Basements in the Time of Corona

In the first picutre, I ordered full plywood sheets, 12", 8", 6", and 2" pieces.  Once I got home, I realized that I totally forgot to get the 8".  I took this pic as evidence of what I unloaded and Shurway was super nice about me picking up the remainder.  The second photo is the first bits of plywood up with Masonite lower backing for the cabinets, and a couple mid-walls to support shelving.

Ah, pandemic.  Should I be dragged into the abysmal pit of despair or discover a new wellspring of creativity by the isolation you've forced upon us?  Or, should I get to task to all those home improvements that have been growing on the list like ripe hops?  Well, I like hops and I like projects so you can guess what I've been busy doing.  

This post is a bit backwards chronologically since this is the latest of the works-in-progress but since they were the first photos available, I'll go with it.  I have to say dealing with the housebound nature that has been caused by COVID-19 has not been fun but it has been productive.  A bit of a throwback to when I needed to quickly make sure we had a room to house the Trusty Assistant once it was clear he (and we) thought it was time for his own space.  This has been Phase III 1/2 in the basement remodel.  Phase I being the bedroom, Phase I 1/2 being the cabinets to store all the random crap we do and don't need, and Phase II 1/2 being the toilet (to borrow the European meaning of the word and not "bathroom" which is fairly misleading when you think about it).  Phase III 1/2 is the family gathering place, the central library, the board game mecca, and, in preparation for the teen-years, the spill over area for friends to crash.  

Unfortunately, with the timing and nature of this project, creating this with a  recycled/ repurposed/ reinvented intention was going to be very difficult and time consuming and who's kidding themselves, no one wants to do that to themselves especially when you can't escape your own project once in a while.  While this first phase of Phase III 1/2 is pretty much just more shelving, it also included framing in some more walls with accompanying wiring and let's face it, the built-ins are really the main focus here so after this, the rest pretty passé. Well, the secret door will be fun but I'm not quite there yet.  

For this project, I had to remove the old shelving (supposedly for file box retention), scrape and insulate the concrete brick walls, and then put up some interior stud walls. 

Next was a trip to Shurway Lumber and selecting the wood for the built-in shelves.  I have to say I like their prices on hardwood lumber.  I'm no professional and they carry pretty decent lumber for the price, most have small defects which is perfect for any of my projects since they're usually slightly defective too!  I settled on alder since it was one of the lighter woods I could get and pricewise was very attractive.  I thought about considering the beech that I used on the back wall (see previous post) but they didn't have the dimensional lumber that I wanted and would've cost me probably twice what I ended up paying.  Everything was sanded but raw wood so there was a lot, I say a lot, of time spent staining, waiting, varnishing, waiting, sanding, varnishing, waiting, sanding, varnishing, waiting...you get the picture.  And because this is an old house with weird tilts, shrinkages, expansions, skews, and generally chaotic old-houseyness, most pieces needed to be custom cut for their particular place in the plan.

I did put some adjustment peg space in for raising and lowering shelf heights but kept it fairly minimal so that I didn't have shelf sides that looked they were attacked by woodpeckers.  I also designed the bottom cabinets (they may eventually get doors) to fit the tremendous LP collections we received from family and a few of our own recent additions.  It's been fun to have a working turn-table back in rotation (ha, I didn't even plan that one!)  There are still a few pieces of front trim to cut and then some crown-moulding to cover the big gap at top but after this, it's on to adding a small bookcase on the back wall, re-venting the heat duct, then drywalling it in, putting up the dart board (20 years later), and finally enjoying a nice gathering space for family and friends.  You know, whenever that can actually take place again. 

 

A Post-less Year of Projects

My high-school English teachers would be very disappointed in me.  A whole year with nothing posted!  Like any art form, writing should be practiced every day for an hour at least but alas, doing other things with my hands has gotten in the way of my intentions to keep up with this blog.  Today, however, I'm finding the silver-lining in feeling like I'm being alternately dunked in the Yellowstone hot springs and the Volga river mid-January.  That's right, it's cold season in the house and just like the jelly-of-the-month club, illness brought home from school is truly the gift that keeps on giving.  I'll need to have real heart-to-heart with my Trusty Assistant about what he brings home.

So while I sit here wrapped in a blanket, armed with a hot toddy (the Irish cure for what ails you) and an over-used handkerchief, I will finally take some time to reflect on the past year's accomplishments.  

The Bridges of Portland (a.k.a. Bridgetown) are much more
romantic than Madison County.  If you're an engineer.

If my recollection of time is somewhat accurate, I finally got around to framing one of my favorite posters acquired during a charity auction.  I wanted to give the frame a good weathered look so I used a thoroughly aged pallet with a gray patina on the wood.  Unfortunately, with the age, the boards were also all slightly warped.  Cutting the corner angles to match turned out to be an exercise in futility so, leftover metal flashing to the rescue!  I had a small roll of galvanized flashing left from the front porch project and created some custom corners to add stability to the frame and hide the errant corner angles.  Considering the subject of the poster, the flashing adds a great touch.  Even the screws to attach the flashing were salvaged from something else that was deconstructed so, I can safely assert that at least 75% of the materials for the framing are reclaimed or re-purposed.  We can debate calculations later.

Cabinets and shelves.
You put things in them and on them.

The next project was the largest time consumer of the year.  This is Phase II of basement reconstruction.  Our north wall in the remaining basement was pretty much useless.  I had my small workbench area and we had some small shelves for toys but with the way the plumbing was set, it was a very unusable space.  So, my idea was to add extra storage for all the junk we think we need to have on hand in case of an apocalyptic event.  As you can see the idea was to alternate sets of closed-door cabinets with open shelving to help us better organize all that junk.  Since we have no garage (yet) and the attic is a pain-in-the-ass to get in and out of, this was a priority for me.  

