reclaimed building materials

Leave a comment Posted on reclaimed building materials, tiny house windows and doors

Tiny House Windows and Doors

In December I made a trip up to the Habitat Restore near Portsmouth, NH, and picked up three doors for the tiny house.* Here are two of them. During the coldest and snowiest New England winter in decades (we still have 3 feet of snow in our yard) I was glad I had a few inside projects I could complete!

Door.1

My door openings, in order to maximize my loft room, were cut down a few inches and thus I was able to use the excess to fill door knob holes, hardware cavities and scars.

Door renno

The non toxic finish I like to use is from EcoPaints; they have a variety of air pure, exterior products, varnishes and stains.

It was a challenge to sand, repair, paint and varnish my doors and windows in the small 3′ x 6′ area in the basement with a floor that floods every time it snow or rains. But I stuck with it. As soon as warmer weather and the melting of 3 feet of snow is upon us, out they go…

Doors.7

Bluwindows.2

*My large bay window found by the roadside broke, so the last large window in the back had to be custom ordered to fit the rough opening all ready in the Silver Bullet. Otherwise, the rest are reclaimed.

Leave a comment Posted on reclaimed building materials, Tiny House Color

Mixing Door and Window Colors

Colors.1In my Silver Bullet journal of the build I placed the formula for the custom mixed paint I am considering for my doors and windows. These are two of my favorite colors and affords me the opportunity to recycle my leftover studio materials.

Two courses I taught as a professor of art were  Color Theory 1 and 2 and The Alchemist’s Lens which explored color psychology, effects and techniques, chrome history, and the bastardization of materials or how not to play by the manufacturers rules by knowing more science than they do.

So, yes, I am painting over the exterior of my repurposed, found and purchased vinyl windows with a tested method (laborious, but the results are fantastic) that won’t crack, peel or require much maintenance. And my art studio storage unit is full of the perfect acrylic hues and polymers that will work.

As for my other reclaimed wooden windows and doors, that process is a bit more laborious. Now that I have some time during the snowstorms, frigid temps and injury recovery, I find the process quite meditative. Sand, repair, sand again, paint 3 thin layers of color with chinese brushes – sanding with sandpaper then fine steel wool between, varnish 3 layers of super spar-rubbed on only [after waiting 20 days to set]-sanding with sandpaper then fine steel wool between, then polish w/tiny amount of carnauba wax). Wicked labor intensive but hey, I can’t do any intense construction labor work with my injuries, but swathing a little paintbrush around won’t kill me!

Upperwindows.1

Upperwindows.3