My hubby and I were going to go with a "UBuildIt" or "O-B Network" company, but now think that we can handle it ourselves. April in Lago Vista, TX

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Entertainment Center

Posted to Beaver-Creek-Ranch by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 11/14/2011

Well, it's finally time to build the entertainment center that we've been designing for quite some time now. The area has been just a clutter of TV's (our daughter had a small TV out to play video games on because I wouldn't let her plug into the big plasma TV), game systems, CD's, DVD's, speakers on top of speakers on top of cinder blocks just to get the height right for listening, etc. It was basically a mess and we didn't even like to sit over there to watch TV because of it. It was time for a change, or should I say, it was time to finish what we'd started.

I designed the entire entertainment center on the computer using AutoCAD software, with all measurements down to the nearest 1/16th of an inch. Creating the materials list was quite a task, since I had never done this before. I had to figure out how many pieces of the cabinet I could get out of a single piece of cherry stock. This was difficult, because you don't know what sizes are available until you get to the lumberyard. Luckily our lumberyard is close by (20 minutes away) so going back for another piece isn't too difficult, but I didn't want to do that - I wanted to get it right the first time. Measure twice, shop once!

After my wife and I spent almost two hrs. at the lumber store figuring out what pieces of the cabinet come out of what pieces of lumber we were on our way back home with a small but fairly expensive load of solid cherry wood and some prefinished maple ply for the drawer boxes. Once home we began by building the drawer boxes, which went pretty smoothly. After that we began on the solid cherry stock, ripping it down to the correct widths for all the various pieces. After that, they got cut into smaller sections on the compound miter saw. From there, I moved onto the router station to put a 45-degree profile on some of the pieces that will make up the drawer fronts. These cabinets were designed to match those that we bought for the kitchen, laundry room, and wet bar.

Building the infill panels was quite a pain. First I had to rip the full 1" thick solid cherry down to 3/8" thickness, then cut to the right length and biscuit-join together to make a solid panel, but being so small it kept wanting to buckle. Additional scrap boards and clamps were required to keep it flat. You know, you can never have too many clamps! It was a bit crazy looking, but I managed to get it all clamped together and flat too. Here's a very important tip: when gluing up the frames, be sure to get as much glue out of all the inside corners as possible, because once the glue hardens it won't take a stain like the real wood does and thus you can see the glue. I used a t-shirt and the tip of a pocket knife to clean out the inside corners. Once everything is dried and hardened, you can unclamp it all and begin the tedious task of sanding. For the face frames I started with 100 gr. sandpaper on my random orbital sander, then I switched to 150 gr. and then finally to 220 gr. Be sure not to round over any edges you don't intend to. It can happen very quickly and can be difficult to fix.

The infill panels were the most difficult. I started with my belt sander and used an 80 gr. to get it all level. Then I switched to a 120 gr. belt. After that I switched to my 150 gr. random orbital followed by the 220 gr. Be sure to get yourself a decent dust mask - your lungs will thank you for it! For the drawer front frame I still had to rout out a small recess for the infill panel to rest in. This was done on the router table in a few quick passes. All that was left was to chisel out the corners by hand. A very sharp chisel will make this easy. Warning! Make sure to keep all of the small chiseled pieces out from under the piece your working on. I missed a few and the pieces made small dents in the face of the drawer fronts! Arghhhh!

At this point I looked at it and thought, hey, I started out with a long stick of lumber and have already turned it into this almost finished cabinet, a little dent can't be that difficult to fix. Although this seems like the worst thing that could happen, it is fairly easy to fix and all you need is a little hot water. First, get a glass and partially fill it with water and put in the microwave (or use a teakettle on the stove) for one minute. Be careful when removing as it will be hot, but hey, it's supposed to be! Using a teaspoon, pour a few drops of water on the dent and let it sit there. The moisture and the heat will get into the fibers of the wood and will cause it to swell, thus restoring the wood to the original condition. You will most likely have to repeat this a few times until the dent has disappeared. Let the wood dry and then sand again.

