We've finished one room, completely. That is, besides three light switch covers. I can't believe how long it takes. I'd pound tires any day, over finishing work. We'll maybe not any day, but some of these days. The floor alone took about three months.
The Floor Alone
or The Mud Floor
The mudding a floor isn't three months worth of work, but it took almost that long. Letting the floor dry was a grueling patience inducing experience. The floor is three layers. The first is two to three inches, to flatten it out. This layer took over three weeks to dry. The second layer is about one inch, and took over two weeks to dry. And the third, bringing it to floor lever, is about one half inch thick, and not more than three quarters of an inch. The three layers are for strength, and to get it level. This last level took from sunrise to sunset to lay in one day. The last of which I had to do in the dark with a headlamp on. We finished. Or so we thought.
After this we had to seal the floor. We're rough on everything we own, so I wanted to make the floor as durable as possible. We sealed it with a 50/50 mix of boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits. The floor drinks this solution. It dries relatively fast, in a few hours. After that we put three more coats of this mixture onto the floor, letting it dry in between each of these layers. We increased the amount of linseed oil and decreased the amount of mineral spirits with each layer, until the last coat was approximately 60/40, linseed oil to mineral spirits. This process took 3 days. And is still smelling about a week later. I'm not sure if it's still the mineral spirits, or if its the polyurethan, which brings us to the last step in sealing the floor.
I painted on a couple polyurethan coats. I used the 'Earthship D.I.Y books' recommended Varathan brand. The Varathan says that one gallon covers 500-600 square feet. Don't be fooled, my gallon covered less than 400 square feet. I put two coats on my floor, then I ran out and decided enough was enough. I'm moving in. After one more seventy two hour wait. Added to that is the off-gassing, causing just a few more days of waiting.
And we have a floor. A mop-able, sweep-able, live-able, relatively water proof floor. A floor that glistens in the sun, and emphasizes any minute speck of dust. I could paint the floor, but I do love the rich chocolate brown color of the mud, so I wont. Mud, unlike cement, is not hard on the knees, back, and joints. It's a healthy alternative. Not to mention the cost, which is $0. Unless time is money, because if time is money, you'd have to do some sort of 3 months of drying + not really knowing if it's going to work + my patience at a rope's end x's $$$. But, I'm no mathematician, so I'd have to say it cost about... $0.
The walls are mud as well. The darker painted walls are one layer of linseed oil. Most of the walls are unsealed adobe plaster.
The ceiling is stained rough cut lumber. I used a brand called Transtint, and it rules. The colors are awesome, and I could mix it with water, which was great.
So, besides this room, we've also closed in the greenhouse in the most temporary of fashions. But it's heating our house during the day. The sun sets and the heat leaves the uninsulated temporary doors within a few hours. It's nice to have this space closed in though. We can leave more stuff out there, and use it more during the day. But it's only for true sun lovers, as it gets to be about 100 degrees during the day. I'm no sun lover, but I did move to New Mexico, so I take it as it comes (daily, and non-stop).
Trying to maintain sanity. We now have two livable rooms. This will surely help.
Walls, Ceiling, and Floor
And a little greenhouse ceiling decoration, but we're not even close to finished with this.
