The Votes Are In

Thanks to everyone who voted in yesterday’s poll, and for leaving all of the comments.

First off, as for the fate of the backsplash, going without one is out of the question. The beadboard does not go all the way down to the marble now, and even if I could find a bunch of salvaged 5-foot lengths of 7/8-inch thick redwood beadboard, I wouldn’t rip out what is there and replace it just to gain the extra 2 inches. There will be a backsplash, one way or another.



The idea of a wood backsplash was an early favorite and retained the lead throughout the entire voting process. I must admit, when I first saw that a lot of people were voting for wood my first thought was, “Pfffft! Wood?!? What a bunch of idiots!”. Then I started to think, “You know, those idiots just might be on to something.”

I had a few other thoughts throughout the evening yesterday – Oh, and the party was a lot of fun. I think there were 22 people, and I got to talk at length about The Petch Family and plaster. Two of my favorite topics. Anyway, one thought was to use the casing as a backsplash. I would re-cut the pieces that are there so the bottom corners are mitered and then continue the casing as a backsplash. It would be one continuous run of casing down one side, behind the marble, and then up the other side. I toyed with that idea for a while and then dismissed it.

The second idea was to use the diamond blade on the circular saw, and with a homemade jig, I would split the existing marble backsplash. It would take two passes, but I could cut off oneseeeem and get it down to twoseeem. I still might try something like that.

In the end though, I moved closer and closer to the idea of a simple wood backsplash. I think that is what I will end up doing. If I can get it done this weekend, I can finally shoot the long awaited “after video” of the bathroom and mudroom.

There’s Oscar buzz already, and I haven’t even made the video. Its that big.

Second Thoughts

Me?! Have second thoughts about the work I’ve done?!? Never. Well, almost never. Ok, damn it, all the time. Today I cut and sort of installed the marble backsplash on the two corner cabinets. The pieces of marble are cut to length, but the ends aren’t finished and they are not secured to anything. They are just sort of sitting in place for the party tomorrow. The plan is to finish them this weekend. Here is a picture of the one I’m having problems with.



There are two problems with this picture. But before I get in to that, let’s all take a minute to admire the beauty of this marble. This picture just does not do it justice at all. The veining and splotches of gray and black look like something from a 1970s acid trip….a good acid trip. It is just beautiful.

Its not like what you are seeing is a mistake or anything. This is how I planned it, but to me this is an excellent example of how things can appear in my mind in one way, and then in reality they don’t really work. The plan was to always have the casing come down and meet the counter and then have the backsplash sit in between the casing. This is not right.

The backsplash should extend to the end of the counter and then the casing come down on top of the backsplash. To be honest, even that is barely acceptable. If I had had the room I would have the casing go all the way down to the floor on either side of the cabinet and then the backsplash fill-in between the casing. Maybe this lead to my obvious design flaw. In my mind I was picturing casing and backsplash and not taking in to account that the counter was going to be filling in more room than it normally would.

The other problem is the thickness of the backsplash. This should be the twoseeem marble (that is 2 centimeter marble for the uninitiated). I had originally intended to get twoseeem marble for both the counter and backsplash. The twoseeem marble is about the same thickness of the casing. What I ended up having to get was the threeseeem marble (That would be 3 centimeters). It works for the counter but doesn’t work for the backsplash. It just looks odd.

So here are my choices. One, do nothing. Finish off the pieces as best I can and hope that I won’t notice after a while. Two, get longer pieces of threeseeem marble that will extend the full width of the counter and cut the casing back. The guys at the marble place have already told me they don’t have now, nor do they have any plans in the future, to bring in more twoseeem marble. Three, get rid of the marble altogether and make a wood backsplash and paint it the same color as the beadboard. Four, go back to the monument maker who has small pieces of twoseeem (I think) and see if he will cut me new backsplash pieces. This would only really work if it was a good match to what is there now.

I haven’t done a poll in a long time, so let’s put it too a vote. Of course, I’ll end up doing what I want any way, but just like in national politics, it will give you the feeling that you really have a say it what is going to happen.

What to do with the marble?
	Do nothing. Finish as is.
	Get longer threeseeem.
	Make wood backsplash.
	Try and get longer twoseeem.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

I’m On A Roll

I seem to enjoy complaining about outside help. Contractors, suppliers, and just about anybody whom I ask for help always seems to let me down. Perhaps I expect too much. I can’t really say, but at least the two suppliers who said that would produce for me this past week, didn’t let me down. Blue Ox Mill got the millwork done, and Granite Fab got the marble done.

I picked up the marble on lunch today and it is really beautiful. The veining is just spectacular in it. How someone can install granite after looking at this stone is beyond me. Getting it in took a bit of finagling, and it is not 100% perfect, but its pretty damn good.

I got the two counters and the remaining casing installed. By the time I got the last coat of paint on the casing it was too late to do the backsplash. You know it’s a last minute, rush job, project when you’re outside washing a paint brush in the dark and in the rain.

Tomorrow I can cut the backsplash pieces and install them, and then finish the clean up for the shin-dig on Wednesday. I don’t think I will finish the backsplash tomorrow, but I will get it cut and in place. After the party I can finish the edges and then install it permanently.

By this weekend these two rooms - the bathroom and mudroom - will be completely finished and I can finally shoot the “After Video”. Then it is on to the next project: The Brain {insert evil laugh here}.

Either Way Its Bad

I’ve come to the conclusion that working with paint is no fun, regardless of whether you are stripping it off, or brushing it on. They are both laborious, tedious, and time consuming tasks that make any project seem to come to a grinding halt.

They also happen to both be, not only necessary jobs, but jobs that can make a dramatic impact on the project. Stripping off layers of drippy paint can make almost any piece of wood look great again, and nothing makes a whole room look better than a fresh coat of paint. It is an odd paradox that painting is both improving room, while at the same time adding to its slow degradation.

That new coat of paint may only be a tiny fraction of an inch thick, but it reduces some of the profile just a hair. Over time, with many more successive coats, the excessive build-up of paint make a room look old and dingy. There will come a point when the benefits of a fresh coat of paint will be marginal at best, and may even do more harm than good in the long run. It will become something like painting over an old dented and rusted car with a can of spray paint. It may look OK from across the parking lot, but when you get up close it is easy to see someone wasted their time and money on quick-fix, spray paint job.

