Scary Cabin

Watching paint dry. Also wood filler and glue. The upstairs trim work is taking a lot of prep time. The baseboard for the knee walls in the back bedroom are about 10 ft. 8 in. long. The boards that we have are 10 ft. long. Adding the extra 8 inches means biscuits, glue, and pocket screws. Then some filler, sanding and paint to remove the seam. So what seems like a simple things, takes a few hours start to finish. All the rest of the trim builds on top of the baseboards.

We’re using pine for the knee wall trim. Not clear pine (does such a thing exist anymore?) but pine with multiple knots. Getting these prepped requires possibly cutting to size, filling knots, and two coats of paint. Once that’s done we can start using the boards. because of all the prep work, actual progress seem slow. The sides and top trim for one of the dog cubbies are installed. As we work on one section, we do get a better idea of what needs to be done for the rest, hopefully it get easier and quicker.

The exterior trim is finished, well installed anyway. The trim along with the rest of the exterior needs stain but that’s another project for another day.

Back bedroom

1. Dog cubby baseboard (one done, one to go)
2. Dog cubby outside trim
3. Figure out knee wall design
4. Knee wall door trim
5. Build/install bookcase
6. Install hangers for clothes
7. Install drawer carcasses
8. Install drawer boxes
9. Install drawer trim
10. Install baseboard
11. Trim wall to ceiling corners
12. Install conduit for ceiling fan
13. Build new ceiling fan mount
14. Install new ceiling fan

Front bedroom

1. Paint balcony door
2. Frame knee walls
3. Trim knee walls
4. Door for closet
5. Drawers and doors for knee walls
6. Install baseboard
7. Install wall to ceiling corner trim
8. Install conduit for ceiling fan
9. Build new ceiling fan mount
10. Install new ceiling fan
11. Install grill cover for vent fan
12. Install window blind

That’s right, it’s been 3 years since we purchased the scary cabin in the woods. Over the past three years it has become less scary and more comfortable but it’s still not finished.

Looking back at the original pictures, we’ve come a long way. We had a group of people hanging out in the finished downstairs and it works. It was comfortable. It is also satisfying to sit there and realize that yes, we made this what it is. We can actually now enjoy using the space.

When we started, we expected the remodel to take a year, maybe two, but certainly not three years or even longer. No one thing has contributed to the extended timeline, just a lot of underestimating how long various tasks take and just general poor planning. This past weekend provides a good example. Previously we picked up 6 1×12 redwood planks to use as exterior door and window trim and picked this weekend to do the install. Most of one day was spent ripping the boards down to trim size, cutting and nailing them up. It all went according to plan until we ran out boards. Three windows and a door remain still need to be done. With better planning, we would have had enough boards to finish and that task would be complete. Instead, another day of another weekend will be spent doing the exterior trim.

We continued working on the upstairs. Genny painted the balcony door (inside) so now all the doors upstairs are painted. More construction on the back bedroom kneewalls. We’re making progress on the dog bedrooms (or cubbies). Hope the dogs appreciate all this work going into making a nice comfortable space for them to sleep.

Here’s the updated todo list.

Back bedroom

1. Dog cubby baseboard (one done, one to go)
2. Dog cubby outside trim
3. Figure out kneewall design
4. Kneewall door trim
5. Build/install bookcase
6. Install hangers for clothes
7. Install drawer carcasses
8. Install drawer boxes
9. Install drawer trim
10. Install baseboard
11. Trim wall to ceiling corners
12. Install conduit for ceiling fan
13. Build new ceiling fan mount
14. Install new ceiling fan

Front bedroom

1. Paint balcony door
2. Frame kneewalls
3. Trim knewalls
4. Door for closet
5. Drawers and doors for kneewalls
6. Install baseboard
7. Install wall to ceiling corner trim
8. Install conduit for ceiling fan
9. Build new ceiling fan mount
10. Install new ceiling fan
11. Install grill cover for vent fan
12. Install window blind

Picked up where we left off last weekend working on the dog cubby walls. They needed another coat of mud at the seam to get them mostly flat, then some texture. The prep work masking off the ceiling, floor, and the rest of the room took almost as much time as spraying on the texture. For smaller areas, and this was about as large of a small area that’s practical, a hand pump texture spray gun works pretty good. Certainly, it’s a lot less messy than the big compressor powered hopper. The results are between acceptable and decent. After drying overnight, the walls were primed and painted.

We built some framing for the drawer units so that there’s a platform for them to sit on. Also worked on framing the front edge of the kneewalls so that the 5.5” baseboard trim will align flush. To get everything at the right height required 29 3.5” long 2×4 blocks. The vision is starting to take shape. I need more 2×4’s.

