Alex & Nina

Alex and Nina have post-phoned their wedding to next summer, but we have their pictures in Boston while the weather is lovely still. (photos by Alex Paul Photography)

Trim & An Apron

 

The front porch now has new column trim and an apron. Old white primer on the columns was stripped to raw wood and newly primed. All (including a new step and skirt) will next be painted  "White Dove" by Benjamin Moore, with the bead board ceiling a marine gloss in the same color. The house itself will be painted a creamy "Navaho White".

Front Porch Floor

While the porch roof was jacked and supported, the new front porch floor of Meranti Mahogany was installed. Copper flashing was used against the building and clear pine boards will wrap around the lower apron. 

We will wait until next Spring when the floor has weathered and wood grain opened up, to apply "Coronado Maxum 7300" translucent deck and siding stain. This is an oil based sealer by Benjamin Moore.

Splitting Siberian Elms

 

We are splitting the enormous Siberian Elm logs for next winter's wood, from two felled and fading trees here. Luckily the wood is quite easy to split with a log splitter except for it's size, and snaps apart quickly. Four of us split about a third the wood; will split a third more for our two houses and give away the rest. Meanwhile, Christian and Leif are hand splitting an enormous fallen pine tree in the upper field for fire pit burning.

All bark from larger logs has been peeled off and stacked by the stream to erode since burning it produces too much smoke. The fire pit wood is stored in the small animal barn now.

A Classic Carrara Backsplash

Carrara Marble in an old farmhouse seems a natural and timeless addition. The new backsplash of subway tiles match the counters and frame the old window of wavy glass. We used Jeffrey Court tiles spaced 1/16" apart with white "Versa Bond Professional Thin Set Mortar" from Home Depot, and "Avalanch" Mapei Grout with "Miracle" Tile, Stone and Grout Sealer from Lowes. "Home Art Tile" did the installation with two professionals in one day.

Fixing The Foundation

 

Clay dirt dug out from under the oldest part of this farmhouse, has been re-sifted and used to fill in around the old foundation stone wall which will make it less permeable. All ivy vines were pulled and the fill dirt stamped and leveled or pitched to drain. The old stone porch foundation had to be dug out and removed as it trapped water and was disintegrating wooden structures connected to it.

Christian has also cleared the nearby downspout drainage pipe of a 15 ft. twined mass of roots leading out to the road, barely discovered by running a water hose through it. The entire clog was pulled out by hand and he is now trying to restore the old well pump housed by a lovely round stone well reservoir underground and next to it. The connecting pipe shows this well to be the original water source to the house when built.

Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets

 

The kitchen cabinets here are all vintage, solid dense wood and definitely worth refinishing. By stripping them all, the cabinets have beaded doors in a lovely varied color Poplar wood which is sturdy and looks wonderful exposed. The cabinet boxes will be painted in Benjamin Moore's White "Advance" latex paint highly recommended for it's durability and viscous leveling quality. We've used a china brush and dense foam roller after to eliminate brush strokes on all surfaces. Only the inside of the glass door cabinets will be painted the color "Ash" by Restoration Hardware, which is a pale beige like the cabinet doors now. It has been important to keep the colors as light as possible since the kitchen is shaded and surrounded by many old trees nearby.