It’s a never ending cycle and I spent several hours both today, yesterday, and the day before renewing that cycle. I always apply one coat of primer and two top coats, and apply one coat per day for three days. In that time, there is little else that can be done in the room. And even if there were, painting takes so long, there isn’t really much time left to do anything else.

The best part is its done. I got all of the trim installed in the mudroom and painted, with the exception of the last two pieces that will go in after the marble counter is installed on the corner cabinet. If the Universe is willing, that will happen tomorrow, and pictures will follow.

Blue Ox Did It!

Today was the day. All week long I couldn’t stop wondering if Eric down at Blue Ox Mill was going to come through for me. Three weeks ago I took him down a sample of casing and two weeks passed without me even getting a bid. Finally, last Friday I went down ready for a fight to either get my samples or my millwork.

It turned out Eric had been sick. Last Friday, he first he tells me 2 weeks. I explained my situation, that I needed the mill work by this weekend because of the party I’m having on Wednesday. He said he would try and get it done but made no guarantees.

So this morning I called around 10:30 and much to my relief the millwork was ready to be picked up. Yea! Not only that, but a few pieces were run in redwood even though I requested poplar to save some money. I need 14, 6-foot pieces of the casing and 2 of the pieces of poplar that came from the lumberyard were split. One, he could run, but only about half is usable. The other was too far gone. So Eric ran two pieces of redwood, and didn’t charge me extra, and gave me the partially split piece of poplar at no charge. On top of that, all of the plinth blocks are redwood. With the extra pieces of casing I have the attic I can do one whole door in redwood.



I went down on lunch to pick it up. Eric was standing out front when I pulled up, so we went back in the mill to gather up the wood work. We got to talking about the building. It’s just a great place. So full of character. I had been told that the building was one of Eureka’s early power plants, but I know for a fact that there was a power plant and coal gas plant at the foot of H street. That is where Thomas Petch worked, after all. Eric told me that the power plant at the foot of X street, where the Blue Ox Mill now stands, was built for the trolley car system. Works for me.

Anyway, after we loaded the wood in to my truck we go back inside to settle up the bill. After that I head out the door and I’m half way across the parking lot when Eric comes to the door. He yells something out to me but I don’t quite hear him. I thought he said, “Tell everyone about the quick turn around time”. I yelled back that I would be sure to tell everyone how he came through in a pinch. He yells back, “No. No. Don’t tell anyone about the quick turn-around. I don’t want to ruin my reputation”. We both laughed.

In other news, I got another call from the marble people today. This was another woman than who I spoke to earlier in the week. She was basically telling me the same thing, that they don’t have the twoseeem marble and it would either have to be the threeseeem or I would need to wait. I explained that I had had the exact same conversation on Monday or Tuesday. She had no idea what I was talking about. I went on to tell her that I needed the marble on Monday, and if they couldn't make all of the cuts I would just take a large slab and cut it myself. This caught her off-guard and she said she would need to call me back.

She called back 5 minutes later and assured me the marble would be cut and ready to go on Monday, and I could pick it up by noon. I was happy. It is going to work out, but it is not ideal.



The way the corner cabinet is built in between two doors, two pieces of casing come done on top of the marble. That means that ideally I would install the marble first and then the casing. Well, I can’t wait for that. There are three doors that need to be trimmed out, so I can do one whole door and all but one side of the other two doors. I will ballpark and cut the short pieces of casing that will meet up with the marble and primer and paint them with the other doors. After marble is install Monday or Tuesday, I can cut them to length and slap in those last pieces in place, and then quickly putty and paint over the nail holes. It should work.

It Just Might Happen

I heard something from the marble people today. It was a little surprising given their behavior the last time I dealt with them. The last time I had to make repeated calls to get answers. The woman I gave the samples to last Wednesday called today to tell me that they only have “3CM” marble. She said that the sample I brought in was “2CM”.

She just used the industry jargon “2CM” and “3CM” as if I should instantly know what this means. She is not saying “2 centimeters” and “3 centimeters”, but rather “Two SEE EM” and “Three SEE EM”, and she says it so fast that it rolls off her tongue like it is one word.

I find this a little irritating and it is one of my pet peeves when someone uses acronyms and abbreviations that are used solely in their industry and they just assume that everyone knows exactly what they are talking about. Like the time the bank teller asked me I wanted to make the deposit to my “S-51 account”. What the hell does “S-51” mean to me. Well, it turns out my business checking is S-51 and my home equity account is an L-29, but how would I know that.

I got the message from the marble woman on my machine and with a little research I found that 2 centimeters and 3 centimeters are standard thicknesses for marble. One centimeter equals about 0.39 inches, so this makes sense. The marble I bought the last time was about ¾ of an inch, or twoseeem, which would equal 0.78 inches. So the threeseeem marble is 1.17 inches thick.

So my options are few. I don’t blame them for not wanting to go an by a whole slab of twoseeem marble, because I’m not willing to do that myself. I could start the whole process over and try and find someone with twoseeem marble, but I really don’t want to do that either. I’ve decided I’ll get the threeseeem and just make it work.

The cabinet tops have been trimmed out and the marble was supposed to sit down in to the edge trim so the trim and marble are flush with each other. With the threeseeem it will stick up 0.39 inches. There are two things I can do. One, I can remove the trim and remove the ¾ inch wooden support top and replace it with ¼ inch shims. It really doesn’t need the wood under the marble for support. The other option is to finish the outside edge with a round-over but and have the marble sit proud of the trim. I haven’t decided which way to go.

The woman asked me when I needed it and I told her next Tuesday. I added that, if they didn’t have time to make all of the cuts, they could just make one cut and give me a larger piece and I would finish all of the cuts myself. I’ve worked with marble enough now that I feel very confident in doing it. Hopefully I’ll hear from them tomorrow or Wednesday.

I did manage to get the window in the mudroom trimmed out. That is, after I straightened the window. roll eyes This one has a marble stool just like the one in the bathroom.

The Falk Death March

There was a time when I could hike 10 miles like it was a stroll to the corner market. Those days are long gone, so yesterday’s 12-mile hike was more like a death march for the last few miles. It’s not that I’m in bad shape, so much as I’m just out of practice.

