Desk & Cleaning

Very quickly the desk was installed along with two supports that frame the area in which one of our black metal cabinets will go into.

Drew installed more trim around the big back windows and did a lot of cleaning up. The floor area between the desk and stairs is now open.

Looks like the few things left are more trim, a few things in the bathroom and the cabinets in the pantry.

Of course, the downstairs room is still a mess but things are coming along nice.

Also, got word that Gilasi will be replacing both the sink and island countertop pieces. Will be about 3 weeks.

Desk Begins

More and more trim is installed. The old wood under the new bathroom window was chiseled out so that the new trim can be put in place.

In the first photo the last of the trim band that ties together the windows and helps define the room was installed.

The second photo is the desk being assembled. The grips are for the edge piece which was nailed and glued into place. This is several pieces of solid cherry wood. We decided where the supports will go and made space for the metal filing cabinets.

Finally hauled the bricks of loose fill insulation into the attic so now the pantry is open for work to begin on the shelving/steps.

Island lights

The two lights that go over the kitchen island are now up. Very easy to install. One is as short as it can be since the ceiling is much lower. Even though one of the glass shades has a scratch in it we went ahead and put it in since it will be a couple weeks before the replacement arrives.

Now just waiting on the light over the sink.

Once that arrives we'll look into finding the right sized LED bulb to put in them.

Still need to order the under cabinet and back door lights

Countertop Sealed

Despite the fact that we want the two long pieces of countertop replaced the installers still came to seal them. Not a bad thing, since we can use them. Plus the small piece, to the right of the stove, still needed to be attached.

They look really different sealed. The colour is much darker. Odd thing about the island is this colour band that runs the lenght. Not sure why it is there; yet another reason why Gilasi should replace it.

Serious Supports

Per the design we have a set of shelves that go from the kitchen into the new section. In the kitchen they will hold the microwave and be open shelving for dishes, etc. On the other side of the 'fridge, they will be for books and other non-kitchen items.

Drew originally had them supported by store bought angle brackets. He was not pleased with them as they had a fair amount of flex; this before we even put anything on the shelves!

So, he worked with some welders to make the pictured custom brackets. The horizontal supports are square tubes. There is ZERO flex so no worries on loading up the shelves.

The vertical portion will be covered up by the wall and the horizontal portion will be recessed into the shelf and covered. So, it will appear that the shelves just float against the wall.

Countertop Update

Gilasi have agreed to make us the two new pieces we want (island and sink section of L).

Apparently this has happened before, they thought they took care of the problem but, obviously, did not. Not sure how long it will be but i'm guessing it won't be till late January before they are done. Waiting to hear back from the vendor on what we should do about sealing the countertops. It is scheduled for Wed.

LED Lights!

The majority of our light fixtures arrived over the weekend. We installed two of the three track light sets. They are very very cool and bright!

It took a bit of thinking and their installation will require a bit more work due to the power transformer and how it links up with the existing power lines. It's hard to see but we have it so the two power lines come out of the ceiling and into the transformer, then out and into the end of the track.

We found, much to our annoyance, that you can only plug the power into the end. Which means we are limited in how the track sits on the ceiling.

We'll have to chat with the electricians and get their thoughts on how to finish it off so we don't have exposed wires.

We might have issues with the two island lights. Our ceiling is two different heights and when we ordered the lights we could not (or did not) tell them exact lengths.

I also installed a light in the pantry.

One of the pictures shows the coat rack/book case. The adjustable shelves are in place along with the wall. I'm guessing the bench will be going in soon.

More Power - Countertop Update

Today the electricians reconnected the house to the main power lines, removing the temporary supports and patches so the wires run properly from the alley to the house. They installed more switches and outlets so it seems everything now works. Of course we don't yet have fixtures in most of the ceiling locations. Need to remember to call and find out when they are expected to arrive.

The good news is that the power is reconnected to the garage. No more getting out of the car to open by hand. And if we need something in the garage we have lights to see by.