Well, here it is the week before Thanksgiving and we're trying to build the countertop for the cabinets. I've had the ironwood for a few years now, sitting on the floor in my garage, and at 14' lengths I'm glad to have the space back that it was taking up. Been working a little bit each night in preparation for the glue-up. Ideally I should have built this a month or two ago when the temperatures were warmer and the wood was more stable and the glue would set up better, but when things are busy you take what you can. So, last night Lori and I assembled the boards using #10 biscuits and plenty of Elmer's Wood Glue MAX, which is stainable. This is very important, because any small gaps where the glue may show will absorb the stain and you won't notice it as much. I'll let it dry for 48 hrs before I begin the task of sanding to a smooth finish, a process which I believe will take about two hrs. After that comes the stain and then the finish. Hopefully it will all be done by next week Wednesday so we can take it up to the ranch to install over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Well, the sanding didn't go as planned. First off, I spent about two and a half hrs. sanding the countertop down to where it was nearly finished. I wanted to flip it over and sand the bottom so it would be flat when installing. If any marks got on the underside while sanding it would be okay, since I still had the final 220 gr. sanding to do. However, when I turned it over I realized that I had been sanding the bottom, which would never be seen. Crap! Well, looks like another two hrs. of sanding is called for. Sanding the top went much faster this time, probably because I practiced on the bottom first. Once sanded smooth down to the 220 gr. on my random orbital sander, it was ready for a quick coat of Espresso stain. This is a really dark stain and I still wanted to see the grain of the wood come through, so I only left the stain on for about three minutes.

The ironwood is so dense that the stain doesn't penetrate very fast, giving you time to wipe it off before it dries. When applying the stain with a  sponge brush, once I got to the end I immediately started over by wiping off as much of the stain as I could. I let the stain dry for 24 hrs and then did a very light sanding with a 300 gr. sanding sponge and then used some tack cloth to remove any dust before applying the finish. Let each coat dry for 24 hrs, sand with 300 gr., wipe off with tack cloth, apply another coat of finish. Repeat this process until you have the desired finish you are trying to achieve. I will be putting on four coats of finish for my final product.

Well, it seems that nothing always goes as planned. The outside temps of 50 degrees aren't great for applying finish. It took 48 hrs. for the first coat to dry. The second coat just never really seemed to dry at home and I was running out of time, so I wrapped the countertop up and took it up to the other house to finish. We got a little rain on the way, so I was happy that I'd wrapped it in blankets and two separate tarps. It was nice and dry when we arrived at 7 pm. We set the countertop up on the dining table, using Rockler's Bench Cookies (basically 1" thick rubber spacers to hold your project off the work surface) - Those have been one of the best little things I've bought in a long time, as they do exactly what they are intended to do and there's no slipping at all. We built a nice fire and warmed up the house, hoping this will dry the second coat of finish so I can apply the third coat.

The next day the finish was hard, so I figured it was dry enough to apply the third coat. I did a light sanding and applied the finish. The house was nice and warm at 76 degrees. Two hrs. later I came in to check on the countertop and found a large area full of dried, hardened bubbles in the finish! I tried a light sanding, but the finish was so hard that the 320 gr. sanding sponge didn't even touch it. I tried my random orbital sander with some 220 gr. on it. That was working until it burned right through the finish and the stain. Now I had some bare wood showing. Well, that was all I needed to see before I decided to sand it all the way down to the bare wood and start all over. Talk about being disappointed. So, only being there for the weekend I knew I couldn't finish it there. I decided to fit it to the space instead and would take it home to do the final finish work. Lori helped me take it in and out of the house about six different times while I was scribing it to the walls. At 9 feet long and about 100 lbs., its a two-person job.

Back at home we brought it inside the house to finish this time, instead of trying to do it in the cold garage. I stained it again and let dry for 24 hrs., then applied a coat of finish. Let dry for 24 hrs., sand, wipe, apply second coat. I also contacted General Finishes, the manufacturer of the stain and finish, and told them about the bubbles in the finish. The lady who was helping me said it could have been an old can of finish, so she sent me a new can at no charge. Now that's customer service!