Noah Falk founded the logging town of Falk in 1884. At that time is was more than an hours traveling distance from Eureka, so the town was self sufficient. Up until The Great Depression of the 1930s it was a successful lumber town with railroads, a large mill, post office, and housing for about 400 residents. By the 1940s is was a ghost town.






I’m sure it was in an effort to protect themselves from law suits, but some time in the 1970s the Pacific Lumber Company, who now owned the land decided to raze what was left of the town, so they bulldozed and burned everything. Time had reduced that 1884 hour long commute in to a 15 minute car ride from downtown Eureka. Apparently lots of people liked to go out there and explore the ghost town of Falk and some where getting hurt.

The BLM now manages the area and there is a nice, paved trail to the area where the town of Falk once was. Most of Falk is gone, but there are a few things still left, if you’re willing to go off the beaten trail. That’s is we did yesterday.

This was my first trip to Falk, but the friends I went with had been many times. We saw some old Model T Fords rusting in the trees. There was an old cabin that was falling apart. There was one odd little house that was no more than 8 feet wide and lined with benches on the walls. We suspected it was a feeding station for the loggers. They would haul up a chuck wagon to feed the men in the little cabin, rather than have them make there way back to town.

There was remnants of the railroad here an there with a few old trestles. The coolest thing was the old train barn. They could pull two locomotives in to it and there were pits in the ground where workers could service the engines from underneath. The barn is just buried in the trees now. Any remnants of tracks or roads from the town to the barn have long since been reclaimed by the forest. It was really very cool and well worth the pain and blisters.

I’m Going With Blue Ox Again

I still hadn’t heard anything about the millwork as of today, so I went down on my lunch break to either get some answers or get my samples back. I expected the worst and I was prepared for battle. I had it all worked out in my head what I was going to say. I was going to be a polite, yet very stern in my condemnation of their business practices. I was going to go on and on about how I know I’m a “little guy” but that doesn’t mean I should be ignored. I was going get my samples back, and as I stepped out the door I was going turn back and have one final and succinct comment that would express my dissatisfaction and drive home the point that I would never be doing business with them again.

Something along the lines of…


“I used to have respect for you, but from now on I’m taking my business else where.”

“I came here for the quality of the workmanship, but you don’t know how to run a business. From now I’m going to Mad River Millworks”

“I’ve enjoyed doing business with you in the past, but no more! I’m going to be taking my businesses to someone who appreciates it.”

Anyway, you get the idea. Anyone of those would have done.

The Blue Ox Mill is at the foot of X street, right on the water. This area of town is sort of an odd mix of light industry, some retail, and a smattering of residential properties. Those few residential properties that still exist are all from the turn of the century. There are some nice homes that over time have ended up in a poor location. When you get to the end of X street there are a few clumps of shrubs very close on either side of a one lane dirt road that continues after X street seems to have ended. This is the entrance to the mill. The shrubs are so close that both mirrors on my truck brush against them as I drive through. It sort of feels like you’re driving in to the Bat Cave or something.

After just a few yards of driving on the dirt road you pass over some railroad tracks and then you start to see some odd things. There is a very large, doll house sitting there along the road. There is an antique, rusted, steam powered logging saw. There is a really large, carved statue of Paul Bunion (Blue Ox Mill, get it? There is also a real live ox named Babe some place on the mill property). There is a 1870s, story and a half settlement era home that sort of looks like it just landed on the site after being dropped by a tornado. There is also a large wooden fishing boat. More like a small ship, really. All around are piles of lumber and logs, along with other odd little things that you only notice if you really look. It has that feeling that some antique thing was headed for the dump and it found its way to the mill instead. When it arrived, it was placed some place on the property out of convenience and that is where it has sat ever since.

After driving on the dirt road for maybe 20 yards or so you come up on the mill. The building was one of Eureka’s first power plants. There is a very good chance that Thomas Petch spent a lot of time in there. I’ve been told the building is from 1902, but I’m not really sure. It is huge and it looks like it is about to fall over. There are always more than a couple of dogs wandering around out front or sleeping on the front stairs. Once inside there are a few cats sleeping on the counter or curled up next to the fire place.

The office is small and crowded, but just beyond the back wall of the office is the actual mill. I’ve been back in there on a few occasions. It is filled with restored and unrestored antique milling and logging equipment. Once when I was there I saw a guy working on a massive antique lathe turning a 12 foot log in to a Victorian porch column. The place seems to be half museum and half working mill. The owners work a lot with troubled youth as well, and there is even a radio station run by the kids someplace on the property. There is also, supposedly, a reproduction of an old logging camp on the mill site, but I’ve never seen it.

Inside the mill there are all sorts of vintage, architectural elements from buildings that no longer exist leaning up against walls and piled in corners. There are stacks of lumber here and there. There are small little rooms and stalls filled with piles of who knows what. It has a that disheveled look you would imagine finding in a 100 year old warehouse that has been a working mill for decades, and who knows what before that. The old plank flooring is uneven in places. The lighting is not great. And everything is covered in saw dust.

Anyway, so I walk up the stairs ready to state my case and try and find out what the hell is going on. I had run in to Viviana – Eric and Viviana are the owners - at the market on Tuesday and asked here why I hadn’t heard from her. She said that Eric, her husband, and the mill operator, and been sick at home for the past 4 or 5 days. Honestly, I didn’t believe her. We only spoke briefly as we passed each other in the parking lot. I sighed and sort of rolled my eyes.

When I walked in Eric was in the office. He looked like hell. He saw me walk in and said hello from across the room. As he came to the counter he grabbed my samples and some paper work from the his desk. He was coughing the entire time. It turns out he really was sick. The quote was written up and ready to go. I’m not sure if he had done it that morning or if it had been sitting around and they just didn’t bother to call. I didn’t ask. In fact, I didn’t say much at all. Even though he had been sick, I was still kind if pissed. I was just in no mood to deal with excuses.

Eric and Viviana are really very nice people. They don’t have the best business savvy in the world and some like to criticize their work. Yes, they have screwed up some of my jobs, but they made them right, for the most part. They’ve screwed up two jobs for me in the past 5 years. One they made right at no cost to me, and the other I never asked them to fix, but they did offer. The corner blocks I had them reproduce were about a quarter inch too thick. I decided it is not really noticeable, so I didn’t bother to take them back. Better too thick, than too thin.

