The coffered ceiling

Last week we got the tongue and groove ceiling installed in the dining room. This week, we continued on with the installation of the coffered ceiling. I installed a 2×4 beam from where the wall was removed between the kitchen and the dining room. Once that was in place, I was able to finish up the last remaining pieces of the first layer of the coffer.

Building the coffers

With the first layer of the coffer complete, I installed a second layer of trim on top of the first layer to build up the thickness. These were nicer looking boards that will paint better than the boards used on the first layer. With the second layer installed, it was time for the crown molding. For this I’m using a small cove molding which keeps with the old cracker style. I meticulously cut and fitted all 36 pieces of crown and then called it a day.

Oceana the paintmaster

After I finished with the crown, Oceana got started on the paint prep. She bondo’d all of the big holes in the tongue and groove and then filled in any visible nail holes in the crown and beams. While she was doing that I cut out holes for the can lights and the hanging chandelier light. Once the bondo set up, she gave the ceiling a quick sand to flatten everything out. Next, she got a coat of primer brushed on the whole ceiling. It looks great! We’re planning to paint the ceiling using a paint sprayer at the same time as we paint the living room ceiling (which we will be starting shortly). So for now, it’ll stay primed.

Rewiring the hot tub

A few parts came in for our hot tub so I did some re-wiring on it. The short story is that since it’s technically a bathtub, and not a hot tub, the jets and heater turn off after 1 hour. That means every hour we had to go hit the heater button to keep it hot. To remedy this, I disconnected the wiring for one of the two pumps from the main control panel as well as the wiring to the heater. I hen connected these to a separate temperature controller. I fought with the temperature controller for a day or so before figuring out that the temperature sensor was faulty. Once I realized that, I got out a spare temperature controller that I had laying around (everyone has a spare temp controller, right?!) and swapped it out. It worked perfect. Now the hot tub kicks on and off automatically and stays hot like it should.

The Teak report

Teak is doing good. He enjoys hanging out with us when we’re working. He seems content just to sit there and watch us work. He’s going through his puppy fear phase right now. He’s really scared of all the random noises that happen on a daily basis. The good thing is that it’s increasing his situational awareness and he’s becoming more alert and more like a guard dog. That’s all for this week. As always, thanks for following along!

Happy early Thanksgiving!