It's snowing appliances....
December 23rd -- It's not really snowing appliances, but why did we have a "surprise" snowfall overnight on the morning that my appliances were to be delivered? Oh well, at least it warmed up from the overnight low of 18 to about 28 with lots of sun by the time the two guys came to deliver the appliances. If the appliances were delivered later that afternoon, the snow would have been gone as the temps rose to the low 40s.
The delivery guys could not have been nicer, but when they saw the width of my front door their smiles turned into frowns. They carefully measured and began to formulate a strategy -- this is why the new rear door of the house is 36" wide! Too bad we can't use that doorway for the appliances. The range top could be turned on its side and the microwave was no problem. The real challenges are shown in these photos -- the double ovens and the refrigerator. The first strategy was to take these appliances out of their packaging....in the middle of the street!
Both guys wore these harnesses with hooks and they put a belt under the appliance and then carried it in the house as shown in these photos.
The delivery guys kept trying to wipe the snow off their shoes and were apologizing for the mess -- while carrying these heavy appliances, but I was just so happy to have the appliances on site, that I told them not to worry.
Over the weekend I had made space which they easily filled up with appliances. Here is the 6-burner professional range top.
The double ovens came through the door, only after they removed all packaging. They were careful to set it on a piece of cardboard and to give me the packing material so I could cover it up later to keep it protected.
Next came the refrigerator, which they also unpacked in the middle of the street.
They opened the top and bottom doors of the refrigerator and while the doors were open they "angled" the refrigerator through the front door. It was really something to watch, and I told both of these guys that they deserved A+ grades in their geometry class. They smiled and were happy to save me from the "refrigerator door removal charge" when that is the last resort for getting the refrigerator into the front door of an old house.
They brought the refrigerator box in the house and used it as a cover up, again to protect the appliance until it could be installed.
Before the appliances were being delivered the head finish carpenter arrived. I gave him the happy news that he would not have to deal with working around appliances as they will be stored in my living space. He was over the moon excited, and I was happy that he was happy.
Next, a man showed up who spoke English with a very heavy Russian accent and I learned that he worked for the main Tile/granite fabricator guy, who is also Russian. A few moments later the main fabricator guy arrived. The tile/granite guys have to work in concert with the finish carpenter so that the vanities can be set in the bathrooms in concert with prepping and tiling the floors. So, there was another strategy session about which bathroom to begin in.
The first order of business was to set a concrete floor in the shower in the master bathroom, which, by the end of the day, looked like this and prepped for the tile floor:
A few of the new four-panel doors were hung: Here are two different views of the door to the linen closet that is right outside the doorway to the master bedroom suite.
The door in the guest suite that leads to the closet that was formed by dropping a wall in the foyer is up, and can be seen below:
But, the best part of the progress that was made today was in the kitchen. Not only are just about all of the cabinets set, but they started on the trim and crown molding.
And, they hung the wall cabinets that go over the kitchen counter/desk area:
Here you can see how the chimney for the range hood vent will go into a trim piece, rather than directly into the ceiling, as is the usual installation.
While most of this work was going on, I took an excursion to yet another industrial part of the city that I never knew existed to the place where I am getting my decking materials. For the south side porch and the porch on the entry at the rear of the house, I am going with a composite product that is very low maintenance. The composite product is the typical dimension of most decking planks. For the front porch, I am using a different composite product that actually looks like porch decking with thinner planks, but also requires no maintenance. The guys at the deck place were really interesting and told me that they saw a spike in their business two years ago and were pretty sure that building would increase as yet another indicator that the recession is over. The decking material will be delivered after the first of the year.
There should be more tile prep work tomorrow and more installation of the cabinet trim and crown molding.
With the house considerably less dusty and my upper-respiratory virus gone, I've moved back in and am settling back into the construction zone.
No comments:
Post a Comment