Finishing, not finished. Yet. But soon. I hope! The icehouse main floor and staircase are slinking slowly toward completion. Sashaying? No. Sauntering. Slowly sauntering. But at last I can say that we’re finishing the floor and the staircase in Rosslyn’s icehouse.
Finishing Floor (Photo: Geo Davis)
We’ve been using Safecoat® Polyureseal BP to seal our hardwood floors for about twenty years. It’s an almost zero VOC alternative to conventional polyurethanes, and it performs really well. For the mixed species, ash and elm, variable with flooring we’re applying six coats with light, fine grit sanding in between coats. We’re not done yet, but the photo above captures the unique character of this homegrown, stump-to-floor hardwood, revealed and enhanced in no small part by the Polyureseal BP. Tony has been responsible for sealing all of the floors in the icehouse including the downstairs ash and elm, and the upstairs beach. Thanks, Tony. Almost done!
Near the top edge of the photograph above, you can catch a glimpse of the last section of the staircase to be completed. Let’s take a closer look.
Finishing Staircase (Photo: Geo Davis)
Supi has recently finished installing the T&G nickel gap paneling. Glen has been following with the paint brush. And Peter is working on the trims, cabinet doors (left), and the bookshelf (right). Home stretch! Well, except for the railings and balusters…Back on February 14, 2023 I was assured by a cabinetry carpenter named Bernie that tackling the banister (+/-2 weeks) and staircase railings would be “a piece of pie”. Unfortunately it’s proven to be a very slooow pie preparation. Hopefully we’ll see the cabinets and railing soon.
This morning we spotted another nonvenomous Eastern Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum). While gathering limestone for the small stone walls that will delineate sloped flowerbeds behind Rosslyn’s icehouse, Tony discovered this youngster under a pile of rocks. Startled but gentle, this colorfully mottled snake seemed as perplexed by the two of us — and the tractor idling next to us — as we were intrigued with him/her.
Tony with Eastern Milksnake (Photo: Geo Davis)
After a quick look, Tony tucked the snake into a cozy pile of wood chips to ensure its safety while we were operating the tractor nearby.
Judging by color and markings, the Y-pattern on its head, as well as the head and tail shapes, I’m pretty confident that this… [is an Eastern Milksnake.] (Source: Milksnake?)
Tony with Eastern Milksnake (Photo: Geo Davis)
Almost fifteen years after that first rhubarb patch encounter with an unfamiliar snake, it’s exciting to be encountering and recognizing Eastern Milksnakes thriving on Rosslyn’s grounds. And it’s further evidence that our rewilding efforts in Rosslyn’s evolving wildlife sanctuary are enlivening a small stretch of the Adirondack Coast with wild neighbors.
I’ve been keeping a little secret. And I’m not quite ready to spill the beans, not 100% at least. That will happen soon enough in a post chronicling the concept-through-construction of a mixed species (ash and elm) “bistro table” built by Ron Bauer this spring. Anticipation is half the pleasure! Until then, today’s post is a sneak peek into the process of tung oiling the ash and elm centerpiece of the main room.
Given the diminutive scale of Rosslyn’s icehouse, each ingredient, design detail, furnishing, and decoration is important and demands intention. A single, small table designed in collaboration with Ron — with whom we’ve teamed up on multiple past projects, from hand turned bowls and custom cutting boards to tables, desks, and builtins — and impeccably crafted by Ron is now receiving 8 to 12 hand applied coats of tung oil, courtesy of Tony Foster.
Tony Sanding Underside of Ash & Elm Table (Photo: Geo Davis)
In the photo above Tony is sanding the table’s underside, skirt, joinery, and legs with ultra fine (1500 grit) sand paper to remove any hour joint irregularities, etc. And in the phot below he’s begun to hand rub (maybe massage is more accurate) the tung oil deep into the ash and elm grain, ensuring total coverage without over-applying, and working strictly with the grain direction.
Tony Tung Oiling Ash & Elm Table (Photo: Geo Davis)
Comparing the middle underside and and breadboards to the legs, skirt, and near underside offers an accurate contrast between pre-oil and post-oil.
