I Give You The eHutch©

The eHutch^© is now on-line and fully operational. I had to make a few more shelves for it. The first thought was to have a power strip inside The eHutch^© but I decided I didn’t want all the wires. Also, since it has a center divider that means I would need one for each side. Instead I mounted a strip on the back and then drilled holes through the back at the base of each shelf. This looks much neater.

Here It Is In Standby Mode


Here You Can See It fully Booted Up


The left side has the 15-inch LCD TV (At $400 I spent more on that stupid thing than I did on both hutches combined!), phone with answering machine, phonebook and address book. I’m going to add notepad & pencils. I have another shelf for it if need be.

The right side has coffee maker and bean grinder. I can put coffee, filters, and cups below that. Then there is also a toaster oven. The original idea was to have a microwave but The eHutch^© is only 11.5-inches deep and the shallowest microwave I found was 13-inches, and it was a real POS.

I think the toaster oven is a better choice actually. The last time I owned a microwave was back in the early 90s and by the time I got rid of it, it was little more than glorified potato cooker. I think I’ll use the toaster over more, and now I can get rid of the conventional toaster. My one concern is heat. I’ve drilled a series of 5/8-inch holes above the toaster oven to vent heat. If that does not do the trick I can buy on of those plumbers heat shields and put it up there. Neither the holes nor the heat shield will be visible unless you stick your head in there and look up.

It’s Alive!

{The Crack of Thunder, A Flash of Lighting, and a Maniacal Laugh} Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha. It’s ALIVE!!!



Ok, I think the Frankenstein metaphor might be wearing a bit thin. Anyway, here’s some more eye candy.



The little green stove to the left is a 1934 Magic Chef. I bought it off a guy in Ohio. It was one of those Ebay auctions that nobody bid on. I offered him his opening bid of $120.00 and he excepted. I think I paid about $350 to have it shipped out to me. The thing is in amazing shape. It belonged to his Grand Mother and she bought it brand new in 1934. She used it on a daily basis until she died a few years ago. I’m basically the second owner.

I’m Not Holding My Breath

I got a call from the mill owner about my request for a partial refund. Actually, I got two calls. He called yeaterday and left a message, and then called again today. Naturally he was extremely apologetic. To my surprise he not only agreed to my request for a partial refund, but he said he would send me more wood.

He started coming up with different scenarios on how he could get me wood. After a few minutes I stopped him. I explained that I was past the point for more wood. I mean, the floor is sanded, finished, and I’m installing cabinets and stoves. I’m not going to wait weeks and them rip out flooring. We finally agreed that he would send me enough wood to redo the alcove. This really took the worst of the worst of the wood. I would mark it as kitchen flooring and store it in the attic. If at some point in the future if I get the energy and time to redo the boards in the alcove I will have the wood. If not maybe a future home owner can do it. This isn’t exactly something you can go down and pick up at the local home center.

He is going to send me 8, 5 foot pieces of flooring. He can ship it UPS. He also said he would send a check. We’ll see what happens. The last thing he said was, “If I don’t have my credibility and my good name, I don’t have anything. I will make this right” That is all good and well, but I just wanted a floor. He means well, I think, I'm just not overly enthusiastic about any of his attempts to “Make this right”. The refund and wood will be nice, but I’m not holding my breath.

The Puzzle

Ok, first I need to eat breakfast and take a bath. I still need to relight the pilot light on the water heater. I should check the meter one last time. If it still say 5268 then I’m golden. I’ll check the meter, then go down and get coffee – no, check the meter, then relight the pilot light, then go down and get coffee, newspaper, and a scone. Eat breakfast, take a bath, check email, and then head out.

I need to paint the base trim, install phone and coax, and add another outlet. I can go to Ace and get putty, phone, coax, and a single gang box. Hmmm, I’m going to need a new crimper and the jacks. I guess I’ll go to Radio Shack and get what I can there and then head to Myrtle Town Lumber instead of Ace to get the single gang box and wood putty because it is closer.

I’ll run the phone and coax - no, I should putty the trim first, then install the new outlet, and finally do the phone and coax. If I run in to problems with the outlet I don’t want to be without power. After that I can go to Sears and get the LCD TV for the kitchen that I’ve been eyeballing. It is on sale. Hmmm, if I’m going to go to Sears I could go to the Radio Shack in the mall and then go to Ace in the way home. But Radio Shack is at the other end of the mall and the less time I spend in that place the better. And I will be passing right by Rita’s which means I can pick up a Burrito de Asada for lunch. But that will be too early for lunch.

