The Window Seat is under way..

After agonizing over minute details for way too long....the window seat is finally making its way into the construction phase.

First up was to disassemble the old bench seat and remove the nasty old trim.  The Walls are surprisingly plumb and there is only a minor (anything less than 1/2" is minor in this old house) dip in the floor on the right. Nothing a few shims won't be able to handle.

Next up was some electrical work to deal with the outlet that was inconveniently placed where the window seat is going.  Seemed like a good time to put in a proper electrical box for the outlet....in place of the board the previous outlet was mounted in???

Also ran some wire along the base of the wall behind where the window seat boxes will be to feed a new outlet on the right hand side.

New outlet installed....all it took was a 16" drill bit to make it through the mess of studs that make up that corner.

Finally on to something a bit less messy,  a pile of 3/4" AC pine plywood for the cabinet boxes that will make up the base of the window seat.

Drilling pocket holes to assembly the box.  After everything is test fit I plan to tear it down and re-assemble with  glue  to make sure it never goes anywhere.

First seat box done. This one and its mate will box have large  filing cabinet drawers for hanging folders.

Testing out the height with a scrap of foam...looking good.

This is the wood that will be used for the tops of the end cabinets, Ambrosia maple.  Also known as wormy maple, it has holes from the Ambrosia beetle larve and blue stain from the fungus that it introduces.  Really interesting wood.

Another view of the Ambrosia maple.

Knotty Alder for the face frame and panel frames.  I think this will end up being stained to be a bit darker than the maple to give a little more contrast.

The latest addition to the shop.  A mobile miter saw stand/workbench with lumber storage underneath, sheet-good storage behind and the router table mounted to the end.  With just a shade over 200 Sq ft...I've got to be efficient.

The shop....It has already been re-arranged since this picture. 

Another side project, I got an old Dunlop plane from a co-worker .  Hopefully with a bit of cleaning and sharpening it will be functional.

In the Dog House..

It is amazing how much you can fit in a Subaru.

Who needs to buy expensive cedar siding when fence pickets are cheap.

After some milling...ship lap.

Looks good enough for a dog house.

All framed up.

Assembled on the porch for some testing.

Looks like its certainly big enough.

The interior partition.

And here it is complete in the dog run.

We decided Wicket needed a window.  One cheap piece of acrylic and some scraps and she's got a window.

Catch Up...

First project for the new shop was to get a table thrown together for the new router.

The dust collection actually works really well.  Until I get a cabinet built for it I have been using it on top of a trash can.

I built a rolling cabinet for the table saw.  The first piece of the master plan for the shop.

Completed and in action.

 

 

 

The next house project on the list was to finally get the back deck sanded and stained, it needed it.

After a little sanding it appears that the deck is actually all redwood...

Unfortunately I will need a much bigger sander to clean the boards up enough to use a clear stain.

The railing I plan to finish cleaning up and put a clear, oil based stain on.

Putting down the "redwood" deck stain, it seemed to wrong to basically paint such nice wood.

It certainly looks better than it did, someday I plan to pull the boards up and run them all through a planer.

The whole back deck after a rain with the new finish.

One of the next projects on the list is to build a new window seat for the downstairs living room.

I plan to do it as a built in with cabinets on the end and drawers under the seat.

A few wood and finish samples.

Sample face frames in the wood options, Pine, Alder and Maple.

We played around with matching the kitchen cabinets which appear to be Mahogany.. ??

 

 

I think this option with the exposed sides of the cabinets maple is the current winner.  Maple panels with Alder frames.

Also on the list is to re-hab a few windows before it gets too much colder. 

After doing some reading I think it might make more sense to fix up the nice old wood windows that are in place and add some storm windows, that ought to be just as efficient as new windows for a fraction of the cost.

There are two old windows in our bedroom which are pre-sash pulley.  That dates them to right around the turn of the century so they are likely the original windows.