Prior to diving in I double checked with my brother, Charlie. He’s a seasoned woodworker, and he’s never once lead me astray when it comes to appropriate joinery, finishing, etc. In this case I asked if my instinct to eschew linseed for tung oiling made sense to him.
For the ash, definitely tung oil, I would think. Could even richen the color hues a little. Tung oil is pretty straightforward: the more coats, the better the finish. Wipe it on, wait until just tacky, and rub it off. Use plenty of cloths. And throw them in water when you’re done to avoid fire.
[Linseed]… is less luminescent, by itself. Though if you cut it with mineral spirits and add a polyurethane, you get an oil-like finish with waterproof properties of poly… Linseed oil can discolor paler woods (like ash) making them yellow. — Charlie Davis
It’s always reassuring to have his weigh-in, and the focus and determination that Tony’s bringing to this project inspire plenty of confidence.
Tony Tung Oiling Ash & Elm Table (Photo: Geo Davis)
After months of icehouse rehabilitation, this door is no longer needed. But it still has plenty of life left in it. Given Tony’s commitment to this project since day one, it feels especially appropriate that he’ll be able to re-home this ready-to-hang door. Architectural salvage with an individualized backstory!
Re-Homing & Reusing
Baked into the icehouse rehab (and sooo much of our +/-17 year love affair with Rosslyn) is the inclination to salvage and rehabilitate, to recycle and upcycle, to repurpose and reuse. Whether the old piano we discovered in the carriage barn or the stone cistern/cesspool that was disinterred during replanting of an evergreen hedge last summer, we’ve been keen to reimagine obsolete and abandoned artifacts in new, useful ways.
Do you remember this?
We’re hoping to “re-home” our AMT 626 John Deere “truckling”… While… a reliable workhorse since, well, since forever (1990-ish, maybe?!?!) it’s old enough that we’re not feeling like a sale is the right option. We’re less interested in trading it for your hard earned loot and more interested in finding the best next chapter for this handsome beast of burden. Who can offer the most idyllic retirement (gentle work, lots of love, and maybe a nice nickname?) for this decades’ old John Deere? (Source: Re-Homing John Deere AMT 626)
Here’s a quick attempt to explain one of the many inclinations for our reuse commitment.
So much of our good fortune as Rosslyn’s stewards has been inherited from generations before us. Responsible ownership, conscientious preservation, and magnanimous spirits account for the life we’ve enjoyed on this property. We endeavor to follow in that tradition… (Source: Re-Homing John Deere AMT 626)
In other words, Rosslyn has tutored us in the merits of conservation and preservation, rehabilitation and reinvention, generosity and sharing. That this temporary means to secure and insulate access during our icehouse rehab will now be re-employed year round at Tony’s home is an apt destiny for this door.
More Re-Homing Soon…
Please note that I will be announcing additional re-homing opportunities in the weeks and months ahead. Are you interested?
Holistic Orcharding: Kaolin Clay (Photo: Tony Foster)
Kudos to Tony Foster for completing the first kaolin clay treatment in the orchard. Spraying Rosslyn’s fruit trees with kaolin clay is part of our nontoxic, organic, holistic orcharding regimen. It’s an effective way to reduce plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) larvae and European apple sawfly (Hoplocampa testudinea) larvae without resorting to toxic pesticides.
Here’s the scoop from holistic orcharding guru, Michael Phillips.
We deal with two “petal-fall pests” in the eastern half of the United States… Plum curculio larvae get their start in a crescent-like scar the female weevil makes to prevent the growing fruitlet from crushing her egg; European apple sawfly larvae first scratch the surface of a pea-sized fruitlet, and then go on to eat the seeds in another three or four fruitlets… Those petal-fall pests… can be held effectively in check with a nontoxic white clay covering applied over the entire surface of the tree. The kaolin clay panicles confuse the insect adults and prove incredibly irritating… Application begins as the blossoms start to fall and needs to be thorough. It takes two or three initial sprays to build up a thick enough base to repel these insects. Renew the clay weekly for the next month. (Source: Holistic Orcharding: Michael Phillips)
Sure, spraying kaolin clay onto the trees creates a curious camouflage look, but it’s proven quite an effective deterrent.
