Christmas kinda snuck up on me this year..

Here's our tree, finally! You may not be able to tell in the picture, but the bottom set of lights are white, while the rest of the tree has colored lights. This is the new trend this year - all the fashionable trees in Paris, Milan, Beverly Hills, etc. are decorated with mismatched lights. It's sort of like, shabby chic for trees.

No, it is *not* because I accidentally bought the wrong lights, and when I tried to go get another string, every single one of the 5 stores I went to was sold out of lights. No really, I meant to do this.

But next year I'm going to put the tree up a little earlier than 6 days before Christmas...

the other weekend goal

Dave and I accomplished the second of our two weekend goals - getting rid of the dubious distinction of being the only house on the street without Christmas lights.

true love

True love is building a desk for someone, simply because she likes her laptop computer at exactly 29", and the standard desk height is 30".

Isn't he sweet?

This is one of our two goals for the weekend.

Tracey, is this what you meant by beige?

OK so I didn't *exactly* followed the advice of my sisters-in-law... in an Trading-spaces-moment I decided to paint one wall red. The other 3 walls are "buckskin pony" which is a golden tan.

Dave is building me the desk as we speak, and when everything is in the room (curtains up, rug down, art on the walls) I think it will be very cool.

I hope so anyway.

Boy that sure is red... LOL!

What color???

Here's the couch we bought for my new office. I can't decide what color to paint the office. I had originally wanted a dark color, like brick or maroon. But the room is only 9 X 14, so I'm worried that I won't want to spend 8 hours a day in such a dark room.

The hallway color (Cracker Bitz by Olympic) looks great with this couch, but do I want the same color in the office as I have in the hallway? Isn't that an awful lot of cracker bitz?

I do NOT want white. Or anything remotely suggesting white. I want color - but I can't decide how dark I want to go.

so, what would you do?

Week 20 (yes, you've been reading this blog for 20 weeks!)

Handrail is coming along... looks much better with the ballusters in place. There is one more balluster that Louie has to order, that is longer than the others, for the landing. Other than that though, it's a feat of engineering brilliance.

Louie says he never wants to install another handrail as long as he lives... !

More handrail drama

Today, Scott and Louie stopped by to work on the lower section of the handrail. It took them 5.5 hours to get this far. The starter step is 2" more shallow than the standard size, and because of this, the stock pieces from LJSmith took some major reworking to fit.

ok but... that's the last straw

This has nothing to do with our addition, but I thought I'd share this movie trailer. Apparently the original director's cut of Office Space was too scary for general release.

Office Space, Recut

Not for the color-averse

Here is Hannah's room. I'm going to get her an ivory shag rug to sort of lessen the intensity of the purple a bit. But I think it's pretty.

Louie was here today and saw the cat door that Dave installed last night in the cat closet door. He was visibly shaken, seeing the beautiful door he installed butchered that way.. The closet was built specifically to house the cat box, but I know it 's traumatic to see a big ol' hole in the door. Beats having the cat box in the bathroom, though.

Week 17 - The Handrail-Challenged

Today Louie stopped over and we talked about how to build the Handrail From Hell. I ended up calling the company that makes the components, LJSmith, and talked to a very nice lady for an hour about my stairs. In the course of the conversation I realized I didn't have anywhere near the room I thought I had for the fancy doohicky thing I wanted. We'll have to pick a slightly different set of components. Good thing I called her.

The handrail will take a while longer, while we sort it all out. Meanwhile, we've been painting Hannah's room a bright purple (wow, it sure is purple!), and Dave built Sara a set of "cubes" for her to use as a dresser.. the idea being that if she doesn't have to go through the extra step of opening a drawer to put away her clothes, they might actually get put away more regularly.

Pics of the cubes and the purple room coming soon..

Moving day

We got 3/4 of the spawn moved upstairs today. Beds and all. We got Hannah's room cleaned out and ready to paint, but I will have to wait till tomorrow to paint. The new dryer was delivered today and Dave moved our old washer upstairs, but it has a small leak (which we have suspected for a while now) so we're going to get a new one of those too. Anyway we have a fully functional laundry room now upstairs.

Here's the finished handrail they built yesterday. I have to finish the oak railing (another project, oh goody..), but I think it looks great.