OK, how about this, I do the meter, pilot, breakfast, bath, email thing, then I clean up a little and balance the check book, then I can head out and hit all the stops, get the burrito, eat lunch, and then start in on the outlet – no, putty first. Let’s see it’s 7:10 AM now. I’ll lay here for another 10 minutes and then get up. Let’s go over it again. Head down and get a newspaper – no, check the gas meter first. If it reads 5268 everything’s cool. Then relight the pilot light, then…

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.

The Experiment Continues

Phase four has begun. I started putting the shellac down tonight. I noticed a few swirl marks from the edge sander along one wall that I didn’t notice before. They didn’t really turn up until after I put the first coat of shellac on. Most will be under the cabinets and refrigerator so I’m not going to worry about them.

Phase one was putting in the salvage wood, and we all know how that went. I’ve begun to think more about that experience and I think there is a reason no one put in 1X6 fir flooring 100 years ago. It is really, really hard. Getting a 1X3 or 1X4 board to lay perfectly flat and straight is hard enough, but the wider the board gets the harder it gets to finesse the board to lay against the adjoining board. Nothing in nature is perfect and we seem to make every attempt to bend nature to our will. At some point nature is going to win. This also explains the subtle gaps in the 1X6 redwood flooring in the rest of the house. I guess that’s why you don’t see a lot of that either. Everyone corrects me when I tell them I have 1X6 T&G redwood flooring in the house.

“No, no – that’s sub floor”

“No, there is sub floor underneath it”

“Well, that doesn’t make sense.”

“It makes sense if the T&G redwood is the finish floor.”

“No, that can’t be. There must have been something else.”

This is the point in the conversation that I now give up. I used to argue more, but what’s the point.

Phase two was plug & fill. The plugs worked OK. When a nail sits in wood for a long time the corrosion seeps in to the wood and leaves a black ring that is much larger than the nail. The ring is oval shaped in the direction of the grain. I was able to plug the holes fine, but I was not able get rid of the black seepage in the wood. The putty fill was interesting. Before I sanded it, it looked great. Very nice color that would be a close approximation to the finished floor. However, when I sanded it, it was gray underneath. It was as if the paint had leached out to the top layer. Very strange. It is not as gray as the basic fill material, so it was a partial success.

Phase three was sanding. This was yesterday’s blog entry so I won’t go in to the details. Other than the edge sander it actually went pretty good.

Phase four is the finish. I’m doing a very traditional Boiled Linseed Oil and Shellac finish. Everyone tells me that shellac on the floor in the kitchen is a big mistake. Well, I didn’t get where I am today by taking a lot of advice from people, so here I go again. What’s the worst that could happen. In a few years the floor will look like hell and I have to put down a polyurethane finish. BFD. This finish is taking me about 3 hours and costing about $40.00, so it’s no great loss.

I appreciated everyone’s comments on yesterday’s blog. Perhaps I’m a bit of a Drama King and like to belly ache when things don’t meet my high standards, or maybe the floor really is a big disappointment. Maybe that is something better left for others to judge. I do know that I am disappointed, and that is really what matters to me at this point. In my mind, and I think reality will prove me right on this one, the problems with this floor go beyond the blemishes and imperfections of normal wood floors. There are some real problems with the wood. The only thing that can make this right for me at this point is if I can get some of my money back. Knowing that I got a good deal on it will make me feel a little better about it.

Floor Update

Yesterday I did the drum sander and today I did the edge sander. The drum sander was the one I was worried about. I had never used one before I’ve heard the horror stories of burning grooves in the floor if the drum sits in one place too long. Everyone says the same thing, “Keep it moving”. The edge sander I’ve used before. When I did the floor in the bathroom I sanded the whole thing with an edge sander because the room was so small.

The only problem I had with the drum sander was a broken lever handle. There is a lever that you lift up on to disengage the drum from the floor while it is moving. On the second pass I lifted up on it and the bolt that it pivots on came loose and the drum hit the floor and dug a small groove. I was able to sand it out, so no long term damage. The other problem I had was that I’m 6’ 4” and the handles for the sander are low for me. I spent about 5 hours sanding and I really felt it in the shoulders when I was done.

The drum sander can only get to within about 8-inches of the wall. For the area up against the wall you use the edge sander. This proved the be the problem for me. When I did the drum sander I started out with 60 grit, then 80, and finally 100. I planned to do the same with the edge sander. The edge sander stands about a foot tall and weighs about 40 pounds. It uses 7-inch circular sanding disks. When this thing is running it is hard to control. It just wants to take off on you.

