It is fun to watch something you have been imagining for many years come to life at long last. I love heavy textured wainscot and now at last, the finishing stages of the house are in motion.
Today, Brent and Jesse Boughen arrived to begin installing the wainscoting. We are of course not doing much in the standard fashion. I am no expert in the normal way of doing things but Brent certainly is. What I like about Brent is that he is also game to try new things as well. He is a craftman, intent on making things as close to perfect as possible. The order of attack was to figure things out first, to discuss the possibilities and then set our decided plan in motion.
Once the planning was done Jesse started with the door frames while Brent worked on laying down the heavy base board. Because of the heavily textured panels which sit on top of them we started with baseboard that was 1 1/4" thick. The upright boards between the panels measured in at 1" thick. Everything is heavy and chunky compared to the norm but it adds a nice weight to the bottom portion of the walls. The heavy crown moldings will balance things off nicely above.
Brent and Jesse are doing a great job, taking care of every detail. With a plan of action now totally figured out and much of the baseboard already in place progress will appear much faster tomorrow. Before they left today the first section was done.
Tomorrow the boys will be working their way through the living room and then down the long hallway. Out in the shop I'm busy making the custom moldings that will wrap around the big round windows. Stay tuned...
-dan