Holistic Orcharding: Kaolin Clay (Photo: Tony Foster)
And, given that the alternative, fruit marred with plum curculio larvae and European apple sawfly larvae isn’t particularly pleasant, we’ve found that several coatings of white kaolin clay early in the fruiting season is a super solution.
Holistic Orcharding: Kaolin Clay (Photo: Tony Foster)
Thank you, Tony, for following up installation of the Tanglefoot wraps with round one of kaolin clay spraying. Round two as soon as the rain begins to diminish the white mottling…
Eureka! After many months of brainstorming, experimentation, painstakingly protracted preparation, troubleshooting, oiling, and meticulous installation, the garapa paneling in Rosslyn’s icehouse bathroom is complete. What a remarkable journey it’s been, and the final results are breathtaking.
Wayne Oiling Deck in 2009 (Photo: Geo Davis)
Garapa Backstory
Our garapa backstory has its beginning waaayyy back when we built the original garapa deck on the west side of Rosslyn’s ell.
Let’s start by rewinding the timeline to 2008-9. Building the new deck and installing garapa decking was the proverbial caboose in a virtually endless train of construction that started in the summer of 2006. (Source: Garapa Decking 2008-2009)
A touch melodramatic, but the metaphor was (and is) 100% appropriate. It was nothing short of triumphant to finally complete the deck, a real and symbolic final frontier between construction site and comfortable home. It was a much anticipated extension of our indoor living space, a convenient way to access three entrances to the home, and a private exterior zone to dine and relax and entertain.
Carley & Bentley on Old Deck (Photo: Geo Davis)
Fast forward a couple of years, and the triumph began to tarnish.
Long story short, the original deck failed. Not the garapa decking which performed admirably year-after-year. But the substructure.
[…]
Rather than dwelling on the achilles heal that lamentably undermined the integrity of three critical substructures — Rosslyn’s house deck, boathouse gangway, and waterfront stairs — I’ll just say that all three experienced premature decay and rot of the structural lumber…
[…]
Because the substructures began rotting virtually immediately after construction, we spent a decade and a half chasing the problem, scabbing in new lumber, etc. But within the last few years the failure was beginning to outpace our ability to provide bandaids and we scheduled replacement. (Source: Deck Rebuild)
Carley Overseeing Demo of Old Deck (Photo: Geo Davis)
Eric Crowningshield’s team deconstructed much of the deck during the late spring of 2022. When Hroth Ottosen and David McCabe joined them at the beginning of the summer they determined that it was necessary to fully replace rather than repair the existing deck.
Old Deck Demolition (Photo: Geo Davis)
The deconstructed garapa was separated from the structural demolition debris, the highest grade (ergo most salvageable) material was graded, and the best preserved and most character-rich garapa was stored for repurposing in the icehouse rehab project. Then began a lengthy, painstaking upcycling journey.
We’ve been upcycling garapa decking from Rosslyn’s 2008-9 deck that we salvaged and laid aside this past summer. Spanning half a year so far — from deconstructing and culling reusable material midsummer to multiple experiments determining optimal dimensions for adaptive reuse as bathroom paneling — we’re now scaling up production and the results are impressive. (Source: Upcycling Garapa Decking)
By “multiple experiments” I mean empirically evaluating the most aesthetically pleasing, most practical, most installable, and most structurally durable form for the Garapa decking-turned-paneling. Yes, that’s a lot of *mosts* to undertake, but it’s not even the full scope of the challenge.
In addition to devising a perfect product, we needed to coordinate an upcycling process that could be undertaken successfully on site. No loading, trucking, unloading, offsite milling and finishing, reloading, trucking, unloading, storing, etc. It might have been more affordable, and it certainly would’ve been less time consuming, to outsource this project. But that would’ve shifted several variables:
Increasing carbon inputs would have been inconsistent with our reuse objectives.
Transferring oversight to a third party would have reduced our design supervision (while necessitating excess production to ensure sufficient quality during installation.)
Undertaking the upcycling process at Rosslyn allowed for agility and flexibility during the fabrication process, enabling the team to repeatedly test samples in the icehouse, catching small details that might otherwise have been discovered too late, making small alterations, etc.