When I started I was kneeling on the floor and I had 60 grit paper on it. I turned it on and sanded the area directly in front of me. So far so good. I then went to sort of stand up in a crouching position so I could move around. As I did this I lost my balance because the sander was pulling me all over the place. I ended up going over the front of the sander and pushing it into the floor with all my weight. It ate in to the floor bad.

The only good thing about this, if anything about it can be considered good, was that I was right in front of a plinth block when it happened. If I had been someplace else it would really be noticeable when I put the quarter round on. I was able to feather it a little bit, but there is no making this one go way. After that I went to straight to 100 grit and did the rest with that. After sanding and cleaning I put on a mixture of Boiled Linseed Oil and Turpentine. Tomorrow will come the top coat. I was afraid I might got some splotchy-ness with the oil. Sometimes softwoods can take stains and oils unevenly. To my surprise there was no problem.

Of course, you all want to see a picture. I’m really not happy with this floor, and wasn’t going to post any pictures until I had cabinets, appliances and rugs – many large rugs – were covering the floor. But, what the hell. I know if I didn’t post one everyone would be asking, “Where’s the pictures. We want pictures”. So, just for my Blogger buddies, here is the first picture of the kitchen floor. What do you think?



Boy, that picture came out a little small, didn't it? Well, isn't that just too bad. Guess you'll have to wait for a better picture.

Lenora The Neighbor

I met the neighbor across the street today for the first time. She doesn’t live there, but rents out this very tiny, tiny little house that sits at the back of the lot. The “House” must be less than 300 sq ft. It is a small cabin, really. Most of the lot is vacant and everyone in the neighborhood is afraid she is going to build an apartment on the lot. This is the first time I’ve ever met her.

Lenora cleaning the gutter with her tiny house in the background


The woman is older than dirt. Here name is Lenora and she was born and raised in Eureka. She told me that when her parents came here they came by boat up from the Bay Area because there were no roads into Eureka. When I pulled up in my truck Gary, another neighbor, was out there talking to her, so I went over to say hello. As I walked up, Gary and Lenora were in a kind of a heated discussion. Well, actually, she was heated and Gary had a bit of a grin on his face. All I heard was, “If one more person tells me not to build an apartment on this lot I’m going to put a four-plex on it”. I kept my mouth shut.

Gary introduced us and we all started to talk about the neighborhood and then Gary excused himself and went to mow his lawn. So there I was with Lenora. I had just gone and gotten a sandwich after working and sanding all day, and really didn’t want to stand out there and talk a lot, but we had never met so I stayed and chatted.

If you look up the word cantankerous in the dictionary you will find a picture of Lenora. She went on and on about The Supreme Court decision on Emanate Domain, Terri Schivo, our illustrious City Council, drug attics, the war in Iraq, and just about everything and anything else you can think of. The woman is in her 80s but she is sharp as a tack. That is not to say we agreed on everything. To be honest I mostly just kept my mouth shut and nodded in agreement. I’m not about to get in a knock-down drag-out socio-political debate with and 80+ year old woman I just met while my dinner is in a sack in my hands. It was impressive, though, that she was more up to date on current issues than most people half her age.

Eventually the discussion came back around to the neighborhood. I asked here about the little house. She said she got two of them for free years ago from a local construction firm. She said she went by their place one day and there were 4 of them on a job site. They had bulldozed two and she asked them if she could have the last 2 before they knocked them over. She moved one on to the lot across the street and the other one is someplace else. It is a neat little house. Sort of Craftsman-esque in design.

She asked me about my house and I put the discussion and description of my house in to the context of the Single Family Home in a Neighborhood of Single Family Homes. There are a few in-fill type apartments in my neighborhood, and I took the opportunity to point out how they seemed incongruous with the rest of the neighborhood. (No four-plex – hint, hint)

She suggested that my house was too big to be a single family home and I wasn’t being practical. I told her, if I wanted to be practical I would own a condo in LA and work for a large corporation. Sometimes being practical is not the best thing. I stood there on the corner and extolled the virtues of the home. I told here that it was originally intended to be a single family home and that is what it should be. Also, it was in a neighborhood meant for single family homes despite what the idiots down at city hall had zoned the neighborhood for. I’m not sure if I made a difference in her thinking, but I never told her not to build and apartment on the lot. I did suggest, if she ever wanted to sell the lot I would buy it. Not that I have the money, but who knows.

