Tags
Bathroom, Counter Top, farm, Fireplace, Georgian, House, Kitchen, Mantel, Molding, Ontario, Paint, Painting, PEC, Prince Edward County, renovation, Restoration, Shower, Staircase, Stairs
R and I rushed down this weekend the day after a late dinner party with our friends SW & MS. We’re gearing up for fall landscaping and R wanted a full day of rock picking (we’re salvaging field stones from an old rock wall) before the bulldozers are called in. Our late start gave us only a few hours of daylight – and mounting pressures at work forced R to veto a night’s stay at the house. I opted to spend the night in order to focus on a number of outstanding tasks alone the following day.
Progress on the kitchen is slow with KA away on a short contract in Peterborough (at least that’s what he tells us), but we like what we see. The over-sized island required a custom butcher block top that now helps give the space a little more definition.
I was a bit concerned with the plan to miter the corner counter top – I was worried the seam could be a dirt trap – but the joint seems clean and even. I have no idea where the drawer unit beside the stove is lurking (still in the depths of KA’s workshop), so the work surface sits idly until it appears.
R and I both remarked that the sink cutout feels a bit too far in from the counter edge. The base cabinet has a stretcher bar inset 4 inches from the counter lip, and presumably KA wanted to avoid cutting through it. It’s difficult to evaluate until the sink and taps are installed.
My priority was to get the stair treads painted before KA starts with installation of the final rail and spindles. The tread returns that overhang into the recessed well on the left side will be impossible to paint once the barrier is in place.
R and I wanted a reddish brown that would be a happy medium between the worn painted floors in the front hall and the raw attic boards reused in the upstairs landing. I used Benjamin Moore’s Plymouth Brown (a bit more gray but close to the paint used on the main floor) and regret the decision – it’s clearly missing a rust undertone needed to tie it into the surrounding original surfaces.
Knowing the stairs will get a lot of wear (something we want to cultivate on the new materials) I opted to not use a primer on the raw wood. Professional painters may shake their finger at me, but I don’t like the thought of a pure white undercoat showing through if/when the brown wears off. However, latex enamel has excellent adhesion on raw wood so I’m not concerned with it flaking off any time soon.
In between coats of paint on the stairs, I occupied myself with patching the multitude of holes in the kitchen hearth mantel. KA has yet to get the repaired left-side piece to us, but there were enough voids to keep me busy. The original boards had been covered with Masonite for a number of years and the nails had left constellations of holes across the surface. Early cooking implements were likely tacked to the surface of the board as well, which left a number of deeper impressions.
I enjoy this type of work as a contemplative activity. An hour or two of staring at the surface led me to the conclusion that the supporting molding wasn’t a cyma-recta profile as I first thought – but the same deep cavetto or cove molding that appears under the eaves on the outside trim with a 2-3/4″ depth and 2-1/4″ radius. I called KA to confirm he’s reproducing it for the kitchen cabinet crown, so the mantel piece should be an easy replacement.
In other news, the shower doors have been installed in both bathrooms. There’s no way to disguise the newness of the design, but a traditional shower tub and curtain just isn’t worth the risk in an old home with unlevel floors and timber that acts as a sieve for any water.