Downstairs Bathroom done

Since we don't use it very often the downstairs bathroom has been neglected.

We've finally gotten around to cleaning the last of the mess from the remodel.

Taking Kanohi's colour choice we painted it purple! We were thinking a cool blue but K wanted purple.

The walls are done and the ceiling patched, sanded and painted.

Cleaned up the bits of drywall mud that had been dropped on the trim and shower stall as well.

Of course there's still a bit of painting left to be done in the basement by the back wall but you can't really tell.

Chicken Ecology

It has been fascinating watching the chicks adapt to their new environment and the other nearby animals that are flocking to our backyard.

Chickens are not too smart. K had been working hard to get them to understand the ramp system from the run to the elevated coop. After about 5 days, I now feel comfortable enough to leave the food upstairs and the water downstairs - and know that they will not starve to death. They are currently sleeping at night in the nesting box - and not on one of the two supplied roosting poles.

On day 2, K gave them a worm. Instinctively they went for it. They were very excited. Funny to think that was the first time they saw a worm and knew what to do with it.

Predators --- Within 48 hours of having the chicks, we now have two cats that stake our backyard at night; a raccoon which is trying to make a new home in our roof; and a chicken hawk who we hear every day and lives 1 block away. I may start praying to prevent the chicken hawk from swooping down and snatching one of the chicks from our backyard while K is playing with it.

Gohan Farms Opens

After 8 days of construction we finished the chicken coop this afternoon.

Michele and Kanohi went and bought two Rhode Island Red chicks. It will be 5 months before the begin laying eggs.

The roof shingles still need to be installed but the coop is weather tight.

I'm calling it "Gohan Farm" as in the Japanese word for 'rice' and food/meals.

Kanohi named one of the chicks 'Mary'

I named the other Hiru. As in hiru gohan - Japanese for 'lunch'.

Fence is Finished

Again, with very little trouble, I finished the gate and got it hung. Had to do a bit of quick rearranging of the boards as i didn't have enough screws to fully hold everything in place (the hardware store was all out!)

It seems the heavy duty hinges will do the trick, though i suppose we'll see in a few years. What is nice about them is that they are very tight so when you move the gate it does not swing.

To keep it closed i got a simple hook and eye-hole. None of the other types latches would work since they all required the backside to be flush. Nevertheless it works great.

Kanohi can't open it, both too high and a bit too hard. However, she's already been climbing up and walking on the fence and she's climbing under it.

Almost Finished Fence

With only one small problem the rest of the fence is now finished and the entire backyard is enclosed. This section went up even faster than the first since i knew exactly what i was doing. I realized that i didn't have to install all the carriage bolts before putting up the slats. The carriage bolts are what hold the posts to the metal footings more securely than the 4 screws that i put in to start with.

On the corner by the driveway i was even able to bevel cut the piece so that you have a nice smooth corner.

So the entire fence is finished with wood installation. Only thing left is to put on a coat of waterproofing and a few more carriage bolts.

Next up is the gate!

And i need to decide if i want to put some 4" boards to cover up some or all of the metal footings.

Fence, Phase 2

Decided to just dig out the old fence posts and pour new piers for the new fence. Figured i'd stick with what i know i can do, plus my other ideas involved trial and error and buying more stuff that i'd probably only use one, just not worth it.

Yesterday dug out 3 of the 4 old posts and installed the cement forms. This morning i took care of the last one and this afternoon poured the cement and installed the metal brackets to hold the fence posts.

The picture shows the rock wall in back for the first time without any fence.

Fence

The first segment of fencing is 99% done. This morning i installed wood across the top of the entire thing and added a 2" bracing in the mid-point between the posts. This brace is to keep the small 2" railings from flexing. It also adds some more visual interest.

Next up is removal of the other half of old chain link fence and starting to dig.

The Fence master

I must say that i am feeling very proud today.

Last night i went to Tom/Jen's house and used the table saw to cut some boards down to the right size and today i put the fence together!

It has come together so well and looks great. There's still more too do on this section of fence and i'll have some custom cutting to do.

The only issue was getting more cedar boards this afternoon. Tried 3 different places as the first two were virtually sold out with only cracked boards left. Must of been a local run on 1x8x8 cedar boards.

Fence railings

Feeling all impressed with myself yesterday.

Got the top run of railings in place with ease and they are even level!

Original plan was to pick one end and then use a string to mark the level on the other posts but then i realized that the 3rd post was clearly shorter than all the others. So, i just started there. Cut the boards one at a time and installed them.

I'll need to cut off the excess height on some of the posts but no biggie.

The only issue is that i wanted to paint this side of the house first since the fence gets in the way of the ladder. Fortunately the railings are only held in place by one screw on each end so easy to remove.

Also sealed (waterproofed) all the posts and drilled the bolt holes.