Drum Roll, Please

I think I’m ready for the drum sander tomorrow. I’ve never used one before so, this should be fun. I spent most of the day cleaning up around the house. It really needed a good reaming. It is a bad habit of mine to not clean up after a job. The house is so big I can just move to a new room rather than clean the one I was working in. It is kind of like selling a car when the ash tray is full. Well, I officially ran out of rooms to work in, so it was time to clean. This was not a real cleaning, but more of just Pick-up-tools-and-sweep-up-sawdust sort of cleaning.

I went to an open house today. It was listed as a 1900 Victorian, but it was obviously older. I would guess 1870s. It was about 8 blocks from my house. It was a gut remodel but they did a pretty good job. Some of them are really poorly done. Just slap it together and sell it. They put in real wood floors and had high end appliances. It looked nice.

Also today, I found some cabinet doors for the yet to be built cabinets, that will go over the yet to be built counter, that will sit on top of the yet to be built cabinets that will house the sink and dishwasher. These are two cabinet doors that measure 23X46 inches. They each have 2 raised panels that are similr to the dumb waiter style door that I built eons ago. I had contimplated trying to make doors like this myself, but I found these and they are a perfect size. They are redwood and covered in many layers of paint. I would guess they are about 100 years old.

In the last months issue of Restore & Preserve they showcased a stunning 1884 Italinate Victorian. The house is located at 10 W. Clark and I used to own the house right across the street at 25 W. Clark, so I know this house well. Even though the house is cut-up in to units, it still retains many of the original elemenst including the original 1884 kitchen cabinets! They are very cool looking. I’m going to use them has a insparation for my cabinets. The doors I found should work very well.

I walked by it today so I snapped a few shots. Click to enlarge.

10 W. Clark - Could Be Yours For $500,000






My First House Right Across The Street
It is 1875, and I sold it about 3 years ago
It was a dump when I bought it


Open House I Went To


Right across the street from the open house are a pair of matching cottages. I tried to buy the one on the left 3 years ago. All of the houses in this neighborhood where bought up by CalTrans (Ca. Transporation Authority). All of the houses were to be bulldozed and a freeway was going to be put in. These were dozens and dozens of old Victorians that were just going to be leveled. The freeway would have cut the city in 2.

This was in the late 60s. By the 70s there was a lot of opposition to it and CalTrans dropped the idea. The trouble was they now owned all the houses and they were now the largest landlord in the city. In the 90s they started auctioning off all the house. The boarded up cottage is the last one still owned by CalTrans. They wouldn't sell it to me. I called and called and called and got no place. And there it sits, boarded up.

Plug & Fill, Fill & Plug

Fun and games today with plug cutters, Forstner bits, epoxy wood filler, and oil paint. It would have been nice if I didn’t have to do it at all, but I do, so I did.

I used a 2 part epoxy wood filler to fill the gaps. This worked good (I hope) for two reasons. First, because the filler is comprised of a base and catalyst I was able to play around with the base to adjust the color with out having to worry about it setting up. Once the color was how I wanted it, I could then add the catalyst. After the catalyst is added I had about a 20 minutes working time before it sets-up to the point that I couldn’t play with it any longer. Second, because this is wood that has never been stained or anything, and because the filler is designed for clean wood, it should be a strong bond. If I was trying this on an old floor with oil, stain, shellac, varnish, or poly it may not hold in the long run. I used this filler on an exterior, south facing window sill 3 years ago and it is still holding strong.

There are some potential problems. The addition of the oil paints may cause problems as it sets. I added very little paint, so I’m hoping it won't be a problem, but the potential is there. I tried something similar with sawdust a few years back. It didn’t work. I had to add so much saw dust to adjust the color that the filler was crumbly and dry. The other problem I may encounter is with the color. This filler will not take a stain so I had to try and imagine what the final results will be and try and match the filler to that. Time will tell how well I did. It is really very little filler, so even if it is not a dead-on match, which it most assuredly won’t be, it may (fingers crossed) just look like variations in the wood.

As for the plug cutter and Forstner bit, that was a little more tricky than I thought. I saw Norm do this on The New Yankee Workshop, and of course it came out perfect because Norm is God-like in his woodworking abilities. While I, on the other hand, am more ape-like in my woodworking abilities, so at this point it looks like it was done by Coco the Gorilla. It is too early to judge how well I did, but it doesn’t look like Norm’s handiwork at this point. I really won’t know how well I did until after I sand.