Once it was all done, I had to wrap it up and take it back to the other house again. At least this time it knew it would fit perfectly. All that was left to do was drill a small 1/4" hole for the speaker wires to come up through behind each speaker. I think that all in all it came out pretty good, for a rookie. I made a few mistakes along the way, but I learned too, so the next time will be that much easier.

Photos

Raw lumber: 4/4 solid cherry, varying widths and lengths	Ripping the boards into the correct widths.	Routing an edge profile.
Drawer fronts all cut and routed.	Building the drawer boxes.	Prefinished maple ply. Gluing up and nailing.
Assembly of the face frames and drawer fronts.	Biscuits	Use plenty of glue, just be sure to clean off the excess after assembly before it sets up.
Drawer Front Frame - there will be a solid cherry infill panel in the center.	Test Fit	Installing the drawer boxes.
Yep, they still fit... duh! Just slid into position for a different look.	Furring out the wall to beef it up for a thicker look before it gets covered with slate. It was a little too skinny before.	Turns out the wall was skewed from top to bottom. Had to shave off a good portion of the bottom and then shim the entire front face out to get it all square.
What a difference!	The slate on the wing wall will match that of the stair risers and the wet bar and wood stove hearths.	Countertop. Biscuits at 8" o.c. and plenty of glue. Here the glue is dried and ready to sand.
The 36 gr. really takes it down fast. Sand across at 45 degrees to the grain and then switch to the opposite 45 degrees. Repeat when switching sanding belts to lesser grit until you're almost ready for the random orbital sander.	Final sanding with belt sander (120 gr.) goes with the grain.	Final sanding with 220 gr. on random orbital sander. Love the tight grain of this wood.
Applying the stain.	Rubber gloves will help keep your hands clean at this point.	Closeup
I knew I added those outlets for a reason - lighted Christmas Village	So, this is Phase One of the Entertainment Center, complete. Phase Two is the cabinets and shelves for the equipment side, behind the wall that gets the slate. Coming soon!

Posted by RogerC in Phoenix, AZ on 11/17/2011 RogerC's Forum Posts: 54 Interview Answers: 3 Average Forum Rating: 3.36 Randomly Selected Image 11/17/2011

Outstanding work! Looks great... we'd like to see a photo once the slate is in.

Kitchen Backsplash

Posted to Beaver-Creek-Ranch by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 1/14/2011

Well, after two years, we finally found a backsplash tile that we liked and didn't clash with any of the existing materials. This was another quick project that took us only two days. Granted, the second day was a very long day. We used a 4 mm mosaic glass tile. The tile is pretty easy to work with, but be careful when cutting, as tiny chips of glass tend to fly off. I had to rinse my hands after every cutting session just to get the glass chips off. Luckily, I only nicked myself once. Even using a wet saw, the tile tends to chip, making a rough edge. Going slow helps, but isn't the perfect solution. Luckily the rough edge is very small and is almost always covered by a wall plate.

A word of warning... your wall must be very flat, or the imperfections of a wavy wall will telegraph through in the little 3/4" sq. tile, making it look as if you set it using varying mortar thicknesses. Larger tiles are more forgiving when trying to hide a bad wall. Luckily, my walls were very flat.

The mosaic tile is “Brown Mix Mosaic Glass Tile, 4mm” and comes in a 12” x 12” sheet. Locally it sells for $19.99 s.f. for individual sheets and $11.99 s.f. per box (a box holds 20 s.f.). We found the same tile on the Internet from a company in Florida called Floor & Décor Outlets, for $4.49 s.f. Our initial order arrived promptly, but we found it to be the wrong color. That set me back two weeks, as we only go up to that house every other weekend. They sent replacements out right away, after a few emails and phone calls to the company. The major thing that I noticed with the tile is that probably 30% of it had some sort of flaw in how it was glues to the backing sheet, meaning that there were tiles that were glued slightly crooked to the sheet, usually at one end or one corner. I believe that this tile is all “seconds”, but I can’t say for sure. Luckily I was able to cut out the bad sections and use the good. Some of what was cut out could be used for smaller sections, but you really had to pay attention to the sheets, examining them closely before choosing to use them.

