Richlite Countertops - Part 2

After we installed our Richlite countertops in our kitchen, we were deep in the midst of moving in and getting settled.  We actually waited a couple of weeks before we oiled the countertops to finish them.  You can read about our installation process here.

This is what the Richlite looked like at this point.  After the installation, my husband sanded the countertops again with the orbital sander.  They were much smoother now than when they first arrived.  It had been used for a couple of weeks and you can see the markings and discolorations on it.  We scrubbed it with warm, soapy water, rinsed everything, and let it dry well.

We used Bioshield Wood Counter Finish to oil the countertops.  It is a combination of a few different oils and can be used on a variety of kitchen surfaces.  We bought ours from Amazon and just spread it on with a clean paintbrush.

The change in color was immediate and dramatic.  You could tell some of the oil was being absorbed almost immediately.

We left it like this overnight to let the oil soak in.

The next morning, the shiny, wet look was gone.  It still looked a little oily, but most of the oil was dry.  You can see that the discolorations and chalkiness are gone.  The color deepened to a rich brown color.

We used paper towels to wipe it all down and remove any excess oil.  I love how the color variation almost makes it look like there is a texture, but it's smooth and reminds me of leather.

Fast forward one month:  The countertops still look really good.  We haven't re-oiled them yet, but I'm guessing that we will in the next month or so.

The color is still very dark, but it doesn't always look brown.  Depending on the light, it can look charcoal or even black.  I'm still happy that we chose the Chocolate Glacier color rather than black.  It's nice to have something a bit unusual.

We know that these countertops will get scratched and worn...and that's okay.  It fits with our house and we like the potential patina that the Richlite offers.  If you get a really bad scratch, you can sand the countertop and then re-oil.  While we haven't had any really bad scratches since installation, all of the scratches and scuffs that were present upon arrival sanded out just fine.

We did have a few small scratches in this area.  I'm still not sure how they got there. They looked whitish and you could feel them with your hand.  I dipped a paper towel in some canola oil that was sitting on the counter and started rubbing it on the area.  They're still there, but you don't notice them unless you look for them.  (Very bottom of the picture, left of the center)

I had a few people ask me about the edge of the countertops.  Did the cut edge look different, does it feel different from the top, etc.  Obviously, we went for a very basic, plain edge.  We didn't try any kind of bevel or rounding.  Once we sanded and oiled them, there was no noticeable difference between the edge and the top.  We applied oil to the edge, just like we did the top surface.

Almost everyone who walks into our kitchen for the first time lays their hand on the countertops and then asks "What kind of countertops are these???"  The look on their face when you tell them it's recycled paper is hilarious.  You would never guess it by looking at them or touching them!

Richlite Countertops - Part 1

In our search for the right countertop material for our kitchen, we quickly got frustrated with the available options.  We liked the look of honed granite, soapstone, and concrete.  We simply couldn't justify the price of the granite or soapstone, knowing we could spend that money somewhere else in the house.  We were scared of the weight of concrete countertops, as we would be covering a large area and we just weren't too sure how much weight would be safe.  We started looking into less popular options and ran across Paperstone and Richlite, both eco-friendly options, which we liked.

Unfortunately, we had a lot of trouble finding anyone local who was selling either product.  There weren't a lot of online reviews about them, either.  We finally tracked down the owner of a green building supply shop that had recently closed.  He let us into his warehouse one Saturday and we dug through boxes until we found some samples of the products.  It wasn't a lot to go on, but it was somewhat reassuring to finally have something you could actually touch instead of just looking at pictures on a website.

Both products are very similiar, but we decided that we preferred the feel of the Richlite and the color variation that it offered.  We knew we wanted a darker color and the black Paperstone seemed almost rubbery.  We eventually bit the bullet and decided on the Richlite in Chocolate Glacier.  You can read the details on the company website, but Richlite is basically paper that is mixed with resin to create the countertop material.  It cuts similar to MDF and you can route the edge for a decorative finish, if you wish.  The price was much more reasonable than granite or soapstone and the fact that we could cut it and install it ourselves was very appealing.

