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Of course the big news this week was the fire.I learned about it from my son who snuck out a text from school saying they had seen smoke and wondered if I knew anything.I did not. I texted my wife who works at city hall and knows all and she told me about it.Apparently the … Read more

This week we finished the reclaimed oak floor that we have been installing and filling and prepping.The product comes from Manomin Resawn Timbers in Hugo MN. It is meant to be very rustic. There are places that still have the surface of the actual timber before it was resawn into boards and all kinds of … Read more

Another project I have been working on in the shop is a bar top for a “man cave” in a home I built a few years ago. The top is made of 4″ thick  by 15″ wide slabs of Northern White Cedar, which is the type of cedar that is indigenous to northern Minnesota, though … Read more

A picture here of my carved Walnut door panel with a few coats of clear varnish. Walnut is my favorite wood to work with.It has distinctive and strong grain patterns, yet does not splinter easily.It works well, hard but not too hard, it can be machined and carved easily and cleanly and finishes very nicely.Usually … Read more

The snow we had on Sunday night has mostly melted now.I think that was the first real storm we had this winter. We only got about 6″ but not to far to the west they got up to 11″ or so. Actually that was the first significant precipitation of any kind we have had in … Read more

This past week we started installing a reclaimed oak floor. It is very rough and that is the way it is supposed to be. We are not going to sand it smooth, we will just buff it lightly with sanders and then put about four coats of finish on it to fill in all the … Read more

It looks like the Northern Grounds Restaurant is coming under new ownership again.I heard they are going to change the name. I have to admit that saddened me a bit at first.At first I thought it a bit odd that someone would take a place that was already a landmark and change it into something … Read more

…on our other project things are progressing slowly as well…Here is a picture of the three season porch with the newly installed slate floor over the “in-floor” heating system:  The rest of the house will have an interesting floor covering. This is a pretty rough looking pile of boards but it is actually flooring milled … Read more

Over the past couple weeks the fireplace at this timber house has been completed and we have installed the mantel. Here are some other pictures of the timber work and ceiling. The Douglas Fir timbers have a natural finish on them, but the pine paneling of the ceiling has been stained slightly brown. It’s turning … Read more

At one project we are working on we have a fireplace going in. The rough construction has been done for some time but the rock veneer is going on now. It’s beginning to look good: …and on the other project we have going on, the remodel of the old log “kit” home, we are getting … Read more