Wednesday, April 22, 2009





Can't figure out how to turn the photos, but here they are. The Osmo finish is fantastic, I just hope that it performs how it claims to.
From the ecohaus website:
"Not to be confused with traditional oil finishes, OSMO Hardwax Oil is an engineered finish made with plant oils and waxes, plus just enough highly refined mineral spirits to allow easy application. This remarkable finish offers excellent durability and renewability with a unique lustrous finish. It will never crack, blister or flake off. Instead of forming a plastic film, like polyurethane does, OSMO Hardwax Oil has open pores that "breathe." This allows any moisture that does get through to get back out again without pushing off the finish.
Because it is microporous, Hardwax Oil works well in rooms with high humidity, such as kitchens. It meets German standards for resistance to stains from wine, cola, coffee, tea, fruit juice and, of course, beer."

It really brings out the grain of the spruce and makes it a rich golden color. Some of the stairs are so beautiful with big knots and multi-tonal patterns.

Applying the finish


Three coats so far of the Osmo-hardwax. It's labor intensive going down, but it's truly beautiful stuff.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

It's so beautiful!








So, I took these pictures at twilight and everything looks all green because of the compact florescent bulbs. But look at that beautiful trim work! Dad tiled the floor of the master bath, hooray! I want to move in tomorrow!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!

Flooring, Stairs, tile and water!





So, I've been off the computer for a while and these pictures were taken the beginning of last week. But they at least show a little of what's been going on. All the doors are hung, 80% of the trim is done (all except a few doors and the baseboard)and all but a chunk of the spruce flooring is down. Everything looks fantastic. I grouted the slate tile this morning and it washed up really nice, the rust colored tiles really stand out...beautiful! The downstairs bedroom and Bea's little nook upstairs both have bamboo floors (thanks to some left over stock from the long-ago spec house). The master bath is ready to be tiled, I started on the shower and it looks great.

Matt and I drove to Soldotna on Saturday and picked out a remnant of carpet for the master bedroom. It's a pretty grey-beige with little flecks of greens and blues. We managed to fit it in our car and now it sits downstairs in Mum and Dads living room laying the whole length of the room. I Know that generally carpet is not considered a "fine building" material, but I'm so excited to have cozy carpet underfoot when I get out of bed in the morning!

Poor Dad and Mike have been spending so much time planing, ripping down and sanding all of the rough cut spruce for the flooring and trim...it's so massively labor intensive. As cool as it is to be using a local "green" product for much of our house, both Matt and I are feeling guilty for making that choice early on in the project. We thought it would be us standing with a palm sander for 8 hours a day or feeding boards through the planer a million and a half times. We could have saved a good two weeks if we'd gone with engineered floors and molded MDF trim. Sorry Dad! At least it's nearly done.

Our water tank is filled and we got the final bill for the well. We're waiting for the results from the water test to see what kind of additional filters we'll need to remove the iron and sediment. It's still pretty cloudy, and when I was filling a bucket today I definitely smelled a hint of eggs. A decent filter should give us a perfectly fine drink.