Even though things were looking up and we felt good about our decision, you should know that there are some additional challenges we faced with the Richlite.  The availability was difficult for us, as we didn't have a local dealer.  We had to order direct from the manufacturer.  Because we aren't certified installers, we had to pay about $100 for a training guide that explained how to work with the product.  They seem to be most concerned with the seaming process.  We had to seam together two small pieces of Richlite and send them back in to the manufacturer, in order to show that we weren't going to make their product look junky.  :)  We also had to purchase special saw blades for the product and it wasn't exactly as easy to cut as regular ol' MDF.  Still for the price and look that it gave us, we would do it again!

The Richlite arrived in very large slabs.  We had some choices on the sizes that were available, so we tried to get pieces that would work for our space with as few seams as possible.  I admit, when it first arrived, it was kind of scary.  It looks very chalky and dull with a lot of scratches and imperfections.  But, I just kept reminding myself that it would look better once it was in and we sanded and oiled it.  Just to be clear, we knew from the beginning that it WOULD scratch and develop a worn patina.  We were 100% okay with that.  It just takes some getting used to when it's very different from your typical countertop.

After lots and lots of careful measurements, we cut out cardboard templates to fit on top of our kitchen cabinets.  Those were carefully taped on and we got ready to start cutting out for the stove and sink.

We used blue painter's tape to help keep a smooth, straight line.  Notice my father in law's mask.  This stuff puts off A LOT of nasty dust when cut and sanded.  You definitely need a mask and I recommend doing this outside, if possible.  Make sure you use a new, sharp saw blade and if you're cutting a lot, you may need to have an extra on hand.  It dulled our blades fairly quickly.

After a thorough sanding to smooth everything out, we started laying it in place.

The area that you're looking at in this photo is the only big seam we had to contend with.  We were able to match the others up with our stove, so it wasn't very noticeable.  We opted to just keep our seam perpendicular, rather than at a 45 degree angle.  It works out well in this small corner and there was no need to make it more complicated.

You'll notice that it really doesn't look very brown in these pictures.  I'll share more photos in the next post that show the countertop after it has been oiled.  The color darkens and becomes much richer.  Check back in to see how it all turns out!

Our Wood Floor

After investigating our options and searching for a wood floor that has a worn, reclaimed look, we decided that we weren't happy with the new products that were meant to look old.  We wanted something with more character that wasn't so uniform looking.

We stalked the Elmwood Reclaimed Timber website for a while, drooling over the choices.  I especially liked their Virtual Showroom that gave you a better idea of what the product might look like in your home.  We finally called and ordered some samples.  They arrived quickly and we began playing with them.  We sanded them and tried out different polyurethane/stain/sealer choices to see how they would look.  We were pretty set on the Reclaimed Barn Wood Flooring in Natural Hardwoods and it didn't hurt that it was in the sale section.  I was still nervous about making this big purchase over the phone/internet without actually seeing the product in person.  The salespeople at Elmwood were very helpful and let me order 10 square feet first.  Once I had that, I set it up in our garage and walked around on it and looked at it in different light to make sure I was in love.  I'm so glad we did that because it really sealed the deal for us.  The wood was a lot rougher than we anticipated, but it just meant that we would be doing some extra sanding to prep the floors.

In early December, we went on a family vacation to Disney World for a week.  The timing worked out that our trim carpenter laid the floor for us while we were gone.  It was a lot of fun to come home to a new wood floor!  He texted us some pics while we were on vacation and it just made me want to see it in person even more!

 

As soon as we got home, the next order of business was sanding and finishing the floor.  We rented a floor sander and lightly sanded the entire thing.  We vacuumed the worst of the dust and then went back over the extra rough spots.  We didn't want to take too much off the wood.  After all, we wanted a lot of character.  We tried to just knock down the spots that would catch on your socks or were so unlevel that little feet might trip on them.

We then vacuumed A LOT and let the dust settle overnight.

The next morning, we vacuumed again and then went over the floor with a light coat of VM&P Naphtha, at the recommendation of our house painters.  That picked up the remaining dust and residue.

 

After taping off all the edges, we broke out the floor polyurethane.  We used a brush around the edges and a floor applicator on a handle for the rest.   The key was to use a really light coat.  We used the brush to get down into all of the cracks and crevices.

 

The initial color change was unbelievable.  This was just floor polyurethane, no stain or color involved.  After the first coat dried, we did a second coat, let it dry, and then spot sanded a few places.  We did a third final coat and we were finished!

