MyAway build - Updates for space usage & organization

[S. Heisley]

Cute, Ageless, but I don't think they'd believe me.

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Today, I put the first coat of final(?) paint on the little pieces and I do not, not, not like it. It was sold as Antique White and the picture looked like vanilla ice cream but it is more like a French vanilla with mustard stirred in....ICH! I’ve never seen Antique White look like this. You can see the paint cup, below, with the ICH! in it and the white paper underneath it shows how bad it is:

Actually, it is even more yellow than it is in this picture.

Of course, once you open the can, you can’t mail it back; so, I put the first coat on, thinking that it might get lighter when it dries; but, so far, it’s still ICH! Either the Vanilla or the ICH! color would have been okay with the old tan truck; but with the new royal blue? “ICH!" may not look so good with the royal blue. More like barf. So now, I've got to decide what to do about that. I'll sleep on it tonight and I may not put the second coat on until I've ordered more paint....don't know yet.......
The problem is that I just looked again and this is their only white...I can't believe that.

[bdosborn]

Can you add some dye or something to change the color maybe?

Bruce

[Steve_Cox]

Sharon,

I purchased some paint color additives in a tube at Home Depot and change the tint of paints and coatings all the time. Perhaps you could add a little white tint and get closer to the color you desire. I started using the colorants when matching the varnish on old cabinets when adding new ones. A little yellow tint made my new work look 20 years old.

[S. Heisley]

Thanks, Steve and Bruce.

I called the company today and ordered what they recommended, a semi-gloss white. It’ll be here in about 7-10 days. As that is a polyurethane paint, the final paint coats can be done inside. I’ll just have to do less at a time because I can’t lay everything out in the garage space that I have and still walk around them.

While I’m waiting for the new paint, I’ll start working on the cabin again. So far, I have put a coat of CPES on, filled all the holes and cracks I could find with Fill-it epoxy filler; sanded; put another coat of CPES on; and sanded everything with 80 grit. After that, I washed everything down with TSP and water and let it air-dry overnight. No delaminating occurred, which is a very good sign. In the sanding, I messed up the painters tape so will re-mask that. I can also go ahead with the primer paint on the cabin. Maybe I should put in the flooring and threshold before I paint?

There’s still a lot to do….

[stomperxj]

Sharon-
I just read through your whole thread... Great work!! Looks like its coming together quite well. I'm very curious to find out what it will weigh when you are all done.

Keep up the good work

Jess

[S. Heisley]

stomperxj wrote:

I'm very curious to find out what it will weigh when you are all done.

Thanks, Jess. I am too! Before I started I made a spread sheet of weight estimates, weighing any purchased pieces and estimating any built wooden pieces, i.e. walls, cabinets, etc:

Original empty estimate: 917 lbs.

As I put things together, I weighed as much as I could and sometimes re-estimated the rest with more accurate information. I then compared the new totals to the old. There were a few errors and omissions in my original figures:

Revised empty estimate to date: 1022 lbs.

As I didn’t weigh the actual deck (estimated only) and I won’t be able to weigh the finished flooring surface or exterior paint and didn’t allow for curtains & upholstery, I think the empty weight may actually end up at around 1200 lbs. ...That’s probably okay.

[Ageless]

The Compact Jr scales just over 1200#. It tracks excellent and is easy to control. If you are coming in at that weight with a wood structure, you've done a great design and function job. Impressed I am.

[S. Heisley]

Thank you for the vote of confidence, Ageless. I've got my fingers crossed that all goes well in the end.

[mcspin50]

Just read through your whole Build Journal, Sharon. What great work you've done!
I admire your ability to really think things through, forge on through problems, and keep your sense of humor...
but, most of all, I'm awestruck with your great sense of style when dressing for painting. Definitely fashion forward!

[S. Heisley]

mcspin50 wrote:

I'm awestruck with your great sense of style when dressing for painting.

Thanks, Lil. Pretty funny, huh?!

We all need to chuckle once in a while. It makes life better.

[S. Heisley]

It’s getting cold and snowy in some parts of the world and that sometimes makes for less building progress. Here, in Northern California, we’re having a fall ‘heat wave’. Temperatures are going to be perfect for painting, in the mid 60’s and 70’s for the next week, but I’m still waiting for my replacement paint. I’m guessing it will arrive Monday as the company said they put it in the mail last Monday. There are lots of things to do while I wait for the paint. I need to have the thresholds in place so that I can paint the area just in front of them when I paint the outside of the cabin. For that, the final cabin flooring has to be in place. So, this week, I worked on making my own flooring out of brown Kraft paper.

You can see the basics for making a Paper Bag Floor here:

http://www.familycorner.com/homegarden/ ... loor.shtml

But, as you probably know by now, I have ‘One-more-thingitis’ and just can’t seem to do things fast. I do them My…Ah…way. So, I bought a couple rolls of Kraft paper, some Minwax Polyurethane and then visited a local native black oak tree (Quercus kelloggii) to pick up some fallen leaves and preserve and strengthen them by ironing them between waxed paper.

I stained some of the Kraft paper close to the color of the freshly gathered, unfaded leaves:


Using a brightly colored gel pen, I copied the outline of each leaf onto the stained paper, drew in the veins, and cut them out. To ensure that the colors wouldn’t run, I sprayed each “leaf” with varnish.



Then, I set about laying the basic brown paper floor. Here is a picture of part of that, without leaves:


After that had dried, I tossed the leaves up in the air and let them fall where they may, arranging any that didn’t suit me. I then added them using the same procedure that the brown paper had been laid with.

After that was dry, I pulled off the blue painter’s tape and pulled too much:

(I scored the rest of the way with a knife before pulling any more tape!)

That little Oops! was easily fixed with a “damaged leaf”. Mother Nature isn’t perfect and neither am I.

After the leaves had dried in place, I began ‘topping’ the floor with more layers of Minwax Polyurethane. Here, you see it with the second coat freshly applied:


…Two coats down and four more to go! Then, I’m supposed to wait 3 days before ‘using’ it and 7 days before walking on it. But, there are lots of other things to do while I wait….

[parnold]

Sharon, that is awesome. What a great idea, and really unique!

Will there be enough polyurethane on it so that it will be smooth, or will it have a slightly textured feel to it!

[S. Heisley]

Will it have texture? I'm not certain...maybe a little here and there. I'll let you know when I finish putting on the 6 layers of satin polyurethane.

[Lookfar]

And you are going to walk on it? That is just incredible...

[Ratkity]

Amazing!! You have such a creative gift.

Hugs,
Ratkity