Week 16 - Handrail

Today Louie and Scott are putting in the handrail. Not an easy job - lots of angles and cuts. The manufacturer makes various bits and pieces which, combined together in the right magical way, make the railing look like it flows around corners and floats up the stairs. Not a job for the spacially-challenged.

The bottom doohicky piece that was ordered, the big curvey one at the very bottom of the stairs, is not the right one for our stair configuration. So they won't be able to get the bottom part of the railing in today. But this top railing is the one that is most important for safety, and once it's in the kids can move into their rooms.

pretty stickers!

Here's what our door looks like with all the pretty stickers. The red ones are failed inspections. There are a few more white ones (passed inspections, which are not as colorful) that were stuck to the electrical box or the architectural plans instead of the door, so it's not a full collection.

There were building, electrical, plumbing, and fire inspections. There was also that infamous insulation inspection. Incidentally, the building department claims they still haven't received the architect's letter changing the specifications of the insulation (even though it was faxed to them on September 28 AND I personally handed them a copy on October 2.... how convenient that I have a blog to document everything!), so technically we dont have an insulation approval yet.

Altogether, the building permit cost $1521, which was broken down as follows:

Building inspections - $698
Electical inspections - $130
Plumbing inspections - $305
Fire inspections - $100
DCA Training Fee (what??) - $165
Certificate of Occupancy (better be printed on some REALLY nice paper) - $123

Now you know where the money went.

Week 16 - stuck here a while longer

We just had our fire, electrical and plumbing inspections this morning. We failed plumbing for a bunch of little things. Hopefully we'll have them taken care of by the end of the week.

We still can't move upstairs, because we need our railing installed, and we need the final building inspection. Earliest possible moving date at this point looks like next week some time.

But at least I've started moving some of the kids' things upstairs, including most of their furniture. I'm making a dent in the mess in my living room and foyer. It's a little uplifting, just to be able to see my foyer floor again and not have to step over things.

Here are Daniel and Ethan's rooms, which are just waiting for the boys to move into them.

Week 15 - Friday

In the last 2 days, we got the last of the light fixtures in. Here's the fixture in the stairwell, which I love.



The plumber came yesterday and put the radiators in; they are toasty warm. The vanity/pipe issue was resolved and the sinks are fully functional. I love the faucets. The rest of the trim went on, except for a bit of shoe moulding in the hallway. We got all the trim in the bedrooms painted before the carpeting came today, and the carpets look great. Technically we can't move in yet because the stair railing is not up yet, but that is scheduled for early next week. The last 3 inspections are all scheduled for early next week also.

In the meantime, I've already started stocking the closets and moving some of the kids' things into their rooms. I expect to be hanging curtains and moving dressers this weekend, even if we can't move the beds yet (it can't look like they're sleeping up there).

There are a few odds and ends left to do. There is still plenty of trim left to paint in the hallway and laundry room. We have to buy a dryer this weekend which will be delivered and installed into the new laundry room (woo hoo!), and we have to buy and put up the mirror over the sinks. We have to put the floor down in the catbox closet, and move the litter box up there. We should also install the cat door in that closet door, even though it will kill me to cut a hole in that brand new door.

And of course, after all the junk is removed from Hannah's room, we have to paint her room (a pretty purple) and get her moved up there so I can set up my office, which will be in her old room.

So lots o' stuff to keep us off the streets this weekend. But it's fun stuff, that we've been waiting a long time to do :)

The end is in sight..

Week 15 - uh oh

Somehow Scott and Mark got the vanity up the stairs - the same vanity that was so heavy that Dave and I left it in the garage.



But.. one slight problem - the pipes sort of come out right where the draw supports are. Who saw that coming?

I don't know how they're planning to get around this but I hear the sound of sawing coming from upstairs.

Week 15 - "we can do it in 4 hours"

"We don't need to hire someone, we can bang that floor out in about 4 hours."



Four Jupiter hours, maybe. We worked about 8 hours on Saturday and about 15 hours on Sunday to get the hardwood floor installed. Here's Dave on Saturday night when it had become apparent that the job was going to take us *a little* longer than anticipated.

As you can see, he did an amazing job. Aided by my skills at.... handing him things, of course. He had to make a lot of precision cuts, and deal with a nail gun that kept jamming (and had to be returned to the rental shop for a different one), and door jams that weren't *quite* 3/4" off the floor... yet even at 11:30 pm after a 15-hour day, he never waivered from his standard of perfection.





