A New House - Episode 24 - It is winter Now - Work Indoors Stupid!

Winter started off REALLY wet, then REALLY cold (-4F), then we got a couple of good dumps of snow and everything was back to normal. So for the past couple of months we have been working indoors.

Now that plumbing and electrical are done, we decided to focus on the main floor. This room will be Kyle’s room - just off the front entrance. We bought a unit of 1x10 rough cedar and for his room decided on a staggered board on board look finished with a vinegar/steel wool/stain mixture to look like barn boards. Debbie is now an expert in this finishing technique having spent a lot of time testing various recipes.

We think it turned out pretty cool. The ceiling is done with the same wood, but board and batts. We still have the closet ceiling to finish and doors.

This cool sconce lamp in Kyle’s room also shows off Debbie’s suburb skip-trowel work.

Kyle’s bathroom has a doorway as opposed to a door.

His bathroom. Deb was working of skip troweling this room today. The shower has an ‘Onyx” brand composite base and the walls are covered with Hardie backer, joints sealed, then painted with “Red Guard” to waterproof the whole mess. We have wood look (rustic of course) tile planks that will be the shower walls.

oh … and the new fridge.

Sheetrock in the dining room.

Oh and the new pellet stove in the basement. We had planned on heating the basement with just wall heaters, which worked fine until we got our last electric bill (argh!). so after some research bought a Pelpro 35,000 btu pellet stove. On the lowest setting, it keeps the basement at around 65 degrees.

The finished plumbing in the mechanical room. I will be adding a 50 gal conventional water heater because the electric on-demand unit isn’t up to the task for our cold water. The best it can do is give us lukewarm water at around 80-85 degrees.

… and we have the master bathroom soaker tub in and set. Deb’s tile work using quartzite rock was spectacular. We would be taking baths if the on demand water heater was up to par – but it isn’t.

We also bought a Samsung washer-dryer set and plumbed them in. Deb says “yay” no more crappy little washer dryer.

From here, we will continue to work on the walls, finish the main floor bathrooms, foyer and kitchen areas. We are also nearing completion of the kitchen cabinet design and hope to get them ordered soon.