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)