Salvage – Sista Girl with Skills

June 5, 2020

Handcrafted, Heirloom Quality Box by Conjure Craft Woodworkers

Several months ago I started working on a headboard project at the Manufactory and one of the members, Kendall Glover, owner of Conjure Craft Woodworkers, was lending his expertise. In my post You Can’t Replicate It, So Save It, I talked about the beauty that comes from old wood. In restoring my 1924 Cape Cod style house I threw away NOTHING. I repurposed wood shelves for my headboard project and Kendall took a piece of scrap wood I had thrown away and created this beautiful design.

Thin slices of 100 year old pine shelf from my house

Little did I know Kendall would turn that scrap into this beautiful, heirloom quality box and give it to me as a gift. The other wood for the box was scrap from 100+ year old pine floor joist that was given to me. Kendall made a garden bench from some of it.

Kendall recently had a flood in his basement following a heavy Cincinnati rain where he lost almost everything; family treasures, photos, and some of his wood working tools. Insurance will allow him to recoup replaceable items and he’s going to focus on replacing tools that will allow him focus on creating more of these beautiful boxes for sale. Every box will be unique as the milling/finishing process will be done with hand tools, planers, files, etc. If you’d like to purchase a box you can contact him at 773-358-8000.

My box is #4. He’s entering the first three in a juried art show. Last year Kendall created bird houses and entered them in the 2019 Art of Soul juried art show held at the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, OH. He won 1st place in his category. The houses represent the evolution of his family. Slave shack of his ancestors, to suburban ranch of his childhood, to Chicago townhome where he lived before returning to Cincinnati to care for his now deceased mother.

I am super motivated to finish my headboard, so stay tuned for the next post to see the finished project.

May 30, 2020May 31, 2020

My Vision, But Not My Hands Alone

The romantic notion of building my own dining room table from walnut slabs harvested from my back yard did not become a complete reality. I got the project started (see post: The Real Work Started This Weekend and Covid-19 Is Rocking Everyone’s World), but after hosting another dinner on a folding table I decided to let an experienced shop finish it utilizing my new found stimulus check money. I’ll have to save the romance for my office desk and the mulberry slabs also cut from a tree that was in my backyard. Hopefully I learned enough to pull it off.

So the biggest thing I learned, if I’m ever presented with an opportunity to have slabs cut for me again is to leave them over 2″ thick. Randy Wipert, the gentleman I gave all the walnut logs to in exchange for cutting and drying enough for me to make my table, asked me how thick I wanted them. I really didn’t have a clue, so I told him my finished thickness of an inch. He cut my boards under 2″ thick as a result. With the mistakes I made and the natural warping/twisting of the boards, the shop that finished my table ended up milling my boards down to a finished thickness of just under an inch. My mulberry slabs are also under 2″, so it will be interesting to see if I can pull off that project.

Clearly Randy kept the boards with less knots and less sap (the white areas are the sap wood, the wood closer to the bark of the tree) or since he had more wood to work with he was able to eliminate his sap wood. The shop that finished my table told me that two of my boards were too twisted/warped to use, so if I wanted a minimum of 36″ in width, I’d have to keep the sap. In the beginning of the project I did not want any sap. I really didn’t know what it was and I had never seen a mass produced table with it. You don’t know what you don’t know. Everyone at the Manufactory that saw my boards said I was crazy to eliminate the sap. I guess I better grow to love it since it’s staying. I was able to provide input on board placement before they were glued. I will have just two strips of white.

I was at a friend’s house and the woman next door was being evicted and these vintage cast iron table legs were sitting in her driveway. She was a professed flea market flipper. I offered to buy them, but she gave them to me. This was over a year before I bought my house. When I saw them I immediately thought what an awesome table I could make with them (I was equally fixated on HGTV/DIY’s Fixer Upper and Flea Market Flip at that time). I had a vision before THE vision for my house. With the cast iron wall sconces in my dining room and the gunmetal chairs I bought, I knew I’d want to get the rust removed and returned to the silver color of new cast iron. A & B Deburring Co. in downtown Cincinnati sandblasted them clean for me. The shop finishing the top sprayed them with a sealant that should prevent them from rusting again.

