Getting Plastered

Last week Bonfiglio Plastering completed the blueboard and veneer plaster.  We decided to go with veneer plaster rather than drywall because it provides a very smooth, even and more impact resistant surface.

The enormous stack of wood is the white oak flooring from Great Brook Lumber in Southwick, MA.  It's locally procured wood bought directly from the source.  LEED encourages the use of materials sourced and manufactured withing 500 miles of the site, and this came from much closer than that.  We had also considered FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified flooring, but the flooring we were able to find was from Pennsylvania and was much more expensive.  FSC certified materials sometimes cost much more, but hopefully the difference will lessen as they become more common.

We're still deciding on the faucets for the Kitchen, so I printed some of the options out full-size and taped them to the wall to help with the decision.  Some of the pull-down faucets are quite large and we want to make sure our choice doesn't overpower the Kitchen.

In the Living Room photo below you can see the wood for the interior trim.  This came from Ponders Hollow Custom Moulding and Flooring in Wesfield, MA.  Because they make it to order, I was able to get exactly the sizes and profiles I desired for about the cost of stock mouldings.

There's a small piece of plywood sticking down below the beam at the stairs which I must have seen a thousand times but didn't really notice until the plastering was complete.  This will have to be trimmed off.

Here's Gromit in the Laundry Room.  It's a small space which will have a lot in it.  The folding ironing board will be in the recess to the left with the Hide-A-Hose central vacuum outlet below, the stacking washer/dryer straight ahead and storage shelves to the right.

And here are some photos of the second floor.

And here's the outside...

with all of the columns and trim in place and the turtle back where he belongs.