And speaking of sanding, the plan originally was that I would start that today. Obviously that didn’t happen. Plan B was to start tomorrow, but to be honest I’m pooped. I think Plan C is looking really strong. I can race through my work on Monday and get off by 11:30 or so. Pick up the sander at 1:00 and start in on the floor. Maybe, if I’m really nice, they’ll let me turn it in bright an early Tuesday morning and only charge me for a half day rental. I can then pick up the edge sander Tuesday after work and do the same thing. That means that maybe, just maybe, I can start to put the finish on Tuesday evening.

If Plan C works it will be a miracle(other fingers crossed).

Well, It’s In

I got the last of the boards laid today. It is very frustrating. Seventy-five percent of the floor looks really good, and then the last 25% has gaps where there are transitions between boards. The waste is appalling. If the idiots at the mill would have just paid a little more attention to detail this floor would have been installed and finished weeks ago. And it would have looked great.

Yesterday’s post was a bit of levity about the situation, but to be honest the whole thing really pisses me off. I’m not sure what makes me madder, the way the floor turned out or the crappy workmanship and the waste of good wood. I remember writing once about having to be patient when dealing with “craftsman”. While that is still true, this guy is no craftsman, he’s a hack. I could have done a better job. When I went to Placerville to pick up the second batch of wood, he mentioned how it was selling well at first but now sales have pretty much dried up. Gee, I wonder why? Could it be that you do really crappy work?

I ran so low on decent wood to use that I wasn’t able to do anything too creative with the alcove. I was afraid to trim too much thinking I might run out. I pretty much just had to lay in a bunch of shorter boards. It looks ok, I guess. It should be all full-length boards in there one after the other. Grrrr!

I’ve crafted a letter to the mill owner stating that I want a partial refund. The way I see it he delivered an inferior product, I gave him an opportunity to correct it, and he screwed up again. I was forced to use the inferior product because of his mistakes and time constraints, and therefore I deserve a refund even though I installed the product. I’ve taken pictures of the problem areas and will send them along with the letter. I’m asking for 25% back. It was brutal not to resort to profanity and insults in the letter. I made sure he knew I was pissed, but at the same time I stated my case in more business like manner.

The only good that has come out of this is I am really, really good at blind-nailing now. Blind-nailing is what you do on tongue & groove wood work like floors & bead board. You drive the nail through the tongue and when the next piece is installed the groove covers the tongue and the nail and you no longer see the nail head. They make a special tool you can rent for this, but I did this one by hand. Mainly I did it manually because I knew it would take a while I and didn’t want the rental fees. At first I had to hammer the nail in about 90% of the way and then finish it with a nail-set so I don’t dent the wood with the hammer. By the time I got half way across the room I could bang them in all the way with out dinging the wood. So, I guess that’s something.

I won’t be able to sand tomorrow as planed. I was forced to use wood that had some nail holes in it so I have to deal with that. I also want to fill the gaps. For the nail holes I will use a plug cutter and a Forstner bit to bore out the hole and then insert a plug. If I use similar wood grain and match the direction it should be invisible. For the gaps I’m going to use a epoxy wood filler. It dries to a gray color but I’m going to play around with tinting it a little to try and match the wood better. If all goes will, and it probably won’t, I may start sanding tomorrow. Wish me luck!

This Week On The Discovery Channel

Tune in this week to Discover Wood Floor Problems and watch Greg as he discovers yet more problems with the milling of the wood. In this weeks episode Greg finds out that the second batch of wood is also milled incorrectly. It turns out many of the boards have a slight taper in the last 12 inches or so. Also, Greg discovers that some of the boards from the first batch, which Greg thought were good, are in fact milled incorrectly as well. The groove is not deep enough so the boards don’t fit properly. It is just one exciting discovery after another.

Let’s talk to the Johnson Family of Peoria, IL to find out why Discover Wood Floor Problems is quickly becoming the most watched show on TV.

Dad: “It reminds me of some of my projects that went wrong. I enjoy watching others suffer as I did.”

Mom: “I think it’s funny. Everything is going so badly. It’s funny because it’s true!”

Little Janie: “I like the swear words!”

And be sure to tune in next week to discover if Greg is finally pushed over the edge. Will Greg end up in the Clock Tower with a high powered rifle? Tune in next week on Discover Wood Floor Problems only on The Discovery Channel.