flooranddecoroutlets.com/s13107036

The solid granite countertop is called “Mascarello” and is from Brazil. It was the first granite that really caught our eye. When we went to the big granite warehouse to choose our granite it was the first one we saw and was so different that we just had to have it. There were (13) granite slabs and (9) of them had already been reserved, leaving us (4) to choose from. We needed (3) slabs to do everything we had planned in the kitchen and also the wet bar, but when we looked at all the slabs (2) of them were from one area and the other (2) slabs were from another area, so the colors were quite different. We had to make a quick decision to only use the solid granite in the kitchen and I ended up building my own countertop for the wet bar from Ipe wood (a member of the Ironwood family).

Photos

Day One Before...	Before...	Lori helping with the outlets and switches.
Here I go setting the first tiles.	This was the end of day one.	Day Two Almost there...
Tile is up, just needs to dry/cure before we can grout.	It's getting late...	Time to buff the tile with cheese cloth.
What a difference!	Not bad for two days of work.	We finished up at 11:01pm on day two.

Posted by Tim in North Pole, AK on 1/15/2011 Tim's Forum Posts: 17 Journal Entries: 25 Interview Answers: 66 Average Forum Rating: 4.20 Tim's Selected Image 1/15/2011

Nice job on the kitchen!

Hillside Deck

Posted to Beaver-Creek-Ranch by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 1/13/2011

Lori decided that we needed an observation deck, someplace away from the house that we could go to and relax, without seeing the house and thinking that we should be working instead of relaxing. She just wanted something small - enough for two chairs and a small table to set a drink on. Well, I guess that when I start a project, I figure that you might as well do it right and do a good job.

Day One
The deck is 12' wide and 16' in length. It spans across an old drainage ditch up on the mountainside and cantilevers out 4' over the mountainside. This was a quick three-day weekend project on a very limited budget. I think I only spent about $300 on materials. 18" sq. x 12" deep footings were dug out, and since the project is 100 yards away from the house, we had to haul everything in by hand from the nearest trail that I could get either my ATV or tractor to, which was still 50 yards away. This meant that we had to carry five-gal. buckets of water in by hand to mix the concrete for the footings. Not fun, but it was the only way. Then 12" piers were set into the wet concrete, leveled and then left to dry.

Day Two
Posts were added to the piers using all Simpson connectors. The posts and beams are all pressure treated, but the joists and decking are just Doug Fir. Like I said, it was a very tight budget. Once the posts and beams were set, the joists went up pretty quickly. Again, being so far from the house, there is no power up there, so all the cuts had to be made back at the house - measure twice, cut once was the norm as it was a long walk back if you made a mistake. The entire deck framing is put together using 3-1/2" coated deck screws. The decking boards themselves are installed with a 2-1/2" square-drive stainless steel head coated screws ( left over from the main house deck ). I must say, the new Hitachi 24v cordless drill driver worked like a charm, with plenty of power. Also, using a BoWrench (deck tool) made it so easy to assembly the entire deck alone, straightening curved boards with ease.  I installed the last deck board at 8:45 pm.

Day Three
This morning was just staining the deck with a waterproof stain. We headed home at 11 am. Not a bad deck for a weekend of work.

After a couple months of using the deck, we realized that it was a pain to haul things we needed regularly back and forth, i.e.; paper towels and Windex to clean the glass table, citronella candle, lighter for the candle, telescope, etc., so we decided that there should be a storage cabinet up on the deck as well. The cabinet was built to stand off the deck to allow for airflow, so things would dry quicker after a rain or snow.  The entire cabinet was built from leftover material. Since all of the buildings have a green metal roof, I went thru my building scrap pile and found some leftover roofing from when I built the bathhouse. A few hinges and a latch and some stain, and it was good to go.