When I dropped off the legs I was able to see my table glued up for the first time. They had just put on the first finishing coat. I must admit I was taken aback when I saw it. I’m still grappling with the sap wood since it was not in the vision I had for the table. The thinness of it and the curved shaped (I fashioned the shape of it after the dining room table I grew up with, which was a mid-century modern design) gives it a refinement, but the knots and sap makes it look rustic. My house isn’t rustic. The movement in the wood is not like anything I’ve ever seen, so one side of my brain thinks it’s super cool. This was growing in my back yard. Those knots are signs the tree was sprouting new limbs to grow and thrive. Those knots can be my symbol to embrace the new career choices Covid-19 is forcing me to make if I expect to continue to grow and thrive. The other side is still stuck on the image of mass produced products. It makes me wonder if an experienced wood craftsman would have ever considered my boards for a table and if the foolish romance of making my own table clouded good judgement. It wouldn’t be the first time “the romance of” has made me make poor decisions.

The two outside pieces are the boards I glued up at the Manufactory

I thought the corners were too sharp, so I did request that they be rounded a bit more. Due to the final thickness they will have to attach a skirt/apron underneath my table to provide structural strength and support. Just three days later my changes were made and the table completed.

My friends Kyle and Bethany helped me pick it up and bring it home and my neighbors Paul and his visiting father helped us carry it in the house. Not 100% by my hands, but it is as seen in my mind’s eye (well almost given the sap wood). I’m grinning ear to ear. Another vision complete.

The vase is from Magnolia Silos, a gift from a client. Perfect center piece.

March 23, 2020May 27, 2020

Covid-19 Is Rocking Everyone’s World

No, I have not been infected nor am I paranoid to the extent that I’m wearing mask in public. However it did make me to remember to use my mask when I’m sanding, something I generally forget to do. I haven’t made a post in awhile, so this will be an update on the two projects I’ve been working on, my dining room table and headboard.

Filling the holes/cracks in my walnut boards of my dining room table is my new skill set. The first step was taping the underside anywhere epoxy to could seep through.

I used TotalBoat 5:1 Epoxy Resin, Slow Hardener. This was a very easy product to use. I bought the quart size that came with metered pumps. One pump of resin dispensed the five parts to the one pump of hardener, 1 part. Mix for at least two minutes and then you have about 20 minutes to work with it. I was amazed how much epoxy went into small cracks or holes. I made three trips to the Manufactory before all the holes were filled. I definitely will have some clean up to do as I applied too much in some areas. I’ll do better on my next project.

The only other thing I accomplished on the table was rejoining a set of the boards I split when I first started this project. The center of the table will be the board I bought from Urban Edge Wood Works, but I wanted a wide board to rest on each side of it. Only one of my boards was left uncut, so I needed to rejoin at least one. I chose the one on the left.

No pics of the glue up process, but it didn’t come out very well. The board is barely over an inch thick and I’ll have to plane it more as the seam didn’t line up through the entire length. I’m hoping I won’t lose the board altogether as my target width of 38″ is dependent upon using it. The joined board has the tape measure next to it in the picture on the left. Shown there is approximately 50″ in width of boards. I don’t want sap (white of boards) in the center of the table, so once that is cut away I have about 42″ in width. The picture on the right were the worst of all my boards and still in their original state. Hopefully they will make the skirt for the table.

The Governor of Ohio has locked down the state, so today was the last day until further notice to work at the Manufactory. Just as well as it relates to the table as according to Kendall I’ve taken it as far as I can with him and the Manufactory’s equipment. I’ve brought my boards home where they will stay in my living room until Covid-19 has passed, I find a shop to complete it myself or pay someone to do it.

Most of the headboard project has been in my basement waiting for me to do the staining, so with the dining room table on hiatus the headboard has my full focus. My workbench was my first 100% solo build and it will be the perfect surface to assemble the top of the headboard. The Manufactory let me borrow their biscuit joiner, the only piece of equipment I didn’t have at home, but needed to complete the project.