So Eric hands me the quote and it’s more than I thought it would be. Several hundred dollars more, in fact. I asked if this quote is for redwood and he said it was. I’ve always gotten redwood in the past, but I decided to go with poplar this time to save some money. It’s all going to be interior and painted anyway. I told him I wanted poplar and he calls the lumber yard right then and there to get a price. The polar is exactly half the cost of redwood. He refigures the quote and it looks much better.

As he’s adding numbers I start to get a feel for when I’m going to get this. As a last minute favor to some friends – actually, I offered – I’m going to be holding a party in 2 weeks at my house for a bunch of old house nuts like myself. I’m hoping to get the mudroom finished by then. I ask Eric how business is and he tells me he’s crazy busy. Not a good sign. He says he’s quoting jobs now that he won’t start until April of next year. Gulp!

I ask him when I can get my stuff and he says that little jobs like this he can do right away and I should have it in two weeks. I’m sort of talking to him and Shelia at the same time. Shelia is the book-keeper/scheduler. As I’m pleading my case with her, Eric picks up the phone again to call the lumberyard to order the wood.

Eventually it was decided that they can have it a week from this Monday. That is two days before the party. Shelia said to call on Friday, one week from today, because they may be able to get it to me sooner. I’m not sure what to think. I left there feeling glad that I didn’t let my temper destroy the relationship, but I’m still a little ambivalent about it. I feel kind of like the wife whose husband keeps cheating on her and she keeps taking him back.

Maybe they’ve changed this time. I want to believe it, but you just never know. Maybe one week from tonight I’ll have my millwork, or maybe I won’t.

Got Marble?

So, my plans to be done with the mudroom by Thanksgiving are slowly going asunder. There are two jobs I’m farming out and so far it looks like it is going to be a very bad crop. It seems every where I turn I'm met with nothing but excuses and blank stares.

First, there was the mill work I needed to get made. It consists of 6, fairly simple plinth blocks and 14, 6 foot pieces of casing. It is a half a days work for a decent mill with a capable and energetic staff. It was twelve days ago that I dropped off the sample at The Blue Ox Mill and to date I have not even received a bid on the job. After the first 6 phone calls I have given up. This place is notoriously bad at finishing – or even starting – work on time, but I went back to them because they have the knives already cut for the profile of casing I have.

The knives were cut specifically for me the last time I ordered casing from them. So to go to another mill at this point I would not only need to start the whole process over, but I would need to pay another fee ($75?) to get another set of knives cut. Extremely frustrating. I’m giving them until Friday and if they don’t produce something - ANYTHING - by then I will not only go and get my samples back, but I will begin “Operation Bad-Mouth” in which I slander their already bad reputation all over town. To be honest, most people will just roll their eyes and say something like, “While the hell did you go back to them. Every body knows how bad they are”. It’ll probably just make me look like an idiot to admit that I went back, so maybe I won’t even admit it. I’ll just quietly go some place else.

Then there is the marble I need cut for the two corner cabinets. This is probably no more that 5 sq ft of marble. I made two templates out of that 3/16th inch foam board you would mount photos and pictures on prior to framing. Last time I had marble cut it was 3 simple pieces I needed for the apron around the bathroom sink. This was 3 pieces of stone roughly 6X24 inches with no milling at all. Just straight cuts. It couldn’t get any simpler than that. I don’t remember how long it took, but it was something like 8 weeks and as many phone calls to get it done.

At the time, the place I went to was the only game in town. I might be able to make the 30 or 40 mile round trip to Fortuna, but I really can’t be sure if any other place has exactly what I want. Needless to say, I didn’t want to go back to the other guys. Since that time, a new place called “Got Marble?” has opened. They are located in a large, industrial warehouse about half way between Eureka and Arcata. I took a drive out there a few weeks back to see if they had the ¾ inch white marble I’m looking for.

The place is huge and they have dozens of varieties of stone in large slabs leaning against racks. The slabs are all the size of a sheet of plywood, roughly 4X8 feet, and maybe ¾ of an inch thick. There is a lot of freakin’ stone in one slab. Way more than I need. I walked down one row and quickly found what I was looking for. I went back to the office and there was a guy on the phone there. When he got off we started talking about the marble. I explained I only needed a few small pieces and I already had the templates cut.

He said, “Oh, well, we only sell slabs. We don’t do any cutting.”
Me, “Yean mean, I must buy the entire slab of marble.”
Him, “Yep”

I asked him who the heck buys whole slabs of stone and he said they get a lot of DIYers in there. This was a Saturday and I was the only person in sight. I asked him if he knew of any fabricators that could do what I want and he was stumped. I left, more than a little disappointed.

I looked in the phone book for monument makers (think tomb stones). There was only one so I called him on Monday. I told him what I needed and he said he could do it, no problem. I went in yesterday and took my templates, plus a small sample of the marble left over from another project. I didn’t want any mistakes on this. He looked it over and seemed like it wouldn’t be a problem at all. He then looks up and asks, “So when can you bring the marble in.” I was like, “Uh? What do you mean”. He was all like, “Oh, well, I don’t carry anything in this size. I thought you just wanted me to cut your marble”. He points to his stone selection and there isn’t a piece larger 12X24 inches.

SIGH!!!!!

So today with drooping shoulders and head I dragged myself back to the guys who screwed me over the last time. I raced down there on my lunch hour with my now well traveled templates in hand. I went in and the place seemed empty. I looked out in the shop and couldn’t find anyone. I called out a few times as I made my way down a hallway past one empty room after another. I finally found a young woman in an almost empty room staring out a window. I told her I wanted to get some marble cut in the shape of my templates. There was an awkward silence as she stared at the templates like they were some alien artifact that her mind couldn’t comprehend.

After a few seconds I repeated my request, only this time with more detail. “These are templates I’ve made for counters for corner cabinets. I want to get marble cut in the these shapes.” I gave each word more emphasis and annunciation as I pointed at the templates. She reached out for the templates and muttered, “Ummm, OK”. I cautiously handed her a piece of paper with some additional measurements, and with a clear voice, and in simple sentences I explained that it was for the backsplash pieces. She stared at my writing like it was written in some foreign language.

