kerry I'm in your boat too - I know people on this board hate what we did to our house, but it was so neglected when we bought it, so poorly "renovated" over the years preceding that we ended up basically starting over. The woodwork had been chewed by dogs in every room, so we had custom duplicates remilled (at $10/linear foot) to replace it. Not old growth wood, but better that what was there. The wiring was a hazard (you should have SEEN what we found POs had done with "wiring" when we started pulling it out.) The plumbing was a mess, had previously caused damage that was poorly fixed. There was no insulation. The plaster had been (poorly) replaced by drywall in half the home, and what was left came off in chunks when we tried to remove the wallpaper that was covering it. I could go on and on. Could we have saved some things? (new casing on this side of the door, original on the other?) Maybe, but in the big scheme it seemed futile. So everything we do we keep in mind the age of the house and what's appropriate, and seriously spend alot more money than necessary getting "right." (expensive custom millwork, etc. etc.) We are saving our windows, even though many don't work properly, some have rot, they all have lead paint, and we'll need custom storms along with the new weatherstripping. We looked in to doing custom wood sash kits (which you should look into b/c it will save your trim) but in the end decided that even though we're going to have to do it ourselves and it was going to be a major PITA, it was the best thing to do. In the end you have to do what's right for you - not everyone will agree. We all have different perspectives, and in mine we are doing the best we can to restore the glory of a home that had lost it for good long ago. It's not going to be original, but in the end it will be beautiful.

We used Original Waterlox, which is all we could find in our area. Had I been able to wait, I would have tried the satin for a few more coats. Thus, I can't speak to the level of sheen that might ultimately result on a purely Waterloxed floor. The Original has a pretty hard gloss to it. As is so often the case with DIY, we were utterly under the gun to get the floor done by moving time, so between that and our concern about splinters, we used an oil-based poly (Fabulon) for the final coat. It has held up beautifully -- even in the bathroom -- I contacted the Waterlox folks and they said they couldn't foresee a problem using an oil-based urethane over it (water-based might be a different matter?). Waterlox (regular and low VOC) does have an extremely penetrating odor, worse than regular poly, just FYI for planning purposes. You won't want to be inside with it for a few days.

