Done - one master bedroom

Wow, I just realized that it has been a week since I last posted. Well there is lots to share and talk about and Ieven managed to get the Master bedroom finished.

Thursday (April 13):

I finished the 3rd coat of mud and did some sanding and some touch ups. The room is now ready for painting. I also spent the better part of the evening vacuuming up all the dust in the room. There was almost 2 inches in parts. I highly recommend keeping the room sealed off when dealing with sanding the drywall joints.

Friday (April 14):

Thanks goodness it was a holiday...well at least a day that I don't have to work at my paying job not really much of a rest. The plan of attack is to get the master primed and ready for painting.

In between waiting for the layers of paint to dry, Mel and I cleaned up our front yard and moved all the wood to the backyard.

By 9 PM we managed to get the room primed with 2 coats and the first coat of colour done as well. This meant we only had 1 more coat to add and then the room would be ready for the flooring to be installed.

Saturday (April 15):

We woke up early to finish the painting and before heading off to see Dan and the work he has done on our super cool new banister and railing. Stay tuned for the latest photos of Dan's work, you are guaranteed to be impressed. After finishing up at Dan's it was off to Home Depot to rent the flooring nailer. One word of advice, stay away from Home Depot on Saturday especially on a spring holiday weekend. Luckily for us we were there to only get a few supplies.

Once we got back home it was time to rip up the old vinyl tile floor. Thank goodness they had put in on 4x4 sheets of 1/4 plywood so everything came up in large chunks.

Later in the afternoon I got to start the installation of the bamboo flooring. The set up takes a fair bit of time as you need to make sure your first row is straight and square with the rest of the room. You also have to ensure that the first row is installed securely so that as you hammer the floor nailer it does not move the first row. You do this by installing wedges and hand nailing the areas of the flooring that will eventually be hidden by the trim. By quitting time I had 3 or 4 rows in.

Sunday (April 16):

I woke up early again so that I could get a good start on the flooring, thank goodness I did as it took me nearly the whole day to finish the floor. However it was definitely worth while as the floor looks incredible, I highly recommend going with Bamboo floors not just because of the environmental positives but also because of the aesthetics.

After the floor was done it was time to build our new king size bed. The bed took me a good three hours to put together but based on the end result it was well worth it. The photo to the right doesn't really do the room justice, remember the wall is 13' long.

Well as you can see a lot has changed since my last post, we now have a room that is our little oasis amidst the chaos of our reno. I still have some little finishing details to do but nothing major

- hang closet doors
- install closet organizer
- finish baseboard and window trim
- build bookcase for space next to the closet and outdoor wall
- install bedroom door
- reverse (flip) door to balcony

The last point will be interesting. As the door stands now it opens the wrong way not to mention it looks like complete crap, its style does not fit what we are trying to accomplish. The plan will be to take it out and flip it over so that it opens to the shared wall.

While at home depot we shopped for new doors (front door, bedroom and kitchen). With each of them coming in around $600 each we decided to look for a work around. The bedroom and the front doors will have their middles cut out and replace with sealed low-e glass panes and then trimmed up. This work around will save us over a $1000. The kitchen door will need to be a new one as we are adding a double door (a la french style). Amazingly they are the same price as a single door.

Well that's it for now.