Little by little it comes together

Today, Labor Day, marks four months of labor on our new house. Last Monday began with our two flooring workers starting the job of installing an oak floor in the living-dining area on the main level.

The first picture shows John nailing in a piece of planking in the hallway from the living room to the guest bathroom with a special air hammer. After fitting the board snugly against its neighbor, the business end of the air hammer, which hangs from a handle in John's left hand, is held against the board at just the right angle. Then with a regular hammer the other end of the air hammer is tapped, and the it sends a nail through the board and into the floor.

The end result will be a floor that looks like that on the left. Once the entire floor is covered with the oak planking, it will be sanded smooth, and a clear finish will be applied. That should make the wood even prettier than it is here.

Monday also saw the delivery (below) of the decking material that will make up the floor of the front porch and the back deck. We expect that to be laid this week. Work will also be done soon on the porch steps, the lattice on the front for the porch, and the posts that hold up the porch and its roof.



Meanwhile, our builder George continues his carpentry work, for example, on shelves in the cedar lined basement closet shown here, and on trim and bookshelves under the windows in the basement den.

Finally, here is a picture of a pleased Manita, who has just made a great discovery. She found out that the black soot covering an ancient rocking chair could be removed with Murphy's Oil Soap. That chair came from her grandparents' home, and its antiquity is indicated by the price of $4.50 that is written on the underside of the seat.

When we had it refinished years ago we were not pleased with the glossy finish they put on it, but that seems to be the key to the ease of cleaning off the soot. The pieces of furniture we have that have a satin or matte finish are much harder to clean, and some cannot be completely cleaned up. By the way, we will be having a furniture cleaning party in the next few months and would be glad to have some volunteers.

Well, that's the news from the Deans. We're a little later than usual this week, but then it is a holiday. Tomorrow begins a new week of work for our contractor and subs, and a new week of choices for us (I think it's light fixtures this week). Come again next week for our continued rebuilding adventures.

--O. C. and Manita