153) Driveway

December 2, 2011

The day has finally come to pour the driveway. For two years, we have endured loads of fill and gravel, mud, vehicles getting stuck, mud, gravel getting tracked onto our beautiful fir floors on dog’s (and other mammals’) paws, and did I mention mud? We debated (oh, okay, I debated with myself) the issue of [...]

11 comments Read the full article →

152) Epoxy on Wooden Bathroom Tiles

November 25, 2011

Although our basement guest bathroom is not complete, we have started the finishing on our little loft “powder room,” above. I want it to be funky and interesting, not so sophisticated as our other bathrooms. The nice thing about bathrooms is you don’t necessarily have to coordinate them with the general interior, because the door [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

151) Subtle Striped Paint

November 16, 2011

I hesitate to number this post, because I don’t think there’s anything “green” about this how-to. Someone asked how I managed to get this cool look of wallpaper in the small bathroom. This is how: 1. Paint wall with eggshell (I used a colour called “Endless Dusk” because it went well with the 2″ tiles.) [...]

6 comments Read the full article →

150) Green Building Case Studies

November 11, 2011

There’s not a whole lot new going on around here – I’m spending my time planning and shopping for future projects, cleaning, organizing, hounding tradespeople, refinishing old wood for doors and window trim, and sealing/caulking the shower in readiness for the plumber. Last weekend we had some help to build a deck and install some [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

149) Art and Excavation

November 5, 2011

I love the juxtapositions this job brings: the sound of stones dumped from a truck vs. the sound of wing beats as a murder of crows passes overhead. The look of mud squishing under my (inadequate) shoes vs. the new rainbow when I cast my eyes up. The stink of diesel vs. the aroma of [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

148) Stones, Again (and Happy Hallowe’en!)

October 31, 2011

We’re working away on various finishing tasks. On nice-weather days, we joyously go outside to work. Lately, it’s been flagstone pavers in the front yard. An updated photo: I started filling the joints with polymeric sand today, since the rain is supposed to hold off for at least 18 hours. To use this product, the [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

147) Million Dollar House?

October 24, 2011

One day last year, while D was working alongside our stonemason, he overheard a visitor to the site (a new tradesperson) comment to the stonemason, almost bitterly, “What do you care, you’re working on a million-dollar house?” We had never thought of it as a million-dollar house. It’s just our home, the last home we [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

146) Rainscreen Behind Stone Veneer

October 22, 2011

Serge, the stonemason, did such a good job of prepping the stone pillars out front, that I asked him to prep for the stone veneer that I’ll apply all around the base of the house, below the shingles. Here’s how Serge applied the rainscreen and scratch coat: 1. On the areas that were just plywood [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Blog Statistics

October 21, 2011

Google Analytics tells me many things about my readers. In the past three months, for example, my top fives: Referring sites (Thank you!): A Vintage Green Tantalus Roofing Fibre Art Network Eat Logical Sentences Canadian Design Bloggers West Search Keywords: flexrock paint mooney wall action spray foam reviews flexsnap flextherm garden boxes Locations of Visitors: [...]

12 comments Read the full article →

145) A Good Day’s Work – Stucco

October 18, 2011

Sunny Mother Nature has been on our side this week, so we have happily been doing outside work. We applied the final stucco coat on the studio today (See prep details here.) The task seemed easy compared to our expectations. We masked the window/door trim to prevent the sticky stuff from messing up the cedar. [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →