Tag Archives: construction

It’s like the blue or gold dress all over again.

January 8, 2021 Rivergirl 20 Comments

* Disclaimer – a mistake was made in scheduling. This post should have been viewed before yesterday’s, so please forget you saw that one. My bad. *

Our (magical, never to be caught actually working, might be an elf) contractor was by the other day to put the first coat of stain on our bar top.

So while the husband and I were checking progress, I took pictures.

And it wasn’t until I started posting them that I realized the damn thing appeared to be 2 different colors.

At first I thought it was a matter of angles and shadows but the picture above and below this text are basically the same, just taken 12 minutes apart.

And I swear I didn’t alter the hue or color on my phone.

I have no explanation. Although now that I think about it, this might be a fun bar game after a few toddies.

Just for the fun of it I placed a few fronting pieces to get an idea what the finished product would look like.

And I think while not a perfect match to the chairs we ordered…

It might be close enough.

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Things are moving quickly in the Barn Mahal.

January 7, 2021 Rivergirl 34 Comments

After waiting a month and a half for construction to start…

Our rarely seen contractor is really picking up the pace. I’m starting to think he might be an elf, as we never actually catch him working.

All the facing boards and bottom moulding are in place…

And it won’t be long before we’re bellying up for our inaugural beverage. Ironically right after we discovered the new updates a friend and his son showed up to check the progress.

They hadn’t been here in months and were shocked at the transformation.

Darts were played.

Beer was imbibed.

And shock was expressed that still live rounds were prominently displayed.

🤣

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A barn bar boo boo.

January 5, 2021 Rivergirl 16 Comments

Our contractor has an uncanny knack for showing up when we’re not home or sneaking in when we’re not looking.

Like the other day when we walked into the barn and found he’d laid the top of the bar on the base…

And dropped off the stained pieces for the facing.

This end looked good…

The other end?

Not so much.

It seemed the corners didn’t quite fit together as planned.

So glue and clamps were deployed.

He called us later that day and told us not to worry, all would be well.

I’m trusting he knows what’s he’s talking about. And actually, by neon bar light?

It didn’t look half bad.

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Barn (and bar!) news.

December 29, 2020 Rivergirl 18 Comments

Continuing in the if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em paradigm, I gifted the husband some nice new pool sticks.

Canadian maple of various colors and weights.

I also gathered some of the military patches he’s had stuck in his drawer for years.

I’m trying to think of some way to display them… you know, a way that doesn’t involve sewing. Because my love only goes so far.

A few man cave appropriate books were dropped on the table…. and then –

Our bar building contractor showed up with the top of the bar.

I have to admit I was liking the 3 different shades of wood colors….

Until I realized that was the unfinished side. But after it was sanded down and smoothed, even the husband agreed it would need to be stained before the polyurethane.

Victory is mine!

And that called for a drink. Or a cocktail in a pretty can as the case may be.

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A bar is born!

December 12, 2020 Rivergirl 22 Comments

We came home from the grocery store yesterday and found this:

The contractor had been at work in the barn and started the bar!

My husband was thrilled… but had to check the measurements to be sure.

Can you picture me standing back there mixing margaritas?

I’ve been battling for a nicely stained finish but the husband is trying to cheap out and go natural. I fear neither of us will be fully satisfied… but at least we’ll have someplace sturdy to belly up to soon.

On second thought, don’t. Some things are simply too frightening to contemplate.

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The transformation has begun.

November 30, 2020 Rivergirl 19 Comments

The pool table was uncovered, brushed and racked.

A hat and coat rack was hung by the door.

And a few vintage WWII propaganda posters from 1943 I’ve been meaning to frame were framed and displayed.

It was during this time we decided the ugly bracing pole in the middle of the room… which was never supposed to be there but was deemed necessary when we noticed the top floor bounced when we walked on it during the original construction…. needed to be spruced up.

The (now lovely) wood walls and trimmed windows demanded it.

I expected to blog about the normal nightmare of measuring and cutting and cursing but things went remarkably well.

Maybe we’re finally getting the hang of it.

So…. the before.

And the after.

Please don’t ask why he put my porch barrels on the loveseat. I have no reasonable explanation for that.

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The end is in sight. I think…

November 27, 2020 Rivergirl 22 Comments

A few more windows needed trimming…

Which meant a lot more measuring, cutting and cursing…

Why the cursing?

Because the last window was not what you… or any semi sober person… would call square.

Oops.

Cover the gap with quarter round, trim…. then call it good and move on to the porch door.

Yes, the porch is my domain … so the porch door has a seasonally appropriate wreath. Man cave be damned.

Trimming this slapped together frame for a door that came from the dump proved challenging.

And yes, the language got as colorful as the wreath.

But it was only when the husband looked down…

And realized the floor moulding should meet the vertical door trim… not the other way around… that he knew he had some tinkering to do.

But viola!

Adjustments were made and everything that needed to be trimmed was finally trimmed.

Is this the end of the Barn Mahal interior construction?

Only time will tell.

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Why does he make everything twice as difficult as it has to be?

October 28, 2020 Rivergirl 39 Comments

We have a barn that really isn’t a barn. What started out as storage space for motorcycles and lawn mowers has morphed into a custom built man cave… and now that the man cave has a heat pump? The upstairs has to be temporarily blocked off for winter before the staircase turns into a chimney.

This should have been a simple project.

I told the husband – cut a piece of insulation foam. The heat pump installer told the husband – cut a piece of insulation foam. The friend that helps him now and then told the husband – cut a piece of insulation foam.

Which is why the husband made a hinged door out of zip siding.

Did I mention the husband doesn’t like to be told what to do?

After a laborious day of cursing and figuring and adjusting and fitting and more cursing….

The husband came home to cut a piece of insulation foam.

Which he wanted to attach to that hinged door of zip siding.

This involved more measuring and cutting ..

And fitting and pushing and removing and more measuring and cutting.

Please note the non OSHA approved chunk of wood dismantling the saw’s safety feature.

More fitting.

More measuring and cutting.

More fitting.

Halfway through the process, Mike Pence stopped by to say hello.

And finally after I helped him measure, cut and fit for 3 hours to no avail… I snuck out.

For the sake of my sanity…. as well as our marriage.

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Oh no, not again.

October 11, 2020 Rivergirl 26 Comments

I walked into the barn this morning to find my husband working on a template.

And yes, I cringed.

Having finished one side of the strapping on the ceiling and running out of that particular wood, he decided it was time to trim the windows.

And while I applauded the fact he was actually going to corner them properly, I knew it wouldn’t be smooth sailing.

One day.

One entire day to frame two windows … because he added quarter round.

Why did he add quarter round you ask?

Because when he first built this barn to be a… you know, barn? …there were giant gaps around the windows and nothing was air tight. Who was going to complain…. the lawn mowers?

But now that’s it morphed into a palatial man cave, gaps must be sealed.

And live ordinance moved.

Framing on the outside, quarter round on the inside, and extra quarter round on the top corners…. all because he didn’t install the windows correctly the first time.

Jesus wept.