May 16, 2008—Finish coat on the drywall

I got to the property late in the morning. My assistant wasn’t going to be there, so, I took my time. As the second coat of stucco dries, the house is looking more and more like it will when finished. Details that did not show up before are emphasized by the stucco.

It will be a little while before the final coat with the color is applied. First, the brown coat will need time to cure before the color coat goes on. Also, we are still working on the color because the sample did not look as quite as nice as I wanted it to. And too, the County Planner will need to approve the final color because we have changed it from the barn and cottage color.

Inside, Kai and I brainstormed on the “chimney.” Jim and I had gotten a fireplace drawing from Todd with some elements that we really liked, but Jim thought the over-all look was too rustic for the space. We decided to combine the mantle from Todd’s drawing with the chimney in the fireplace drawing from his office in December.

That drawing had an expressed chimney (which is a nice way of saying fake) that slanted in from the top of the fireplace and then went straight up. Kai took measurements of the firebox aperture and got a middle dimension from that. He then drew the mantle and chimney on the wall.

 

At this point, Janver showed up and gave his two cents. The final design has a mantle that we will cut out of one of the 12 x 12 pine gate posts, which we aren’t going to use for the gate. This element was taken from Todd’s recent drawing and I think will give the fireplace a much more finished look than a chimney alone would.

The chimney, which you can see sketched in here, will follow the outer set of lines. It slants in from the mantle to a point and then continues more vertically up the wall. Initially, we had the upper part of the chimney exactly straight up the wall, but that gave the optical illusion of getting wider at the top; so instead there will be a slight taper all the way up, which, oddly enough, gives the illusion of being straight.

From this slightly side view of the fireplace, you can better understand why we want the chimney. Currently, the fireplace has a kind of lost look. We think the chimney will make it seem more like part of the structure.
The coffer had gotten its final coat before the finish coat and looked very nice. I hope the star light fixture that we will put in there will look as good as we anticipate.
The drywall crew was busy putting the finish coat on all the walls, starting from the back door. How much lighter the hall looks with the creamy white mud on it.
The finish is smooth except for some deliberate skips. Here it looks blotchy because the different thicknesses dry at different rates. Once it is dry, it is harder to see the texture, so I put this picture in so you get a better idea of the look.
This is my dressing room with the closet behind. They are doing the texture everywhere—even in the wine room. It was all done by the time I arrived or I would have said not to do it inside the cupboards, but, oh well, it will look very spiffy.
Here is another picture showing the skips on the wall just inside the doorway.
For pix of the exterior, click here  
For progress on the arbor, click here Back to top