More and more trim is being finished and the bench/shelf/coat rack is progressing.

On the countertop front: i made several calls today and we are expecting Gilasi (the manufacturer) to make two new slabs. One for the island and one that includes the sink. The island one is noticeably thinner than the others and the sink slap has a noticeable taper. Plus it is 1/4 inch thinner than the piece it joins with by the stove. In other words - it looks like crap.

Maria at Green Home Experts immediately understood the problem and will be contacting Gilasi. Also had to tell the countertop installers that i would not let them seal the countertops while the kid was home. The sealer is very stinky and who knows how bad the chemicals are. So, they are scheduled for next Wed. But with our demand for replacement slabs we'll see what happens.

Countertops Bad

After speaking with Drew and my mother, we have decided that the countertops are sub-par and need to be either replaces or given a large reduction in price. They are custom made. They look cool. However, the slabs are different thickness and the joint they made isn't the neatest. Also, they didn't seal them because they came so late, which is a liability to us - if something happens to them in the meantime. Doug will be making some calls.

Countertops Arrive!

The countertop installation crew (2 guys) didn't show up till nearly 6 PM but they showed and then installed.

The countertops are HEAVY, being concrete and glass after all. When you walk past them they sparkle in the light and a closer examination reveals glass of all sorts of colours, not just clear. Although the clear is the main glass.

When they were measured the guy said there would be no seams but it turns out that the long piece from the oven, including the sink and to the 'fridge, came in two pieces. One long one that has the sink and a smaller one that covers most of the corner cabinet and meets the stove.

Odd thing about this is that the long piece is thinner than the short one. So they had to shim up the long one. According to one of the installers this piece is actually wider in one corner than another. I would have thought that since this stuff is manufactured the company could be more precise with the forms.

The sink is installed and now we need the plumbers to hook up the faucet and garbage disposal.

The last thing is the countertops need to be sealed. Apparently the stuff is very stinky so they are going to come back another day when we can be gone. They'll open windows to vent. In the mean time we cannot let any liquids get on them.

More Trim

I suppose you would call it an important architectural detail. Two trim bands that run from the main floor to the basement and frame the two interior windows. The idea is to break up the mass of the wall and tie the two windows together.

We were not to sold on the idea but now that they are in we are ok with them.

Also the trim is around the back door. It is hard to tell but it matches the trim in the rest of the house.

Foam - Doorways - Stove!

Love that spray foam. In the space between the 6 south facing windows was just a pair of 2x4 studs. So, with the ole spray foam the entire space is now filled providing an air tight seal. So much better than the old days of stuffing fiberglass pieces into the cavity.

The second photo is of the doorway between the old part of the basement looking out into the new. Drew has framed out the doorway with nice pine. The old door that used to separate the basement from the stairs will go back here to keep the heat in the basement.

The other big new is that i fixed the stove. A thousand curses on the GE repair people. They told us that it would cost $500+ to fix and that it might just be worth buying a new range. Well, it cost me $30 and less than an hour to replace the two tubes that broke. Gonna send a nasty note to GE soon.

Many many thanks to Drew for making the suggestion that all the range needed was the two tubes.

Interior work

Well i was wrong about the crew working on the porch on monday. It was just Drew and another guy.

He's making great progress on the interior. The shelving is up but needs quite a bit of work. He realized he made a mistake with the ends and has to do some correction to add a miter cut so the ends look finished.

The pantry door is now in place and lots of door trim installed.

Drew is a bit unhappy with the amount of flex in the shelf supports so he's talking with some metal fabricators on a solution.

In the basement, he patched the ugly red tile floor. Put some back in that had popped out during demo and also leveled out some other spots. Can't wait till the day when we can redo the basement.

Front Porch

I'm a bit surprised but the crew showed up today and began work on the front porch.