With my slots made I turned to sanding the inside of all the pieces, so I could finally tackle the stain, hence the mask. I applied the same custom stain I used on the side shelves. The color looks perfect against my beadboard section.

I’ve decided to apply polycrylic to the bottom of the top shelf since it will be a surface that items will set on it, three coats.

The rest of the oak pieces will have Danish oil. I’ll let it rest overnight and the tomorrow I’ll tackle building the box, which brings me closer to the finish line of this project.

February 17, 2020February 17, 2020

No Sweets for this Sweetheart

I didn’t come close to finishing my headboard, so I thought I’d share the progress reached by the end of the Valentine’s Day Weekend. I got the side boxes stained and coated. I had planned to use Zar Early American stain, as I did on the upstairs moulding, but Sherwin Williams no longer carries it. After trying Minwax’s Early American and General Finish Mahagony, neither were even close on the Aspen wood, I returned to Sherwin Williams to have them match the color of the doors I’ve converted to pull out tables. They are now selling Minwax Performance Series Tintable Stain.

Per the can’s directions I sanded my surfaces with 120 grit sandpaper and applied one coat of stain, which I let sit for about 10 minutes per the clerks recommendation to get a darker finish. I let it dry overnight and then applied three coats of Minwax Polycrylic. I really like the ease of use for this product. I sanded, lightly by hand, between each coat with 220 grit paper.

After one coat of poly:

After two coats of poly:

After the final coat of poly and letting them sit overnight, I returned with my parts to the Manufactory to put them back together:

With the side boxes finished it was time to tackle the oak top shelve. I started by taking the pieces for the side to the WoodShop to use their joiner and biscuit cutter. I brought the pieces back home to glue and clamp. This was my first glue up and it was spot on! Several guys at the Manufactory complimented me as the seam of the two pieces is barely noticeable.

Now it was time to tackle the top and bottom. This headboard is going to be heavy. The oak wood is dense and in hindsight I should have detoured from the original plans sooner and used 1/2″ plywood instead of 3/4″. I can bet the designer didn’t think someone would use old wood, which weighs much more than the modern 2×4. Anyway, to try and reduce a smidgen of the weight the bottom shelve is only 12″ deep. Once the back piece is in place I’ll have a 10″ deep shelve, perfect for my bible. The top has to be the same width as the sides, so it’s 17″ deep. To reach the depth I needed I had to join two slabs together. My boards weren’t the same thickness, so I had to run them through a planer.

The bottom, per Kendall’s suggestion I routed out a 1/2 groove, because I wanted the sides to cover the top of the side boxes.

I had my mind fixed on a mitered seam at the top and that posed a challenge because my top and sides were too wide for the miter saw. After setting the back in place, I was able to mark my lines to locate the miter cut and use the table saw to cut the miter in the side panels. I used my Kreg jig kit to make pocket holes for attaching the back to the bottom, sides, and top

The top was too long for the table saw, so my only option was a circular saw. I should have called it a day and returned with my own circular saw, which has a much nicer blade, but with Kendall’s help I carried on and got the cuts made. I’ll need to do a little sanding to smooth out the edges. I made the first cut, but let Kendall make the second as there was only about an inch of waste. I beat myself up too much when I fail and I wanted to end the Valentin’e weekend on a high note. Kendall went for gold and cut right on the line to make it one and done.

The challenge now is how to screw the mitered edges together. Glue may not be enough to hold the seams perfectly aligned. In retrospect I should have routed out a groove like I did on the bottom. A normal beginner woodworker would have taken that easier road. But like Nicole Curtis from Rehab Addict says, I’m not normal.