 After pulling up all the tape and doing a few touchups here and there, I'm really happy with it.  I know it's not for everyone, but I love it.  It's very rough, as far as floors go, it's uneven, there are knotholes and sawmarks and dents and scratches.  But, I think it's perfect for us.  As my kids drop things on the floor and we put our own wear marks on it, it's only going to add to it's beauty.

It's definitely the first thing people notice when they come in our house.  My girls love to tell people that it used to be a floor in a barn and there were probably animals walking on it.  :)

Pizza Oven

It's no surprise that we love to cook.  We decided at the very beginning that we were going to spend our money on our kitchen.  The house was designed to be centered around the kitchen.  We knew that we would be spending the vast majority of our waking hours in or around the kitchen.

Ryan began talking about the idea of a wood burning pizza oven very early on.  He played with the idea of doing something outdoors, but when you consider our Indiana weather, indoors just made more sense.  It definitely wasn't the easier choice, but it did make more sense.

He spent a lot of time doing research.  He read numerous books, countless websites, and got on the phone and started calling people.  It seemed like most of the companies were based out of California, or other warm weather climates.  People agreed that it could be done, but it would take more work.  He finally settled on an oven from Wildwood Ovens and got busy planning.

With the help of his dad, Ryan spent many hours on the construction and ventilation of the the actual oven.  Maybe one day, I will convince him to share the process here.  After the frame, the oven, and the ventilation were all in place, the framing went around it and it was time for masonry!

We had admired old crumbling buildings and restaurants with exposed brick walls, but we weren't sure how to recreate that look.  We found some brick veneer products that looked pretty good, but they were pricy.  We finally inquired at our local building supply yard about using actual reclaimed brick.  They did have some, but were fairly negative about using it.  The salesman discouraged us because a lot of the bricks tend to be damaged and broken.  You have to buy a whole pallet, so you can't be exactly sure what you're going to get.  We went out into the yard and looked at them anyway.  They were exactly what we wanted!

You just can't get that look with reproduction materials.  Yes, some were broken and chipped.  Yes, they had old paint and mortar still stuck to them.  Perfect!

Throughout our building process, people either got our vision right away or they never did.  This was definitely an example of that.  We discovered that if we were working with a salesperson or contractor who didn't get it, we were all better off if we moved on.

When the day finally came for the masons to brick in the pizza oven, we ran into the same problem.  They looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I wanted it to look old and falling apart.  Luckily, I had some pictures on my phone of some inspiration walls.

We framed in a box area near the bottom of the wall for wood storage later on.

 It was really difficult for the mason.  He just kept looking at it and shaking his head.  :)  Basically, when he laid the brick onto the mortar, he never went back and scraped anything off or wiped it clean.  It is overgrouted and uneven and the reclaimed bricks look right at home.

Even though the bricklayers weren't too happy with it, I absolutely love it!  So far, we've had a couple of fires in the oven to season it.  I can't wait to actually make some pizza! 

Getting Stoned

Soon after the reclaimed barn siding started going up, our masons started on the exterior stone.  In our quest to use local materials, we scoped out many possibilities for the stone, but ultimately decided on Rush County Rubble.  We liked the color variation it had, including some darker pieces with a little black.

We were able to save quite a bit of money by going directly to the quarry for the stone.  It was mined only a couple of counties away from us, only about a 30 minute drive.  Of course, it helps that we have access to dump trucks that the average person might not have.  However, even if you hired an hourly dump truck, it still would have been cheaper than buying the materials from a stone supplier.

Stone covered the exterior of the stairwell, right on the front of the house.

There's quite a bit on the walkout basement portion, underneath the pergola and deck.

And we used it to cover our chimney from the living room fireplace.

This was definitely one of the more exciting things to see happening.  Once the stone starting going up, you could really appreciate the differences and contrast between the three different materials.  It's always nice to be able to see the vision in your head come to life!

Reclaimed Barn Siding

Once we started bringing our beautiful barn wood home, it was time to figure out how to actually make it work on the exterior of our house.  Luckily, our framers were willing to work with us and our unconventional ideas.

They started cutting pieces of scrap wood and sticking them up for us to see.  We tried out a couple of different ways before we decided to do a combination of natural brown and the faded red.  In the previous post, I told you that all of the exterior boards had been painted a bright red more recently.  Luckily, the interior side of those boards had not been painted, so we could just flip those boards around and use the backside as the "good" side that would be showing. The boards were finished with a tongue and groove edge that allowed them to fit together nicely, no matter what side we wanted to show.