Photos

Hauling the lumber up to the trail.	Come on cordless driver, don't die on me now!	Lori pruning the lucky tree that got saved.
Having the right tools makes all the difference.	Lori bringing in a single deck board and some blocking, along with her bodyguards.	Called it quits at 8:45 pm.
Applying the weatherproofing stain.	All done... for now!	One lucky tree!
Pathway from house up to the hillside deck.	Happy Hour!	This is one solid cabinet!
The back legs are longer than the front so that they could be bolted thru the rim joist of the deck. The front legs were secured from underneath the deck, screwing up into the bottom of each leg.	Heading up to the trail.	Finally got the beast up onto the deck. Next was to cut out notches for the rear legs.
A little fine tuning with my pocket knife.	Installed, but not finished.	Now it's finished.
Door opens 180 degrees for good access.	Plenty of room inside, too!

Posted by Mary in PA on 1/14/2011 Mary's Forum Posts: 101 Journal Entries: 60 Interview Answers: 15 Average Forum Rating: 4.17 Image from Mary's blog 1/14/2011

The deck was a terrific idea, very creative and you did a great job on it. I'm sure you'll enjoy many "happy" hours there! Mary

2/26/10 Update

Posted to Beaver-Creek-Ranch by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 2/26/2010

Things have slowed down quite a bit, but there's always little projects that keep things interesting. Our little computer/phone center needed a little attention to dress it up so we had an idea to use a bunch of the corks that we've saved over the years as a backdrop. Now, considering that the wine that these corks came from ranged in price from $8 to $80, and there are over 400 corks on the back wall alone, this little section of wall is the most expensive in the whole house! Haaaaaa

Our laundry/mud room was in need of a counter to fold clothes on and also a place to set things when we arrive. I used two layers of 5/8" plywood, with the top layer 3/8" shorter in front. This created a little bumpout for the trim piece to be nailed to. The nosing-trim piece gets a dado cut that fits over the lower 5/8" ply which helps stiffen the front of the counter. I used the same tile for the countertop as I did on the floor and added a nosing of poplar that was stained to match the maple cabinets.  No need for a backsplash - I don't like those anyway - this is much cleaner.

Now back to the cork wall... this had to be revised later when I installed my security system and had to move the top shelf down to make enough room for the security monitor. More pictures will follow...

Photos

Posted by Tim in North Pole, AK on 2/27/2010 Tim's Forum Posts: 17 Journal Entries: 25 Interview Answers: 66 Average Forum Rating: 4.20 Tim's Selected Image 2/27/2010

Very cool idea with the wine corks! I saved beer coasters from my escapades all over Europe and thought about putting them under glass in a built in bar or something.

Happy Holidays!

Posted to Beaver-Creek-Ranch by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 12/18/2008 10:31:37 AM

Well, its been quite some time since I've written an update, so let me see if I can catch up on whats been going on.  I finally finished the hardwood flooring at the entry and also completed the slate stair risers.  After that was the long task of baseboards.  Not the most fun part of construction, but you know you're almost finished when you're to this point, and it really makes a difference in the rooms.  The summer was not fun this year, as we are in the middle of where all the big fires were in the northern part of the state.  I still remember all the lightning strikes that woke us up at 6 a.m. on June 21st - the beginning of what would be one of the worst fire years in California history.  We were lucky and didn't lose anything, but it was very nerve-wracking, especially being five hrs. away during the week and then going back up on the weekends to see how the fire had progressed.  The air was filled with so much smoke that the state had issued hazardous health warnings about being outside up in our area.  The only thing that helped was knowing that we had built the house with fires in mind, using metal roofing, cement-board siding, heavy timbers and a Class A fire-rated decking material (Red Balau, a member of the Ironwood family).

In July we mostly did painting - baseboards and door and window trim, both inside and out. August was more of the same. September was installing roller shades at all the windows and putting the gutter screens on for the fall.  October was spent prepping for winter and starting a new lawn area - about one acre in size!  We used our tractor to prep the ground by ripping it up about 8" deep, which brought up thousands of rocks and small boulders.  After that I had to use a landscape rake, which is towed behind the tractor to collect "most" of the rocks and debris.  We spread grass seed and then drug our harrows over it to cover the seed.  Hopefully it will survive the winter snow.

