Not too much to post this week. I was out of town most of last week, visiting my family in Oklahoma. Kyle had a fairly busy week/weekend outside of the house, but was able to tackle a few more tasks.
1. There’s nothing like doing yearly maintenance on one part of the house while you’re busy trying to remodel another part. When we did our bathroom a year and a half ago, we finished the teak ledges in the shower with a few coats of teak oil. The finish held up pretty well, but over time there started to be a few blackish spots where bottles or containers sat. (The wood, being teak, was still in great condition.) So instead of refinishing with the same teak oil, we decided to do a waterproof polyurethane spar varnish.
First Kyle cleaned and then sanded the wood with 20 grit, than 100 grit, than 300 grit sandpaper. Then he removed the dust with a tack cloth and took off the surface teak oil with some rubbing alcohol. Finally, he applied 6 coats of satin spar varnish (a product used to protect boats), sanding with 400 grit sandpaper between coats. It’s still not 100% cured, but already a vast improvement!
2. More sexy electrical work…this time – how to install a switched receptacle! This outlet is in the corner of the 2nd bedroom so we wanted the option for a floor lamp that could be switched on or off as you entered the space.
3. Recessed cans!
4. Electrical boxes!
5. During my visit home, I went through several boxes of “Lauren’s Stuff” that mostly dated from the mid to late ’90s.
I thought they were long gone. Oh no. I think they might make good work boots. (My grandmother, who always commented on how ridiculous they were, would probably agree.) Though I now regret the after market laces.
6. We’re also making an even bigger mess in the basement. The first structured media panel we installed wasn’t big enough so we had to order this guy (lower left).
And sometimes it’s fun to look back on simpler times – like when we first bought the house. Now you know why the previous owners had a limited number of outlets. Our collection of fuse boxes was no match for the needs of the modern young couple.
So here’s the deal – we really need to get our framing, plumbing and electrical inspections done by next week, which means we are going to be wiring fools for the next several days and through the weekend (so there probably won’t be a mid-week post, especially considering it’s already Tuesday). See you next week, internet connection willing!