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remodeling Archives - The Year of Mud

Mar 23
Love0

Milk Paint: A Great Non-Toxic Paint

By Natural Remodeling
Milk Paint (Non-Toxic Paint) on Drywall

Milk paint can be used on drywall, even previously painted drywall

If there’s one particularly insidious building product, it must be paint. Conventional paint has a surprisingly high level of embodied energy, and the ill health impacts of the VOCs found in conventional latex paint are well-documented. When we decided to repaint the walls of our house this winter, we knew very early on that we wanted to go the non-toxic paint route. The prospective product had to have zero VOCs, be safe to use and dispose of, and not contribute to decreased indoor air quality. Ideally, it would be from natural materials. Thankfully, we found something that fit the bill.

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Feb 11
Love0

Some Bedroom Remodel Photos & Ideas

By Photos
Bedroom Remodel Ideas

Our finished bedroom remodel with some new natural elements

Ok, I finally have some remodeling photos to share. We had a surprise snowy day yesterday, and the light reflecting from the ground into the bedroom inspired me to tidy up and take a few photos. The difference from what we started with is not insignificant, I would say. In this post, you can see examples of milk paint applied over the original latex, our new oak hardwood floors, and a few other aesthetic touches and functional improvements in our bedroom remodel.

Check out the comparison below for ideas for your own remodeling projects!

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Feb 07
Love0

The Light at the End of the Hallway

By Homesteading
Hallway with Shaker Pegs

We’re nearing the end… I think…

Life rule #327: everything always takes much longer than you think. Life rule #328: it’s terribly easy to forget how true rule #327 is every single time. Well, remodeling our house has been no exception. When we first acquired our new land (one of these days I’ll stop saying “new”), it was early summer, but we couldn’t relocate until September.

Once we showed up and moved in, we basically immediately starting remodeling the house, and we’ve been going at it more or less since then with the exception of a few diversions here and there. Yep, I thought we’d be completed much sooner than this. But finally… yes, I can see the light at the end of the hallway and we’re almost “done”. (Rule #2349: your house is never “done”.)

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Jan 23
Love0

Snow Day

By Winter
Snow Day 2016

Snow day!

As a kid, my favorite thing about going to public school was the snow days. (Except when we had so many that they crept into our summer vacations, that is.) Thankfully, as an adult I can appreciate the snow for more than its uncanny ability to shut down school. Anyone on a significant stretch of the east coast is getting a good dose of snow right now, and we were no exception. We got a good 14″+ here, and it’s beautiful.

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Jan 09
Love2

Make Drywall Look Like Earth: How to Use Clay Paint on Drywall

By Clay Plaster
finished clay paint

You can make a piece of drywall look like earth with just a couple coats of clay paint

You can make a drywall interior look like an earthen home with nothing more than a couple coats of simple clay paint. Clay paint can transform your space — it’s a very versatile material and can be used on a variety of surfaces, including exposed wood, plywood and drywall. In my previous post, I described how you can make a beautiful, non-toxic clay paint using three simple ingredients.

If you haven’t yet read the recipe yet, go ahead and start there. If you’re ready to get mud on your walls, read ahead for instructions for how to apply your new paint to your desired surface!

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Dec 06
Love1

This is One Sweet Natural Floor Finish

By Uncategorized
Rubio Monocoat floor finish: buffing

Our natural oil finish in the process of going on the new red oak floor

Well dang, I’ve been waiting many days for this moment. Right now I’m happily sitting in a chair on our hardwood floor. That doesn’t sound particularly thrilling without any context though, I know. So… after days of grueling installation and sanding, we finally got to put the finishing touch on our new red oak floor — a special natural oil floor finish, one we’ve never before used. The application was a breeze / dream, your choice of cliche.

Really though, the finish went on extremely well. Best of all, of course, is that it’s a natural oil finish. This particular product is linseed oil-based (no polyurethane or VOCs here, thanks), it goes on in a single coat, and it gives the hardwood floor a beautiful “natural” tone and low gloss finish. The particular natural hardwood floor finish that I’m describing here is Rubio Monocoat, which I’ll talk more about below. So far, I really like it.

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Oct 13
Love0

Replacing a 2×4 Wall with a Timber Frame

By Carpentry, Timber Framing

We just accomplished one of the more exciting items on our remodeling to-do list — we raised a timber frame between the kitchen and living room. Before the frame went up, we methodically removed the original 2×4 wall. The intention here, of course, was to really open up the space and facilitate a better interface between the living and cooking areas, provide more light to the kitchen, and allow the heat of the (not yet installed) cook stove to move more freely though the house.

I’d say it’s lookin’ pretty good right now. I managed to capture a little video of the actual timber frame raising… watch the video above to see how smoothly the frame fits right into place in the opening we created by removing the stud frame. The video also illustrates some of the steps we took to ready the house for the new frame.

Click ahead for some photos of the new wall, as well!

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Oct 09
Love0

Don’t Try This At Home

By Timber Framing, Bent Raising

timber-frame-wall-remodel

We’re about to lift this timber frame into position inside our new house that we’re currently remodeling. Exciting times ahead… more news soon once I have a second to write. I’m also preparing to depart on a very exciting trip to New Mexico.

p.s. No, it won’t hit the ceiling… we planned for that!

p.p.s. I love working with poplar after so much fussing with white oak… what a dreamy wood!

Sep 30
Love0

Autumn is for Remodeling

By Homesteading
New House in Kentucky

Our new home in Kentucky, very unlike our other homes

Last fall, we traveled back to our former home in Missouri to bring our straw bale & timber frame house to completion. It was six weeks of non-stop work, including finishing the interior clay plaster and exterior lime plaster, wiring the house for electric, loading the living roof with more topsoil to fill in some bare spots, shoring up our custom wood spiral staircase… all for the purposes of making the home more sellable.

This fall, we’re working on something a little bit different. We’re right in the middle of remodeling our new house here in Kentucky, a very different home from the one we had built from the ground up in Missouri. It’s a very conventional stick frame structure, with vinyl siding, an asphalt shingle roof, fiberglass insulation, and very thin walls…

It’s an odd feeling to own such a conventional home after living in my own natural homes for the past seven years. However, we’re taking a lot of time to personalize the space and give it a big boost in the aesthetics and functionality department. Things are shaping up nicely…

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