November was more winter prep and trenching.  We are installing a broadband internet connection via a radio tower.  We had to install a radio receiver/transmitter on our pump house and trench over to the house.  Add conduit and pull the wire thru.  Up into the house and into a cabinet where my server sits.  We also dug a trench for our satellite dish's new location, which ended up being about 120' from the house.  What a pain that was!  December has just been cold.  Built a new tractor shed and put up our tree.  Haven't had time for much else.  Still working on the design for the entertainment center...  Happy Holidays!

Photos

Merry Christmas!

Construction Update 6/3/08

Posted to Beaver-Creek-Ranch by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 6/3/2008 1:21:25 PM

Well, our week's "vacation" was all work this time, but we knew that before we even left our home in Santa Rosa.  The weather was pretty bad up there and it rained just about every day, except for Friday and Sunday (end of the week).  The worst part was I had to do all my cutting up on the deck, under cover, which got saw dust everywhere!  Well, at least I was dry.  The only good thing about the rain was that I didn't feel like I was missing being inside laying the flooring all day, every day.

We started off by first painting the last of the upper window casings, then Lori had to clean the windows.  Doesn't she look thrilled to be up there ? :-)

After that I wiped down all the Glue-Lam beams, because they still had little bits of insulation hair stuck to them from when the ceiling was insulated.

Once that was finished I had to vacuum the fan blades... not an easy task, since they are hanging at 11 feet above the floor.  Good thing I have a 12-foot ladder!  OSHA would love that photo. :-)

Then it was time to scrape the floor of any lumps of sheetrock mud, glue and whatever was sticking up.  All the nail heads had to be checked in the plywood subfloor to be sure they were completely flat, which they weren't so I had to hammer a ton of those down.  You find them while scraping - what a pain that was!

After that was to install the moisture barrier.

Then I added furring strips along the wall to keep the wood flooring away for expansion and contraction.

Finally, it was time to lay the flooring.  The first two rows took forever since it had to be perfect for the rest of the room was going to be set from these two rows, one of which went back into the stairs, wet bar and entertainment center recessed areas.

Once I reached the wood stove hearths I had to sand the face of the slate to get the mortar off so it wouldn't show when the wood butted up against it.  What a dusty mess that was!

We were constantly vacuuming to get any debris off the floor before the new flooring went down.

Once the floor was finished ( I still have the area in front of the entry closet to do and the closet itself) I started on the steps.  Those took longer than I expected, but then again everything does!

Once the wood was installed on the steps, it was on to cutting slate for the stair risers (thanks to Ray for that idea!).

Still have two more stairs to add slate to, then they all have to be grouted.  After that, the baseboards can be painted and installed.  Oh, the fun never ends!

Photos

Posted by Douglas in Sacramento, CA on 6/4/2008 Douglas's Forum Posts: 21 Journal Entries: 7 Interview Answers: 69 Average Forum Rating: 3.61 Image from Douglas's blog 6/4/2008

Wow, your great room is gorgeous.

Construction Update 4/9/08

Posted to Beaver-Creek-Ranch by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 4/9/2008 2:23:32 PM

Wow, it's been busy, busy, busy.  We had our final inspection the last week of Feb. and we got everything signed off without having to do anything more or change anything.  That was great news!  We now have our occupancy permit and can finally breath a little.  Its just nice knowing that you don't have a deadline to meet for the next inspection.  Now our big push is to get the hardwood floors installed before we have our annual Camp-N-Q Weekend!

We had a lot of snow this past winter and this time it stayed around for two months!  We weren't used to that, but since we were working mostly inside it didn't bother us and was nice to look at.  I must say thought that having to take off your shoes every time you come inside the house did get a little old.  Guess I'd just better get used to it.

My big project for getting our permit signed off was to build the railing for the porch.  Like the decking, I used mahogany (Red Balau) for the supports and top rail (Cambera).  The pipe railing was made by taking 3/4" EMT (electrical conduit) and cutting it to length. Then I took it to be powder coated in black satin for a very durable finish.  Powder coating is a baked-on finish which is very hard when it dries.  The copper post caps really finish it off.