And despite the inevitable strain (as well as the potential for setbacks) that crept into the equation by committing to on-site fabrication, tackling this challenge in house ensured maximum creative control, significant learning opportunities, rewarding problem solving scenarios, a personalized sense of ownership for those who participated in this project, and a heightened sense of accomplishment upon completion.
In short, upcycling our old garapa deck into the paneling that now distinguishes our icehouse bathroom was a vital, integral component of this adaptive reuse adventure. It was important to me that our team of makers and re-makers have the opportunity to invest themselves fully in this rehabilitation project, that each individual who verily toiled and trusted our vision experience a profound pride of ownership and accomplishment, and that the hyperlocal DNA of this two century old property be honored by favoring ingenuity and endurance over convenience.
From the outset several were intrigued with the potential for this salvaged lumber.
Hroth was an especially good sport, planing board after board and trimming the edges to determine what would work best. (Source: Upcycling Garapa Decking)
Upcycling Garapa (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
As the wear and tear of a decade and a half— heavy foot traffic, enthusiastic labrador retrievers, hardy North Country winters, group grilling and furniture dragging, wine spills and miscellaneous mementos from lots and lots of living — was gradually milled away, the garapa’s handsome heart began to re-emerge.
We have begun re-milling and re-planing garapa decking salvaged from Rosslyn’s summer 2022 deck rebuild. These sample boards are among the many weathered specimens carefully removed this spring and summer prior to rebuilding Rosslyn’s deck substructure and re-decking with new garapa. Hroth’s patient exploratory experimentation is the first phase in our effort to adaptively reuse this character-rich material in the icehouse. (Source: Upcycling Decking Debris)
At last, Hroth perfected the prototype. He then developed a process, a repeatable protocol, for which we could standardize the results primarily relying upon a tablesaw and bench planer. Then he taught Tony how to reproduce the same results in sufficient quantity to panel the still unframed icehouse bathroom.
Tony Upcycling Garapa Decking (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
Tony is beavering away industriously… upcycling garapa decking into pristine planks for paneling.
[…]
It’s a slow and painstaking process that demands plenty of patience and focus, but… transforming debris into beautiful finish paneling will prove rewarding, for sure… Tony is even beginning to appreciate what magnificence he is bringing into existence. (Source: Upcycling Garapa Decking)
And so began a winter quest to reinvent debris as functional design-decor.
Time for a progress report on the garapa paneling that will soon embellish the icehouse bathroom. We started out gently easing the edges, but several iterations later we’ve settled on a full roundover. (Source: Garapa Roundover: Easing the Edge)
Months into this painstaking re-manufacturing process, several others had helped Tony from time to time, but there was no illusion. Tony had taken ownership of the garapa upcycling quest!
I joke with Tony that he’s investing lots of love into transforming this material. From debris to centerpiece… he’s literally been working and reworking [this upcycled garapa] since last September or October. That’s a LOT of love! (Source: Garapa Roundover: Easing the Edge)
By late winter Tony had finished planing (down to 9/16”) and dimensioning (down to 4”) the garapa decking. At almost a thousand linear feet we paused and reevaluated the quantity to be certain we would have sufficient usable material for the entire interior of the icehouse bathroom (walls, niche, and mechanical room door).
We revisited options for joining the paneling. To be fastened horizontally to the studs with concealed fasteners, joining the boards would be an important way to stabilize and visually address the gaps between boards. We considered tight lap joints and nickel gap lap joints, eventually settling on a nickel gap T&G type joint. But how best to accomplish this?
Peter’s solution for the ash and elm flooring seemed like our best option for the garapa paneling. We would create garapa splines that would fit into grooves in the sides of the paneling boards. If expansion and contraction (think visible gaps, between boards, etc.) weren’t an issue it might have been viable to just but the boards up against each other. But it’s a bathroom, so fluctuating humidity levels definitely needed to be factored into the equation. The splined joint would be a perfect solution.
And finally there was the question of edging. I wanted to ease the edges just enough to accentuate horizontal shadow lines (which stylistically echo the T&G nickel gap in the rest of interior) while deemphasizing dimensional disparity between boards. So a router joined the production protocol as Tony uniformly finished the visible edges of the paneling.