Regrets, I’ve had a few…

And one of them is this floor. Actually, I don’t regret the floor so much as I regret that the wood ended up in the hands of the guy who milled it. The words Quality Control are just not in his vocabulary. I guess it’s my fault to a certain extent. I have this love affair with used and salvage material, so I should expect that things are sometimes not going to work out well. Still, it’s a little irritating when it is not the fault of the wood, but the person who turned it into flooring. A more competent person could have done a better job.

The good wood is very, very good. The problem is there is just so much waste. A lot of this waste could have been avoided if they would have just paid a little more attention when they were milling it. The newest problem is with the second batch of wood. I told him I needed 50 sq ft to finish up the room, and I made a point of stating I need 50 sq ft of usable material.

When I picked up the wood I was impressed with the quality. Nearly every board was entirely useable. Not like the first batch at all. Now I’ve discovered the new batch is too thick. It is 1/8-inch thicker than the first batch. This isn’t a real problem because I own a planer. Two passes through the planer and I will have the proper thickness. The other problem is the tongue & groove are different than on the first batch. This means I can’t mix and match old wood with new wood. I have to pick a point were I will start with the new batch and after that I’m stuck with it.

I’m now wondering if I will have enough to finish the floor. Even after I went to hell and back to get more. It is all very frustrating. The last section of the kitchen where I will be laying floor is in the alcove. It is about 20 sq ft and the ceiling is 18-inches lower than the rest of the ceiling of the kitchen. Very much a separate space from the rest of the room. I’m trying to think of ways I can be creative with the wood. I will be left with a lot of short pieces (less than 2-feet) that are in very good shape. Also, about half of the floor in the little alcove will be under the Third Cabinet, and will never be seen. I’m thinking maybe I can switch to some kind of pattern with the shorter pieces of wood in the alcove. Like a herring (sp?) bone pattern, or a running bond with uniform lengths (like subway tile is laid). We’ll see how it turns out. One way or another it will get done. And when it’s done, no matter what it looks like, no matter what others think, I’ll be happy with it (I hope). But more, much more than this, I did it my way.

Ok! OK! I’m going to do it!

I don’t have anybody to nag me, so I have to nag myself from time to time so I’ll get back to work.

Yes, I said I'm going to start! I heard you the first time!

It was about a month ago I started the floor and I’ve yet to finish.

Yes, as soon as I finish this blog entry!

I had good excuses – I mean reasons for not finishing.

First there was the problem with the wood.

Then I had to drive to hell and back to get new wood.

Then I hurt my back.

Then last week I saw the light at the end of the tunnel with the hutches so I decided to finish that up.

As you can see, all my reasons are well documented, so there is really no reason to nag myself anymore, but I do it anyway.

I said I would start right after this blog entry!!!

The goal is to finish installing the wood by Friday, and then Saturday I can rent a sander. I think if I sand all day Saturday with the drum sander, and then do the edge sander on Sunday, I should be able to start the finish Sunday evening. I can finish that up on Monday, then by the middle of next week I can start to move stuff in. That is the plan.

You don’t have to yell at me! I’m starting now!

Meet The Hutches

Before the formal introduction, I’ll clear up some old business. The counter top came out not too bad. I had to compromise with the edge trim, but it works, so…it works. I turned to the router table again and did a ¾-inch quarter-round out of more scrap redwood. To get the slab smooth I had to sand for more than an hour. I started with 60 grit and worked through 80, 100, and 120. It is not a “factory finish” but it came out better than I thought. Because of the fog I didn’t want to sand out-doors so I used the shop vac with the RO sander in one of the back bedrooms. About half way through black smoke started pouring out of the motor of the shop vac. I think it’s toast.

The Un-Oiled Slab Just After Sanding


But now on to the main event. All of the hutches are finished and ready for installation. Never thought I write that.

Bottom Half of The Frankenstein Hutch With Oiled Slab
(Still needs shellac)


Top Half of The Frankenstein Hutch With Doors and Drawers Installed


The e-Solution Hutch


I decided to put the e-Solution hutch in a different spot in the kitchen so the crooked crown molding on the right side won’t bother me forever. In the bathroom I installed an antique high-tank toilet that fills over the top. There is a 5-foot, nickel plated fill tube that travels up the side and connects to the ball-cock on the side of the tank. I had to have a custom bend in the tube before it is nickel plated. The guy on the phone told me the valve sticks out a 1.5 inches form the wall. It was in fact only one inch so the off-set of the fill tube is off by a half inch. It works fine but I have to look at it every time I take a bath. I doubt anyone else would notice but it really bugs me. So the hutch gets moved so I can enjoy my breakfast.