February 2, 2020June 5, 2020

You Can’t Replicate It, So Save It

My featured image is the undeniable proof as to why you salvage old wood. The top piece is a side view of a piece I cut from a shelf that was in the original upstairs closet; I’m using it for the headboard shelves. Look at how tight those rings are. The tree that produced that was probably 75+ years old. That’s quality slow growth pine. Conversely the piece at the bottom is a modern pine 2 x 6 that was probably injected with steroids to speed its growth and cut before hitting the legal age of 21. Kendall took another piece of scrap from my shelve and used a bookend cut it to create this awesome cool pattern. He’s making heirloom quality wood boxes and can incorporate it into the lid. More proof for salvaging old lumber. Look at the natural chevron pattern the rings created.

I turned my focus onto my headboard this week. I think having the table and headboard completed by Valentine’s Day is a pipe dream given I can’t work on it full-time. The table alone would be ambitious. The headboard, given the back is already complete is doable, so I started building the boxes this week with Kendall’s assistance at the Manufactory. Boxes are simple and in my mind I had all the steps laid out, but Kendall had me slow my roll, which was a good thing. He’s a numbers to paper guy, I’m a image in my mind gal. Images waste wood and that is something I can’t afford to do when it comes to the reclaimed wood I’m using on this project. It can’t be replicated if I run out or mess it up.

Scotti from the Wood Shop gave me the idea to add the side boxes when I told him how I wanted to modify the design I had purchased from Jen Woodhouse. I don’t like a lot of furniture, so I wanted to add a shelf above the headboard. Since that shelf would push the bed from the wall, creating dead space, he suggested filling it with side shelves also. Here is a sketch he did to help me visualize what he was talking about. Love it, but it meant buying more wood.

I could have purchased birch plywood sheet for the shelve boxes, but I didn’t have a way to haul a full sheet. Instead I went to Menards and bought, pre-cut Aspen boards in 4′ and 6′ lengths and 12″ and 16″ widths to reduce cuts. Slightly more expensive, but time savings was worth it. I took the four pine floor joist I had been given to the Manufactory to get them planed down because I decided I wanted my headboard to be primarily reclaimed wood. If you remember from my post “From Toilet Surround to Headboard” I had bought oak boards for this project. The look of the pine aligned with the vision I had for the project, unlike the oak. I wish my blog had smellavision, so you could enjoy the aroma of pine I smelled as we ran the boards through the planer.

At the end of that same post I made this statement “So what to do. Use the oak I purchased or create a fully salvaged headboard and use the pine. You’ll have to keep checking my blog to see how this project is going to end. Anyone want to lay bets?” Betting window is now closed. It’s going to be the Paxton oak. Those pine boards are too beautiful to waste on my headboard. They are true 2x12s and I would need to plane almost half the board to get it to the width I need. It would break my heart to waste such beauty, so they will sit until I think of another project for them.

Kendall worked with me to build the first box and left me on my own accord to build the second. I tweaked Scotti’s idea a bit further by adding a pull-out shelf at a height equivalent to a night stand. There was half of a dutch door that separated the kitchen from the hall in my house when I bought it. I held onto not knowing what it could be used for. Now I know, the pull out shelves. The boxes are just screwed together, my dry run, to make sure everything functions. I’ll take them home, take them apart, and stain them. I’m feeling like the headboard will be complete by next weekend.

December 17, 2019

At 54 Years of Age I’ve Found My Passion….Woodworking

Sister Girl with Skills has figured out that she loves working with her hands. As if that isn’t evident given the massive restoration of my home I’ve been doing for the last two years. Early in the project I had a dozen plus trees cleared out of my yard. There were a few walnut trees that were picked up by Randy Wipert with Woodwrights Portable Saw Mill. I gave them to him with the agreement he’d cut enough slabs for me to make my dining room table. There was also a huge mulberry tree in the back corner of my lot. When it was cut it revealed a cool yellow hue, so I asked the company cutting down the trees to save me a chuck of it also, which Randy also cut in slabs for me. I thought I’d make my office desk with them.

Mulberry tree far left, walnut tree right

Mulberry Slabs

Walnut slabs

Two years ago the idea of making my own dining room table and desk was more of a romantic notion. I have built a couple things with cheap plywood, but nothing with real wood that would be meant for everyday use. Fast forward two years, if I had known I’d develop such a passion for working with wood I would have kept all the logs and just paid Randy for cutting and drying.

