Railings, painting, and another travelogue: Hiking Kilauea Iki crater at Volcanoes National Park
Last week the building project moved more quickly than I had expected. A daunting part of the building process is making hundreds and hundreds of decisions. My husband Robert Welsch and I make 90% of the choices and material selections that would normally be done over the yearlong course of building our house. But since he was in Hawaii for only 6 weeks earlier this year, we made many trips to Home Depot, HPM Building Supplies, Floor Decor, Zen Cabinets and Big Island Granite. We have also spent a good deal of time online finding and buying other materials needed like cabinet pulls. Last week I had to hurry to Hilo to pick and buy tile for the shower floors, and check out kitchen appliances while I was there.
Meanwhile, construction is going smoothly. Ty and Tim, carpenters extraordinaire, are in pics below hammering in the huge bolts that you will see Ty finishing off with the electric drill in this short video.
Part of my job being onsite is making some of the remaining 10% of decisions and approving changes. This week we had to decide on how the concrete stain would be done and would look. Bob Kirk, our contractor, did a test area. We both agreed it looked like rust, and not in a good way. Off we went to my neighbor's home to show Bob the beautiful job they did on their concrete stain. Bob then went to Hilo to buy three different colors of stain which he will personally apply. The photos below show what we want to achieve on our own floors.
Bob getting up close and personal with the concrete stain at our neighbors
Tim
Ty
Tim and Ty pounding in a large fastener-
Now for Kilauea Iki pics from two recent hikes with my friends Charlie and Greg, and another one with Sharon and Brian.
Charlie striking a pose out of a hiking gear catalogue (as best as I can tell)
Greg, Charlie and me
Kilauea plume in the distance
Dancing David
Brian and Sharon in a great pano shot from the bottom of Kilauea Iki
My Doctor Sharon and husband Brian on our Kilauea Iki hike
After hiking down 400 vertical feet, we then trekked across the (now dormant) crater
I can totally see why you loved your neighbor's concrete stain. Not many houses have that, and if done correctly, it really comes out looking great! How would you like your concrete floor stain? Would it be exactly like your neighbor's, or of another, but similar color? This is a tricky part of your house project, and I'm very interested on how it'll turn out!
Hi Arthur, Sorry it took so long to figure out how and where to reply. We want our stain to come out looking natural and organic like our neighbor's floor did. They used four colors of stain applied simultaneously and rubbed in. We are skipping the blue, but using walnut, coffee, and mission brown stains. Our contractor Bob Kirk will personally apply them, having learned from our neighbor the technique and what to do, and not do. I can't wait to see how it turns out!
I can totally see why you loved your neighbor's concrete stain. Not many houses have that, and if done correctly, it really comes out looking great! How would you like your concrete floor stain? Would it be exactly like your neighbor's, or of another, but similar color? This is a tricky part of your house project, and I'm very interested on how it'll turn out!
ReplyDeleteArthur Bryant @ Contractor Express
Hi Arthur,
ReplyDeleteSorry it took so long to figure out how and where to reply. We want our stain to come out looking natural and organic like our neighbor's floor did. They used four colors of stain applied simultaneously and rubbed in. We are skipping the blue, but using walnut, coffee, and mission brown stains. Our contractor Bob Kirk will personally apply them, having learned from our neighbor the technique and what to do, and not do. I can't wait to see how it turns out!