I built a custom shaft up the center to hold everything firmly together. I then modified some parts to cap it off and give it a hook for hanging with the included chain.

In true repurposing style, I cut a hole in the top and soldered in a keyring and matched up it perfectly with an old glass fuse. This hole is for easy use with a funnel to refill the bird feeder. That way you don't have to disassemble the whole thing. But it can still be taken apart to clean whenever desired.

Several coats of red paint and polyurethane finished off the top.

As a parent myself, I understand how challenging it was for Mom to raise 6 children. Even despite the demands of parenting, she always made time to participate in the community, at church, and in service projects. Giving freely to love and serve others is her story! I knew that this would be a great surprise to win for her, and that she deserved it. She is counted as a blessing in the lives of so many family and friends!

35 years ago, after living in their home for 5 years, my parents installed a new countertop and a stylish Armstrong Solarian floor. That was the last time the kitchen was updated and was long overdue for a remodel! Unfortunately, the longtime plans for my Dad to remodel the house were curtailed in 2007 after his retirement. Encountering health issues and a major injury from a ladder fall caused the project to go on hold indefinitely.

Thankfully, after winning the Armstrong Sweepstakes, the plans were resurrected, and the project is underway! It's a real family affair, with the work being completed by Hamtil Construction, which is operated by myself and my brother David. It has been fun to bring Mom's dreams to life, and she keeps saying "I just can't believe this is my kitchen!"

If you like, check us out on Facebook and Twitter for more updates along the way!

Twitter: #Remodel4Mom

i bought Ipe, Tiger Wood, and Ceder for this project and hand rubbed 3 coats of oil for the finish. I know the sun will destroy the look within a few months, so she is going to be high maintenance with a sand and oil every year.

A few tip's:

-S.A. hardwoods are very dense! This allows a thinner material to span a longer gap with less deflection. For this project, the top is made out of 1 x 4 material.

-One of the many nick names for Ipe is "iron wood" it will sink in water, and it has helped to make this top more than i can handle alone. This also requires pre-drilling for fasteners.

-The end cuts are sealed immediately after cutting with Ipe wax to prevent checking

-The miters all received 2 - 10mm x 50mm Festool Sipo Mahogany Tenons, wiped with alcohol, glued with titebond 3, and clamped for a few hours to dry. This is not a DIY machine, but may be substituted with the use of biscuits, splines, or dowels.

-Wear a mask when cutting and sanding!! Many carpenters catch an upper respiratory infection when building S.A. decks. This has been argued that it is due to the water and bacteria in that wood we are not used to, others say it's just because the dust is much finer. regardless of who is right, wear a mask or use dust extraction.

-Order extra! This is not stock lumber, infact i had to pay freight to get these pieces trucked to my house from the online merchant. I had a few pieces that were bowed just enough that i couldn't use them... better to have too much than not enough on a special order build...

-Learn your finishes! My first two coats were with Messmers UV Plus. his really brings out the grain and contrast within the woods... makes it come alive. I wouldn't do more than 2 coats of a toner, my final coat was the Festool SurFix exterior oil blend worked into the surface.

Most of the components were found through big box retailers, except for the antique claw foot tub (affectionately referred to as Clementine, who was an eBay purchase for $150 and that we refinished ourselves as well) and the pedestal sink (which was a salvage yard find). We had to special order the free-standing faucet for the tub, but with the genius of a local plumber, we were able to maintain the look I was hoping for without sacrificing function, as our tub didn't have holes to accommodate a traditional standing waste component.

This project was nearly five years in the making, from the purchase of the tub when we closed on our house (lofty goals, I have them) to the completion this past summer. We ran into a few issues with the plumbing placement -- where we wanted the tub has duct work that runs directly underneath it, so as I mentioned before we worked with a local plumber to make everything work out okay. Also, because our house is 115 years old, the floors aren't even, so we had to bolster one side of the tub with a marble threshold to make it flush enough to drain. We found ourselves often cursing the previous homeowners, because every time we went to remove or change something, we found that they were prone to taking the easy way out of the "improvements" they made, which only added more work for us to fix. Other than that, it was mostly just getting the labor done and making sure that everything was not only pretty, but practical.

The hope for the bathroom was to help create an oasis for my husband and I to enjoy without having to step over our kids' bath toys, or go all the way upstairs to the other side of the house just to use the restroom. Our bedroom has a very dramatic look to it, and since we created a slightly more open floor plan in the room, we wanted the bathroom to echo that same drama while maintaining its own character. What it may lack in square footage, I think it makes up for in beauty, and that's perfectly fine with me.

I honestly love the space and am so happy it turned out as awesome as it did!

Some questions we ask our prospective clients are:

-Have you ever compared three estimates before? They will likely be in three different formats. How will you know what is and is not included?

-How does the prospect of change orders being presented to you on a regular basis once the job starts make you feel?

-Are you looking for a firm price that is unlikely to change OR are you interested in an attractive low price which goes up and up because the contractor simply bid 'what was on the plans' or low-balled the estimate to win the project?

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