Friday, February 5, 2010

Snow, Snow, and More Snow

Another weekend storm has started and is expected to dump another 6+ inches of snow on us. This is more than I have seen in my 29 years in Richmond. Many years, we don’t see snow at all. Regardless, progress inside and out has continued.

Shortly, we expect work to occur on the metal roofing and the front porch steps and landing. The cedar siding is now about finished – including the back. Electrical rough-in continues inside while we wait for the specialty fixtures and transformers to arrive. The first box of those came Wednesday.

Carrie and I met Michael and Todd at the house on Monday to review the interior trim. There is nothing particularly unusual about it, but with a contemporary house it is important to keep simple lines. Our trim will have square edges and vary from 4” wide around the doors and most windows to 6” around the three large windows. The typical base will be a combination of 3 rectangular sections.

On Tuesday, the metal fabricator met the contractor and me at the house. He will be doing the stair stringers and rails. From the drawing I did and an image of something similar, he will now create shop-drawings for us to review. Since this is a very visible and sculptural item in the house, the design is very important. After about an hour of discussion, measuring, and pointing, we had talked out every unique detail.

The stair rail will be supported by vertical tube sections. Metal rods (3/8” diameter) will span between the verticals at a 4” spacing. All metal will be painted black and the top of rail will be capped with a 2 ½ inch piece of maple. The black and maple colors should are complements to the countertops and cabinets of the adjacent kitchen. At the top of the stair, I’ve elected to put a 36” bookcase where the sloping handrail ends – rather than transitioning directly to a horizontal guardrail. It’s one more place to pull the maple color into the plan.

While I love the warmth of natural-finished wood, neither Carrie nor I want to overdo it. We will certainly refinish the salvaged oak floors and extend this floor material throughout the rest of the house (minus the bathrooms). My current thought for the finish is to select a reddish tint. That might be a welcome contrast to the honey-colored maple that is an accent color in places. Besides the rail cap and kitchen, a matching maple finish will also be on the 3-panel interior wood doors.

Both Carrie and I hit the road shortly for work-related duties. If the weather allows, I’ll be in Chicago for a long weekend and Carrie will head to Philadelphia just about the time I return. The two of us need to keep attacking the list of selections on our plate; I count (11) “to-do” items that are posted on my whiteboard at work.

Maybe next weekend….

No comments:

Post a Comment