All the decking has been removed and they put down a sheet of plywood so that we could get in the front door. The made a makeshift railing to prevent falls. The porch swing is still in place, don't know if they'll need to take it down or not.

A few more pieces were added to the coat rack/book shelf.

Coat Rack/Shelving

Progress over the weekend while we were out. The bench/coat rack half of the built-in was erected. The tops are not nailed down which is good 'cause we don't want any overhang, especially on the side facing the stairs. Of course it could be just that Drew has only rough cut the wood and has them sitting there.

He also put up one of the shelving units that extend from the kitchen. The brackets are sunk into the drywall so when they are covered up the shelves will appear to float - a nice touch.

Built-in

The built-in coat rack, bench, and book shelf begins to take shape by the back door. It is made from maple plywood to match the floors and stairs.

What you see here is the bookshelf side. Drew has drilled holes into the sides to make the individual shelves adjustable.

Good Shower

With the mail yesterday arrived the new shower curtain. So, this morning, with the curtain all hung, I used the upstairs bathroom to shower. So glad to have a decent shower working again. The downstairs one is too cold and small.

Also installed a recessed toilet paper holder.

One bad thing is the crew yesterday scratched the tub. They had a tarp of part of it but they were standing in it and their shoes, which i'm sure were quite dirty, put lots of small scratches into the bottom of the tub.

Back Exterior Done

A crew of some 5-6 people were here today and they set to work covering the exterior of the back. Came home around 4 pm and they were gone and mostly all done.

The back is clad with a cement board and the seams covered with another more wood-like product. The red vertical stuff is the wood-like product. One nice detail is the exterior cladding has an air gap behind it. This will prevent moisture from building up behind and causing rot or mold.

Sorta mock-Tudor style is how it looks to me. We'll paint it someday to make the vertical beams less noticeable. So, but for a few spots, we are weather tight. Realized that we need to by a light fixture for the back entrance way.

On the inside they put in the last two windows - kitchen and bathroom. In the bathroom we'll have to figure out some way to screen the neighbors. But, having a real window there looks so much nicer. Apparently when the glass blocks were installed many years ago the people put tar over lots of stuff. Drew things that was to prevent water from getting into the mortar but it made for quite a mess.

Speaking of mess there is lots of stuff to clean up both inside and outside.

Drew also was measuring and cutting more wood for the built-ins. The one photo shows a bit of the walls for the coat rack/bench built-in by the back door.

Insulation

Spent several hours today in the attic spreading loose fill insulation.

Found this stuff that is 85% recycled paper (cellulose). Very pleased with it. Does not cause any itching, was easy on my hands, and insulates. Only problem was it is meant to be used with a blower machine, which we don't have, so i figured i could make it work. Ended up having to fluff it up with my hands which is why it took so long. Gonna need to buy at least 6 more bags.

Time off

Over the last several days we have taken care of small things around the house.

I finished spray foaming around electrical boxes in the attic and put the insulation bats back in place. Planning to go and get some loose fill to increase the depth.

Michele ordered a shower curtain and soap holder for the tub. We had gone a bought two but they were not long enough to fully encircle the tub.

I spray foamed a hole in the SIP that an electrical pipe runs through. You could feel the cold air draft on the inside.

Most of the light have been ordered. Waiting on some info for the LED track lights.

Working Bathroom!

At long last we have a fully functioning bathroom on the main floor. The tub and sink are installed and working.

Paul and i got back from a movie to find Michele using the tub. It is a perfect fit and holds the heat well. It is made from ground stone and epoxy so it holds heat better than the cast iron plus it is much lighter. Light enough that it is bolted to the floor.

The shower and curtain ring are installed and we need to get the curtains and then it will be fully ready.

Still let to be done are the new window, trim, cabinet and one more light.

Drew spent considerable time installing the door to the crawl space. Archi-Tom stopped by today and he, Drew, and i went over the details for the built in bench and coat rack/book shelf by the back door.