When I picked up my slabs, after a year of drying in his shop, Randy mentioned that one of the mulberry slabs cupped (curved, bowl like, while drying). He thought it would make a nice charcuterie tray. I took his recommendation and decided to take that slab to the Wood Shop as a first project. I cut into four pieces of almost equal length. The rough cut surface is hard to see in this picture, but the surface felt fuzzy, roughed up. Getting itsmooth is where the real work begins. I started with the piece on the far right.

I started this project in August. The Wood Shop was having a show of projects made in the shop and my board was going to be my entry. I didn’t make the show because I had to travel and return my focus on finishing the master bathroom.

My first task was toning down some of the live edge, the bark. Food will be placed on these when finished, so I didn’t want deep crevices that it could embed in. For that I went way old school and used a draw knife. I’ve got earphones around my neck because someone else was working on a piece of equipment that made a lot of noise.

After that the strenuous work began, scrapping the surface until smooth. There are a lot of motorized tools I could have used at this stage, but I went old school again and used a cabinet scrapper. This it what was used before sand paper was invented.

That blade would get hot after several scrapes and my thumbs started to ache as those digits applied the most pressure. There is an almost erotic sensation in working with wood at this stage. You are scraping, massaging, and with each stroke the wood is coming to life in your hands. The smell of the fresh wood is like an endorphin to your system.

Once I got the majority of the machine tool (saw blade) marks out with the scrapper I did use an orbital sander for the final smoothing. I also used an electric planer on the bottom of all four pieces to flatten them out so they wouldn’t rock. No pics of those steps. This piece had a natural gap where a branch was starting to form. I used 2-part epoxy to fill the gap; taping the underside, so the epoxy wouldn’t run out through. The epoxy is clear, but once dried it turned black in the crevice, absolutely beautiful. I wasn’t expecting that.

Bottom side

With the orbital sander I started with 80 grit and stepped it up to 120, 140, 320, and ended with 600. The surface was a smooth as a baby’s bottom. I put poly-acrylic, 3 coats on the bottom and sides, but on the top I put Watco’s Butcher Block Oil, which is FDA approved oil for food contact. I applied two coats with a sanding of 400 grit paper in between.

The handles I found on Ebay. They are cast iron drawer pulls in the shape of a fist holding a stick. I found the old school screws on Amazon, Rustic Pyramid Head Wood Screws #6 X 5/8″. No great woodworker creates a project without leaving a mark, so I designed and purchased a branding iron from Gearheart Industry for the finishing touch. You only get one shot when working with a branding iron and while my practice burns were good, I did not do as well on this first custom piece from Sista Girl w/ Skills. The feature image up top is my second try on another board.

One of my favorite DIY shows is Salvage Dawgs. They make stuff out of salvage materials and sell it from their store in Roanoke, VA (I have got to get there to see it in person). I surf their site for doors and inspiration for my dining room table and I stumbled across their charcuterie boards. They had one made out of black walnut with handles they were selling for $279, which must have sold out because that page is now gone from their site. If they can get almost $300, I wonder what I can get for mine?????

I’ve got the second board almost complete, the largest of the four due to its width. I could not have imagined the beauty that would emerge. The veins and color variations are amazing. The last two, which are more rectangle in shape approx 2′ x 8″, I won’t work on until after I’ve completed the inside of my house and built my dining room table, unless there is a buyer interested. As you can see from the ends of the slabs, I will definitely have more wood available. If you’re interested in one, let me know.

November 26, 2019August 19, 2020

Road Trip for the Elusive Office Door

Saturday I made a quick trip up to Columbus, OH to pick up the only missing door in my house; the elusive, 2-panel (vertical), approx 32″x 80″ door for my office. You cannot restore old houses without having an arsenal of salvage stores to shop. I found Columbus Architectural Salvage‘s website months ago when started searching for doors for my house. They have always had the 2-panel vertical style I needed, but not until last week did they have one in the size I needed. I paid for it in advance to ensure it would be there.

