Around The Corner ...

More stuccoing today, this time on the east wall. I got half the wall done, so you know what's going to happen tomorrow, do you?


One of Ray's guys showed up today to finish some work on the hood.


Dirk

Accidental Success ...

It was windy and cold today, not the best weather to do stuccoing, but we need to move forward. I applied the second coat on the north wall (no, Amy, this still isn't the final coat). This coat wasn't as easy to apply as the first one, and the surface turned what E! calls lumpy. Fortunately, this is the look that E! was hoping for. Great! I prefer luck over skill any day.


Dirk

Obsessed ...

Before we get to the theme of the day, here the workplace of someone who actually worked today:


In case you ever wondered why it takes us so long to get Gunk Haus open, well, hello, it's a *bleeping* lot of work, and it's just the two of us, and we do it all ourselves!!!

Of course that's only half the story. Both E! and I have the tendency to get very interested in things, almost to the point of obsession.

My latest obsession, and I am already infecting E! as well, is plastering (that is interior plastering, as opposed to exterior plastering, which is called stuccoing; now don't get all snobby and say that you knew that already, because you have not spent any time reading about it: everybody calls it differently, and there are a gazillion different opinions of what plastering is).

In addition, both E! and I are very much into hand-crafting, do-it-yourselfing (eventually, I could totally see us raise the pork, that will end up as schnitzel on your plate - although, schnitzel is better made from veal, I am just giving you an example, gosh, why are you guys so difficult, work with me).

Anyhow, so since a few days I have been playing (off and on) with plaster, trying different mixtures (from scratch), and ingredients (we just read about adding linseed oil, how exciting, I will be sure to try that tomorrow), trying to find ingredients mentioned by someone (I don't even know, but sounded credible), and of course wasting a lot of time.

Here are a few of my samples (not that there is anything to be seen, but you guys like pictures, so look at it and love it, or I'll post no more pictures at all).


So why the sudden interest (obsession) in plastering? Well, we are closing in on the day, where we need to cover the walls somehow. We always wanted to plaster them, but paying professionals is darn expensive (if you think it isn't and you have a lot of money burning holes in your pockets, drop me a note). But I love my wife, and I know she'd really love the plaster, as opposed to simply painting the walls. And that's when I go the extra mile.

Meanwhile I found, plastering isn't actually that difficult, and it recently occurred to me that plastering will actually take less time and money than painting.

Alright, I already see a few of you dozing off, so enough for today.

Dirk

Sooooo Cute ...

A picture tells more than a thousand words:


Look at that happy smile. Yes, folks, we moved the range into the kitchen, and E! started cleaning it (one problem with buying used kitchen equipment is that it usually isn't in the cleanest condition).

I told you that I had fiddled with inside plasters this week, and for kicks and giggles I played with lime washes for the outside today. For one thing I wanted to see how well it covers, but also play with coloring. It worked pretty well, and we're going to use a tinted lime wash to finish the wall outside the kitchen and dish station.


Because of the sunny weather I felt like digging again, so I dug another trench, this one is for a drain pipe to divert the water from the gutter to past the mailbox out onto the street.


Dirk

You Can't Always Get What You Want ...

When you got all your ducks in a row, who guarantees none is dropping out? But first, let's do the numbers:

one kitchen floor sealed
two second floor window sashes installed (resulting in two sets of window sashes for renewal)
one window sash renewal started
one piece of blueboard test-plastered (still drying, let's see how it looks)
one pizza dough made (only to be not eaten today)
one pitcher of sangria made (to make up for the non-eaten pizza, and to simply drown this day)

Today was somewhat on the disappointing side. Granted we got things accomplished, but there were setbacks, minor and less minor.

I was playing with plaster today (while waiting for paint to dry, which ended up being washed away by the rain, and now is drying again after reapplication), which we would like to have our walls covered with. Plastering is expensive, if you hire the big guns, and I don't want to give up on the idea of plastered walls yet. I can do this. Anyhow, I read in a construction manual online about a product called Keene's Cement, which would create stronger plaster. So I called around my usual suppliers (after a year and a half of remodeling you know whom to call), but all I got was the acoustic equivalent of a dropping jaw. Fortunately I found a manufacturer, who carries the product in their line, so I requested a sample.

The bigger disappointment came when our favorite steel meister Tom stopped by, only to tell us that he could not do the beam job in the bar. That is really unfortunate, because we really like him. We have three other bids, but we would have liked to throw it his way (we like to support small businesses). We'll get it done, one way or another.

Dirk

Mix Up ...

Not much going on yesterday, despite the nice weather (it was supposed to rain, what happened?). We stopped by United Rentals for the annual equipment sale, and picked up a cement mixer (so far I have been mixing cement and mortar by hand; anyone interested in a membership to Dirk's Gym?).

As we were out and about, we stopped by a German butcher just down the road, and got ourselves some yummy wurst.

Off to Beacon across the river for lunch at Poppy's (100% grass fed beef burgers), and for dessert to Zora Dora's Paleterias (home made ice cream on the stick; I got the ginger beet one, oh sooooo yummy).

Dirk

The E!dition ... (Updated 1x)

It has come to my attention that I talk too much about myself, and don't give much credit to my wife (yes, you know who you are, good, because I don't). Anyhow, here is praise to E!:

Look at the tough job she has right now:


What you are looking at is the kitchen floor. Doesn't it look nice? Well, now it does. Look at the tools, E! used to get it there? The blue thing, by the way, is McSteamy, one of her best friends.

Aside from that she managed to whip up a yummy green chili, do dishes, go shopping, and pick up this evening's entertainment.

Update 1: I forgot, she also painted a window.

She is great, I love her.

I didn't do anything today, as you can see:


Dirk