Update on Study Walls, Master Bath floor and the garden

Even though it's been a while since my last post a lot has gotten accomplished. The reason I havent posted is that there's really not much to see.

I've finished mudding, sanding and primering the Study/foyer wall. Tomorrow I'll paint them and start hanging the trim for the beadboard wainscoting.




I decided to finish the Master Bathroom floors mainly because I'm tired of having to go all the way downstairs in the morning to use the bathroom. Unfortunately I dont have any floor sanding equipment so I've had to make do with what I've got. I began by rough sanding the floor with a beltsander with 36 grit paper. Then I used my 6" orbital with 80 grit. Then I SHOULD have gone to the store and purchased 120 and 180 grit paper for my orbital but I didnt. Instead I used 120 grit with my beltsander.



It looked fine until I began staining it. If the beltsander gets the slightest bit off level it gouges the wood because it's so soft. There were small gouge marks all over. Secondly, 120 grit was not fine enough so the color is darker that what I wanted. The picture below was after the stain had dried.


I've managed to do some damage control and fix most of it. Sanding in between coats and the 2 coats of poly have lightened it up a lot (though not as much as the first floor bathroom floors) and hidden a lot of the gouges. It's also taken on that reddish tone that the first floor bathroom floors has.


A lot of our time has been spent in the back yard creating a garden. It's still in the very early stages but it's starting to come together. The backyard was a jungle when we bought the place.


You wouldn't think from the picture that we lived in the city. the majority of the underbrush was bamboo which is hell to get rid of. Below is a picture of the area and a few of the plants we are in the process of planting (Roses, Hydrangeas, Azaleas, and many more).