After more silence from her I asked if the guys were out on a job doing an installation. She said yes and I suggested I just write down my name and number on the piece of paper with the backsplash measurements. She smiled and nodded in agreement. I wrote down my name and number and left her standing there in the almost empty room. I got a little ways down the hallway and called back to her to tell her to not lose the templates because I would want them back if they can’t do the work. I didn’t get a response.

I’m having a bunch of old house fanatics over on the 14th of November. What do you think the odds are of me having either the millwork or the marble by then? I’m thinking the odds aren’t too good.

Stencil Madness

The second time I did the stencil on the frieze in the mudroom today it came out very nice. First time, not so good. I had read an excellent tutorial on stenciling over at The Old House Web. It went on and on about the layout…blah, blah, blah. I don’t have time for that sort of thing, I thought to myself. I’ve got stenciling to do.

Well, the spacing sucked, so I wiped off the first run and did it over. I had only one wall done, so it wasn’t the end of the world.

The Test Run


Round Two


You can see in the top picture that there is not enough room for another of the long designs. However, if I had started out on the left with a short design, as you can see in the do-over, I can start and stop with a short design, and the spacing is very nice. So, I wiped off the first test run and did it over.





The spacing on the short walls worked out just as well. Above are shots of two opposing corners. It is like the design was made just for this room. This was my second choice of a design. The first turned out to be too big. Someone had a clever idea of cutting it down, but it didn’t really work out. I think this design fits the space nicely.

I ordered the casing last week but I still haven’t heard from the mill as to when they can even start it. Very frustrating. I’m working with The Blue Ox Mill again, because they already cut the knives for my casing profile, but working with them can be trying at times. The owners, Eric and Vivianna, are very nice people and have a great operation going on, but sometimes it seems like they really don’t know how to run a business. Maybe I’ll bore you with the details tomorrow. Their place is really amazing. It is much more than just a mill.

I also made templates for the two marble counter tops for the corner cabinets. I’m dreading ordering it because the last time I ordered marble it was like pulling teeth to get these guys to make a few cuts. I’m going to contact a monument maker here it town and see if they’ll do it. I’m trying not to get my hopes up. Sometimes I just hate dealing with other people when I’m trying to keep a schedule. This is why I do so many things myself.

And The Winner Is….

Well, Anonymous and & Kathy won the “Let’s Guess The Mistake” contest, so they get to split the set of 6 Ginsu Steak Knives. Congratulations you two. The problems were the crooked window and the different widths of beadboard.

For some reason, in the butler’s pantry and going up the back stairs they used a narrower beadboard than in other rooms of the house. The boards are actually wider, but it is the kind of beadboard that has what appears to be 2 boards milled in to one wider board. The beads are closer together. I used this stuff to fill in above and below the window, and over the cabinet. It’s hardly noticeable, and I don’t think many will even catch it.

The window is another issue. I put that thing in nearly 3 years ago and I’ve walked by it hundreds of times and never noticed it was crooked. Now with the vertical beadboard running on either side of it, it is painfully obvious that it is crooked. This will only become more obvious once the casing is on. I must straighten it.

This is not one of these things where, “oh, it’ll only be noticeable to you”, or “It’s one of those charming nuances of an old home”. No, it’s crooked and it will stick out like a sore thumb with all of the straight, even vertical runs of beadboard going floor to ceiling. I’m going to need to remove the outside casing, so its kind of pain, but not really an all day job.

I got the room all painted and I really like the way it came out. This mud room is only 4X6 and sits in between the kitchen and bathroom. I used the 2 trim colors from each room for the paint colors in this room. In the bathroom the trim is Queen Anne’s Lace and in the kitchen the trim is Honied White. I think they go well together in here





I bought the stencil pictured above to go on the frieze but it turns out the pattern is about a half inch too high for the space. So I can’t use it, which is a bummer, because I really like the pattern. I first had the idea of fern leaves or something, but when I looked at patterns like that they all started to seem a little too Martha Stuartish too me. Everybody does know that she is the Devil incarnate, don’t they? Anyway, it’s back to the drawing board for the stencil. The paint needs to cure for a week anyway, so there is still time to change my mind a half dozen times.



I also cut the marble window stool for the stained-glass window. It didn’t come out as good as the others, but it should look nice once it is sanded down. I also went down to the mill and ordered the casing and plinth blocks I spoke about last week. The owners weren’t in, so I wasn’t able to get an ETA. I should find out Monday and I’m hoping it will be less than 2 weeks.

The last thing to do is to make templates for the marble pieces for the 2 built-in cabinets and then order that marble. I had hoped to do that this weekend, but it didn’t happen. Maybe tomorrow. I’m hoping I can get that ordered and received within 2 weeks as well. If all goes well, and it never does, I could have this room finished by Thanksgiving.

Guess The Problems

So, I finally got some paint on the beadboard in the little mudroom. I ran out though, and will need to buy more (Grrrr!). Anyway, as I was putting up the beadboard I noticed a kind of major flaw in the room that will need to be fixed. Then tonight, when I was painting I noticed another, minor flaw that can’t and won’t be fixed.





Both problems are visible in both shots, but the second shot is primarily there to show off the frieze. I really like the way it came out. I did it primarily so I could shorten the beadboard, because it was a little beat up at the ends. Plus, one wall already had the 1X10 board on it, so it was either remove one board or add 3 more. The plan is to do a stencil of some sort around the room.

Millwork

I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but it looks like I’ll be heading back to the mill. A year and a half ago I went to one of the local mills and had a bunch of custom casing milled to replace the stuff that was cut-down back in the 1920s. When they cut the place up in to apartments they took some of the more grand entry ways on the first floor and reduced them to small openings more appropriate to a small apartment.



I opened up the entryways back to their more grandiose size and needed the casing to match. So I took a small sample of the 1895 casing down to the mill and they cut a custom knife for a milling machine that can reproduce the profile exactly. The original 1895 casing that was cut down, while being too small for those openings, was perfect to use in other areas of the house. I had a whole stack of it up in the attic that I planned to use for the bathroom and kitchen.

Well, I used it in the bathroom and kitchen, but there is not enough left for the mudroom. There are 2 doors and a window, and I only have enough for one door and the window. So it’s back to the mill. I’m also going to have enough made so I can do the door to the laundry room. When I went to the mill a year and a half ago that door did not exist, so really I’m shorter than I thought (Short than I thought? Does that make sense?)

