The master is almost finished

As many of you may recall, we were thrown into replacing a wall in the master bedroom and worked with Tom Kelly, of Kelly Plaster, to fix cracks in the walls that had been poorly repaired in the past. He recommended that we wait 21 days, for material cure-time, before we primed and painted the surfaces. That gave us plenty of time to pick a color that we both agreed on and do some demo on the old trim in the space.

We chose a color near Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage and had it mixed in Valspar Signature. Consumer reports had rated the paint highly and we had great experiences throughout the rest of the house (good flow and coverage), so we stuck with it. On Tom's direction, we painted the fresh plasterwork with two coats of primer (we once again chose Valspar) and waited. The white spots you see are actually where, after painting the trim, pulling off the painter's tape peeled off the finish back down to the plaster. Let me tell you, that was not a pleasant experience...

I guess in classic fashion, I was wondering who I could yell at about it. I figure that Tom knows when plaster cures, so that shouldn't cause the issue. I used two coats of primer and the premium Valspar paint. The primer didn't say, on the can or otherwise, that it couldn't be used over this material; but in the end the finish failed. Despite that, you might even say that the tape maker (it was 3M) maybe made the batch too sticky...who knows. Bottom line, it slowed us down and I wrote some terse e-mails (more because if I managed the products, I would want to know if homeowners were having issues). We'll see how they respond.

Much in the theme of many of our completed rooms we created custom plinth blocks to accommodate the low outlets (as a reminder, the outlet height cannot be fixed easily because they are sunk into the concrete block walls) while doing the new baseboard trim.

This was also the first room that I did returns in on the ends of the moulding to give it a little more flair, since it is the master. The trim was done with the Festool Kapex KS120 Mitre Saw, which diminishes the instances of tearout with a smooth action. Like the rest of the rooms that we did,we used a MDF trim that, being a painted, was a great solution because it reduced the possibility of swell or shrinkage post installation and allows for a consistent and smooth finish.

An additional challenge to the master bedroom was the fact that it abutted to the bathroom and shared a wall with the bathtub (the same wall that was bad news earlier when the wall was rotted due to tub leakage). Because of this wetwall (where the showerhead and drain pipe was behind a wall in the closet) being behind a closet wall we needed a quick access solution. We (actually Ben) designed a faceframe and access panels to accommodate this. It had previously been some drywall that was faling apart and just screwed into whatever, which was, at times, nothing. the faceframe was made from 1x2 boards that were double stacked and ripped to create insets. The faceframe insets hold cabinet grade birch plywood boards that we custom cut to fit with stainless screws to hold them in place and window-sash hardware on the tops to enable quick access. The panels were screwed into the faceframe and in-place when the frame was installed to better ensure that the frame did not rack and cause panel securing issue later on. We still need to prime and paint the access panels.

We'll be moving in soon. Keep tuned in for more updates!

The dads and the nephews

Before the updates begin, I want to say we are up to NINE followers. How exciting! If you regularly read our posts, don't be afraid to follow our blog. It's lonely in Bedford and we like to think we have friends somewhere in the U.S. We appreciate all of your support and user comments, so keep them coming.

Since our last entry, we've made some progress on the house, but not as much as we intended. In mid-July, we took some time off to visit our nephew Lucas in Chicago. Lucas turned one and is just adorable! Some highlights of the trip included taking pictures in a large duck cutout that Mark made, watching Lucas tear into his cake, and enjoying a competitive family game of corn hole on the back patio. Our gift to Lucas was a rocking dinosaur named Danny, which the little guy really seemed to enjoy. We'll see if Lucas becomes a competitive bull rider or a leading paleontologist. Either career probably could be attributed to Danny. 

Back at the house, Ben tackled the exposed framing/wiring located at the top of our fiberglass tub surround by installing Durock (cement board). Before the walls were rebuilt in the master bedroom and in the hallway, Ben carefully inserted blue rigid foam insulation between the framing to help reduce the sound of the shower in the master bedroom. Speaking from experience, this was a much needed addition to our house as before it felt like you were showering with the person in the bath, even though you were still in bed.

Overall, the installation of the Durock went well! It's nice not to shower while looked at wiring. We still need to tile above the shower, which maybe we'll get to this month. You'll notice that we've created a nice system of blocking off the shower in between repairs (tarp + tape + cardboard = safe tub), a process that we may patent in the future.

In late July, our dads came to visit. Karl (Ben's dad) came first bring tiding of joy, otherwise known as two six-packs of beer. Karl helped Ben fix our crooked wall. Ben, the master shim maker, had attempted to make the repairs himself but Karl suggested that in addition to shims, perhaps the drywall needed modification as well. The end result is perfection - a far cry from the warped unplane wall of the past. Additionally, Ben added back part of the lower wall by the sink, which makes the room feel a little more complete.

When Mike (Tiff's dad) arrived, he also brought tidings of joy, but in the form of a wine bottle. Do our dads know us or what? While Ben worked on repairing the ceiling, ripping up more flooring in the bath and patching some concrete, my father and I attacked the backyard going after Japanese Honeysuckle like the force of Target preparing for undergraduate students returning to Bloomington. Though we diminished our privacy in the process, the honeysuckle is wounded and we will attack again to make sure it dies. Speaking of death, upon our return to our house, it seems that our grass perished due to the heatwave that hit the midwest, so we bought sprinklers. It'll be a long slow road to recovery, I'm afraid.

To avoid the unpleasant visits of the Roto man who routinely pays us unplanned visits only on romantic holidays (e.g. our last anniversary and on Valentine's Day) we decided it might be best NOT to be at our house on our anniversary and headed out to Oregon to visit our new 9-week old nephew Morgan in Oregon. The trip was a total surprise for me because it was truly a vacation! I thought that I'd have plenty of time to work, but Ben definitely had an agenda planned. When we arrived, Steve (Ben's brother) showed us around Portland, we tried some microbrewed beers, saw beautiful homes up in the hills, and I picked up a kelly green tablecloth for ND tailgates (Go Irish!). The next day, we headed out on a beautiful long drive to a lodge in the high desert of Sisters, Oregon. Steve, Abby (our sister-in-law), and Morgan joined us that evening. We dined at the microbrew pub onsite and went hiking the following morning. During our hike we discovered there was a serious forest fire in the area, but far enough away where we didn't need to be too concerned. We played in Sisters for another day and on our way home, Ben and I visited Bend, OR where we sampled beer at a local brewery. Later that evening, we also met with Ben (Turbo) Zoladz, his wife Mary and their kids for some appetizers and beers at the Flat Tail brewery, and the kids are getting BIG. The following day Steve took us around the Willamette Valley to sample Pinot Noir while Abby and Morgan recovered from the outing in Sisters at home. We ended up buying several bottles of wine and are happy to report the bottles made it home safely. The next day, we packed up everyone in Steve and Abby's Scion (including Sally the Lab) and headed out to the coast, where we ate amazing seafood, watched male seals fight on the pier, went to the Rogue brewery, and visited the beach. The last day of our trip was made complete with another tour of Portland (where we dropped by the Deschutes brewpub).

A great week away and we're back at it. Stay tuned for more updates on the renovation!