Garapa Edge Profiles v2.0 (Photo: Geo Davis)
And then there was the final step, oiling the garapa. As often, we turned to Bioshield Hard Oil for a hand rubbed, ecologically responsible finish. Eric’s team tackled the oiling, and the photo above gives you a preview of the garapa, edged and oiled. This was the final sample that we greenlighted before installation began.
And, for just a little longer, I’ll keep you in suspense before I share photos of the now completed garapa installation. Remember, anticipation is half the pleasure!
Installation of Garapa Paneling
I’ve dividing this monumental update into two posts to fairly review and showcase a project that has taken the better part of a year from beginning to finish. Thanks for your patience. I promise you that the photos you’ll witness soon, the finished bathroom paneling, will be worth the wait.
With the high tunnel prepped and heating up and a variety of organic veggie seedlings maturing, we just might be able to jumpstart garden planting by a month.
Transplant Tomatoes Soon? (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
We have been fortunate this year to have help getting our vegetable plant seedlings underway from the Amish family up the road who helps us with so many outdoor activities at Rosslyn, from Aimee Baker who started growing for us last year, and from Pam Murphy who manages projects like this for us on the property.
Transplant Peppers Soon? (Photo: Aimee Baker)
So we have all sorts of healthy young organic vegetable plants, thriving and approaching the point when they can safely be transplanted. Here’s the most recent update from Aimee.
I’ve been putting them in greenhouse during day, bringing them in at night… next week is looking fantastic temperature wise. But I have a few more to transplant. I’m the next couple weeks they’ll really take off! I figure more towards 3rd week they should be doing well enough and hardened enough to get some into ground. The peppers may take a little longer as they take a little more time to take off and harden, I’m figuring an extra week so end of April they’ll be good to go. –Aimee Baker
With temperatures improving, there’s a fairly good chance. We will begin to get things seated in the next week or two. And possibly transplants in mid/late May… Stay tuned!
The high tunnel is now officially planted for the 2023 growing season. Hurrah! And the first plants in the ground are a pair of Green Zebra tomatoes (aka “Green Zebras”), a personal favorite that boast tart flavor, unique color, exotic pattern, and a tendency to ripen early. Win, win, win, win!
Green Zebras 1st in High Tunnel (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
This will be our second season high tunneling, but it’s our first opportunity to jumpstart planting (by about two weeks). Last year we received the high tunnel shipment damaged and missing parts. It took most of the spring to receive the missing and replacement parts, so we forfeited the benefits we’re hoping for this year.
High Tunnel Almost Ready for Planting (Photo: Tony Foster)
We kept the high tunnel covered all winter which accelerated warming of the ground over the last couple of months. Tony has been pampering the soil: supplementing with composted manure and other organics, tilling, and preparing beds.
Tony has done a remarkable job of preparing the high tunnel for early season planting. And check out that solar gain on a freezing day! (Source: Synchronous Progress)
Pam has already planted the first succession of spinach and French breakfast radishes, but those are in raised beds outside the high tunnel. I’m hoping to see signs of germination soon. And the asparagus bed should be waking up any day now. But these precursors to summer invite heady hopes for a robust early bounty, especially tomatoes, the crown jewel of our vegetable garden. So we’re tempting fate by leapfrogging the typical Mother’s Day planting date, crossing our fingers, and imagining tomatoes by the 4th of July. We’ll observe these two vanguard tomato plants and — if they thrive (or at least survive) — we’ll progressively transplant more over the coming days. With luck others (eggplant, tomatillo, peppers, broccoli, cucumbers, etc.) will join them soon.
Here’s willing juicy tomatoes by (of before?!?!) Independence Day!
We’ve bookended our concrete work for the icehouse rehab with last autumn’s foundation and slab and concluding with a concrete slab finale for the hot tub and the mini split. And I am going to let the photos. Tell the story since today’s post is best narrated with a photo essay. But first we celebrate the remarkable ability and agility of this team. I am repeatedly impressed with the breadth of skills, the depth of energy, and the capacity to adapt to perennially evolving circumstances.