This is the third cabinet that I bought at a local antique store. It was green and had 1920s hardware on it. I painted it to match the other pieces and put period hardware on it.

Third Cabinet


The last cabinets are yet to be dealt with. I will be making a 9 foot counter that will have an under-mount sink and a hidden dishwasher, along with one storage door and two cabinets above. I have a bunch of redwood bevel board (similar to bead board) that came out of the addition that I'm going to make the cabinets with. Still haven’t decided what to do about the cabinets on the wall above the counter. The choices so far are solid front, glass front, or open shelving. So many choices. These will most likely not be done before the party, but that was expected.

Screwed Over By Fairies

Maybe it was that foot-long green chili beef burrito I ate last night that caused me to have this bad dream, or maybe this all really happened. I’m not sure, but regardless of whether this is true or not, here’s how I remember it. The fairies showed up at my house drunk and noisy and tried to make a counter top for the Frankenstein Hutch. At first I thought all the noise was just skunks under the house, so I just rolled over and went back to sleep.

The first thing the fairies had to do was clean out the shop. It was a real mess. I have a bad habit of flying from one project to another with out completely cleaning up from the last project. This is how my house ends up as a feculent hell hole. The fairies were pissed-off about the mess and there was a lot of cussing and things being thrown around. They had to vacuum up large quantities of saw dust and piles of wood scraps. One of the fairies was a little gassy so there were frequent breaks to air out the shop. Maybe that fairy had also eaten a foot-long green chili beef burrito.

Feculent!


Next, they went out to the garage and pulled out some of the 1X8 redwood siding that was left over from the demolition of the 2-story addition. They had to rip about an inch and a half off each side to get rid of nail holes. After that they ran the boards through the planer to get a smooth side and reduce it to ¾ of an inch.

Imagination Required


The fairies didn’t do a very good job of ripping the boards down so the sides were not perfectly straight. The fairies wished they had a jointer but they really can’t afford one, and there isn’t really enough room in the shop for one anyway. Instead, they set up a straight bit on the router table and off-set the fence by 1/8-inch to get a straight side. This works OK, but the fairies are still left with some problem spots at the ends. Apparently they planned for this and were able to take 2-inches off each end and still have boards long enough.

It's Getting There


This is still not as good as a jointer for getting perfectly straight sides ready for glue. A few weeks back the fairies bought a tongue and groove router bit that was on sale at Sears. They decided to do a tongue and groove on each side of the board to add strength during the glue-up. They had never used this router bit before and it is little tricky. They first had to set it up with 2 cutting blades to cut the tongue. There are spacers and shims that have to be put on in the right order so the two blades are spaced correctly. Then, while the shank is still in the router, one of the cutting blades is removed and the spacers and shims are re-aligned to cut the groove. If done correctly the tongue and groove matches up perfectly and the boards fit together with a relatively smooth surface.

Set up For The Tongue


The fairies screwed up when they put on the cutting blades for the tongue. The tongue was too thick and would not fit in the groove. The fairies had used the wrong spacer between the two cutting blades and had to run the boards again. Stupid, stupid fairies. This caused problems and the boards are not a good fit in some places. On top of that, the fairies discovered that the tongues do not fit all the way in to the groove and there is a gap. As I said, they had never used this router bit before.

You can see in the picture below of the dining room table that the maker uses this T&G method of joining the boards for the top. On the table the T&G are a very tight fit and it looks nice. On the boards the fairies did (next picture) there is a gap. The white stuff in the gap is glue.




The fairies became frustrated after this and stopped working on the counter. They left a mess everywhere and I think they performed some un-holy acts of the boards before they left, or maybe that’s just glue. I’m not sure how to proceed at this point. I think I’m going to get out the RO sander and some 60 grit paper and see if I can smooth the top down. I could also trim the edges and add a strip of wood to finish the ends so the gaps in the T&G don’t show. To do this correctly I would need some very long clamps which I don’t have. It would also be nice to own a biscuit joiner, but I’m not going to be splurging for one of those either.

Here's Where I'm At


This is going to be for the hutch and most of the wood won’t be seen. Also, this won’t be a work surface so it won’t see a lot of abuse. I’m thinking a decorative strip with glue and finish nails to hold it on might be enough to cover the gaps and give it a finished look. I guess I’ll know by tomorrow if this is going to work.

