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.

Full Access

Last night i tore down the plastic that (somewhat) separated our living area from the new part. With the second coat of floor sealer all dry and the last of the very dusty operations done i figured it was time.

So, we can now walk freely to the basement (source of water and toilet and sink).

You can see the colour difference between the new old and maple floor.

Its a Gas (Updated)

Thursday Update:

I was wrong about the coats. Today (thursday) they are putting on the second coat.

The third and final one will go on after the construction is all done. This way they can buff out any scratches that might occur.

They'll need about a weeks notice so hopefully we can schedule it on a friday and be gone all weekend due to the smell.

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Second coat of floor sealer on today. Much more stinky than yesterday since it takes longer to dry. M took K to grandmas to avoid the fumes. Tomorrow the 3rd and final coat goes one. Planning to be gone all day and part of the evening.

Cleaned out K's closet of the drywall and plaster dust. It still needs to be mudded, sanded, primed and painted but that will happen later. I wanted to get some of the junk off the floor and put away, if just temporarily.

Returned from our short vacation to Italy on monday afternoon. Just as we were told the new maple floor in the back has been installed. The installers were working on the old maple in the old kitchen, spreading some goop on it to fill in gaps.

Today, they were back early to do some sanding then the stain and first coat of sealant. It will all be done by thursday with three coats of sealant.

The kitchen cabinets arrived and will be delivered on friday. Probably won't install them right away as the floor guys suggested waiting a few more days for the floor to fully dry.

The worse of the dust should be over.

Weather Tight!

On monday the crews finished installing the roof and gutters. We are now weather tight!

Well, except for a 1 foot hole into the attic from the flat roof. But it is tucked low under the main roof so no water will get in and it is into the unconditioned space. The back door is installed and foamed all around.

As michele said, we've had the radiant heat on to dry the walls. It is working nicely and the back is warm. Today drew set up a couple fans to circulate the air to push the drying time. With luck the drywall crew will be able to finish sanding on Wed.

We have gutters on the back now and new downspouts all around, including places that didn't have any before. We need to figure out were exactly to put the rain barrel.

The maple floor is scheduled to be installed on friday with the sealing possibly on monday.

I've gotten the ok to start putting the insulation back in place in the attic. Drew suggested using a closed cell spray foam over the individual electrical boxes to reduce air gaps. Then put the fiberglass bats down.

HEAT

Drew sealed up the house. We had the radiant heat floor on all night in attempt to dry the drywall mudding. The back was toasty and there wasn't a breeze behind the plastic barrier in our dining room. So, last night wasn't warm - but the temperature was at 60 all night.

New Door too

In addition to finishing the mudding of the drywall, the new back door was installed. We opted for a simple door since this is the back entrance. No window 'cause we don't need more in back! We will add a peephole soon, a deadbolt lock sooner.

Not sure what half a roof looks like. Due to the rain and cold i was not able to climb up and get a look. Fortunately, it does seem to be watertight as the leaks from last night have stopped.

Once the walls are sanded, hopefully early next week, we'll be able to open the passage and walk inside.

Dry wall and half a roof

An army of crews descended on our house today.

Maybe 8 dry wall guys were here for 4 hours, making a lot of noise. Not sure how they all fit into that gray van...maybe they used to work at the circus.

The roofers were here also. They will come back on Monday to finish up and get paid.