Fence Posts

Nice and easy. In the 86 degree heat and humidity i easily cut the posts to 4' lengths and got them mounted on their supports.

I did get one bolt into place to hold a post but the drill bit was dull and the battery ran out quickly. So, for now each post is held in place by 4 screws.

They are all level and mostly in line.

No More Permits!

Due to parental demand, i've resumed updating this blog with what we are doing on the house.

The first big item is that we took down the permit about a month ago. Here's the window -- permit free for the first time in 10 months!

We have made our last payment to Drew and there's nothing left for him to do.

Of course there's still painting and putting stuff away. That progresses in fits and starts.

The big project now is building a fence. I've dug five 3' deep post holes, poured cement in them and mounted the post holders (pictured). Some of the wood has been purchased and i'm ready to start actual construction. Once the first section is done i'll remove the rest of our old ugly chain link and work there.

The back yard is getting in shape though with the digging we have the issue of were to dump the dirt. It is beautiful black soil for 3 feet. When i back fill around the post holes i'm using the nasty clay that was left behind.

Exterior Patching

Finally, an update. Much of what has been going on house wise has been small and not really worth posting.

The biggest is the exterior work seems to be done. Drew replaced the old ugly shingles so that you now have a clear seam between the old and new exteriors.

Ugly and not quite as ugly is our exterior.

Today I primed the exterior wall above the future green roof.

As you can see in one photo we have reinstalled our rain barrel.

Now, just lots of painting to be done.

Back Columns

Well it took a really long time (mostly due to wrong parts being sent and then the supplier going out of business) but the columns to support and finish off the back entrance are up.

They are rather massive looking, compared to the 2x4's that we had for the last many months....

Archi-Tom made the good point that when we add the green roof on this small section the mass of it will make the columns look more in balance.

In front the railings are all done...enough.

Stairs and Exterior

A beautiful day for working outside. Drew and company put up new decorative moldings around the two front pillars. The top most piece is cedar.

They are also working on the railings. As you can see from the photo they are a post that is then clad. Don't know if they will finish today but any progress is good.

Backyard

Looking out our back windows at the newly exposed backyard. Quite the muddy mess. Still need to pick up the small debris and break down the old staircase.

Started moving dirt yesterday in front of the low windows in anticipation of planting there to screen the view.

Countertop Resolution - Exterior Work

In the end the owner of Gilasi had to come out himself to take care of the mess that the Countertop Factory created with our countertop installation. Garret was surprised that they Countertop Factory crew had sanded down/off the sealer, that did not need to happen. So he hand sanded a few spots and applied a whole new coat of sealer.

We shall not touch it for 24 hours. Then around noon tomorrow we can use it but only lightly. We intend to put cardboard over the tops for a week whenever we use it to get the sealer proper time to full cure.

Drew and company showed up today and finished putting up the hardy-board siding around the front and back door of the house. They also cleaned up our entire back yard!

Stairs

Look! You can now enter our home via front door using real stairs! Of course there's no railing yet but who needs one when it is nice and wide.

No word yet on when the railings will be installed or when the rest of the hardy board will go on to the front.

Front of House

The crew is here today working on the front of the house. They pulled down the old rotten cedar on the corner posts and did a simple replacement with hardy-board. Someday when we restore the full exterior of the house we'll put back the original design.

No stairs right now but they should be installed shortly.

On Wed a crew from the Countertop Factory is coming to buff out the scratches in the countertops. I've also gotten the tools needed to install the backsplash so that might happen soon.

Bathroom Light

Michele called again the lighting store (Two Fish) and finally got a response. The fancy light is still on backorder and the company told Two Fish "maybe" for April. The owner of Two Fish had not called Michele back because she was afraid that she'd be upset. Talk about crappy customer service.

Well they lost our business. Michele cancelled the order and mail ordered a nice simple light, which arrived in 4 days. It is installed and the bathroom is done.

The other photo is michele unpacking our cookbooks to put them on the built-in bookshelves by the kitchen. We are slowly moving things out of our room and up from the basement intot the office area.

Reunited Kitchen

Good thing i didn't try to move the 'fridge back into the kitchen myself. It was a beast and i'm glad Drew was on hand with his tools to help.

We put a few scratches in the floor and trim but considering the amount of effort it took, i'm ok with it. Plus Kanohi slept though the entire episode.

Because the angle of the bathroom wall changed we were forced to take the doors off. Of course we didn't figure this out till it got stuck. But, by taking the doors off, it allowed us to switch the way they opened.

They kitchen now looks rather crowded given the big black mass now sitting in the middle of the wall.

With the 'fridge back in place we put the plants back into the living room and did more cleaning up and rearranging. Suddenly the front of the house looks like nothing ever happened.

99%

A few misc items to report on.