We worked on the railing until 10:30 pm one night, and with snow still on the ground it was only 35 degrees outside.  I ended up getting over confident and was rushing when drilling the holes for the railing on my drill press, the big forstener bit caught my glove and pulled my hand into the bit.  I had to grab the drill chuck to stop it from going all the way through my hand, but the motor was still running and the belt was just slipping.  Luckily, Lori was right next to me but she didn't know where the shut off switch was.  My left hand was stuck in the drill press and my right had was holding the chuck - the shut off is on the left side of the press. So, if I was to let go with my right hand to turn it off, the large bit would have gone completely through my hand, so I couldn't turn it off myself.  Lori looked around for the plug but there were four different extension cords running around -- she found the right one and unplugged it.  We unscrewed the drill from my hand and decided to call it a night.  I needed stitches but wasn't going to drive the hour and 15 minutes to get to the hospital at that time of night, so we just cleaned it up and used Super Glue to close the wounds.  It stings like crazy, but does the trick.  We got up at 5:30 am the next day to finish the railing before the inspection that was scheduled for that same day.  The inspector loved it!

After that, we installed hardwood flooring in the bedroom.  Its a hand scraped Santos Mahogany in 5" width and random lengths.  This is an engineered product, and although I don't really like those, this had a pretty thick wear layer: a fat 1/8", which is pretty good when talking about engineered flooring.  Once its nailed down you don't know how thick it really is anyway, it just matters when you need to sand it down and refinish it years from now.

After that project, I did the slate behind the wet bar.  I cut my leftover tiles from the fireplace hearths into five different sizes and designed a random pattern on my computer.  It came out pretty much exactly as planned.

Photos

Posted by Guy in San Luis Obispo, CA on 4/14/2008 Guy's Forum Posts: 64 Interview Answers: 1 Average Forum Rating: 3.70 Randomly Selected Image 4/14/2008

Superglue!!!???  There's a product placement possibility there somewhere...  Fantastic house, great workmanship.  Really enjoying the vicarious build on your project.  Cheers, Guy.

Construction Update 11/21/07

Posted to Beaver-Creek-Ranch by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 11/21/2007 5:56:21 PM

During this weekend warrior work period, we took an extra day off for our son Vince to visit and help with the construction of two fireplace hearths (but he didn't know he'd be working... ha ha).  We got both of them completed but it was a long last day.  Vince learned a lot, but knows he doesn't like laying tile.  Can't say I blame him, as it's pretty hard on the knees and really dries out your hands, but I on the other hand enjoy it.  While waiting for Vince to arrive, I worked on a couple other projects like installing a puck light under the shelf at the computer/phone center, and I also installed the glass in the kitchen cabinet doors that I butchered up from their original design.  They originally had clear glass with wood mullions in the middle vertically and across the top and bottom of the glass.  I removed the glass, cut off the mullions, sanded and filled any holes and scrapes, added wood tape (real wood veneer) around the inside of the cabinet where I cut off the mullions, sanded again, stained and sealed to match the Cherry finish and then installed vertical Reed glass.  Now the cabinet doors match the cabinet doors in the vanity I built for the bathroom and also the bathroom window... it's all starting to make sense now.

Lori painted a couple interior doors and I painted a couple of window casings.  The slate tile was really easy to cut but sure is messy.  We choose West Country Slate from Africa and its really dark -- a lot like graphite, and when you cut it, the water and fine grindings are almost black.  The whole thing came out great I think, and Lori came up with another idea: to use the leftover slate on the wall behind the wet bar. So, I'll need to order a few more pieces and once again do yet another tile job.  I think this will be the last one though.  :-)

