The Roof and Porch!

It has been so long since much outdoor work has been done, when the weather cooperated Jeff and Eric went crazy. The were able to finish the roof and begin on the front porch. If you remember, we used SIP (structurally insulating panels) for the roof and covering them with standing metal seam.

There are many colors you can get in the metal, but we decided to use steel that will rust over time. This supports our hope that much of the house: the straw, the wall covering, the roof will just disintegrate over time. The roof will rust (and already is) to failure. Granted, this will take 30-40 years and in the meantime we'll have a roof and some paneling with this rich brownish color. Forgive me, if I've written this in a previous posting but it's important to us.

Choosing Colors

The plaster process has been amazing and taken much more time then Keith or I could have imagined. But, we are ready for color! I met with Ryan and Bob (Scottish plaster guy who seems to be as passionate about this as Ryan) and we decided on colors for all the rooms. This was really tough for me as it isn't as simple as putting paint up. Pigments are going to be ordered from Kremer Pigments in New York, mixed and applied. Ryan kept at me on this and had some samples, but had to continually say, "but it won't look like that." My imagination isn't that great, but I think we came up with some good colors. Ryan was able to make some sample tadelakt (the process we are going to use in the shower in the master bathroom). We are going to use the reddish/brown one for the shower and backsplash.

The Doors

Since last I posted, the snow has melted, the sun has shone and work has been progressing. A brief delay was caused when the doors were not ready for stucco. Builder Jeff wanted the jams in place so the earthen plaster/lime wash would curve around the doors. We aren't using any molding or baseboards (except in the closets where there is drywall and not a clean line between wall and floor). I did order them a bit late and the bad winter everywhere delayed shipments, but they arrived and Nicholas was put on the task of finishing them. Being an experienced woodworker, this took him half the time it would have taken me. We are using cherry doors upstairs and fir doors downstairs. This was definitely a cost issue. The doors are from Koch and supposedly "greener" then normal doors.