T-4 days until move-in

Hardwood floors with final sanding, sealant, first coat of water-based polyurethane. Tons of work! I have so much respect for all hardwood floors, especially 80 year old ones, that I will never again drag a piece of furniture across them.



















Finished painting ceilings. Electrician was final'd and lights are in! Track lighting casting nice lines in kitchen/dining area.



















200+ year old barn wood from Taos laid as flooring in back utility/laundry/foyer room.



















Energy Efficient (though not $ tankless) water heater.


















Toilet. It even flushes. Low flush water-saving, of course.



















More of the 200+ year old barn wood from Taos as the siding to the pony wall bar between dining and kitchen. Photo doesn't quite capture how nice it looks.


















Random shot of the construction mess that has been my life.

It's got electricity!

Front porch illuminated at dusk. The Harristone (stucco color) shows nicely.


















View at dusk from Northeast corner of property by coyote fence.
Looks homey, eh?


















Kitchen with lights (Dimmer controls on recessed cans)



















Hallway with lights. (Dimmer controls and cans also.)


















Fun times tiling my bathroom floor. Hard to see the details of the tile: Marazzi Italian porcelain with a varied, high contrast industrial-look finish.

Happy 5th of November Day

Mom showing off the cabinets in place. The modern, maple cabinets were the showroom set from Poulin Design Remodeling.


















My awesome RECLAIMED/ SALVAGED 200+ year old barn wood from Northern New Mexico/ Taos area. Pat Crowe, with Reclaimed Building Materials, has been salvaging buildings for decades and started a new company in Albuquerque for the re-use of many great materials.


















Shawnequia my amazing painting ladyfriend.


















Pro Green is ac ommercial grade low-Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs are bad toxins) eco paint from Sherwin Williams, who has been developing such "green" paints for years now. A big thanks to our local store here in 'Burque on 1st Street.


















OMG, prep-coating is finally done.

nearly two months in and it's looking livable

kitchen gets laid out, bar wall built, cabinets ready to set.

















Prep-Coat on all walls and ceilings...taking forever but building nice delts.

















Interior doors are officially hung, need to be finished.
This is a view into bathroom with prep-coat on walls and plaster repair on exterior adobe wall. Notice nice light from Solatube (in vaulted ceiling above doorway).


















Looking up at Solatube. 10" with diffusor is super bright daylight! Very nice. Thanks, Daylighting Solutions!


















Shiny sealed hardwoods.

















Starting to look like something one could live in... yay!

prep coat is next

new plaster restores old adobe interior walls.


















platering.


















prep for interior plastering.


















Jose, the master plaster(er)


















wet plaster.



















I'm in the attic running security wiring.


















Cleaning hardwoods after sheetrocking. Bad scheduling.


















Yay! Hardwoods get sealed, with all their 80+ years of character.

stucco color coat

Construction Waste Management. Diverted from landfill.



















Synthetic (Dryvit StucCoat) Stucco Color Coat is applied; it's more durable and water-resistant than standard stucco and allows for an integral color; I chose Harristone forthe color: a modern gray with faint brown and cool tones.


















Stucco color coat at front door.



















Stucco color on west and north walls.


















Stucco color coat at front porch at dusk.

sheetrocking

almost done 'rocking. sheet rocking, that is.
















holy mole. looking more like a casa and less of a skeleton.






Some plaster goes up while other comes down. I know, scheduling is a little off. This was water damage plaster over adobe in bathroom.

Starting to look like a livable house!

Beer Guard Dog.













Seriously, don't come any closer!


















solid pine doors

















Me with doors. Getting ready to hang them.

















The floors are ready for sealant.


















The first piece of gypboard is hung!


















The ceilings halfway covered in gypboard... glad I hired pros to hang it on the cathedral ceilings!

productive birthday weekend

The recycled blue-jeans cotton batt insulation in interior walls for acoustic properties.

Insulation begins! Formaldehyde-free. R38 in my ceilings.

I pulled out a birdnest from the adobe wall joints, including skeleton of mama bird and two eggs intact.



































Green Materials: recycled blue jeans cotton-batt insulation. no VOCs. great acoustical properties. Awesome stuff!














Prepping floors for refinishing... very worried about what will be revealed.



















crackhead bum piss, mouse and cockroach nasties, etc scraped out by hand of each board. omg.

















ahhh, floor patching.... good times.

































this is supposed to show how covered in sawdust i am. i just look tired.






























Floor Refinishing Begins! Sanding with coarsest grain possible.



















Look what's beginning to be revealed...















Stripping and Sanding (never ending)... sanding out the years of abuse to the red oak floors.



















My view on life for two days. including my 25th birthday.



















Two Tone Brown x2.


















brown dog and demo pile.


The perfect end to a hard day. Marble microBrewery, just a few short blocks from the casa.