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.