Despite the end, timely hospitalization of Peter, the lead on this project, just as these two slabs floated to the top of our calendar, Supi, Calvin, Tony, and Pam took the baton and ran with it. With no time to lose, and a concrete truck on the way they adapted and delivered perfection. As so often, I am proud, proud, proud!
Hot Tub Concrete Slab
For the sake of streamlining this post, I am going to divide today’s work into two separate photo essays. This first will showcase the more ambitious of the two slabs, which is integrated into the icehouse deck, and will support the hot tub.
Concrete Truck Arrives (Photo: R.P. Murphy)Supi and Calvin Pull Concrete for Hot Tub Slab (Photo: R.P. Murphy)Supi, Calvin, and Tony Pull Concrete for Hot Tub Slab (Photo: R.P. Murphy)Supi and Calvin Level Hot Tub Slab as Tony Pulls Concrete (Photo: R.P. Murphy)Supi Screeds Hot Tub Slab (Photo: R.P. Murphy)Supi Floating and Edging Hot Tub Slab (Photo: R.P. Murphy)Hot tub Slab Slab Cured and Stripped (Photo: R.P. Murphy)Hot tub Slab Slab Cured and Stripped (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
That slab is ready for a hot tub. Thank you also to Brandon who installed the electrical prior to the concrete pour. Almost time to launch!
Mini Split Concrete Slab
The smaller, but no less essential slab is actually an extension of the one already supporting our generator. It will be the home of a condenser/compressor for the new mini split in the icehouse.
Tony Fills Concrete Form for Mini Split Slab (Photo: R.P. Murphy)Leveling Concrete for Mini Split Slab (Photo: R.P. Murphy)Pam Leveling Concrete for Mini Split Slab (Photo: Tony Foster)Mini Split Slab Swept and Edged (Photo: R.P. Murphy)Mini Split Slab Cured and Stripped (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
Thank you, Pam, Tony, Supi, and Calvin. You all surprise and impress us again and again. Congratulations and thank you.
Exciting update from one of Rosslyn’s wildlife cameras when I awoke this morning. Not sure why, but I always get especially enthused when we document a Bobcat. The sequence of three images captured at 2:29am appears to be the same bobcat we photographed a few months ago. Still healthy. Strong. Well fed.
Bobcat, May 10, 2023 (Photo: Rosslyn Wildlife Camera)
I’m struck by the fact that we capture bobcat photos and witness bobcat tracks, but I’ve never actually come across a bobcat at Rosslyn. Elsewhere, yes. But it would seem that our Lynx rufus representatives are especially stealthy, keen to avoid human encounters. Susan prefers it that way. But these photos do incite a persistent yen to meet — safely, respectfully — one of these regal neighbors some day.
Bobcat, May 10, 2023 (Photo: Rosslyn Wildlife Camera)
Thank you, John Davis (@wildwaystrekker) and Tony Foster (@anthonyfoster335), for siting and creating this trail last winter. Susan and I thoroughly enjoyed our cross-country skiing outings on thus new loop back in February and March. And it’s abundantly clear that our wild neighbors are fans as well!
Bobcat, May 10, 2023 (Photo: Rosslyn Wildlife Camera)
In this third photograph a small sapling appears to have sprouted along the downhill side of the trail. Do you see it camouflaging the front legs of the bobcat? It took me a moment to determine that’s what I was seeing. The disparity between the stout forward striding front leg and the strong but slender rear extended front leg — likely an incongruity exaggerated by the angle more than actual physiological discrepancy — initially drew my attention. But the darker mottling, especially on the forward leg, perplexed me. An injury? Atypical fur patterning? A skull and crossbones stocking?!?!
April showers bring spring aeration. Soggy conditions May not make for the postcard perfect moments conjured by the imagination, but they certainly make for more efficient lawn maintenance. Powerful core drills sink into the supple soil pulling earthy plugs up onto the surface where they will dissolve in the coming days. And perforated ground improves air circulation which fortifies root growth, holistically invigorating the health of the turf.
