Finishes, fixtures and other details

Since TNT apparently only shows Titanic over and over this summer, I got no more excuses left to keep from staining the new trim in 38. At least this morning I'll throw a coat of stain on the wood for color. It turns out that Minwax English Chestnut is a perfect color match for this very expensive Sikkens Log Cabin brown that Moss Log Homes used here. The Sikkens is likely a good product- derived from a line of marine varnishes-- i know it comes in a glossy and matte formulation and despite my insistence on matte, we got the shiny one and it was thinly sprayed in one coat here so the total result looks pretty crummy. I got around 7-8 half-used $70/gallon cans in the shed here and no way to tell which is which so I'll start with the minwax color and add a top coat of one of the less dried out Sikkens dregs. Next week I'll collar Shannon or Erick to hit the floor with a belt sander and throw some of the Waterlox tung oil finish on that. I love this Waterlox as deeply and passionately as I have come to hate all polyurethane finishes for floors and furniture. We were so impressed with the promise of a durable plastic shield for wood floors that folks go carried away-- and having lived with polycoated floors that do get scratched and chipped and need thsat whole finish removed to recoat them, I wont have it in my life any moe. Really, isn't it better to use an oil or wax that can simply be reapplied and buffed back to life than to sand off the whole finish to deal with a scratch? And anyone can apply these finishes with out special skill or tools. Waterloxx is great stuff really- long lasting and truly water proof and you just pour it on and even it up with a rag or applicator pad- none of the troublesome pools and puddles that always vexed me using gallons of sticky liquid plastics. It may be my own laziness showing too, but have got more and more conscious of how things like scuffs, scratches and marks add character and age to a building. Seeing us try and marry new materials to old one in these cabins (especially 10, which is ca. 1750) its the absence of any kind of patina to the new stuff that makes the rebuilt and restored parts stick out most sorely. So, i don't worry about scratches now. I used an old claw foot tub in the bath at 38 as it is: that means layers fo paint on the exterior and that the minor stains and chips on the enamel stay. When i checked into recoating the thing, I found its not possible to actually have a tub blasted and new enamel sprayed and baked back on. Instead it gets basically spray pained with a thick layer of white acrylic that has a five year life span. why bother?

We settled on a reasonable heat pump and AC unit for 10 yesterday and it should fit nicely under the back porch. Now I'm free to locate lights and receptacles since we have checked the locations of all the stuff like a range and dryer for any problems with the NC Building Code and I can think of stuff like lights- which is a lot more fun that painting. We got a wonderful art glass pendant that has no damage anywhere on it that was discovered in my mom's garage. Its 19" in diameter and pretty big and fancy for a kitchen but will likely hang over a table in 10 West Huckleberry. The electrician and I pondered using it over the stair landing but after sleeping on it that seems risky- plus, anyone one the first floor will only be looking up into ts bulbs, so what's the point. Its a cool light tho: the glass is set in what looks like bronzes at first glance but is actually painted pressed tin. I think it was married to another lights ceiling plate- this one is solid copper with a nice bead cast round the edge. Got some other lantern type sconces at the good lighting store in town and 3 lesser ones on the porch I need to make up my mind about. Since we are resetting the unpeeled poplar logs that were joists for the second floor onto the ceiling, I see no point putting any flush fixtures on the ceiling between the logs- same goes for a fan: its too cramped and low for stuff hanging over head. y'all can oooh and aah over the art glass drop light while i stain trim now.