Normandy Park Restoration

Got all of the basement ceiling pieces in place.  This will get painted the dark olive green.  It will then either receive the "fake beam" treatment, danish slats, or a dark hardwood.  Haven't decided which yet.

Found a better projector LED bulb for the basement, that gives more of the layered look of a halogen bulb.  Replaced all of the recessed bulbs with these.  I'm also starting on getting the rest of the basement ceiling in.  This picture shows one panel in place.  Getting the beams leveled takes a long time.  Of course everything is a big mess while it's in progress.  This shows a couple of them in place in the hallway.  These will be painted the dark green color to match the rest of the basement ceiling, and eventually have fascia beams over them. Also got a good picture of the house from a different angle that shows the fall colors really well.  Most of the leaves have fallen, but the color is still there.

Was sick and didn't have time to do much this weekend.  I did finally bring the pillows down for the reading nook and got the mattress cover cleaned. The Fall colors are out in force again this year

Finally got the ceiling in the theater room leveled.  Turns out leveling it is easy, and would be even easier to do during the original install.  Here is a picture of the end result. The veneer beams are cedar 2x4's, cut smooth, sanded, and then treated with danish oil.  The overall look works well.  It also has the designed benefit of being removable, should I need to do electrical or plumbing work in the future.  Here is a progress shot showing the beams being prepped.

Getting lots of things done that aren't visible, but did do one.  Got the reading nook started.  First step was to do the back wall.  Unfortunately this used all of the wood I had, so I'll have to get more for the footwell on the other side. And then put some of the trim in place I finally put the futon in, for now just to get it out of the way.  I'll have to remove the cover and wash as it's a mess right now, but this gives you an idea for what the nook will look like when it's done.

Walls painted

Getting the sanding done in the basement hallway Texture on and drying

Doesn't look like much, but this has been on the todo list for a while.  Finally got the oven vent and plumbing vent removed and a proper roof patch in place.  Now I can put some patch beams in the exposed hole and smooth it over so that it can be painted.

Got the ceiling painted in the theater room , and 2 test fascia beams put in. The beams didn't turn out as well as I'd like, I'll experiment with some other options.  The trim hasn't been installed on the ceiling yet, that is next. I also got the new wall units, and desks installed in the office.  I decided to move the library upstairs and the office downstairs.

Finished the texture and paint in the theater, also started on the ceiling. And with all of the wood in place These are 1/2" birch plywood, with the edges routered.  This gives them the look of engineered panels rather than just plywood.  Part of the goal was that I wanted something removable, something I could paint a dark color (for more perceived headroom) and something that could accommodate the non-consistent height of the rafters.  Doesn't look like much in rough form, but next I'll paint it the same dark green as the ducting, and then put some wood runners to give it an artificial rough look. The theater is the proof of concept and test bed for these ideas.  If they turn out well, the rest of the basement will get this treatment.

Started some landscaping cleanup and ended up starting the retaining wall template. It will look a little ghetto for a while, as I'm using scrap wood to determine where the rock wall will be.  In front of it will be a sloped parking pad.  Probably just crushed rock, but I might get it asphalted. Allowing the parking pad to slope will help with drainage, as most of the water from the driveway, and a lot of rain water flows through that area. Initially I thought I'd be digging a lot, but it turns out that I'll be adding a lot of topsoil to backfill.  The wall face will be made with 1-man and 1/2-man basalt rock, similar to this style.

Found a good deal on a new oven for the house.  I've put it in place as a temporary fitting. The actual plug is preventing it from resting properly, and it seems clear I'll need to move those cabinets about 1/2" away from the wall to allow for proper clearance.  It doesn't rub now, but the final cabinet faces might be wider, and I want a little room for error.

In the middle of a lot of projects, so the house is a big mess right now Got all of the upstairs electrical done, including doing the 220v for the oven. And got it all inspected, so now I can finally start putting the cabinets in.  They are in a cheap white for now, not sure if I'll stick with white or not. The oven is also just the old one stuffed into place, and not the correct 30" size.  Need to start thinking seriously about cabinet face type so I can pick a matching oven.

Finally updated my mailbox to a locking style.  Guess which one? Not bad for $25, some paint and a new handle. (though the post was another $55...and $15 for the cement).

Going through a big push to wrap up the electrical, and finally got the doorbell installed.

Finally got around to doing the window trim on the inside for the bathroom and office.  Not painted yet, but much better than the rough frame I've been looking at for a few months.

Decided I wanted to increase the visible size of the theater room.  Also knew that I wouldn't get around to doing any final work on it for a while, so I wanted to make it a little nicer.  So I removed the base shelves and setup the tv to hang on the wall.  Here is what it looked like before: And here is what it looks like now. Only downside is that it exposes the scraps of carpet previously hidden under the cabinets.  But the overall look is much nicer, and the room feels much bigger, where it was feeling cluttered before.  This should tide me over till I get around to really finishing the room.

Doing some experimenting with paint.  Trying out a dark color on the uprights along the glass back wall.  The idea is that the dark color will make the window framing disappear.

Decided to test my drywall skills on a simple wall in the basement.  It will be bounded by walls covered with stone veneer, so it's easy to work on this wall in isolation.  First shot with just the rough drywall up. First float and tape without sanding And one coat of primer over the final product Texture turned out ok.  I'm sure I can do better on the remaining walls.  The upper and lower extremities will be covered by trim, so they weren't finished much.  Once it all dries I'll get it painted and put the sliding doors back on.  I'll probably also do the upper and side trim to see how that looks.

Rebuilt the reading nook this weekend.  Doesn't look much different, but had to be completely torn apart and redone.  It's now full length so that the single futon fits correctly.  This allows you to lay down completely.  Also, the ledge and bookshelves are recessed, even with the mattress, which makes getting in and out much nicer.

Haven't had time to do much new on the house.  Playing catchup with other projects.  I did sell the extra platform bed that was in the basement, and set it up with the futon as the reading room it was intended to be last week.

One of the few things I'm not willing to do myself.  Got rid of the old panel and had a new 200amp panel installed. That's the last big piece in the electrical work, now I can start to finalize all of the wiring and circuits.