Morning update

Plumber arrived at 7:15 sharp and is working away on the tub. The feet are on and holes are drilled.

Drew is downstairs installing the door to the crawlspace.

I'm heading up to the attic to put in more foam.

Misc. Items

Well the visit by the plumbers on friday did not occur.

Drew was here most of today and said that the plumbers will be here Tuesday very early. Sure hope so.

Some of the trim/frames for the window openings is done and the bathroom door has been installed. Because the direction that the door opens is the opposite of the old bathroom you see the holes from the hardware.

He spent a lot of time redoing the door frame for the crawl space. The opening is too small for the door (which is the old pine door that once separated the kitchen from the stairs. He also cut more pine for trim and doorways.

I went a purchased an undermount sink and faucet today. The countertop people are coming tomorrow to measure and we need the sink.

Also spent considerable time in the attic putting the insulation back into place. Had several fights with the spray foam and lost so i have to go and get more tomorrow.

Laundry & Storage

Don't know why i waited so long to reconnect the laundry machine.

It's been able to be hooked up for a couple weeks. We slid it back into place, made it level and did a small test load. Everything works fine.

Yesterday i painted the floor of the front storage room. Today we moved a load of boxes and other items into it. The basement is still a mess but there's more room. Once we organize what is left there'll be much more space. Not sure it is enough to open the bed but close.

Did a lot of cleaning today as well.

Tyvek View - Counter Tops

A view of the newly wrapped exterior.

One interesting thing that i noticed. Between the west wall lower windows and the single long floor window, there is a hole drilled. There is a big void space there! With no insulation! It is about 2" deep and you can see an LVL (support beam).

I'm guessing that Drew somehow noticed so he drilled a hole to see what was going on. I'm so glad he did because this is a serious gap in the insulation. There is a bit of foam sprayed in the hole so i'm hoping he's planning to come back and fill the entire space.

Also, on friday night we put the deposit on our new kitchen counter tops. We are getting ones make of cement and broken glass, from a local company called Gilasi. We are getting the slate coloured one. It is dark grey to black cement with clear glass.

Exterior Progress

It took a phone call with a direct statement of 'get this done' but today Drew got the tyvek wrap put on the exterior of the house. What prompted our calling was the forecast for rain this weekend and the fact that the SIP's should be getting wet.

He also installed a deadbolt in the back door. There's been several break ins in the neighborhood

Will post some photos of the wrapped exterior tomorrow.

Trim Install Begins

Kanohi and i spent some time watching Drew cut and install some of the trim. The photo shows the trim band that will encircle the backroom (kitchen/landing).

It is hard to tell but the ceiling and area between it and the trim band is ceiling white, while the area below is an off-white.

We'll have to touch up one area of the red wall as i painted too high and it is over the trim.

This evening we finished a second coat of paint in the pantry. Used a semi-gloss since it will have dirty hand on it as we walk up and down the shelving to the access the flat roof.

The last photo was taken by Kanohi from the landing. I'm on the main floor. You can see the finished but unpainted maple railings.

Pantry and handles

We painted the pantry last night. Wow - painting in a small space, past my bedtime - isn't fun. Need to put on a second coat.

Doug finished putting all of the handles on the kitchen cabinets.

Looks like Drew is setting up to do wood work.

Cabinets done

Many many thanks to Tom S. for his help with the kitchen cabinets, which are now fully installed. We put into place the two that make up the island and one past the dishwasher. We brought in the oven from the garage but had a small mishap along the way...it slid off the dolly and bent the cook top! Oh well, we'll be ordering a new one so no worries.

We did such a good job aligning the cabinets the stove just slide into place perfectly; nice and snug.

The island was easy. We did adjust the placement a bit and made sure to account for space to open all the appliance doors. Opted to not bring in the 'fridge since it would be more trouble having it in the kitchen right now with the mess.

Need to get on the ball and pick out the light fixtures.

