Finishing touches on a handful of mostly-done projects

This past weekend, the Laird was highly motivated to finish a number of "almost finished" projects.

1) Installed the final piece of wood floor in the corner of the kitchen
One final piece of flooring in the upper left corner that was overlooked during the previous flooring work days.  Small piece had to be cut, then ripped, and nailed in with nail gun.  Refer to Kitchen Renovation posts, to see what the floor used to look like.
Eventually, our hope is to add a nice big breakfast/ eating island to the center of the kitchen, and move the table and chairs to our dining room.  In the meantime, we have a spacious dance floor!



2) Installed the bull nose trim and wood flooring on the landing of the stairs
For the past 8 months, we've been walking on a cardboard covered landing.   Another project checked off the long list.   We still have to fill nail holes and touch up stain and add some trim.  We had to purchase unfinished Red Oak tongue and groove flooring to finish the landing.  It's stained with 3 coats of Provincial Miniwax stain and finished with 3 coats of polyurethane.
























3) Installed the trim and sill for the kitchen window
During the kitchen renovation, we discovered that this wall was not straight; it has a slight lean outward.  Somewhat concerning, however considering the house has be around since 1860 we just went with it.  It order to prepare the walls for upper cabinets, the wall had to be leveled.  Refer to step by step kitchen renovation post for photos.  Leveling the wall, also meant deepening this window & sill.  Finally trimmed & 1st coat painted- it makes a world of difference in the feeling of almost finished with this kitchen.

4) Installed shelf brackets for open shelves in kitchen-  It took me a while to finally decide on shelf brackets for these open shelves in our kitchen.  I found these particular brackets on Etsy.  Our hope is to get our hands on some barn wood boards for the shelves, however, in the meantime we are using some of the pine panels taken down during the renovation.  Surprisingly, they the stained pine looks decent enough!  It's amazing to have the extra storage space and be able to clear off the counter tops down below.  With the open shelving finally installed, the kitchen is looking more and more like the "farmhouse kitchen" we had imagined so many months ago.






































With a handful of half finished projects finally completed, the Laird and I are feeling encouraged!  There's still more to do, but the original Project List is dwindling down and the house is looking more and more like a house (instead of a construction zone).

Current projects in the works:  Hanging coat/ robe racks for the closet, entryway & bedroom.  Tongue and groove barn-styled plank door for lady genevieve's bedroom.  And the garden is in full force, so there is more to update there as well.   Look forward to the posts to come!

Farmhouse Stair Renovation- Part 2

The stairs have taken on a whole new form with the addition of the newel posts, balusters, and railings!  With a new crawler in the house, we are very excited and relieved to finally have our railings up.  And now the Laird can sleep more peacefully.  We hired a carpenter for this job, and he finished the job in 6 hours!

Check out Part 1 of the renovation to see the entire process.
Farmhouse Stair Renovation- Part 1

We purchased unfinished square Newel Posts and a traditional shaped railing- all Red Oak.
Preparation steps:
1)  Sand with grit #220 paper
2)  3 coats stain- Miniwax Provincial
3)  2 coats semi-gloss polyurethane- lightly sanded between each coat.

(All parts of our stairs were ordered through Morse Sash & Door)

It was necessary to add a support beam, in place of the wall that was removed.  We stained and polyurethaned 4 unfinished 1 x 8 boards to wrap the support beam.  The balusters came primed, and we painted them an off white to match the risers and stringers.  They are a simple style with square ends.

The stair renovation drastically improved the look and function of the stairs.  Unfortunately we lost a very large upstairs hall closet, and were seriously lacking in storage.  Though we lost one closet, we gained storage space under the stairs with a new closet.  We also re purposed one of the upper kitchen cabinets to be a linen cabinet (bordering the stairs on the landing) to make up for the lost closet upstairs.  That is one thing about old houses, they don't have nearly enough closets or storage space. More details on re purposing the linen cabinet to come in a future post!