The stuff left in the attic is really bottom of the barrel stuff. While technically enough to do one whole door and the window, it’s really in bad shape. There is only one piece that is not cracked or missing notches here and there. I think I’ll just get enough made to finish up all of the doors and use that stuff for the window. If you count one door as having two sides, and each side needs two side casings and a header, I need 12 side casings and 6 headers. That comes to 88 feet of casing.

They cut the knife last time, so I won’t be paying for that again. Depending on how much I order, they may or may not charge me a set-up fee. If they do, that would be $75. I also need 6 plinth blocks, and those are $15 each if I get redwood. Poplar would be cheaper. If I need to pay the set-up fee, and they charge me $2 a foot for the lumber (A guess), that comes to $365.72 with tax. Ouch! This was not an expense I had anticipated for the mudroom.

Oh well, all in a days work.

Hot, Burning Passion

It’s been too many months since I’ve held you, my love. It’s been too long since I’ve felt your sensuous curves and your warm embrace. Oh how I’ve yearned for you. To feel your hot, burning passion once again is almost more than I can bare. Your firm body separated from me by nothing more than the thin leather of my glove causes my pulse to race, my face to redden, and beads of sweat to trickle down my forehead.

Oh, how I’ve missed you.


So, yea, I got the paint stripped off the few runs of beadboard that were put in above and below the window. Tomorrow I can start to trim out the room. There are 2 doors and a window, and then there is an 11-inch high wooden frieze up near the ceiling. There will be a piece of fluted 1X3 where the beadboard meets the frieze, and then a small 1X2 crown detail where the frieze meets the ceiling, and finally a bit of quarter round where the beadboard meets the tile.


1X3 Trim


The 1X3 piece is the same trim I used as a wainscot cap in the kitchen and the bathroom. It is hemlock and I buy it at a local lumberyard. The 1X2 crown is salvage that came out of the 1920s addition I took down. I’ve been waiting for a place to use it. This is such a small space (4X6), and utilitarian in nature, I think this is a perfect spot for it. The plan, eventually, is to do a stencil boarder on the wooden frieze. The quarter round I’ll make my self out of old redwood.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to be alone with my heat gun. Come to me, my darling!

Switch On/Switch Off

I got the two switches mounted for the mudroom lights. One switch is for the new back porch light, and the other is for light for the room itself. For a few reasons, I ended up mounting them one-over-one instead of side by side.

First, it was a very tight space. Once the trim is on there would have only been about a half inch on either side of the switch plate. While that wouldn’t be the end of the world, it just seemed a little tight. Also, there are two studs in the wall that are close together right there. I would have needed to chisel out some wood in order to get a double gang box in there. Again, doable, but why go to the trouble. Finally, I would have had to cut one of the runs of beadboard in half. I was concerned the wall might become springy there.

It will look better with paint and switch plates



As a side note, I think I’m getting a little lazy. Four years ago I would have chiseled out the studs to make way for the double gang box. I would have accounted for that when I was putting in the beadboard and put in extra framing just incase I ended up cutting all the way through one of the boards. Secretly I ashamed of myself.

It’s funny how every time I work on electrical in this house I think it’s the last time. I went through the big whole-house rewire about 4 years ago and when I was done I thought I was done for ever. It took me more than 3 months to do the whole thing and I remember thinking at the time that it was all done and I would never again need to touch another wire in the house.

Oh, how wrong I was.

There was still a lot of wiring to do in the kitchen, and of course, the down stairs bathroom was only a gleam in my eye at that point. Oh sure, I put in circuits for those rooms and pulled wire to the general location 4 years ago, but that is the easy part. Cutting holes for boxes and wiring switches, lights, and sockets, that is the real grunt work of residential wiring.

Then today, as I was finishing up the switches in the mudroom, for one brief second I thought to myself, “Finally, I’m completely done with the wiring!”. Then I remembered the laundry room. Sure there’s a circuit for it, and the wire is pulled in to the room, but I still need to do the grunt work.

{Siiiigh!} Will it ever end?

Blog Wall

So, this is my new thing now. I wish I had thought of it earlier.

As I was about to put in the last few pieces of beadboard in the mudroom I figured I should cram something in the wall, you know, for posterities sake. Actually, my house is going to be an archivers dream during the next major renovation. I’m hoping this will be decades and decades away, but when it happens there will be a treasure drove of goodies to be had.

With every wall I’ve opened I’ve always left something inside. Sometimes it had context and sometimes it didn’t. The daily newspaper is always good, but it’s been suggested by some that modern newspaper won’t stand the test of time like old newspaper. It’s there either way. I’ve also written things in the walls. Because the walls are sheathed in that dove-tail grooved plaster board there is lots of room to write. A few times I’ve sanded down a board and then written a few paragraphs on the backside before I nail it up.

So today, as I was about to finish up with the beadboard in the mudroom I started to think about what to leave in the wall. I had today’s paper sitting there, so I figured that would be good enough. Then I thought about the blog. {Ding! Light goes off}. Of course, the blog is perfect. It doesn’t get any more contextual than that. So I printed up yesterday’s blog entry, and rolled it up with the newspaper. I then wrapped them both in a plastic bag and sealed them in the wall.



I hope it is a long, long, long time before the wall is opened up.

An Accomplishment

I actually got some work done this weekend, more than I thought, in fact. The main goal was to get the beadboard up in the little mudroom. While that didn’t happen in its entirety, I got a lot of sort of periphery things done that lead to the start of the beadboard installation.

At the last minute I decided I wanted an exterior light for the backdoor. This door didn’t exist a few years ago and I never put a light outside for it. It will give light for the porch, of course, but it will also add extra light for the tenants who park near this door. There is a motion detecting security light near this area, but it’s a little further away from the street than it should be.



I went down to Ace to buy the light and I found a boxed set of two exterior porch lights. The second one will go at the other back door. Right now that door has a motion detecting security light that has never worked right. I have screwed with that thing a dozen times over the past 2 years and no matter what I do it seems to stay on 24/7. It just a piece of crap.

