I finished the wine room today. It turned out just as I hoped it would the day I peered into the dusty little window of what used to be our home's coal shaft below.
This is the shot I took the day we first looked at the house. We didn't have a flashlight, so I used my camera flash to see what was behind the little 2x2 window in the concrete wall.
The guys who were installing our new furnace helped me climb in through the little window you see above to get a better look. The look on their faces when I came out covered in spider webs and coal dust is one I wished I had gotten on camera.
This is the 2 foot diameter concrete saw that
Evergreen Concrete Cutting brought to open the window, into a door. They mounted a track for the saw onto the wall and cut up and down each side our 9" thick concrete foundation wall to make a doorway.
After the doorway was cut, they removed almost 1,000 lbs of concrete.
I cleaned like an Eastern European cleaning lady (they are the best you know), painted the ceiling, and had our
electrician wire the room with one light and one outlet. Simple. I decided I liked the finish of the raw concrete walls which are still a little stained with decades of coal dust. That left installing a new header in the spot above. My
dad gave me a really cool reclaimed beam for Christmas that I used here.
As the room used to contain coal (delivered via truck from the little window in the back of the room), the floor was grated towards a drain at the center of the space. I built a small floor frame and leveled it with the small blocks seen below.
I chose 1x3 Douglas Fir for the flooring and just top screwed them as you would an exterior deck. Three coats of clear satin Poly and the floor was finished. I love the natural color of Douglas Fir.
We brought the wine cabinet my
dad made John for Christmas in '99 and all the wine down this morning. What a wonderful room. I may spend all afternoon down here. I hope Henry's been paying attention in the kitchen. He's in charge of dinner tonight.
8 comments:
Speechless actually. This is so cool Liz!!! Can't wait to bring a bottle to enjoy there - Dad
YOU are the coolest girl I know. Hands down. Teach me how to use power tools, please?? This summer? I'll drive to T-town. I no longer want to be afraid of what lives in my basement (tools, not monsters). xo
Gorgeous! You are so amazing. I love the look of the floors. Bravo!
W. O. W!
it looks amazing!!!
Speechless...gorgeous...and WOW!! I ditto all of these! You are amazing! I so remember that day as we came into the basement for the first time and you could see all the potential! You opened that lil door wanting to see inside and found it ...Pitch Black...well that didn't stop you from seeing as you lifted up your camera and pointed it into the Black Hole!! As that flash lit it up and just seconds later you could see your coal shaft! You have now turned that lil black hole into a special lil spot in your home! I have been selling homes for 18 years and you by far are the #1 gal for talent! You not only can do the work you have the eye for turning things into something very special! Your style and ideas are so fun to see! I am so honored to be your realtor and to have been apart of these awesome houses ... my favorite is watching you turn them from great houses into wonderful homes! You are very very talented, thankyou for sharing with all of us on your blog! Just love seeing the results and can't wait to come by and see it in person!
Ditto on the, "speechless" and "wow." Maybe instead of a walk we should spend some time in the wine room:)
Naturally it's gorgeous. You are a very talented lady. Congrats! It's really beautiful.
Amazeballs. You make my valentine dot wreath look pathetic. In factI may just ha ve toeat it now. Um, I'm catching the train with Meg to Tacoma for wine tasting...Whatta say?
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