I also got the laundry room floor tiles in, and a bit more painting done. But there is still more painting to do before the carpets go in.

Week 14 - thursday

How I spent my evening...

and the windows match!

Today Louie, Scott and Mark swapped out the 8-over-8 windows for the 6-over-6 custom ones. What a difference - with the new windows matching the old ones, the addition really looks like it has been there all along.

Updated agenda - radiators go in next week (tuesday), which means I have to move the carpet installation to later in the week. But it gives us more time to paint, and we'll still be in before Halloween.

Week 14 - doors and trim

The doors are going up today. The electrician is here, fiddling with the breaker box. And tomorrow he is planning to install the light fixtures.

I have no idea when the radiators are going in, but last I heard it was scheduled for some time this week.

And Scott's going to bring the big ladder in for me before he leaves today, so I can paint the part of the stairwell that I haven't been able to reach. He's also going to bring over a plank so I can set up a scaffold to do the cutting-in for the stairwell. You can just see a peek of the mystery color in this picture. As I saw it in the daylight today, I have to say it is really pretty after all, especially with the doors up.

Week 14 - let's see of we stick to the schedule

I have decided that spending the weekend painting is not as much fun as spending it shopping.

The spackler finished up on Friday and sprayed on a coat of primer for us. However, we didn't get to paint much on Saturday because we had a soccer game, two baseball games (one of which Dave and I umpired), and Dan's tennis lesson. Sunday was a paint-a-thon, though. We finished all three bedrooms and the laundry room, and got one coat on the ceiling in the hallway. With no electricity up there yet, we were stuck using lamps plugged into extension cords, so our lighting was not optimal. I may still throw another coat onto the ceilings, because with this satin paint, you can really see all the "not-quite-covered" spots if the light hits it a certain way.

I also bought 5 quart cans of various shades for the hallway and painted some sample squares. Dave and I decided to go with the boldest of the colors - this is a leap of faith, even for me! I have a feeling we will either love it or hate it. ... we'll probably be getting the first coat on in a day or two. Stay tuned...

Week 13 - wearing thin

I just wanted to share with you some pictures of my living room, which represent (1) the living conditions in my house, and (2) my state of mind.

The other night I was watching "Cops", and they were raiding a drug house, which they do in pretty much every episode, and I thought, "hey, that's basically what my living room looks like now". I lose things the second I put them down. I have no motivation to put anything away because, after all, where is "away"?

I really, really need to get this addition finished so I can have my house back. And my mind back.

more shopping

Today we bought our hardwood floor (Somerset solid wood prefinished 2.25" red oak), our vanity sink top (RSI solid surface double sink top in "sadle"), and our faucet (Moen "monticello"). The sink top was the exact one that I tried to buy in Lowes but the friendly Lowes guy told me that "RSI doesn't make it in 61"). RSI, by the way, makes all the Home Depot and Lowes vanities and stock sink tops; at Home Depot they call it "American Classics" and at Lowes they call it "Estate", but it's obviously the same product.

We also bought a zillion gallons of primer and enough painting supplies to get us through at least a coat or two.

That fixes us pretty well for next weekend, which will be a paintfest.

Week 12 - saturday

The sheetrock is all installed, and it looks great.



The only stange thing is the way they sheetrocked right over the cable boxes Dave put in each bedroom. At first we thought they just didn't see them. Then we realized that the cable boxes, just like the outlet boxes and switch boxes, were mounted so that they extended a half-inch beyond the studs so they'd be flush with the sheetrock. So not ony did the rockers see the boxes, they must have removed them and remounted them so that they could put the sheetrock over them without it bowing.

Not rocket science, but apparently it's a trade requiring common sense.

Luckily Dave was able to find them and uncover them.



And here's a to-do list I left for Louie. We got the heat turned on and we ordered our stair parts - can't wait to see the staircase when the iron ballusters and oak railing are installed.

Week 12 - sheetrock!

The rockers are here, making all kinds of noise up there (music to my ears!).

And here's Scott's projected timeline:
Finished installing sheetrock - Saturday Oct. 7
Finished taping/spackling - Saturday Oct. 14
Install plywood on floors (other than hallway), add trim and install doors - week of Oct. 16-20

That means, we will be painting and installing the hardwood in the hallway the weekend of October 14/15 and 21/22. Carpets should be installed on October 23.

