Hack Rabbit

Before I met Neal, if you had asked me - "Rabbit or Turtle?", I'd have known without thinking: Rabbit.

Ha.

Compared with this Aquarian, I'm just a hack.  And he, at this (after dark, after hours) moment, is embodying bunny, bunny of the plaster.  Here's why.

 

Orange plaster in the bedroom?   Blue plaster in the bedroom?  These are early phases.

This was in late July, when two walls were transformed into the final finish -  a custom, sumptuous plaster.  One of the ingredients is melted olive oil soap, which makes a smooth, glass-like texture on the burnished areas. While "chocolate leather" may not remind you of walls, we find it hugely satisfying, and love what he's created.

Then he worked on the flooring, went to Hornby, worked a bit, visited with relatives, and this week took the girls to the mountains for a few days.  On his first day back we had a meeting about Uma's back-to-school, and I came home at 8:30 pm to find this:

A new pile dominating Neal's studio, which is part of our interior door order.

And a midnight plasterer (with his trusty shadow), finishing the bedroom.

In this video, the (just released) Bowie tune perfects the scene.

The photo doesn't begin to show the quality of the plaster...or the amount of sheer intention it takes to mix, lay up and burnish...but Neal pulls it off.

a little B & E in the morning

So, while Neal was back up on Hornby, I was - where? As usual, here on Lopez.  The cat was pleased.

But I did get in some solid tiling sessions.

Because the wood flooring had fresh finish on it, there was only one way to get in the bathroom:  through the window.  So I set up a ladder, and crawled in and out, in and out.  Here's a shot through the window that shows the kickstep for the vanity, and the primer that I painted on the floor.

These are the cardboard dams that I built to contain the floor leveling compound.

And here's why:  we're splurging on heating elements under the tile, for our damp and chilly (9 month long) 'temperate' season.  Here they are, held in place with a glue gun.  I did this on a Saturday morning.  And found out that one of the blue tubes the electricians installed in the wall for the wiring (look to the left in this photo) did not end in the wall box.  Uh-oh.  Now what do I do?

I ended up taping the wire to the wall, and waiting until Monday.  And finding out that the wire exits under the box, not in it.  Well, the upstairs bathroom will be easier.

Then, two bags of leveling compound.  Much easier to use than I expected...how often can we say that??

The travertine floor tile, fully installed (four sessions later) but not grouted.

Here's the shower pan with grouting complete on the left side.  Looks nice with grout!

And here's a photo of the completed floor, grouted and sealed.  The photo looks plain, the actual is fabulous.  We love it.

A BIG (gentle) Step

And why is the frig and bathtub in the entry? 

Time to tape off the doorways to rooms with tile floors.  Neal has finished laying the fir flooring.

 












He rented two sanders, a drum and an orbital.  For three solid days, he followed the things over the floors.  And over, and over.

  

He asked why the orbital didn't come with a bag to catch the dust it generates.  "They were combusting." he was told.  So he hooked the shop vac up to the sander instead.

I took the sanders back to the mainland, and Neal started applying layers of Waterlox, an oil-based finish that we used in the Studio and liked.  Three days and three coats later, we could peer through the windows at the beautiful floors.

The next morning, he left for Hornby.  When he came home, the floors were dry enough to be walked on (gently).