Today we installed the towel racks in the bathroom and moved the medicine cabinet in place. We are still waiting on the sink light. The thing has been on back order since November and Two Fish Lighting store has not called us back after two calls.

Electrical - all working correctly now.

The built in shelves are all done and look great. We've started moving items on to them.

The two interior windows now have glass in them. The pantry is much colder now since it is closed off and we are no longer loosing as much heat out the attic window.

Basement room is almost all painted.

The bad news is Drew did not finish all the interior like we told him we were expecting. Some door thresholds, door hardware, and fume hood are incomplete.

Wacky Electrical

The electrical crew was here today doing those items that they should have done last time they were here.

The fume hood, dishwasher, and garbage disposal are now working and they installed the required power outlet to the island. The new phone jacks are working and we moved the phone.

Here's the wacky part...

Switches. They added two "cut-off" switches under the sink, one for the disposal and one for the dishwasher.

To the left of the sink there's a bank of 3 switches. One is for the light over the sink (works), one should be for the under-cabinet lights (not yet installed), and one for the garbage disposal. Well, i don't know what the electricians did but now to use the dishwasher you have to turn 'on' the cut-off switch AND the left most wall switch. Then you can use the on/off button on the actual dishwasher.

The only way to turn on the garbage disposal is to use the cut-off switch. Did i mention it is under the sink? Not at all convenient.

We used the dishwasher for the first time. Yea!

Lots of Photos

As requested lots of photos of the house. In its mostly finished glory.

3 shots taken from the landing. Looking up to the main floor with the built in shelves and rocking chair. We'll probably put it back here. Nice place to sit and read with the light.

Another shot you can see into the pantry from the landing.

One shot of the pantry taken from the other side of the island.

One shot from the new basement room. The floor is newly painted. I painted it brown along with the steps into the old basement. We'll probably just put down some rugs.

Still need to paint the ceiling and walls of the basement room.

Full Access

The staining of the trim is all done and aired out. I've pulled up the paper, swept and mopped the entire house so we can now walk everywhere without worrying about putting on slippers.

We have a 99% finished kitchen.

Got the replacement glass for the cabinets.

Painted the wall behind the built in shelves so Drew will be installing them shortly.

Outstanding issues:

The electricians failed to hook up the garbage disposal or the dishwasher. I was pissed on friday night when i went to use it.

They failed to run power to the island or hook up the hood over the stove.

Strangeness with the kitchen faucet. We somehow managed to buy one that does not swivel! The plumber intentionally left it a bit loose so it can swivel but it is not meant to work this way so we'll have to get a new one soon. Never crossed my mind that the faucet didn't swivel.

We've begun unpacking dishware and putting them away. The pantry has been restocked with stuff that was scattered around the house. Even moved a couple plants to the back just to clear up the living room a bit.

Stinky Stain

Bad news on the plumber front. He was scheduled for tomorrow but the painters told Drew that the smell would be really bad and that the plumber would not want to be around. So, later in the week we should get our sink and dishwasher installed.

Good news is that they stained about 90% of the trim today. It is smelly but not that bad. Looking really nice.

They were able to very closely match the cherry wood stain of the cabinets. The cherry desk and shelving are done.

Tomorrow they'll be varnishing and they plan to be done on Wed with everything.

Momentous Weekend

Lots to report on from this weekend.

The biggest news is that on sunday morning Drew came over to put up the last 4 pieces of trim and to remove all his tools and equipement from inside the house!

When we returned from an outing, he'd removed all the floor protecting paper on the main floor. Over the afternoon and evening, i swept, mopped and hand wiped down most everything. We can now access the entire main floor without putting slippers on.

Countertops:

All dry but they scratch much to easily. Need to talk with Maria at Green Home to see what can be done. We are wondering if the installers didn't use the right sealant.

Lights:

I disassembled the transformers for the LED track lights and stuffed the parts into the junction box in the ceiling. Now there's just a plate and wire that runs to the track lights. Still need to dab some white paint on the small orange part.

I had to move 2 of the 3 tracks since the cover plate was too large. No big deal but now there are lots of holes to patch in the ceiling.

Pantry:

The trim is all in and looks really good. Still left is for me to paint the small area of floor.

I still need to finish spreading the new insulation in the attic and insulate the power conduit. Waiting for the glass to be installed so that when i open the door to the attic, we don't loose all the heat from the house.

Bathroom:

Got the trim all painted and did a test patch of grout sealant. Over the next few nights i plan to seal the floor. The only thing we are waiting on is the light over the medicine cabinet. Been on back order for 2+ months.

Schedule:

Monday - plumber and painters are scheduled. By tomorrow the kitchen sink and dishwasher should be hooked up and no more using disposables and doing dishes in the downstairs sink!

Painter should be about a week since they have so much to do. Once they are done, Drew will be back to install the two interior windows and some misc. pieces.