off to the granite place, with my better half in search of the perfect piece. While there are many places to buy granite from, after receiving high recommendations we decided to go with StoneTek in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

My better half had already made one visit and brought me along on the next one to get an idea of what was available. What a place. Slabs upon slabs of hundreds of varieties and colors of granite and marble from around the world to pick rom. If you're thinking of granite or marble, the choices can be overwhelming. Plan on numerous visits and bring your paint cards...

As would be normal for me, it wasn't enough to just look at slabs and or the types of edges; I wanted to see how they were cut. I got a chance to go into the cutting area and was fortunate to be there when they were cutting a large piece.

We (OK, she) decided to go with a type called Tobacco Brown which comes from Brazil. It's mostly flecks of different shades of brown with flecks of black and clear providing just enough contrast. The large white specks in the picture are actually scratches where somebody (OK, me) dropped a heavy sharp tool on the sample.

A very close up look. While there are tons (literally and figuratively) of granite to pick from, each comes at a price from affordable to you'll need to up your mortgage not so affordable. Don't be afraid to shop around to find the right piece at the right price.

They brought in a template person (templator?) to measure the exact cuts using a laser. This was different then my last house where when I redid the kitchen they came in and made wood templates using strips of 1/4" board and a glue gun. That fit perfectly so I can only expect that this will be even better.

They put little doo dads (I can't find the name of the part and of course, I don't have a picture either) around key points on the cabinets and used the laser to obtain the exact measurement.

From the Laser Products Industries website. This gives you an idea of how the countertop is measured.

So, it been a long winter with the snow and cold and contractor doldrums but it looks like with spring on the horizon, finishing our house is too. It will great to have the counter tops installed and see what the kitchen really is going to look like. While they're cutting the stone, we have a few other things coming up such as adding some additional electrical outlets and paint should be starting soon as well.

Enjoy your week.