Sunday, April 17, 2011

Details: Mister man Built a little somethin'



While the upstairs of the barn was being spray insulated the downstairs was fast coming along. One of those things was the staircase that mister man felt the need to change in the design, something else that cost more money! Even though mister man was building the stonewalls and he was using leftover granite blocks it still cost extra to have half the lower barn dug out as seen here.


While these pictures don’t look like much yet it will. The staircase is 42” wide and goes up and takes a 90-degree angle.


Here you can start to see the walls coming together with cement and granite blocks. The cement blocks will be hidden under the treads so no sense in wasting expensive antique granite blocks.


The brick you see in the middle of the wall won’t show either but since mister man had cement blocks and granite blocks in that one pass he had to make the granite as wide as the cement to keep things even. All kinds of tricks! You can see here that as you start up the stairs they face out the back of the French doors.


Mister man allowing a rare picture of himself but he worked his tail off to finish the walls in two days time. This picture was snapped after spending a fourteen-hour day up to his knickers in cement and stone. He usually looks so much better but someone was tired!


The next morning after having an acid bath to wash all the stone dust off the walls. The cement block area under the stairs will be storage.


The stairs are actually going to be wood since building the rises and treads out of stone would have meant building the underneath as a solid structure. It would have been heavy and not cost efficient. See how the treads will hide the cement block and you’ll be left with just the pretty antique block showing…love it!


Above view looking down the staircase.


While the staircase walls were being built our contractors were busy finishing up the rest of the downstairs that included mister man’s workshop and the main barn area. This is a view of mister man’s workshop, remember how dark and dank the place was, look below….


Not a very welcoming room huh?


Here’s a view of the barn floor where we decided to make it pretty. Since the back wall is stone boulders, one sidewall was granite block, we decided the floor should reflect all the stone. Very easy to do by tossing small stones in on the wet cement to give it texture.


If you look at the top of the picture you see what looks like two small rooms. The one on the left is storage under the staircase, the other holds all the heating units for the radiant floor heat upstairs.



Close up of what the finished floor looks like....


That raised back cement step just in front of the boulder wall is actually a French drain since water could still tickle down through the ground and out the boulder wall but so far no water so our contractors have done their job! As you can see the whole barn is really starting to take shape.

Up next, buttoning her up!

20 comments:

Jane and Lance Hattatt said...

Hello:
What work! And how exhausting! But we are certain that the final effect will be worth all of the effort not, of course, to mention the additional expense. But that is always the case.

The enchanted home said...

I am blown away by the workmanship..he has every right to look and be proud...he did SOME job! The antique blocking is such a beautiful element. Fabulous looking! Its been such fun to see this come along....its really moving along now and what fun when it turns the corner to the finishing stages. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the floor idea with the pebbles...just gorgeous and will give the room such character. Really enjoyed seeing all the beautiful pictures......thanks for taking us along the journey with you!

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

Great vision on the stone walls around the stairs. Important. Thanks for another sharing.
- Joy

Greet Lefèvre said...

Very pretty! Wonderful work!
xx
Greet

LaPouyette said...

Hi Debra,
The "little somethin'" looks highly interesting, but Mister man rather relaxed and very handsome! Somehow proud about his work. Lovely picture!

Would like to see the result.

HAPPY MONDAY with lots of sun!
xxxkarin

Trouvais said...

Don't you just love an industrious man?! Very impressive! Next...the wine cellar!!! Looking forward to seeing your gorgeous fabrics in their element!! XO Trish

lvroftiques said...

I'm just lovin' seeing this transformation Debra! And mister man is lookin' good despite the 14+ hr day. *winks* Please give him a pat on the back for me because that dear man deserves it! Vanna

designchic said...

The antique block looks amazing, and the pebble flooring adds so much charm and character to the area...love it!!

debra @ 5th and state said...

debra, this is amazing! the pebbles; brilliant, the granite boulder wall; breath taking, a man willing to do the work.....priceless!

you have such great taste, cannot wait for more.....
xo
debra

under spanish moss said...

Wow, this must have been a tedious process. Looks great...well worth it! Love the flooring idea.

michele said...

that is a lot of hard work--you go, mister!

looking fabulous, darling.

love your visits to my place!

michele

for the love of a house said...

love it!!! love the stone wall and love the flooring treatment. Tell Rick he looks fabulous too!!!
Happy Spring to you both and sweet Dylan!

joan

quintessence said...

It's looking fabulous!! You're so lucky that Mister man is so handy - his work is fantastic! Love all the detailed coordination - looking forward to seeing next step!!

Stacey said...

I've always loved pebbled floors-yours is really beautiful! You're so lucky to have a Mister Man who is so handy-i absolutely adore what he did. I hope you gave him a great massage after such hard work;-). XX

Ispirato Design said...

Wow, that's quite a little something! Very nice mister-man. The floor looks great. You must be getting so excited!

Mona Thompson said...

Your Mr. Man is quite the man. A real craftsman. That stairway is amazing. Every detail is. Are you not just so excited? I would be pinching myself. This is going to be wonderful.

Blooming Rose Musings said...

I am so impressed...it looks amazing! Fantastic! The attention to detail is magnificent. Everything, the stone walls to the pebble floor is out of this world fabulous! Congratulations on a dream in the making and about to reach completion. Mister Man is one heck of a talented craftsman.

Unknown said...

WOW, the barn is really shaping up beautifully! The floor is amazing as well....I had to smile over the whole "Mr. Man" thing, that's what I call my almost 5 year old son!:)

Anonymous said...

Great job. I can't believe how hard you have been working. Everything is coming together.
Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!
Xo,
E&J

Anonymous said...

Not that you need ideas, you have done wonderfully with each detail, but have you seen the staircase treatments from Funky Junk Interiors blog? She made her own look like old wooden cases and there were other ideas at her blog party on stairs. I'm sure a search on her site would be interesting for you.

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