Trusty Assistant demonstrating
the scale of the furniture.

I hate to say it but this not reclaimed material.  I purchased knotty pine boards from Shurway Lumber to make the basic frames and shelves.  The door paneling on the cabinets is hemlock.  This project was a real first for me because the shelves and frames were made by gluing panels of pine boards together rather than buying project boards of white "wood" from Home Depot.  An extra pair of 3' wood clamps was also a must for this one as the gluing process takes a lot of waiting time.  Thankfully, it was a really nice summer and I was able to let many of the panels set outside. The project was a success although I learned quickly that staining and varnish application must absolutely be done outside or in a well-ventilated area.  And always make sure you cover the stain with a good varnish!

It's game time!  Bring on the hexes.

I declined to put a North on the compass rose out of pure spite.

 The next project was intended to be a Christmas present but instead is being held for someone's birthday.  This was my second attempt at a Settlers of Catan board.  I used the leftover hemlock paneling from the cabinets for the fascia and a leftover chunk of project board that's been floating around the basement forever that was just the right size.  The cork rolls were something we discovered at Scrap.  I wanted to keep the illustrations simple as opposed to my last board which was painted to somewhat duplicate the original Settlers frame.  For this board, I used my engineering pens to draw the coastline, ships, and compass rose and then covered it all with a natural stain and semi-gloss varnish.  

Also, throughout much of the year, I was working on this, a painting of the fishing vessel Takako in Ilwaco harbor.  It's acrylic on canvas board, 16" X 20".  The sail insignia really drew my attention to this one and with the background of Jessie's Ilwaco Fish Co., I thought it was just a great scene.  I have yet to frame it as I'm waiting to find some good weathered wood or some more salvage tongue-and-groove to pull it together.  If you want it unframed, it's yours for $500.

Takako, Ilwaco Harbor, WA

Right; Mine: Left; Trusty Assistant's

Also throughout the year, we were connected with a local egg-producer that sells the best eggs imaginable.  Of course, not all eggs are to be eaten.  Some are ovoid canvases waiting to be inked.  This year, I decided to try out a Germanic Celtic theme rather than my usual Gaelic Celtic knots.  Also this year, my Trusty Assistant wanted to try his hand at the art of Pysanky.  While my Trusty Assistant's first attempt at a pysanky egg was not what he intended, I think this one of the best "happy accidents" I've ever seen.  I just love this egg.

Now, of course I can't just sit idly by (although when racked be a fever sometimes you have to give in), and there are many other projects in the works or on the horizon.  The current project is a replacement of my basement workbench which was a hobbled together mish-mash of whatever was in the house when we bought it.  It's wobbly, heavy, and unstable but it has done its job for years.  I'm working on replacing it with a new bench made completely out of salvaged material (minus the fasteners).  Work is progressing but hopefully much quicker now with the acquisition of a Pallet Paw.  I had several attempts this summer of welding my own but (sorry Dad) the welder I had was inadequate for the task.  I've already deconstructed a couple pallets with the Paw and looking forward to the ease of the task compared the ole' pry-bar and hammer.  Also on the schedule is a triptych of our Nicaragua trip in ink and watercolor.  No guarantees on an actual completion date.

I hope you all had a productive and informative 2015.  To my high-school English teachers, Mrs. Cartwright and Mrs. Munk, I sincerely and repeatedly apologize for my lack of practice.  Thank goodness I'm not being graded.  I hope you all find inspiration and motivation in 2016 and I'm looking forward to sharing more.

Can You Have Enough Lawn Chairs?

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, we brought a lot of stuff back from Missoula when we moved my grandfather in-law. Included in the giant U-Haul were three 60's vintage metal lawn chairs that my wife wanted to restore and use. Apparently you cannot have too many lawn chairs because we were about to accumulate these as well. Like the Monarch stove, the chairs had sat outside for a long time and even though they were under a covered area, they were still quite rusty. Despite the rust they seemed to be mostly intact without any major damage so we tossed in them the back of the '66 and brought them home. Once we got them back, we toyed with the idea of brushing, scraping, and sanding them down ourselves but after taking a closer look we determined we would be better off having them sandblasted professionally. The hardware had rusted together so badly that the bolts would need to be drilled out and there were some holes in the legs that needed to be patched and I don't have a welder.
While looking for sandblasting shops I stumbled upon a website for a local powder-coating specialist. I hadn't considered the idea of powder-coating, thinking that we'd just shoot them with a couple layers of outdoor enamel, but after doing some research I thought this would be a much better option, especially since these chairs would be put back into service outdoors in the rainy Northwest. I called the vendor up who was somewhat surprised at the request (he typically did motorcycle parts) but agreed to take a look. We hauled the chairs over and for $300 he agreed to disassemble, sandblast, and powder coat all three. I thought it was steal. During the process, he did find one section of a leg that required some spot welding to reinforce the rust-eaten metal but when they were done they were beautiful. We put some rubber hose on the leg bottoms to save them from being scratched on the pavement in our backyard and now we have some great vintage seats to relax in. The design of the chairs is a typical 60's modern look that I admire. Although our home is becoming a weird blend of 20's and 60's era decor, not exactly complementary of each other, I think there are some similarities in the intent of much of the design aspects. The 20's still saw major influence of the Craftsman style design on the west coast (there are several typical Craftsman bungalows in our neighborhood) and the less ostentatious designs of the 60's remind me a bit of that with their attention to practical use without completely ignoring aesthetics. This last picture is the final product, on our at-the-time nearly finished front porch. Don't worry, I know what you're thinking, "Where are the cold-ones that should be enjoyed while using said chairs?" I assure you, I quickly remedied that situation.