In keeping with our holistic approach to gardening, orcharding, and landscaping, we’ve come to rely upon… [aeration] to ensure robust lawns. Experience has shown us that a healthy diet of organic fertilizer, zero pesticide, and aeration nurtures not only an attractive ground cover, but a resilient heterogenous sod that rebounds quickly after drought, etc. (Source: Autumn Aeration – Rosslyn Redux)
After Aerating Lawn at ADK Oasis Lakeside (Source: Tony Foster)
In the photograph above Tony Foster captured a “portrait” of the lawn aerator (DR Power) posing proudly in front of ADK Oasis Lakeside. He had just completed spring aeration of all three properties, marking another noteworthy accomplishment. Hurrah, Tony! Thank you.
Holistic Lawn Care
Upon arriving at Susan’s parents’ home in Montclair, New Jersey one afternoon about a decade ago we found the lawn perimeter marked with small “Beware poison!” flags.
A passionate but shortlived skirmish about lawn pesticides later my bride and my mother-in-law yielded in deténte. Susan reminded her mother that we’ve never once used pesticides at Rosslyn. Shirley countered, “And that’s why your lawn’s covered in weeds!” I guess that they both one?
The fact of the matter is that our holistic approach to lawn care — from fall and spring aeration to biennial organic fertilizer (mostly bat guano), from hand weeding thistles and any other especially disagreeable invaders to resisting the urge to trim grass super close to the ground — have gradually evolved our lawns into a robust heterogeneous turf that feels comfortable underfoot, appears pleasant to the eye, endures and/or rebounds from fluctuations in weather conditions, and requires no irrigation or synthetic supplements.
Yep, that was a hypoxic run-on sentence bristling with braggadocio. Apologies!
Long story short, holistic gardening works. Especially when the inimitable Tony Foster is piloting the aerator!
Time for a progress report on the garapa paneling that will soon embellish the icehouse bathroom. We started out gently easing the edges, but several iterations later we’ve settled on a full roundover. Here’s why…
Garapa Edge Profiles v1.0 (Photo: Geo Davis)
Roundover Rewind
Because the garapa upcycling backstory helps illuminate the decision to edge these boards with a diminutive roundover, let’s rewind the time machine. The garapa we’ll be installing in the icehouse bathroom as paneling began service at Rosslyn back in 2008 as decking, and it served admirably for almost a decade and a half, enduring summer feasts and foot stomping fêtes, winter snow and ice, and all manner of wear-and-tear. Last summer we deconstructed the deck, not because it was failing, but because the TimberSIL substructure was kaput.
Grading Garapa for Upcycling (Photo: Tony Foster)
After dismantling the old deck we sorted out the best garapa decking boards for upcycling; “cherry picked” and inventoried the best-of-the-best material to ensure sufficient linear footage for adaptive reuse in the icehouse; and then began the painstaking process of trimming, re-dimensioning, planing, and grooving the edges that will be conjoined with garapa splines during installation.
A little over a month ago Peter experimented with several profiles. He started by just barely breaking/easing the edge two ways: sand paper and a single pass with a hand plane at 45°. Too subtle. He eased slightly more and then a little more. He also tried a subtle v-groove (two micro-chamfers), and we finally settled on a full roundover. Both the chamfer and round over details were achieved with a handheld trim router and a super small round over bit.
Garapa Edge Profiles v2.0 (Photo: Geo Davis)
Why Roundover?
Why did I make this decision? Because the garapa is repurposed, it is charactered and irregular. Preserving this patina is important to the finished look we’re endeavoring to achieve. A subtle wabi-sabi story is being told not only in the varied lustre and texture of these boards, but also the handworked (ergo slightly irregular) dimensions. When installed there will be some variability in the thickness of the boards. The roundover will create a shadow line while accommodating the slight inconsistency from board to board, and the quarter round profile will be less severe than the 45° chamfer would have been. I’m hoping that it will all come together with a a subtle horizontal linearity that creates cohesion for the well worn wood.
Tony Roundover Edging Garapa (Photo: R.P. Murphy)
Well Worn & Well Worked
It’s worth noting that the age and patina were showcasing with this upcycled lumber has only been made viable through the guidance of Hroth, Peter, and Pam and Tony’s devoted attention and immeasurable hard work over many months. I joke with Tony that he’s investing lots of love into transforming this material. From debris to centerpiece. In the photo above he’s roundover edging boards that he’s literally been working and reworking since last September or October. That’s a LOT of love!