What a super cool store and so well organized, I could spend hours. It was sensory overload. The budding up-cylcer in me was roaring to come out and buy, buy, buy for project ideas. I resisted and came home with just a door, a mortice lock to fit it, and a couple of hinges I will need for my master bedroom refreshment center project, stay tuned for that one.

The door will need to be stripped and stained to match the others in the house, but this won’t be my first stripping rodeo. It will also need to be reversed as it is currently oriented to swing in the wrong direction. This allows me to truly see the light at the end of the tunnel. The first floor trim, moulding, and setting of five doors is all that is left from calling the inside of the house complete. I’ve put myself on the clock to have the inside complete by my birthday in mid January, so no holiday trim the tree gathering again this year.

October 11, 2019August 19, 2020

Like It Came With The House

My house is transformed. To know where it started and to see it today is unbelievable. That is why it may sound strange when I state hanging a salvage door to close off the basement, laying tile on the landing, and refreshing the steps has made the biggest change to date. It is going to be an extreme pleasure to use the back door as my entrance once the garage is built.

I found the door at Building Value, my favorite stop for reclaimed material. It was just the door, no knob or jamb. I paid someone to build the jamb out of extra jambs I had. He had to reverse the swing and rip the width of the jamb to just 3″. He finished it much faster than I needed, so the back entrance became a priority because I didn’t want to add to my pile of projects already in the basement.

Before I could hang the door I needed to put the tile down on the landing. Timing was perfect as I had just finished the master shower and knocking this out now meant I could retire my wet saw for a long time. I like laying tile, but my two bathrooms wore me out. I had a few pieces left from the tub area in the master bath and I thought it would be great in that area, but I didn’t have enough to cover the entire surface. I most certainly was not going to order more, so I got the idea to border the sides and use the tile in the center. I found the perfect match at the Tile Shop, Workshop Desert Wood Look Porcelain 4 x 47. I only needed four pieces.

Before I could lay the tile I had to level out the surface. No pics to show, but I used Mapei Novoplan Easy Plus self-leveling underlayment from Floor and Decor. Mixed and poured in the low areas on top of the cement board I had installed. Amazing how well it worked. I also decided that a pretty landing would pale next to the worn out steps, so I decided to cover them with RetroTreads I found at Lowe’s. I did the prep work for those as I knew it would generate a lot of saw dust. I had to cut the overhang off each step. I knew the tile would create a need for a reducer going do into the basement. I bought one before I knew the width I needed to cover and it was way too narrow, so I bought a Stairparts 11.5×48 Stair Tread, which I was able to rip down to the right width. It was the perfect height, butting up perfectly to the tile.

With a close enough level surface I started with the border tile. I wanted it to meet on the corners with 45 degree angles and 3 of the 4 angles would be impacted by the door or steps. This tile project would have been 100% perfection if I had not forgotten to account for the new riser I was putting on the steps. The most complex corner ended up being off by 1/2″, so I ended with a much thicker grout line in that corner.

I used my triangle square to make show the box was aligned correctly and then I did a dry run with the center tile. If all went well I would have two pieces to spare. Key was finding the center as it would allow me to get two spaces from one tile once I got to the perimeter pieces. I didn’t miss a cut until the last piece of tile, so I ended the project with one piece to spare.

Next day was grouting, followed by cutting the treads to the right width. With the dry fit of the steps down, I stained them with the Early American stain I had to match the kitchen door and added two coats of Bona Floor sealing.

I’ve never hung a door by myself. The entrance to the basement wasn’t close to being square. I knew the door was not as wide as the original, but it was the right height and style. I’ve been looking for that door (and office) for two years. I needed to close up the opening, so I got a 2×4 and ran it down the hinge side of door. I knew it was import to make that side level. To do so I had to shim out the top while the bottom was flush to the wall.

