Thursday, May 1, 2008

Two Down - One to Go

Hello again everyone!

Well, two down - one to go!

I've now applied two skim coats of plaster and have sanded them down. If all goes well, tomorrow I will be applying the last coat (keep your fingers crossed).

There really isn't much to show in the way of pics, but here are a few non the less.

I'm not sure why the pics are a little fuzzy. The only thing I can think of is the plaster dust still in the air.

As some of you know, it can take 2 to 3 skim coats to get a final finish. The first two are fillers and the third is the top coat (from what I've read).

If you look real hard you can see some spots on the wall. These are the last of the 'high' spots.

So, the last coat should take care of them. There are still waves in the wall, just like there were in the beginning, but they are smoothing out.

This wall has the worse 'bump'. It is not as noticeable if the back door is open, but if you run your hand across it it's very noticeable.

I will be doing some touch up on this spot later tonight.








Oh yeah, for those of you who have noticed that the ceiling hasn't been touched, that is the next thing on the list. I hate plastering/mudding ceilings - I just can't seem to get them right. Hopefully this skim coat method will take care of it.

I'm throwing this pic in just for the fun of it.

I was on top of the ladder and never got a shot from this angle.


For those of you who relish in my trials and tribulations, nothing much happened except one thing.

The shop vac I use when sanding the plaster fell over and popped open! Dust went everywhere!! It took me longer to clean up the mess (if that's what you want to call it) than it took to do what I did today!

I will probably not post any more pics of the kitchen walls until they are ready for priming, so it might be a while.

Also, I will not be able to complete all the wall sections, or ceiling for that matter, until after the new floor to ceiling hutch is in place. I know I'm going to screw something up either taking it out or putting it in so I just don't see the sense in finishing those parts till later.

I also thought I'd throw in a few pics of the yard now that the grass, or should I say weeds, are greening up and the trees and bushes are leafing out.

Remember this pic from the fall?

At this time of the year it's easy to see the house.




Take a look at it now.....

Within about two more weeks it will be hard to see the house from any angle except from the very front.



The rest are just some general pics from around the yard.

This is the only spot in the yard that we can not get any grass, and that includes weeds, to grow.




We are still trying to come up with a plan for it.

Here's a view of the woodshop and burn pit area.









Everyone who comes over loves to congregate here. Just don't look too close, I haven't finished mowing yet.

This last view of the yard is perhaps my favorite. It is the main view that's seen when doing anything in the kitchen.



It is very lush and filled with about a dozen different varieties of trees and shrubs.

Last but not least I will leave you with this final pic.

I think it sums my day up quite nicely.











Well, I'll leave you all alone now. I need to go batten down the hatches. There have been reports all day about the potential for a massive, tornado producing storm for our area tonight.

After what happened to Greensburg, this time last year, the weather people just aren't going to take any chances. One of the stations is even going to have a special on tonight about how to survive durring a tornado The promo reminded me of the old nuclear bomb warning commercials from the 50s.

Till next time....

Cheers!
Larry ~

17 comments:

Michael Sweet said...

Wow, that is really a beautiful house. I have seen it in your previous postings of course, but for some reason its "stateliness" is really striking me now.

So. . . can one just sand down the high spots in skim coating, or is there some reason that won't work?

-M

Larry said...

Yup...you do sand down.

The object is to build up and then sand down. Doing this in layers will achieve a near mirror smooth finish.

Joanne said...

Wow! Those trees give lots of privacy in the summer.

Sandy said...

You need to frame that last photo! That gave me LOLs!! Did you give the shop vac too much to eat? Otherwise, I can't imagine it resorting to such a drastic measure as "hurling" all over everything. Poor Larry. I'm betting SWMBO wasn't too happy with that! The pictures of your yard are so nice. I like the picture from the kitchen window, too. Hope all is well and you didn't get the bad storms. TTFN!

Larry said...

Nah...I didn't give the vac too much to eat. It got tangled in a cord and fell over. Dust went everywhere.

SWMBO thought it was funny.....

As for the storms - all we got was hail and high winds.

Jennifer said...

Stay safe today! I hope the storm misses you... that's something I don't miss about Nebraska at all.

I love all the trees... nice privacy!

Have you though of just paving over that area where things won't grow with some sort of paver... or just edging it out and putting gravel down... it could be a nice little shaded patio.

Larry said...

Thankfully the storms passed us by. We did get a lot of wind and some hail though.

As for the bad spot in the yard - you are thinking along the same lines we are!

Nikki via The Scarlett Rose Garden said...

It's awesome to see you doing everything "right"... such patience to actually do plaster. Wow. Pat yourself on the back!

I agree about the gravel or pavers for the stubborn yard area too. A nice little courtyard with a Titanic bench, lol! Perhaps a water garden some day, as if you don't have enough on your plate!

Larry said...

Thanks for the kind words Rosescarlett.

We have talked about a water feature in the are. You can barely see a small patio in that pic off to the side. There is a small fountain their right in front of the shrubs.

Aurelia said...

Your property is so lovely. One of these days, we're just gonna show up on your porch with a pitcher of mint julep.

Larry said...

I wish you would!!!

Anonymous said...

Nice job so far Larry. I'll check back when I can. Feel free to hit up The Handyguys Podcast if you have any questions with your projects. We do answer all questions. http://www.handyguyspodcast.com

Larry said...

Hey - thanks!

You have a great site. Mind if I link to it?

Sandy said...

You have been tweeking the site again!

Larry said...

Yes I have...what do you thing?

Sandy said...

I like it! I like the layout and the green (I suspect it's not really a green) color, too. Nice job!

Larry said...

Thanks!