We picked up, what should be, the last of the window/door casing. One piece was needed to finish off the bedroom side of the pocket door. That’s done and it turned out really nice. The rest is needed for the doors and window in the utility room. So we’ll be storing that for a while. All the casing was painted so it’s ready to be cut and installed.

To be filed in the should’ve planned that a bit better file. When ever anyone walks into the upstairs bath, they reach to the right for the light switch, only to be disappointed when it’s not there. The switch is located on left, mostly hidden by the door as you open it. Why is it there? When running the wire for the light, it seemed like the best spot. For some reason, which I can no longer remember, we didn’t put it on the right. Some combination of thinking it would be hard to get power there and not sure how it would fit with vanity, backsplash, and mirror. But whatever, it’s not there now and I’m not ripping down the walls to add one. Enter Insteon to the rescue. Insteon makes a single switch remote and a wall mounting bracket that looks just like a normal decora light switch. It only require two screws to mount it to the wall. So that along with a micro module in the real switch and we have a working light switch on the right. The only downside, since it’s battery operated, it will need to be recharged every 6-8 months or so.

The final bit of electrical work was to add an Insteon dimmer switch in the back bedroom box. This box will have the light switch and fan controller. With an Insteon lamp dimmer attached to the one table lamp in the room, we can now enter the dark room, it the switch and have light. No more fumbling for the ceiling fan/light pull chain. Ain’t technology great!

Where are we now? Last year we had a goal to get most of the upstairs done before Christmas. Well, we got far enough that we can sleep upstairs, but done? Not even close. Seems like there’s always a few things that take much longer than anticipated (stairs anyone?). At this point, there’s light at the end of tunnel, but I’m trying not to underestimate the amount of work still needed. So maybe it’s time to start up a new ToDo list for the upstairs.

Back bedroom

1. Dog cubby baseboard
2. Dog cubby outside trim
3. Figure out kneewall design
4. Kneewall door trim
5. Build/install bookcase
6. Install hangers for clothes
7. Install drawer carcasses
8. Install drawer boxes
9. Install drawer trim
10. Install baseboard
11. Trim wall to ceiling corners
12. Install conduit for ceiling fan
13. Build new ceiling fan mount
14. Install new ceiling fan

Front bedroom

1. Paint balcony door
2. Frame kneewalls
3. Trim knewalls
4. Door for closet
5. Drawers and doors for kneewalls
6. Install baseboard
7. Install wall to ceiling corner trim
8. Install conduit for ceiling fan
9. Build new ceiling fan mount
10. Install new ceiling fan
11. Install grill cover for vent fan
12. Install window blind

Here’s the list of what needs to be done upstairs. Ordered roughly by priority.

1. Demo upstairs bedrooms
2. Finish demo of closet
3. Demo bathroom
4. Frame new wall and new door opening
5. Remove/cap unused vent line
6. Re-wire outlets & outside light in bedroom
7. Re-wire outlet/light in bathroom
8. Re-wire closet light/outlet
9. Frame niche in bathroom
10. Install insulation
11. Drywall work in bathroom
12. Texture bathroom
13. Paint bathroom
14. Install lights
15. Subfloor in bathroom
16. Tile bathroom floor
17. Door casings and baseboard in bathroom
18. Install toilet
19. Install vanity
20. Frame for whole house fan
21. Install whole house fan
22. Insulate outside walls
23. Install new ceiling fans
24. Drywall work in bedrooms
25. Texture bedrooms, hall and stairway
26. Paint bedrooms, hall and stairway
27. Subfloor for bedrooms & hall
28. Kneewalls (drawers, cubbies, shelves, etc.)
29. Install window casings
30. Install floor in bedrooms & hall
31. Install door casings
32. Install baseboards
33. Install window blinds
34. Install doors

In case anyone is interested in the things we’ll be working on over the next few weeks, I’ve listed below what needs to be done. This doesn’t mean we won’t find other stuff to do but should give a good idea on where we’re at.

Kitchen

1. cabinet toe kicks
2. baseboard

Bathroom

1. cabinet toe kicks
2. baseboard
3. caulk / paint touch-up around tub

Bedroom

1. Insteon switches
2. wall plates
3. grill cover for fan
4. door hardware
5. window trim
6. sub-floors (need 1/2” more height)
7. floors
8. door trim
9. baseboard
10. pocket door trim
11. window blinds

Living area

1. window trim
2. beam clean up
3. ceiling clean up
4. paint beams
5. staircase railing
6. cubby opening trim
7. ceiling fan mount/conduit
8. floor
9. door trim
10. bookcase trim
11. baseboard
12. calk
13. window blinds