While I was at Ace I found that they carry the retro looking cloth (Rayon) covered lamp cord. The ceiling fixture that is going in the mudroom is a small 1910ish fixture with an original Holophane shade. Because it has a few links of chain I wanted some nice cord. I looked on Vandykes.com and they wanted $1.99 a foot, plus shipping. At Ace it was .49 cents a foot. Much better. So I rewired the light and its ready to go.







In order to add the backdoor exterior light and I had to run some new wire, naturally, but I also ended up moving the location of the switch. The ceiling fixture that is in this mudroom was originally…well, not originally…..originally it was an interior light, then they moved some walls and it was an exterior light, then I put the wall back and it became an interior light again. At any rate, when I rewired the house 4 years ago I just rewired the switch where it was. Now, 4 years later, that is not the best spot, so I moved the switch so it is next to the new backdoor.

This required me to go under the house.

After I finished the bathroom plumbing I vowed i would not go under the house for 12 months. Well, I broke my vow. Today I was crawling in the dirt and cat poop and it seem like yesterday. It wasn’t the end of the world, really. This spot is very near an access hatch, so I only had to go maybe 10 feet under the house. In the end, the switch was moved and I now have an exterior light for the door. It was worth it.

While I was under there, I had nothing better to do, so I checked on the plumbing for the new bathroom. I never went under the house to inspect the new drains – and more importantly, the new bathtub floor drain – for leaks. I’m happy to report that everything was dry as a bone. I’m very relieved because if something had been leaking there was no way I was going to work on it until next year. As it is, I can shower, flush, and shave with confidence now.

Also….finally back to the beadboard….I prepped all of the beadboard for installation. These were 9.5 foot pieces of beadboard salvaged from the scullery. I remember when I removed it I measured carefully to see if it was enough to do the mudroom. At the time I said it was, but in reality it wasn’t even close. I mean, there was enough, in a very technical sense, but a lot of it was in such bad shape, in reality, it would never be enough.

I’ve worked with a lot of salvaged wood that was a little beat up, but to say this was “a little beat up” is like saying George W. Bush is “a little clueless”. This stuff was really, really beat up. The good boards were in good shape, but the bad stuff was beyond hope. The room it came from started out life as a scullery. Think mop buckets and piles of coal.

Then in about 1915 Mrs. Petch turned the home in to boarding house and the scullery was opened up in to the butler’s pantry and dining room to create her apartment. She may have been running a boarding house at this point, but she was hardly a savage. Beadboard in a living area just would not do. No, she covered the beadboard with wallpaper. This was the kind that was glued to cheesecloth and the tacked to the walls. Some pieces had many, many tacks still in the wood.

Then back in the 50s the real wood beadboard was covered with wood grained sheetrock. Those people were rocket scientists, weren’t they. So this meant more holes. Oh, the 50s. It was a terrible time for old houses. It worked out ok because all of the nails for both the wallpaper and for the sheetrock seemed to mostly end up on the same pieces. Add to that the fact that the back wall of the scullery was pushed out one foot. This meant that all of the beadboard on back wall and part of the two side walls had been removed and reattached.



Now fast forward 90 or so years and I pry if off again. Its amazing it wasn’t just a pile of splinters. Well, actually, in some respects, that’s what it was. I spent yesterday gleaning the good pieces out. I puttied all of the holes and sanded it down. The best part about was the lack of paint. Because it was papered over so many years ago it was spared the gallons and gallons of paint that was sloshed over so much of the wood work in this house.



Today I got two walls done. They were the most challenging walls, so I should finish up tomorrow or the next day. Some sections above and below the window are pieces of beadboard not from the scullery. This means they are soaked in layer after layer of paint that will need to come off. Its only a short run, so it should go quickly. After that I guess I can start to trim it out. More on that later.

Home, Is Where I Want To Be

I was down in the LA area this past week. It’s the first time I’ve been down there in about 15 years. I was at a conference for 3 days in Valencia, which is northern LA county. It was very odd. The whole place looked like it had sprung up in the last 6 months. The area surrounding the hotel was packed with shopping centers and malls. I visited one large mall and 6 or 7 large shopping centers within walking distance of the hotel.

Every evening I would go for long walks and in a mile in either direction all I saw were malls and shopping centers, with car dealerships at the periphery. There was really only one mall, in the traditional sense. It was two stories, and seemed to go on forever. It easily had 3 times the number of stores as our local Bayshore Mall (which is really on the shores of the bay). Then at all of the major intersections there were these large shopping centers that were like a mall turned inside out. Each one was anchored by an Olive Garden, TGI Friday’s, or maybe a Pier 1 Imports. They were the new kind of strip-mall where the strip had been convoluted a bit so the stores weren’t all in a straight line. These strip-malls all had names like “River Oaks” or “Maple Canyon” but there wasn’t a river, canyon, maple or oak to be seen.

They all had the exact same architecture too. And not just the shops, but the hotel, shops, malls, and business parks were all done in the same sort of California Mission style with a twist of Italian Renaissance. They all used the exact same stone veneer with stucco and touches of metal work. Next to or behind most of the shopping centers there would be an “Urban Living Center” that was done in the same style as everything else. These were massive condominium complexes with hundreds or maybe thousands of units.

There was one shopping center that did not have an Urban Living Center attached to it. It was anchored by a Myrvn’s at one end, and a Target at the other. It was not as stylish as the others and it was more like an older style strip-mall where the design was very linear. The architecture mostly looked the same as the others, though. Then I noticed that some parts looked different, but there was a transition point where it went for the original look to the new Mission/Renaissance look. It was actually in the middle of being transmogrified so it would like everything else. There was a point were a Subway Sandwich shop was in the middle of being born again in to its new Mission/Renaissance look.

The other thing I noticed was there was not one non-chain restaurant to be seen. I must have passed by literally hundreds and hundreds of store fronts, restaurants, and food courts. There was the occasional nail salon or dry-cleaner that was not a part of a larger chain, or at least the names weren’t recognizable to me as being a part of chain. As far as food went, though, it was all chain restaurants. And they had them all, including 3 Startbucks within 200 yards of the hotel, and Starbucks coffee in the hotel room.