We asked the guys to use the different colored boards as randomly as possible, so it wouldn't look like we were making a pattern with the different colors.  It was a lot of work for the framers.  There was a LOT of trimming off damaged end pieces that they wouldn't have to deal with on new materials.  They were troopers and in the end, they agreed that it was worth it.

I can't wait to show you pictures of the completed exterior.  Maybe in a few months we'll even get some grass growing around here!

We Bought a Barn

From the very beginning of our home building experience, we had a very clear vision of what we wanted.  Luckily, Ryan and I were (for the most part) on the same page on the house decisions.  We knew we wanted to use a lot of reclaimed and salvaged materials, and when those were not available, we wanted to use local products as much as possible.

The idea surfaced very early on that we wanted the house to look like an old barn that had been added on to and converted to a home.  We played around with that idea in many different incarnations and tried to express that desire to our architect when forming the plans for the house.

We started keeping our eyes open for local barns that were falling down or in disrepair.  We put the word out to local farmers and friends of friends that we were in the market to buy a large amount of reclaimed barn wood.  We perused Craigslist and the classified ads in the newspaper.  We went on many "adventures" to scope out possibilities, but it seemed like we could never find the right one.  We determined that the amount of wood we would need was going to be quite a bit larger than most of the structures we were looking at.  Especially since many of them were already falling down and not all of the wood was usable due to prior damage.

It's fairly easy to find barnwood for a project like this, but we were being rather picky.  Many had been repainted too recently and didn't have the patina we were looking for.  Others were an odd color or the wood was not in good shape.  We found several that seemed perfect, but the price was too high for us.

We toyed with the idea of buying a barn and tearing it down ourselves, but ultimately decided that it would be worth it to hire a professional for the job.  We found a company with a location in Indiana that sells reclaimed wood for building projects.  We made the two hour trip to their office and checked it out.  The wood was beautiful, but it was expensive.  Ultimately, we decided that wasn't for us.  We then got in touch with a team of college students who tear down barns during the summer and resell the wood.  They gave us a couple of options to go look at.

At first glance, we weren't too keen on this barn.  The red paint looked too new.  It didn't have that time worn look that I wanted.

But, it was BIG.  This was a much larger barn than we'd seen before.  My cell phone pictures don't really capture it, but it was very tall and had a large side section that had been added on at some point.  The original structure was built in the 1890's and the inside wood was exactly what I wanted.  It had a beautiful worn finish and the old exterior was a faded red with beautiful wood peeking through.

The barn had sustained storm damage and it was going to cost over $50,000 to have it fixed properly.  The owners were instead choosing to have it torn down.  After doing a lot of measuring and figuring, we agreed to buy the barn, hoping that we could use all of the inside pieces to achieve what we wanted.  We also wanted the beams inside the barn to use in our house.

Here's what she looked like with about 75% of the wood taken off.  We ended up making multiple trips to go get the wood and bring it to the building site.  Our framers were ready to start working on the exterior before the barn was completely down, so we would take a trailer an hour north to the barn, load it up, and bring it back to the house so they could work while the rest was coming down.

Watching the tired, injured barn being transformed into something new was even more magical than I expected!

Beginnings of a House

I mentioned before that I was going to attempt to catch you up on our house building.  Since I wasn't able to keep up with blogging during the process, I'll give you the speed version so we can get to the good stuff quicker.  Because, in my opinion, the good stuff comes with all of the pretty details that finish it off.

 In June, we started off with digging the basement.

I think this was my girls' favorite part of the whole process.  They still like to remind me "Remember when the house was just a big hole?"

June and July were filled with framing and more framing.

The kitchen and living room.

Concrete floors were poured in the garage.

The view from the driveway.

The second story all framed.

Things really started feeling more house-like in August once windows started going in.  You could start to see the kitchen taking shape.  The sink will go underneath those three windows.

We got it under roof and it was time to start on the exterior.

Cement board went up on the sections that would be getting a board and batten treatment.

Trim pieces were cut down to make the strips for the board and batten.

A view of the front porch.


We actually chose three different exterior coverings for our house.  I'll share more of the other two in the next post!