Outdoor lighting and grout

This week's big events were the beginning of grouting the bathroom tile, and I began finishing the windows with shellac. I hope to begin putting the trim on soon.

I installed this outdoor, solar light for some outdoor lighting. It really provides a lot of light and needs no wiring.


Here is the light on the front walkway. It illuminates the front of the house.

Here is my first window that I am putting shellac on. The blue lines are painter's tape. It took an hour and a half just to tape this window! I couldn't believe how many places there were where wood met glass or wood met vinyl.



pics from today
grout started

Front Lawn

The porta-potty got picked up this week, and C and I did some cleanup on the front lawn. Even though it is still trashed, it looks better than we have ever seen it look.

This light brown branch grows about halfway up on the tree. It produces messy berries which are a slipping hazard. C and his parents trimmed them all and less than two weeks later, this one popped up in what seemed like a day! I think nearly-formed branches are tucked against the trunk just waiting to pop out. Now that we are on top of it, we can just continue to cut them as they come up.


Here is the front lawn, sans porta-potty. I was so happy to see it gone!

The backyard is still nothing but packed dirt and weeds.

A few new pics

Things have been moving really slowly, and there hasn't been much to post. Most days I work on finishing trim pieces for the windows and doors, and handle any odds and ends that come up with the contractor. Here are some current pictures:

This is the bathroom vanity, which got installed right before July 4th. I am really pleased with how it looks, and the colors and styles all work together well. It's a bit nervewracking to build a bathroom from scratch - your really don't know how well everything will work together until you see it, so it is a relief to see that I like it all.


Here is my trim finishing station in the backyard. I am using spray shellac to finish all the trim - we are leaving it natural wood and not painting it. The trim is stain grade pine (as opposed to paint grade, which isn't as nice since it will be covered with paint anyway) and each piece requires three coats with steel wool sanding in between. After the last coat, I use some serious elbow grease to buff them with old denim. I'm not sure why this works, but the contractor suggested it and it works really well. The shellac has a really nice, subtle shimmer in an amber color. I also like that it doesn't show too much - some clear finishes can look like you coated the wood in thick clear plastic. Since this trim won't take much wear and tear, we don't need that type of finish.



This is the section at the end of the bathtub. It is going to be a towel cubby on top and below is a drawer for the toilet brushes and plunger. I'll probably grow orchids or bamboo on top. I think this is really genius - the contractor came up with the idea of raising the deck level and using it this way. The way we had it, this section would have been level with the tub deck and more or less wasted space. This one change really makes a difference, and will help with space since all the towels can fit in here. Instead of being a "what's that wierd leftover space for" it's now "wow, how cool a built in towel cubby and orchid shelf."

A slow period in the remodel

Things have been slow lately - the contractor was only in one day last week due to the holiday. We've solved the problem of cutting the glass tiles. I researched and purchased a special blade which cuts glass better and after the edges are sanded, they look pretty good. The bathroom is still being tiled - there's a little progress every day. I'll post pictures when there is more to show.