The Winehouse

[Kraffty]

Besides the building construction part of this I’m trying to make a lot of what goes inside too. I’ve been collecting ideas and some materials but so far I’ve only made progress on my counter for my work-area/bartop. It’s going to be the focal point of the room so probably a good place to start. A friend found some 30 or 40 year old 3/4” oak flooring in his garage attic that I’ve been able to rescue to turn into what I hope is a really beautiful and solid counter. We go to Lake Havasu in Arizona every couple of months so I enlisted the help of my Father-in-law on our last visit to rip the 8’ boards down to 1” strips then glue and clamp them into a 16” x 8’ block. Leaning on his skills and using his tools we cut off 2’ and re-attached to make a 6’x3’+ “L” shaped top. It’s rough sanded now and I still have to add the 1”x2” “Mystery Wood” edging all around on our next trip to the river but it’s really looking nice. So far I’ve only got about $10.00 in titebond ultra glue tied up in this and lots of labor.

I’m thinking of a light coat of Golden Oak stain to bring out the grain and color then 6-8 coats of gloss varnish. Any suggestions on brands or coatings would be appreciated, the only thing I don’t want is that thick urathane epoxy stuff, I want the wood to really stand out. Any Ideas on what that Mystery wood is? It’s really heavy and dense like walnut but the colors are like redwood and poplar.

 

[sour_grapes]

Nice work!

Perhaps the mystery wood is hickory?

 

[jswordy]

Seriously? 100 degrees??? Send some of that warm weather my way!

It's coming. Probability is for a hot summer long-range forecast. The warmth actually has been bad for California, which is in one of its worst droughts on record (or THE worst, depending on location in the state).

Great job, Kraffty! That will be a deluxe workroom when you are done!

 

[Winenoob66]

Hi Krafty
I was a professional house painter for 25 yrs, Minwax is what I would suggest you use. If there is a lot of differences in the natural colors of the woods that you are using I suggest using what they call a wash coat which is 1 part Sand and Sealer to 2 parts paint thinner, brush it on evenly and let dry. then when you do stain the countertop it will all be the same color (thats how the pros make 10 different woods all the same color in staining) after it has dried lightly sand it. then on the stain DO NOT SHAKE IT UP as this will incorporate air bubbles into the stain only stir it with paint sticks you cab apply it either by using a brush or by using a rag personally I always liked running 2 rags one for applying and one for wiping off the extra. it is a messy job so be prepared.
After your done staining wait a minium of 24 hrs before doing anything else to it it might feel dry to the touch but soon as something wet touches it the stain will want to move around on you. so be sure to wait on that 24 hrs. after thats completed and dried for the 24 hrs, I would personally use about 3 or 4 coats of sand and sealer on it to really smooth it out like glass it super easy to use just brush it on trying to run with the grains in the wood. It drys super quick and can be sanded in an hour lightly and repeated all over again. Note your gonna want a gallon of sand and sealer, after you have 3 or 4 coats of it on wait until the next day and come in and apply polyurethane it isn't epoxy but does take 24 hours to dry between each coat the only step in the process that you do not sand in between coats it the stain lightly sand til smooth in between all other coats. Sand and sealer sands very easy a 2 yr old has enough elbow greese to make it super slick so don't over sand and take it off completely. adding more coats of poly will do 2 things, 1 make it last longer, and make it much smoother.

Now with all that being said, I am on the east coast our environmental laws are different from Cali so I am not sure if you can even get oil based stains and sealers there but if you can go with the oil based stuff. the latex stuff is water soluble and that's not good if there's a chance it will get wet.

1 Quart Stain
1 Gallon Sand and sealer
1 Gallon Polyurethane
old rags for stainging ( Old tea shirt works great)
a few 3 inch paint brushes
Paint thinner to clean up with

 

[JohnT]

I would first wet condition the top before I apply any finish. Take a wet rag (water) and apply a coat of water to the surface to raise the grain or the wood. Allow to dry and sand until glassy smooth. Repeat this step 2 or 3 times.

My vote would be to use antique oil. This is a VERY thin varnish. You apply 1 coat, then lightly sand, then apply another. I like the antique look when finished. In the past, I have applied 10 or 15 coats to arrive at a finish that would put Ethan Allen to shame.

Of course all of this is a lot of time and work. I figured that since you have this much time already invested, why cut corners now?

 

[Kraffty]

Winenoob - Thanks, you explained that clearly enough that it sounds like I can handle it with a little patience. You're right about California, almost everything here is water based now but Arizona is only a few hours away and they don't seem to care about ozones or health dangers or nuthin!

How fine of sandpaper are you talking about and how many coats of the poly?