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Posted by Guy in San Luis Obispo, CA on 12/16/2007 Guy's Forum Posts: 64 Interview Answers: 1 Average Forum Rating: 3.70 Randomly Selected Image 12/16/2007	Hi Terry, what an awesome project you have.  Do you have any costs/sf you could share?  It looks like you built your own casework, how much do you think you saved doing that?  Do you have any tips regarding buying the hardwood from Indonesia?  Thanks and Happy Holidays.
Posted by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 12/17/2007 Terry's Forum Posts: 6 Journal Entries: 14 Interview Answers: 251 Average Forum Rating: 3.50 Terry's Selected Image 12/17/2007	As far as cost per s.f., we should come in around $100 s.f. when its all done.  We do as much as we can ourselves.  I didn't build all the casework myself, only the vanity in the bathroom.  However, I will be building the Entertainment Center myself.  Just finished building the countertop for my Wet Bar - I used Ipe' (iron wood from Indonesia) and put a dark stain on just for a few minutes before wiping off..... it looks awesome!  I had a bid for building (3) cabinets for the Entertainment Center, just birch boxes with Cherry face frame, they would be basically large drawers.  The price to build and install, but not to stain or finish was $1200 - $1500.  I know that in the end it would be $1500 if not more, so I decided to buy a nice cabinet saw ($1150 on sale) and build them myself.  After buying the saw, paying delivery, a few blades and a mobile base it was about $1600, then I will buy the material for the cabinets (about $300 or so) and when its all done I"ll have about $2000 into it, but I"ll also have a really nice saw I get to keep and use for future projects, or I could sell it for $1000 and still come out $500 ahead. Other costs are as follows: Travertine floor and wall: $6.49 s.f. Porceline Tile in Kitchen, Laundry & Pantry:  $1.99 s.f. Slate Tile: $6.29 s.f. Santos Mahogany Handscraped Flooring (engineered):  $6.49 s.f. Red Balau Decking: $1.99 l.f. We did the most of the plumbing ourselves and a lot of the electrical too.  You can't even buy the insulation as cheap as they can buy & install it so that was a no brainer.  We did all the painting, both interior and exterior.  I still need to install the hardwood flooring and build the railings for the deck and then that will about finish it up. Hope some of that helps! --Terry
Posted by Guy in San Luis Obispo, CA on 12/17/2007 Guy's Forum Posts: 64 Interview Answers: 1 Average Forum Rating: 3.70 Randomly Selected Image 12/17/2007	Thanks for the info.  That's great you are able to build for $100/s.f. in California.  Your finishes are terrific.  I understand that ipe is a bear to work with though and weighs a ton.  Looking forward to more photos as you finish up.  If you plan on building some more for spec, you should contact the guys at cosmicinventory.com.  They show how to import direct from China and do fantastic work themselves.  Cheers, Guy.
Posted by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 12/17/2007 Terry's Forum Posts: 6 Journal Entries: 14 Interview Answers: 251 Average Forum Rating: 3.50 Terry's Selected Image 12/17/2007	FYI, the hardwoods I'm using come from Atessco Fine Wood Specialties (www.atessco.com), here in Santa Rosa.  One nice thing about their products is that  they are all basically knot free and straight as an arrow.  The wood can be a little difficult to work with, but I don't mind.  Yes, its heavy, but like furniture, the heavier the more durable.  Its tough as nails so it will stand up to lots of use. --Terry

Construction Update Oct. 30, 2007

Posted to Beaver-Creek-Ranch by Terry in Santa Rosa, CA on 10/30/2007 1:34:20 PM

Wow, what a busy 2 1/2 months!  We got a lot accomplished and there's been a lot of late nights working.  I owe my wife a lot of credit, as she's quite the trooper, working right there beside me on just about everything I do, not to mention all the things she does on her own.  I couldn't do it without her.

The tile floors have been finished. The granite countertops have been installed; the pendant light fixtures in the kitchen have been installed. A little more painting has been done, more trim work finished, new doors and a partial wall at the water heater closet, water softener system installed, dishwasher drawer installed, some custom cabinetry done, and the decks have been cleaned and sealed. The hardwood flooring has been decided on, purchased and brought up and stacked inside to acclimate before installation and the thermostat for the propane fake log stove has been installed.  A lot of the trim for the doors and windows have had the nail holes filled, sanded, caulked, and are ready for painting.  The range hood venting has been completed and the entertainment center has been designed.  All the plumbing fixtures are functional and what a nice thing that is!  Lots of clean-up has happened along the way too.

We're getting really close to our final, but there's still lots to do.  Like they say, the last 10% takes 90% of the time!

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