11.24.2020

 Jim started today putting the primer on the stairwell walls...

Working his way around - lots of wall space in this area!

Moving down the stairs...

Main lobby area all painted and working down the next set of stairs...

Priming is all done!  It really looks clean and finished now.

It was all good timing - Jim finished up about 4:00 and we got ready to head into Saratoga.  After a quick drive-up order pickup at Target, we headed to Lowe's for another tub of plaster.  We also picked up a few pieces of the floor tile we are thinking about for the stairwell to try it out.

High 37/Low 18

11.23.2020

Jim left this morning to head to Home Depot for more primer as well as some new paint supplies.  Once he got home, he got busy working on trim again...

Continuing down the stairs doing trim work...

Yay - trim work is finally done!  So a coat of primer on the ceiling...

And the lower ceiling...

Jim ordered a new tile saw quite awhile ago.  He called today to check on shipping - first, all the customer service agents were no longer working because of the virus and Jim had to just leave a message and wait for a call back.  When the guy called back, he said that their motor supplier is down because of the virus so things are on hold until they find a new supplier.  It's not like Jim doesn't have anything else to do, so he'll wait awhile longer before considering other options.

High 39/Low 23

11.22.2020

This morning, Jim started prepping to do the detail work on priming in the stairwell - first carefully taping around the door edges...

Then starting the trim work on all the corners and edges - everything that needs to be done with a small brush or the small roller...

In the stairwell, there are so many different corners and angles so there's a lot of trim work!

Working around the window...

Plus, working over the stairs is never the easiest...

Or down the stairs, for that matter!

Continuing to do the trim work...

As the clock ticked towards quitting time, Jim cleaned up all his paint supplies and then did taping of the doors in the entry way...

In between all this work, after lunch, Jim went back up into the attic and brought down the remaining few boxes of dishes.  Buried in one box was my turkey platter - just in time!

High 35/Low 35 - few snow flakes

11.21.2020

Well...today was the day for Jim to finish up the last of the sanding in the stairwell. This is such a nasty, messy job.  Jim pretty much wanted me to stay inside the living space to help keep down the dust inside. 

All done sanding and doing the cleaning.  It didn't help that I used the dryer while Jim was sanding because it pretty much sucked all the dust inside.  Oops.

This was after the first cleaning...

Looks fabulous after the second time!

Later in the afternoon, Jim went back out to work on moving the last of the rock pile.  This isn't a great picture, but this is the way the rock pile looked just a short while ago...

Check it out now!  It looks fabulous!  Jim took a bunch more loads to the bottom wall as well as back in the woods.  It's all ready for final grading!

High 47/Low 22

11.20.2002

Jim was looking for a certain kind of circuit breaker to use in the metal shop, so he headed out to Lowe's and Home Depot to see what they had.  He got a couple other things he needed, but no luck on the specific kind of breakers he was looking for.

Once he got home, he decided to do some outside work since the weather was okay - and because it didn't involve sanding for the day!  He had to jump the excavator to get it started...

Then he brought it up to the upper driveway to do some digging and make more dirt...

Then he took the excavator down to the rock pile and used it to try and separate the dirt from the rocks a bit.  He then got the Bobcat out and took another 5 loads of rocks back to the wall.  Altogether, he's put between 15-20 loads back there!

He also took some of the rocks down to our lower rock wall.  While he was there, he did some cleanup around the area down there.

High 51/Low 34

11.19.2020

First thing this morning, we checked out our newly-textured ceilings in the stairwell - they look even better now that they are dried!

I headed out to fight the pre-Thanksgiving shopping crowds today - besides getting groceries and running some errands, I also picked up 2 gallons of paint for the stairwell, which is very exciting!

Meanwhile, Jim was at home sanding - one of his very least favorite jobs!  It is made easier by doing the skim coating, but it's still a nasty job.  He took this picture to show some of the mess it makes...

Working on a ladder, holding a flashlight down the wall and sanding...

Doing the walls on the lower area...

This was an all-day job but he has everything done except for the walls on the upper level, so that's great progress!

Besides all the sanding, Jim vacuumed all this area multiple times which definitely helps keep the dust out of the living space.  

High 35/Low 28

11.18.2020

Jim went back to work on the electric this morning in the metal shop - he got all the circuits pulled through!  What a difference in the way things look without that mass of wires hanging.  But all this was a necessary process - Jim needed to get lights, receptacles and the air compressor working when things weren't completed enough to wire things in the box.  

Wiring last circuits in...

Jim has a dummy wire that he uses as a fish tape to pull additional circuits through that will be coming for the front wall receptacles, but everything else is now wired into the box!

So this afternoon, we turned our attention to doing the ceilings in the stairwell.  After mixing the right formula up, Jim started rolling the plaster onto the ceiling...

I did the stomping and then Jim went back and cleaned up all the edges...

Laying down the pattern...

Then we moved to the main entrance ceiling and got started there...

Lighting was tough here - it was hard looking up with the lights on and being able to see what you were doing and it was equally hard with them off.  We did have some light shooting up onto the ceiling, but it was still a bit difficult.  But it all worked out well - stomping done and Jim doing the edges...

Laying down the pattern...

Looks beautiful!

Lots of clean up afterwards - some of these tools are easier cleaned up with the power washer but we've had below freezing weather, so the hose is disconnected and tucked inside.  But we're happy - and Jim noted that all the plaster in the stairwell is where it belongs!  Jim still has some sanding to do (ugh!) but 

we'll be thinking about priming and painting soon!

High 28/Low 11 - brr...