I also needed to cut off some of the top of the entrance. I used my 4′ level to strike a line. To make it level I cut almost 2″ from the left side and only an 1″ from right. No pics (down fall of working alone) I did a plunge cut with my circular saw and my job max tool to get the corners the circular saw could not reach. I went old school and used 10d, 3″ finishing nails to set the door. I drilled a hole for the door knob to catch, but need to find a strike plate to finish it off. I amazed myself by how well that went in. The door was in really good shape. Dusty, like my other trim and doors, so I went back to my Howard’s Restor-A-Finish stand by. One day when I’m bored because EVERYTHING else is finished I may paint the other side to match the walls. For now the pale yellow will be just fine.

With the door hung, tonight I turned my sights on the steps, which was a piece of cake to install. I kept the top step riser original as the nose of the top step feeds into the kitchen flooring. I put new risers on the bottom two steps (bottom step I actually installed before the tile) and used denatured alcohol to clean up the stair strings. I was out of the correct tint of Restor-A-Finish for the strings, so I rubbed them with the Early American stain. I put down Liquid Nail first and then used the 10d nails for added measure. Just beautiful.

August 5, 2019August 19, 2020

My Happy Place

After a three year absence, Saturday I returned to my favorite Cincinnati event, the Ohio River Paddlefest the nation’s largest paddling celebration. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for kayaking. I have not kayaked since the 2015 event, so I was hopeful it would be like riding a bike and it was. Since the last time I participated the route changed and the course made longer, 9-miles. They were expecting over 2,000 paddlers. I dropped my kayak at the launch site on Friday, so I didn’t have to get up extra early on Saturday.

Launch time was between 7 – 8:30a, so I was definitely towards the end of the pack when I started. I packed PB&J sandwiches, a 32 oz bottle of Mango Gatorade, and a frozen solid Vitamin Water, Energy flavor to keep myself nourished, since I didn’t have time for breakfast.

I like to paddle to the beat of the music I’m listening to. I had my Pandora station shuffling between about a dozen artist and I was crossing my fingers there would be a good mix of slow and fast songs. It balanced out, but I did use each commercial break (about every 4 songs) to take a drink and bite. Fatigue started kicking in at what I’m guessing was about mile 6 and then the most perfect song came on, Natalie Merchant’s, Where I Go. It was all about letting your mind go while at/on the river. I abandoned paddling to the beat and just enjoyed a leisure pace to the finish line where I was greeted with a giant happy face. I most certainly was. After grabbing a combo meal from the Red Sesame food truck, I loaded my kayak and headed home.

One would think I’d be too tired to do anything else, but once I got my kayak back in its perch in my basement, I changed into my work clothes and continued working on my headboard. I was bound and determined to get the back portion of the headboard done that day. I’m not going to go into too much detail as I’ll do a dedicated post, but I’m so proud of how the back turned out I actually posed with it. Folks that know me, know I don’t do photos. I’m torn on leaving it natural, allowing the poly I’ll apply to pull out the colors or staining all or some of the slats. I’d love to get some feedback from anybody reading this post.

I worked until 5p. I was showered and in the bed ripping ZZzzzz by 7:30. I was sore, tired, but oh so happy. Enjoy the additional photos of Paddlefest and put it on your calendar for next year. I’ve always done this event by myself (kayaking is a great single person activity), but I’d love to have someone join me next year.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

July 27, 2019August 19, 2020

Master Bedroom Complete

The Magnolia Market sign that was my “sign” to move forward with purchasing my house has finally been removed from its box and hung on the wall of my completed master bedroom. Yes you can stand and applaud. Unfortunately the Silos doesn’t carry the sign anymore, so no link if you were interested in purchasing.

After completing my Pinterest dresser project and putting the trim up around the small storage does I became obsessed with putting the trim up around the rest of the room. Amazingly most of it was on the same two pallets in the basement and as with the door trim it, for the most part, just needed Murphy Oil Soap wipe down and the Howard’s Feed and Wax. There were a few pieces that I felt needed the Restore-A-Finish product, but I managed to knock the can over and wasted almost all of it. Not wanting to run to a store, I started using the end of a pint of Minwax, Early American, stain I had bought for the kitchen floor. I used steel wool, in the same fashion as the Restore-A-Finish. It worked as well and maybe even better. Every original piece was numbered, so putting them back in the right place was no problem.

The only challenge to the floor moulding was one section in the front dormer. All of the electrical outlets in the house were original cut into the moulding. That is no longer to code, so I knew those sections would be problematic. Over a year ago, I stumbled across a YouTube segment from This Old House that showed how to patch wood trim. I had recessed that in the Rolodex in my brain, knowing that I’d need to put that knowledge to use. Amazingly my Master bedroom only had one outlet in it. Per today’s code I now have 12. Using the video as my guide, I did a pretty darn good job with the patch. Their moulding was painted, so they were able to hide the patch completely. I didn’t have that luxury, but I still think it’s pretty negligible.

With the floor complete I turned my sites on the windows. I sent the front dormer window as a tease on the last blog. It was the easiest of the 5 to restore. My new window seals are thicker than the originals, so I knew I would need to cut the bottom off every vertical piece throughout the house. Again, I thought I’d need to hire my finish carpenter, Tom, to do this for me, but my confidence and comfort level for using my miter and table saws has soared.

From the front window, I moved onto the side trio of windows. The two smaller windows proved to be a challenge because the replacement windows had a gap greater than the window stop trim. I always felt that these windows were ordered too small. It’s hard to describe and show in pictures, but I needed to close the gap on the sides of the small windows and to do it I took an old door jamb to give me the “L” shape I needed to lay on top of the existing house framing. To date this is my finest table saw work.

With that obstacle conquered the rest was easy. Clean, Wax, trim a little of the bottom and nail in place.

The rear dormer window I intentionally saved for last. Even my window installer was perplexed with how the trim would go back around this window. During demo this window completely fell out and apparently we tore out, or it never existed, the framing. With the drywall install there was no exposed framing to nail into, just the edge of the drywall. To make matters even more complicated the drywall came about 1/2″ more at the bottom. I basically needed to frame out the window before I could frame it with the original moulding.

I devised a plan in my mind that involved using the original moulding from the trio of windows in the bathroom that mirrored the trio in the bedroom. I saved this window for last because I had to make sure the bathroom wood would not be needed to correct a cut mistake in the bedroom. Since that install went flawlessly, I was ready to put plan into action. The two vertical pieces that went around the large window of the trio was slightly wider than the moulding. I created the perfect 1/4-1/2″ reveal and it was thick enough that it gave me something for the window stop trim to nail to. Since the bottom drywall protruded out further than the top, I used shims to build out the top.

With the build out complete I was able to proceed with installing the seal and apron. The seal had to be in place before I could install the vertical pieces. I put the top piece on first, but when I went to dry fit the first vertical piece I discovered the piece was too short. The replacement window was longer than the original. The first window installer put in the new framing for this window and he must have made the opening larger than the original.

I had plenty of extra door frame moulding left, but I had already cleaned up the original and I was only a couple of inches short on each side, so I decided to splice two pieces together using scrap pieces for the built-in dresser. I’ve learned to throw nothing away. The trim around the dresser was slightly lighter than the window around the window, but I didn’t care. I was impressed with my thought process and splicing technique. Most people will never see it anyway given it leads to a private area of my home.

With the patched moulding installed, my master was complete. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I wanted to add a light on the outside of the closet. In the two weeks of working to the moulding, Mr. McGhee made that happen. I took the original light fixture from the 1st hall, which matched the ones already in the bedroom, but installed an LED Edison bulb to keep the heat discharge from impacting the paint. I also bought a rug and for my seating area from Overstock.com. It fits in perfectly and is made from recycled jeans and jute. I bought a 9×12, same fabric, different color and design for under my bed, but it’s on back order.

Check out these before and afters, followed by a video tour. I have truly created an oasis. I’m writing this blog while listening to vinyl jazz LPs. LOVING EVERY MOMENT!