Unnatural Blindness

I ordered blinds today. I chickened out on the fabric blinds for the kitchen. Almost got the bamboo, but it just didn’t feel right. I drooled over the wood blinds, but that is really – I’m mean really – not in the budget. I ended up getting something called Durawood. It not natural wood but a synthetic material. They look like wood, feel like wood, but man they ain’t wood. It is called a 2-inch Durawood Supreme Blind in Golden Oak. I hope I didn’t make a mistake.

They touted them as being perfect for kitchens and baths. In the catalog they showed a several pieces sitting in a glass of water. They looked good in the picture. I didn’t go crazy on the bells and whistles but I did spring for Willow Green tape on the blinds, and getting a wood finish instead of white or off-white was also an upgrade. The Willow Green tape pieces are two fabric strips that run vertically down the front to cover the threads that connect the slats and operate the tilt. I’m not thrilled with the decision, but I had to make a compromise on price. The money tree still has not sprouted in the backyard, and the blinds were 20% off.

Test

It's Baaaack

The fog rolled in with a vengeance. I guess our summer days are over for a while. It was actually kind of nice today and then about 4:00 it really blew in. I took these shots about 7:30 from the upstairs window at the end of the hall. You can click the pictures to enlarge. It doesn’t show up too well, but it is really billowing down the street.

That is Gary’s house on the corner. It is 1899 I think. There is a little bungalow next to it that I’m not sure of the age of. The gray one with the blue trim in the background has been heavily butchered. It is probably an old Victorian, but you can’t tell any more. It is now apartments and some freaky people live there.



The little Greek Revival belongs to the brother of the woman who lives there. She is not a fan of old houses and it shows. She is a nice enough person but she does little for the house. It is 1870 and probably the oldest house in the neighborhood. Next door is a nice little Victorian that is very well cared for by the family that owns it. In the year 1900 there was a man named John Petch that lived there. He was related to Thomas Petch, the original owner of my house, but I’m not sure exactly how. He was either Thomas' father or brother. Both Thomas and John were electricians.

A Surprise Find

Over a year ago I bid on a hardware lot on Ebay. It was an assortment of latches, bin pulls, hinges, back plates, and other things from around the turn of the century. I specifically wanted the pulls in the picture below. I had recently discovered the hole in the wall for the dumb waiter style door and knew that eventually, some day I was going to rebuild door. I don’t recall what the bid was, but it was a great deal if I had purchased all the things separately.



Here is a picture of some of the cool things I got out of the lot. The hinges and back plates are some place else, and most of the bin pulls have been cleaned up and installed.



Last night I cleaned up the last set of bin pulls that I need for the kitchen. These are going on the third cabinet that I bought at an antique store locally. They were black with dirt, grime, and corrosion, and had what was either rust or some red paint splattered on them. I assumed they were cast iron like all the others. What I use to clean cast iron is navel jelly and a wire brush. First I paint on the navel jelly with a small brush and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Then I take them out side and hose off the jelly and go at them with a wire brush. I use a brass brush that looks kind of like a tooth brush on steroids.

Immediately when I began to brush I noticed these did not look like cast iron. I assume they are solid brass. I really don’t know my metals too well, so they could even be bronze, but I doubt it. Either way they look great. After I get them cleaned up, I dry them real good with paper towels and blast them with the heat gun. I then spare on clear lacquer. They look nice, or at least I think so, but I hope they don’t look out of place with all the cast iron hardware.

Yet Another Cabinet

I started working on the third and final cabinet for the kitchen. Well, final except for the ones I have to make for the sink and dishwasher. This one I picked up at an antique shop here in town so it does not get a clever name. It is a nearly perfect fit for the alcove. The cabinet is 49” wide, 24” deep, and stands 44 inches high. The alcove is 52 inches wide and 49 inches deep. The cabinet has 5 drawers on one side and a full-height door on the other. Inside the door there are 4 shelves.

I would estimate the cabinet is from the teens or 20s judging from the hardware and type of construction. It is all redwood, so it is of local origin. The body is painted but the redwood top is oiled and shellacked. This will be used as an area to keep bills that need to be paid and things like that on top. The drawers and shelves will be for the sort of utility items every kitchen has. Junk drawers, basically.

I’ve removed the 20’s brass bin pulls and cabinet latch and have it sort of dismantled for painting. I’m painting it the same Honied White as the other cabinets. I will then put on cast iron bin pulls and cabinet latches to match the other cabinets. I’m sure I will have no problem selling the other hardware on Ebay. It is all in pretty good shape.

I’ll post pictures in a few days when it’s all back together.