ListWise

Friday, August 05, 2005

228 Hours

That is how long I have until I have to be back at work. I am officially on vacation. Well, if you can call long days of hard work and no travel or relaxation a vacation? Then, yes, I am on vacation. Perhaps we should come up with another word for DIY house owners who work on thier house when they are not working at their real job. Maybe “Homeation” or “Slaveation”. It would be much easier. I’ve stopped telling some people that I’m going on “Vacation”. This brings up the inevitable question: “Where are you going?” When asked, I answer the question this way.

“Oh, I’m going to this charming little seaside resort town in Northern California. The weather is to-die-for and the scenery is eye-popping. {I pause here for a second and watch their eye’s widen} The little town is called Eureka, CA. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?”

I then get a look that says: “Yea, right – Eureka!”

A lot of locals don’t like this town. I tell them to move someplace else for a few years and you’ll realize how nice it is here. This place has it’s problems, there is no question about it, but I’ve lived in much, much worse.

I’ve gotten a lot done the last few days. There are always those little things that need to be done near the end of a project that I’ve been working on. One of the things I did was put in the slate that will go under the big honkin’ cast iron stove. Originally the idea was to lay the slate and then build the floor up to it and around it. I chickened out on this. The design of the kitchen was still somewhat in flux and I was afraid to commit myself to the slate. Instead I laid the floor and then put the slate on top. To make it seem like it “belonged” I then ran the quarter round base cap around the slate. It looks fine, I think, and future home owners will be able to remove the slate and have the floor underneath.

The quarter round didn’t come out as well as I had liked. I bought fir quarter round but it is much different than the fir floor. It is not a good match. So now, I’m thinking about painting it to match the trim. The problem is, it is already installed. While not impossible, it will be a delicate procedure.

I also put on valves and flanges for gas and water lines. I wanted old looking “cross point” valves for the water valves under the sink. I found reproductions on-line for $35 a piece!! Instead, I bought the standard 5/8th inch compression angle valves at the hardware store for about $6 each, and then got a pair of antique, nickel plated cross point handles on Ebay for $9.00. Add handles to valve and Bob’s Your Uncle, I have antique compression, cross point valves under the sink.

Also, the blinds arrived from Smith+Noble. They came yesterday and I haven’t even opened the box. I’m going to go open it now and install them tonight. After that I’ll give the floor one more good shellacking and call it a night.

3 comments:

Becky said...

Let me know what you think about the goods from Smith&Noble. I'm thinking about giving them a try for the master bedroom since I can't find any freaking think I like around these parts. I'm a little gun shy now with the whole bed feasco.

Greg said...

Becky,

I like their stuff, although I've been told they are over-priced. It is tough for me to judge on something like blinds. I do like the quality. They seem well built and the mounting brackets are heavy steel. Good or bad, they aren't going to fall off or break anytime soon, that's for sure.

Jocelyn said...

I got one shade for our bedroom from Smith Noble. It had nice hardware and was fabric and cost around $119. I thought that was alot but it looks nice.

Sounds like you have been working hard at alot of different things. I like what you did with the stove- versatile.

People who don't do this "homeation" thing, don't get it. To them, time off is for doing nothing. To that I say, "wimps!" (kidding- kind of) I think I would be bored if I didn't have some kind of project going on. Eureka does sound like a nice place- certainly has great architecture abound and that cute downtown too.