 

[Scott]

I agree with the Minwax poly, great stuff use either clear gloss or satin finish. Sanding in between coats ( at the very minimum of 3) us at least 400 grit and go lightly. That will make a wonderful counter, lookin good!

 

[Winenoob66]

I would use a 220 but be careful, and as for coats of poly its really up to you on how smooth ya want it I redone a coffee table and dropped 15 coats of poly on mostly for boredom and it was so smooth that when you sat a glass of water on it it would move as the glass sweated but I would do at least 2

 

[Kraffty]

It's been 11 weeks since I started this and I have to admit to being over optimistic every single weekend on how much I think I can accomplish. That's not a bad thing, I've just had to accept it's going to take time and I might as well enjoy the processes and It'll get done at some point. I've worked about 18 total days at maybe 6 hours a day average so far, it's slow but I'm having a lot of fun. Might be ready to start actually making wine in there in a month or 2.

I've concentrated on the exterior for the last few weeks and have just about finished. The only thing left is to paint under the eaves and then I'm onto the interior. I figure that should work out pretty well since I can run the AC in there as the weather starts warming up. This weekend I got lazy and only worked on it on Sunday but I finished painting the trim and installing the door. I might have mentioned this before but I found the windows on Craigslist and bought the french door from a friend and got those 3 items for under $200.00. I love the extra window space and view I got from the door.

I'm hoping to run all the electrical wiring and put in the outlets and light switches next weekend. After that's done I'm down to insulation, drywall and paint (the one part of this project where I have some experience, finally!). Making progress one weekend at a time.
Mike

 

[JohnT]

Thanks for the update. It looks very nice.

 

[Scott]

Looks great indeed, and warm there too!

 

[Winenoob66]

Looking real good, you have gotten a lot done.

 

[Kraffty]

Week 16 has come and gone and while it now looks like I've made myself a padded cell I've really made some good progress. I forgot that I had to dig trenches and get the electrical to the building before I could wire the building. It now has 8 electrical outlets, two switches for overhead celling fan and lighting in a couple of places. I also installed my 6000 BTU AC and just this weekend finished all the insulation. The insulation is R-19 for the roof and sunny walls and R-13 for the shaded walls. We had temps in the 90's and the AC keep it in the low 70's very easily all day long. Lori has invited family and friends over for the 4th of July so I now have a deadline to have a functioning wine/bar room up and running for the get-together. 6 weekends left to drywall, paint, install sink and counter/bar and lighting. I was going to leave the floor concrete but now leaning towards putting in a wood laminate.

Oh, and yeah, I was way off on my cost estimates, been saving every receipt and will have a total at the end, until then I keep stashing them in an envelope and NOT ADDING it all up till it's finished.

 

[ibglowin]

Coming along nicely indeed. Looking forward to seeing it get finished up!

 

[Runningwolf]

Looks like it's going to be awesome. I ended up installing track on my ceiling for plenty of low voltage lighting. This allows be to point it on objects, bottles or anything else I want to highlight. I can also attach a hanging light on it over a table if I wish to put one in it.

 

[Kraffty]

Just a quickie update, weekends 17 and 18 were spent drywalling and mudding and taping. The ceiling was a real chore, I had to cut the pieces into small enough sections that I could hold them up and screw them in by myself. Lori did jump in and help with the two largest pieces though. It meant some extra work finishing but worked out pretty well. The walls need final sanding and some touch ups but the plan is to sand for an hour or so each night this week then paint on Saturday. I picked up a nice laminate floor on sale and hopefully can do that on Sunday. 4 weekends left before the 4th of July, going to be close but I'll be functional one way or the other.
Mike

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

Kraffty, looking great! I love the arched look on the ceiling drywall, very unique. This is going to be an awesome area when you are finished. That counter top will definitely be a focal point. Nice work!

 

[the_rayway]

I've got winehouse envy...

 

[Kraffty]

The work is getting kind of cool now because after 19 weeks of working on it every weekend, the stuff I've got left to do is all finishing work instead of all that stuff that takes forever but you never really see. This weekend I primed and painted, hung my fan/light and then built my bases for my sink and countertop. At the last minute I opted for Redwood because it seemed to fit best with the "Mystery Wood" I used to edge around the countertop. If I sand and add one coat of urethane to the countertops each night this week then Saturday and Sunday I can install the laminate wood floor, level and anchor the counter and sink to the wall and then final trim for the door, windows and floorboards. 3 Weekends left and I just realized I probably need that last one to clean up the yard and patio which definitely look like construction zones. Hopefully next monday's pics will look very much like a finished room.
Mike

 

[sour_grapes]

Wow, it is really looking great!