Looks like we just might be moved upstairs by Halloween after all!

You want me to sign *what*?

The truck came around noonish to deliver the sheetrock. The driver said the delivery was for "curbside only" unless I was willing to sign a waiver that said I would not hold them liable for damage to the driveway, utility wires, landscaping, or the property. I had a brief flashback of the dumpster truck almost taking out my porch column...

So I refused to sign, and went inside and called Louie. Louie must have been nearby because he was at my house within 10 minutes, talking to the delivery guys. He told them they just needed to be careful of the well (to which the one guy replied, "oh that's a well?"). Louie said he'd take responsibility if they damaged anything, which made me feel a lot better since they were planning to pull up to within a foot of my expensive stone garden wall.

So anyways... here they are, unloading the rock.. very carefully.

for all my efforts to secure the approval..

... it seems the sheetrockers blew us off today. It's after 1:30 and no rockers in sight. And I'm stuck in the house, afraid even to take the dog for a walk, because I have to be home when they get here.
I called Louie and he said, "I'm sure they'll come".

Oh well.

they don't know nothin bout no fax

Who would have predicted this scenerio? My architect sent the fax and letter to the building department on September 28, the same day as the infamous failed insulation inspection. The inspector said he'd pass us as sooon as he got that letter. I got my hard copy on Saturday, as I'm sure the building department did too - he sent them 3 copies signed and sealed. I called the building department today and they have absolutely no knowledge of a fax, a letter, or anything contingent on any letter. The said I have to call the inspector himself when he gets back into the office at 3:30 today.

Rockers are scheduled to start tomorrow.

shopping

Today was productive. Even though Dave got paged every 17 milliseconds from work, and we had a soccer game, a little league game, and a tennis lesson to cart the spawn to, we still managed to get over to Lowes and pick out most of our remaining accessories. We have to go back to Lowes with the van tomorrow to pick up the vinyl tile, vanity and sink top for the laundry room.

And did you ever wonder who actually buys carpet from Empire Today, the company that comes to your house with all the carpet samples and installs the next day? On a lark I called them a few days ago, and they came today. And we actually bought our carpet from them. They had a limited selection but we were looking for standard goods - basic (but durable) plush carpeting for the kids's rooms in blue and gray. We got a good deal - at least a little cheaper than Lowes/Home Depot and they're basically on stand-by for installation with a 24-hour lead time. You can't beat that... as soon as the walls are painted we'll have the carpets installed so we can shave days off our move-in date.

week 11 - faxes, carpets, other stuff

Our architect faxed the letter today (I should have known he would - he is very quick). Now I wait for the building department to call me and give me the tentative OK.

Meanwhile, the rocker guy came this morning to measure. That was reassuring...

This weekend we're buying carpet. Sara wants gray, Ethan wants blue (after I talked him out of RED), and Dan wants zebra stripes. Since they will probably be all out of zebra stripes I am thinking he will get gray too. At first I refused to put gray in Sara's room, but after weeks of trying to agree on a color, I realized that gray offers a lot of decorating flexibility and I'm acquiescing.

We also need to get the sink and vanity. We choose a maple vanity at the home depot a few weeks ago, we just need to go order it and pick a vanity top. We're putting a vinyl floor in the laundry room and we should order that too, so we can be ready to put it down the minute the sheetrock is done. We'll also order the hardwood flooring for the hallway.

So lots o' shopping this weekend for me and Dave.

ughhh... failed the insulation inspection

Who fails an insulation inspection?

Well we did. The insulators put R30 in the ceiling and R13 in the walls, but the architect drawings specified R38 and R15, foil faced. We failed - not because R13/R30 isn't good enough, but because the installed insulation does not match the architect's speficications. So to fix this, our architect says he'll write a letter to the town saying it's ok to use the R13/R30.

The sheetrockers are scheduled to come on Tuesday, so if he faxes the letter they'll give us tentative approval and we can still keep to that schedule.

perfect match

The siding is done. As you can see it is a perfect match to the existing siding. It is impossible to detect where they patched the old air conditioner holes.

week 11 - wednesday.. siding almost finished

The siding is not quite done - the scaffolding is still up and they have a bit more to do - but I figured I'd share.

10 am - cruising along

More siding pics...

And here's Louie removing our wall air conditioners and patching up the holes so the siders can fill in the spots while they're here.