The streets in this area were all 4 lanes in either direction, and as they approached the intersection the street would widen to 10 or 12 lanes in total to accommodate left and right hand turning lanes. The posted speed limit was 50 MPH, but most people were doing well over that. The sidewalks were wide and winding, but with the exception of the few Mexican immigrants walking to and from the bus stop, I was the only person on them. I’m not kidding at all. I never saw another person on these sidewalks and I walked for hours. To be honest, it’s not too surprising. With the 8 lanes of traffic whizzing by at 70 MPH it was a little like walking next to a freeway.

The streets were so wide at the intersection that it was usually a challenge to get across before the light turned. At the really large intersections, the Walk/Don’t Walk signs had big red timers that would count down from 30 seconds to let you know how much time you had left before the light turned. An older person, or someone not in good health would not make it in time.

All of the areas around the main mall had pedestrian bridges to cross the street. The bridges sometimes connected up with a complex of sidewalks that meandered behind the Urban Living Centers and Business Parks. They were really very nice. They were well landscaped and you were far enough away from the streets that the noise was not deafening. My walks were always in the evening after the conference. It would be about 6 or 7 in the evening and the weather was very nice, being in the high 70s. Still, not one person on any of the sidewalks – NOT ONE!

I’m not sure if this was downtown Valencia or not. Even though there were the business parks, there were no skyscrapers or large collection of businesses that would have defined a downtown as I know it. I don’t think I ever saw a building more than 4 stories tall. I assume there must be more to the city, although I didn’t explore it by car. I guess maybe this was just the shopping district, because really, that is all there was.

I may sound a bit like a country bumpkin describing his first trip to the big city. Really, I’ve lived in and visited many large metro areas before. I’ve just never seen one that was so dominated by shopping while at the same time being so devoid of pedestrians. It was very odd.

Anatomy of a Hoosier Bin

I call this thing a Hoosier Bin, but I don’t think that’s really very accurate. I’ve only really seen one real live Hoosier Cabinet in my life and it didn’t have a bin like this, that I recall. At any rate, I’ve gotten it in to my head that this was a popular style kitchen bin around the same time the Hoosier Cabinets were popular, so it became a Hoosier Bin in my mind.



I also think that even if there was a Hoosier Cabinet that had a bin like this, this bin is a little more rustic than what would have been on a real Hoosier Cabinet. It’s not that it isn’t constructed well, it’s just that the Hoosier Cabinet I saw had a refined, factory-made look to it, where as this bin has more of a home-made quality to it. It really looks like it was made with hand tools. It also came out of an 1880s house, and I think that may pre-date the Hoosier Cabinet.



Finally, it is made of thick, full-dimensional redwood, which would mean local construction, and as far as I know, there were no Hoosier Cabinet factories in town. This is all speculation, so who knows for sure. It’s sturdy. Its old. I like it. That what really counts.



There are no hinges for the bin. Instead it pivots on the bottom rail of the face frame. The base of the bin has a two piece, concave rail on it. The back of the bin is higher than the front and when you open it, the back hits the back side of the face frame and that its what keeps the bin from falling all the way out. It is not really attached to the cabinet in any way.



The opening of the face frame is actually smaller than the front and back of the bin. There are two notches cut in to the tops of the two sides of the bin. This makes it possible to get the bin in to the opening. You have to sort of put it half way in, then lift it so the top of the face frame slides down in to the notches. You then have clearance for the bottom part to fit in. The front part, with the concave bottom rail, the comes down to rest on the bottom rail of the face frame.

Once it is in place, because the front and backs of the bin are larger than the opening, it can’t fall in to or out of the cabinet. When I first put it together it worked well, but not great. It sort of popped in to place at the very end when I opened it and closed it. It was a bit clunky.





I then added a half round piece to the bottom rail of the face frame. This really solved the problem. Now, the concave bottom of the bin was riding on the convex half round of the bottom rail of the face frame. The operation is surprisingly smooth. I won’t paint the two opposing half round shapes, and maybe even wax them. It should really pivot well when it’s all finished. The bin itself is so heavy (maybe 30 pounds) and the tolerances of the face frame are so tight, there is really no place for the thing to go except back and forth. It’s pretty damn cool.

New Corner Cabinet

Last summer, or when ever it was, I found an old Hoosier style bin cabinet in a dumpster parked out in front of a small 1880s bungalow down the street from me. It was in kind of rough shape but still had some life in it so I snagged and it’s been sitting in my dining room ever since.



At first I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it but I quickly decided it would make a nice dirty clothes hamper for the downstairs bathroom. As it turned out, the bathroom was too small to incorporate the bin in the room, but I figured I could add the bin to a built-in cabinet just outside the bathroom door in the little mud room.

This solved two problems. First, I would have a place to drop dirty clothes after I came out of the bathroom. As I’ve learned over the last few months, this is a much needed item. I’m a very lazy person at heart, so making the 10 yard walk from the bathroom, through the kitchen, through the butler’s pantry, and in to the proposed laundry room would be too much for me. No, the clothes would, and in fact have, ended up sitting on the floor of the bathroom until I get sick of looking at them, or until guests are expected, which ever comes first.

The other problem solving nature of the bin has to do with the beadboard that will be covering the rest of the mud room. I have a bunch of 9.5 foot long pieces of beadboard that I want to use to cover the walls of the mudroom. It already has a beadboard ceiling and I thought it would be very cool to have a complete room of beadboard.

The beadboard was originally installed in the scullery, which is now the downstairs bathroom. If it was all in good shape it would be just barely enough to finish the mud room. The problem is, it is far from being all in good shape. The scullery had at least two different sinks installed, and what may have been a water heater. This lead to several holes of varying diameters being drilled in to the beadboard.

By installing a built-in corner cabinet to house the bin I no longer need as many 9.5 foot lengths of beadboard. There will be no beadboard behind then bin. I can now pick and chose from the best pieces to finish the rest of the room.

Kitchen on the left and bathroom on the right




As it turned out, the bin really didn’t fit in the mud room all that well either. Calling it a mud room is a bit of a stretch. The room is only 4X5.5 feet. Three walls have doors on them and the 4th has a window. After playing around with it, I decided a corner cabinet was the only way to go. So over the last few days I built the built-in and fixed up the bin. It works very well. Now I can start to put the rest of the beadboard in the room. After that’s all in I can make templates for the marble top of this built-in and the one in the bathroom. And with that, the bathroom will finally be done.