Put a second coat of paint on the red wall in the new room the basement and did a lot of vacuuming.

We think we'll go with recycled glass counter tops. Need to get on that as well.

Ok, ok - I'll add something to the blog...

After receiving some complaints, I will update what is going on:
- porta-potty gone (sigh)
- wrong tub was delivered, so that got returned and a new one should be arriving soon
- black dishwasher to arrive Thursday
- I will be buying bathroom light (apple green stained glass Tiffany style - bad for make-up application but I love it!) and stove hood on Thursday
- I think Drew is planning on installing the appliances to the kitchen very soon (we were pleased to hear that he included in the cost - we thought we were installing)
- utility sink - reinstalled
- decided on cherry venere shelves and sometype of real wood for desk area (not sure what Doug decided)
- stairs fully fixed and looking great (have received compliments on the railing - shout out to Tom B-D)

Over the weekend, Doug painted and cleaned out the front storage area. So, things should be moved into there soon and we can regain some of our basement living space.

As I was doing dishes in the basement bathroom at 5 am, I was thinking how I will miss the "camping" lifestyle we have had for the past 3-4 months. (NOT)

Misc. Items

Drew installed half of the trim in the bathroom since it is easier before all the fixtures are installed. We got three coats of paint on the trim tonite.

Have begun installing the hardware on the kitchen cabinets. The 3 glass panels are in and some of the handles.

In the utility room Drew has begun putting up some nice pine boards for the wet wall. An excellent idea on his part. This way if we need to we can just unscrew them to access the pipes.

As the board dry they'll shrink a bit and develop small gaps between them. According to Drew, this general look is in keeping with the historical style of the house. Whatever, we like the look and it is a good solution for a uneven wall.

Michele's new bathtub arrived and is in the kitchen. We think it is getting installed on tuesday.

ABT

Wow - that place is like Disneyland. After shopping around, found that ABT was the best price for things. And, when you buy at the store, you magically get an extra 10% off. Who would figure?? Bought a dishwasher and a tiny microwave.

The Kid loved the fountain, decorations, etc. and best of all - after 5 separate tries (and I am not exagerating) used the toilet!

Many thanks to Tom and Rick for coming by today to help with kitchen cabinet installation. Rick showed up just in time to help tom and i mount the upper cabinets.

It was a good thing tom knew what he was doing and had the tools as it went nice and smooth. The four upper cabinets were screwed together first then we mounted them as one unit to the wall. The green tape marks where the studs are.

We also finished 3/4 of the floor cabinets. We were not able bring in the oven from the garage as there was not enough room and rick had to leave. We'll go out this week and buy a dishwasher and have it installed. Once that is in place i can install the last lower cabinet and the two that make the island. Once that is done we can order the countertop.

Things went very smooth. We cut the openings for the undercabinet lights, water pipes, vent stack, and waste water pipe all with out any problems.

Toilet!

Momentous day. We now have a dual flush toilet on the main floor of the house!

As you can see the walls are painted, the tile is installed and Drew installed the trim since it is easier to do before there's a toilet. Yes, that is a happy face on the lid. It's some ad for something.

I'll be peeling up the paper soon since there's not much left to do in the bathroom.

Stairs & Railings

When the stair guy arrived this morning michele and i talked about our dislike of the width and placement (physically and visually) of the bottom of the stairs and railing. When Drew arrived we all conferred and came up with a solution.

The first photo shows the stairs as we built originally. As you can see the bottom set of stairs is wider than the rest. When you'd open the back door you visually walk right into the railing post (pictured).

The solution was to reduce the width of the bottom stairs and get rid of the the railing. There was discussion about code requirements but they seemed to be in agreement that we'll be ok.

The stair guy was able to pry apart the stairs and rebuild them today. Plus he got the railings installed. Only one piece of the stairs will need replacement due to a broken board.

The second photo shows the fixed stairs minus the one broken board.