Original stairs

Almost finished Stairs

The final tasks: to install flooring on the landing & Trim- hopefully within the next few weeks.  In the future, my hope is to wainscot the wall leading up the stairs.

Farmhouse Stair Renovation- Part 1

   

   

On our first walkthrough of Redwoodshire, we identified a few problems that caused us to reconsider our motto that "you can always change a house, but you cannot change the land."  My husband (whom I will now refer to as "the Laird" of Redwoodshire) and I thought, "how bad could it be?"  We drove away that day thinking that it was "that" bad.  But after some brainstorming and outside input, we came up with some solutions to the problems we found with the house.

First issue at hand: the steep & narrow staircase

The Laird practically hit his head on the ceiling whenever he walked up or down the stairs.  A problem for any person of normal height, myself not included in that population.  This would definitely be a daily annoyance for the Laird, if left as is.  

Second issue at hand:  the short ceilings throughout the second floor (an issue we will address later)

So we put in a new set of stairs in an L shape configuration.  Refer to previous image for comparison. We eliminated the hallway (to the left of original staircase), and moved the new stairs into that area.  This allowed for a normal rise in stairs, rather than steep stairs.

Newly installed L staircase.  The hole in the floor is the opening of the basement access stairs that were previously under the original stairs.  This change opened the room up and added a much needed closet.

The closet wall with finished drywall.  Access to basement converted to a trap door opening.

Now for the FUN part, painting and staining.  We opted for a "farmhouse" staircase-  stained treads with painted risers and stringers.

STEP 1)  Use hand sander to lightly sand tread surface with grit 220 sandpaper.

STEP 2)  Use painters tape to protect where the treads meet the risers.  This is to prevent too much stain from getting onto the areas that will be painted white.  Unfortunately the tape is not that effective, and stain still seeps through.  

STEP 3)  I used a regular utility rag (found in the paint/ stain section at Home Depot/ Lowes).  You can also use a brush (meant for use with oil based stains), however soaking the towel and rubbing over the surface works great.  Apply stain evenly and allow to dry for 5-15 minutes- longer for deeper & darker color.  Then use a clean/ dry rag to wipe up any stain that is still wet.  Allow to dry 4-6 hours.   Apply a second coat for a deeper/ darker color.  I did 3 coats, for good measure- however not at all necessary.

 Step 4)  POLYURETHANE STAIR TREADS

I used Miniwax Fast Drying Semi-Gloss(Satin, Semi-Gloss & Gloss options) polyurethane. Turn can over in circles (but do not shake- this will produce air bubbles in stain) until well mixed. Using a cheap 2" foam brush, apply the polyurethane in thin coats using long strokes.  Be careful no to get air bubbles.  If you do get some air bubbles, they can be gently sanded out by hand once polyurethane is completely dry. Allow to dry the recommended time (4-6 hours for 1st/ 2nd coats).  Use grit 220 sandpaper (by hand) between coats to rough up surface and allow finish to stick better.  After final coat, allow 12-24 hours to dry before heavy usage/ shoes.

   

   

  

Step 5)  TAPE STAIR TREADS.  Now it is time to tape the stair treads to protect from paint used on risers and stringers.  Like previously noted, painter's tape doesn't work perfectly, but it is a good guide.

Step 6)  Paint risers and stringers with a paint brush.  Allow sufficient time to dry and then apply 2nd coat.

VERY PLEASED WITH THE **SEMI-FINISHED STAIRS!  It was a long process, considering all the steps and wait time for drying.  I did one step/ coat a week over the period of a month, as that is what time I had available.  Because we were living and using the stairs in the process, it was important to consider only doing every other stair in each session, so that you can still use the stairs while the others are drying.  

**  We have yet to install the newel posts, balusters, railing...  They are stained, painted and ready to go- just waiting for carpenter to install.  Will update once they are done.  

Railing & newel posts- stained

Balusters- painted

Oil based stains are very stinky and it is important to wear a face mask to prevent inhaling toxic fumes.  Search oil vs. water based stains to figure out what best meets your needs.