First Interior Finish
I’ve fallen behind on posts. Hopefully I’ll catch up in the next couple of days. 🙂
Lower level is buffed and ready to be finished. We’re actually not doing any stain on the lower level or upper level floors because we like the natural wood. We are having to stain the main level french oak though since it is lighter.
José fitting a stone.
Braden sanding the bullnose edge in prep for finish.
Romero digging out where the walkways will be.
Perry applying stain on a sample. 
Perry, Bob, Krysta, Marita and my sweetie (behind Marita) discussing wood finishes.
Pedro cutting trim for the studio. We’re glad to have Pedro working on this project. Good guy and does quality work.
Luis checking his work after cutting off some sheathing.
Pedro sprays any exposed edges. This will help to keep moisture out of the wood and reduce problems of swelling and cracking.
Upper level hallway buffed and ready for finish.
We had a number of rain storms this year. The porch is a quite nice place to sit during them.
After walking back to our car my sweetie commented “The rain is making everything wet!”
A patch so that the floor is perfectly level before wood floor is installed.
Upper level hallway and a bedroom after finish is applied. 
Master bedroom with several samples of french oak as we tried to match the french oak to the unstained white oak.
Lower level hallway. This had to be engineered wood since it’s on top of cement which is also heated w/ hydronic tubing. It’s a bit more varied than the solid wood in the upper level.
Dominoes blocking 6 parking spaces for no reason. Outside of the U.S. you never see large trucks like this used for local deliveries. Smaller trucks have a much smaller impact on the neighborhoods. Needless to say, this didn’t make me a fan of Dominoes.
French oak samples.
Some of the knots weren’t filled properly and so the lighter filler got in them. This isn’t a problem if the floor is stained but without stain these mistakes stick out and will be fixed just prior to the final finish being applied in Feb.
Pedro and Luis getting ready to begin installing siding on the studio.
More samples. It’s tough to match a different variety of wood.
Dan and Sam install protective flooring of the finished wood floor. There’s a layer of fiber cloth, then paper, then masonite.
Looking good! I have a few questions:
1. Do you know what product Pedro was using on the wood edges? I’d be interested in knowing the name of it if you’re so inclined.
2. Have you made an absolute, final, no-going-back decision on using brick pavers instead of bluestone? I really think the bluestone would’ve looked spectacular, and that the siding color is really a non-issue. Like blue jeans, there’s nothing that “doesn’t go” with bluestone. I mean, just look at how the bluestone complements all that gorgeous stonework!
3. What camera do you use? The image quality is terrific!
4. What drone do you use? Do you use a different camera with it, like, say, a GoPro?
Thanks for indulging me and I hope my comments regarding the brick pavers weren’t too much. 🙂
Sincerely,
Sam from T’town
1. I’ll find out and let you know.
2. Yep, final decision and brick has all been delivered. There was a lot of discussion and I lost 🙂 I really liked the bluestone and still preferred it even with it clashing w/ the siding a bit but the powers that be said otherwise. I’m still relatively happy with the brick. I’d prefer a bit less frosting but that is likely not an option.
3. Thanks. Camera’s are iPhone X, Nikon D800, Nikon D850 and Nikon D5. Majority are D850 + 24-70 f/2.8.
4. Drones: Mostly a DJI Mavic 2 Pro. Prior to that mostly Mavic Pro Plat with some winter an Inspire 2 and Zenmuse x5s camera. BTW, if you’re thinking about getting a drone I’d wait a bit. I’m guessing the DJI+Hasselblad vs Yuneec+Leica war will result in a lot of improvements.
Thanks for answering my questions AND for taking my thoughts about the paver selection as they were intended—i.e., not as criticism but rather as thoughtful observation. Communication on the Internet, especially having one’s message received in the spirit in which it is intended, can be a tricky thing sometimes as I’m sure you’ve seen. Regarding drones, I know as much about them as I do about jai alai: next to nothing. 😀 Do you know of a good resource on the Web that a newb like me should visit?
Looking forward to the next installment.
Sam
Tuscaloosa, AL