The third photo is looking from the kitchen down to the back door. You can see the new railings. The last photo the stairs from the landing into the basement. The paper is to protect the wood till they are painted/stained/sealed.

Stairs and paint

Doug got a second coat of paint up in the bathroom last night - which is good since they are going to start installing the fixtures this week. We are going to paint the trim this weekend in the bathroom.

The stairs were TOO LARGE. When you walked in the back door, you ran right into them. So, we have worked with everyone this morning to cut them down by 4" and to remove a handrailing - trying to get the smallest stairs we can within code.

Painting accomplished...

Between Doug and I, we have painted the following:
- all ceilings (expect pantry)
- kitchen
- back foyer
- part of the basement
- one coat of blue in the bathroom.
I am sure Doug will post pictures soon. I am hoping Doug will be able to get a second coat of blue in the bathroom tonight...so that will mean 95% of the house is painted prior to putting up the trim. (I am very happy about that - because I HATE taping)

Doug and Tom are scheduled to install the kitchen cabinets on Wednesday...you go!

Supplies, supplies...

A semi of lumber arrived and our back stairs. The kitchen is now PACKED with stuff. So, it should be interesting trying to paint.

Tile & Water & Paint

We were very disappointed yesterday to see the tile not finished. They left about 2/3 of the landing unfinished. Fortunately the bathroom is done and today they are grouting it. By tomorrow it will be dry and Michele is planning to paint the walls.

It has been raining and we awoke this morning to find about 2" of water in the new basement. The problem is two-fold. 1. two of the new gutter downspouts empty into the subsided ground around the new basement, meaning it has nowhere to go but down; 2. the sump pump is not plugged in since the electrical lines have not been fully hooked up.

Drew was over in the AM cleaning up the water. Fortunately only a couple inches of drywall was damaged. He cut it away but no need to replace it as the gap will be covered by the trim.

Over the weekend, michele will be painting walls.

Kanohi and came home from a trip to the local paint store and nature center to find the tile guys hard at work.

In the bathroom they got an ok start on the tile. What is in looks really good. They'll be back tomorrow to finish the bathroom and, i think, start on the landing.

The landing needs to cure longer as they had to repour some large sections of the cement.

Tile sub floor and paint problem

As expected Drew and the tile crew got the floor ready for the tile installation. The first picture is looking down at the landing from the first floor. Now embedded in the concrete are the hot water tubes making this a radiant heat floor.

The second picture is of the bathroom. Drew installed a plywood subfloor then a concrete board subfloor. The tile goes on next. The boxes of tile are here.

Last night we went and bought ceiling paint at Menards. Well this evening i went to paint the kitchen ceiling and the blasted paint is GREY! I did a large area before realizing this was crap and will cause more problems. This is why we need to shop at our local Paulsons Paint. They know what they are talking about and don't sell paint labeled as ceiling white that is actually grey.

painting begins

Over the weekend we started to paint.

Dug out 4 different cans of ceiling white from the garage and while the kid took her nap we got to work. Finished the bathroom and 80% of the kitchen before running out of paint.

Because we are painting on roughly primed drywall we'll need a 2nd coat. Plus you can see the colour change when we switched paint cans.

Today, Drew is installing the subfloor in the bathroom since the tile crew will be getting started with the installation today as well.

Will have some photos when we return home from work.

Cabinets Arrive

Our new cherry kitchen cabinets arrived today.

Just as Nancy, from Zimmer Hardware, and Judy were pulling up who should show up but Drew with a roll of paper to put down to protect the newly finished floors. It was uncanny. He knew the cabinets were coming today but we didn't ask for anything and were planning to put them in the garage. Drew said why move them twice, bring them in here, so we did!

About 20 boxes of various sizes. One we had to open to get in the doorway. It is the corner cabinet with lazy-susan (pictured). The rest are all boxed up and stacked in the kitchen.

Tom Smith was on hand to help unload. We plan to install them on the 28th.