Sorry millwork4u and marven and aidan_m and weedyacres: we have not been back for a spell trying to deal with everyone's input and our builder, who was away on Kauai while we waited for our permit changes to be approved. (Long story short: our cottage was bought by us and it was termite-infested. We tried to remove and replace bad wood ourselves but it was way beyond us. We tried numerous carpenters and others who were called builders. We knew we needed better help and hired a draftsman. He was unable to back up his own work when we asked him things like: will this roof be safe? Instead, always deferring us to 'your structural engineer', as though we had one, which we did not. We hired one and he was very shady and would not give us a firm estimate for his services, instead taking $100 cash from my wife when she met him at the property and disappearing never to return calls/emails. Frustrated with draftsman, I called several local architects I found in online yellow pages and one told me to contact my current builder. I did this and he proposed a builder/design 'package' where his father was draftsman and he builder. We visited one of his job sites and spoke to two of his references. He seemed earnest, young, willing to get his hands dirty, and affordable. He told us he had a HI contractor's license but to save us $s he'd knock 15% off the job if we were owner/builder instead of 'putting job on his license'. He poo poo'd the license thing as a technicality and we were too ignorant to know better. Since then we have discovered how stupid we are. In any event, he proposed a building envelope solution including rebuilding all decks, stairs, reframing house as 'double-wall' (was single-wall), new roof, new foundation, doors, windows, siding and paint: $28k labor + materials. It sounded reasonable to us. The photos shown in above threads are of the cottage after it was sided and windows/doors put in. The decking is a combination of a replacement of the old and some new. Since we first started with this builder things were weird. He took our money and then didn't show up for work until several days after he told us he would. He didn't do work, like he said he would, and instead hired it out to two other guys. He was never really on the job site much. But, the tear-down condition cottage was being transformed. The problems are many. He never shows up when he says he will and the word is done when we least expect it. Interior framing done in like a day with no discussion about the plans. Things that we could not easily change were hastily done without telling us in advance. The lack of flashing on the deck ledgers is an example of this. The first post or query about this man's work we have ever done is this thread. By the time I had posted it, we had agreed to expand the job from the original $28k to $53k to $59k. This was all done as progression after we saw one thing we'd add another. We agreed to almost all of this before I made this thread. Both my wife and I were unhappy with this man's 'bedside manner' but we didn't (and don't) think he is a vindictive or nasty person. Immature, a bit of a cheat, a liar yes. We have had our rage over his lack of communication and failure to meet expectations, but having had such difficulty even finding people who will do a day's work at all on this island has not been easy. One builder friend of ours, who is retired, warned us that "all contractors are thieves". We knew going into this there would be bumps, and there are many. Fast-forwarding to now. The wood supplier, Miyake Concrete, insists the hi-bor is pressure-treated and correct for our deck. I have read the PDF and see where it states the exact opposite. Our permit came though just over a week ago. Our builder was totally MIA the whole five weeks we had to stop work. We were furious that in all that time he could not spend any with us to plan. So, he is back on property rushing, laying off for days on end, then rushing again. My wife and I tried a new tactic when he met us the Saturday before the Monday he was to begin work, two weeks ago. She wanted to ask him about the workmanship that all of you have so kindly told us was not so hot. She told me to shut up and play the nice guy, so that she could press him and if he freaked out, it was my job to keep him from walking. Because he has our job structured in three phases, with some things done to varying degrees on each, and payments and material invested in all, it is very difficult for us to delineate where we stand and just 'stop' and fire him. I guess that's the reason for my long-winded post right now. For context. In any event: we were trying to put the screws to him about his work quality and material choice, while at the same time keep things from getting too nasty as we don't have an easy way to unravel this. (We estimate another two weeks before the house is enclosed and we are able to get a final bill and lien release.) Well it didn't go too well. When asked about the lack of flashing he told us much would be under roof and that flashing wasn't required. We read a PDF on deck building from decks.com that showed flashing as IBC required. Also, we read that 6x6 posts were required. He told us there was more than one way to build a deck and that he chose the method he had done and that he was insulted at my wife questioning him. She asked him if that meant she should just shut up and he backed own, but I have to confess it wasn't a good feeling sitting there as this guy told my wife how wrong she was for asking him about his work. When she pointed out the way the beams were nailed together he asked her, sarcastically, if she was complaining about the 'toenailing', and said this was common practice. In short, everything everyone said here he told us was wrong. We felt like to wet poodles after that meeting. We did not want to print this post out and throw it in his face because, honestly, we are afraid he will leave us with a yard full of lumber and a job 3/4 finished and no easy replacement help in sight. The predators will smell blood if we try to replace him, we think. Meanwhile, the work has continued and there is talk that he will put "L" flashing on the exposed part of the deck. We have paid him to enclose the other part of the deck, so it won't get ruined as a result of the lack of flashing there, we hope. (The enclosure is what we always wanted. He is doing it cheaply, and while we hate giving him and his father more of our money, his father redid the drawings and brought them into the county, and he has done the work seemingly well, although while abusing us in the process.) We just don't know what to do. On one hand, this are getting done and seem to look okay, on the other, it is a horrible relationship and the quality of the work we just don't know. You all have given us your best insights. We have tried to discuss them with our contractor. He has slapped me the entire way, and I am hardly proud of it. I just don't know what else to do but to get his portion of the job done asap and be rid of him. Yes, I know we gave him more work. My wife and I both hated to do it. But we would have wasted all the material and money for labor to put in railings and arbor in place of walls and roof. It was a difficult call.

I have the Loewen windows in my home and they are very beautiful and I'm sure you will love them too. The straight vertical grain of the douglas fir is exposed only on the surface that faces inward making the side profile surface of the same board face grain. This face grain is very similar to what you would find on flat-sawn oak or pine. Although my windows are cased in oak trim that has a face grain, it takes a very discernable eye to evaluate that the grain has flipped. To me, once stained and finished the whole window now appears to be of one species, in my case flat-sawn oak. It is my belief that given your cherry stain, a pine casing would work very well as a low cost solution. If something more upscale is your preference, I have worked with Frank Paxton Lumber Company in the past for lumber and custom mouldings. Many times depending on quantity needed, they might have in stock overruns of custom made moulding profiles in various species already or can manufacture what you require. Here is a link that might be useful: Frank Paxton Lumber Company