January 2nd -- The New Year has started and this project continues on, but at a much slower pace today than on the last day of 2013. On December 31st the finish carpenters arrived at 7:30 am and there was a crew of three. They came early because they intended to leave early to usher in the New Year. It was clear that none of the finish carpenters were planning to work on January 1st!
There is only one person setting the tile, and there is a lot of tile to set. By the end of 2013, the tile floors for the two bathrooms on the main floor were done and work on the tile walls for the shower in the 3/4 bath had started. The photos below show the progress up to today -- the first work day of 2014.
Only one person showed up on New Year's Day, and I'll reveal who that was later on, but maybe you can try to guess.
Below is the large subway tile wall for the shower in the 3/4 bath off the gathering room. The tile will go to the ceiling in the shower, and wrap around the wall to where the toilet will be installed, as shown below. In the photos below, the green circles are not part of the tile, just temporary disks to hold the tile in place while the grout sets.
Here is a view of the 3/4 bath with the vanity set in place, the subway tile wrapped around the outside of the shower wall, and the space where the toilet will be installed. We discussed putting the extra subway tile on the wall between the shower and the vanity (behind the future toilet) if there is enough subway tile left over.
The floor in the guest suite bathroom is also done, as shown below.
Any guesses about who showed up on New Year's Day?
When the original wall between the dining room and the old downstairs bedroom (before it was renamed the "guest suite") was moved to create the guest suite, no one noticed that the door leading into the new closet would not be on the same plane as the wall. This means that when the door to the closet was framed and hung, as shown in the following photos, a small "box" about an inch or so projecting from the wall (shown as the white, floor to ceiling, trim next to the closet door) needed to be built to put the door and the wall on the same plane. When the contractor explained this to me, it was my understanding that the "box" would go from the door frame to the wall, but as you can see below, that did not happen, and the "box" stops midway between the door and the wall. So, I explained to the contractor that the box below looks odd, makes that wall space useless, especially if I wanted to hang a picture or even a mirror on that wall. He explained that if the box is built to meet the new wall, it would partially obscure the electrical outlet on that wall (look for a black square near the corner of the bottom of the wall). Why the electricians put the outlet so close to the corner is beyond me. I insisted that the box be enlarged to span the space between the door frame and wall, even if it means that the trim plate for the outlet has to be trimmed -- the contractor explained that I could pay an additional $85 to have the electricians come back to move the outlet. Really?
Needless to say, the contractor has been in a foul mood lately as he is beginning to plan for additional projects as the current ones are winding down (not sure if I would put my project in the "winding down" phase yet). There is such a boom in building here that now contractors cannot find the labor that they need to complete the jobs that they are taking on. During the recession craftsmen who could not find a way to survive the slow down in construction have either left the state or left the construction business. Contractors always need to be thinking ahead, and he is now getting busy with new projects and worried about how they will get done with what seems to be a looming labor shortage -- the preview of this issue was the crummy drywall company he had to go with when his usual company was not available. It seems that in the construction business it is either feast or famine.
The trim work to frame windows and the hanging of doors continues, but no baseboard trim has been installed yet. I was pretty psyched that even though there was only one finish carpenter on the job today, at least he was productive.
Here are shots of the newly hung closet doors in the master bedroom suite from each end of the hallway. For someone who has lived in this house for 26 years with virtually NO closet space, this is a very exciting development.
The other exciting development at the end of the day is a bit more difficult to visualize from these photos, but I'll try to walk you through it. Where the kitchen cabinets end on the north wall of the galley kitchen (the wall where the range top and hood vent are located), there is supposed to be a small granite breakfast bar counter top that makes the transition into the gathering room. The main support wall for the breakfast wall extends past the end of the cabinets for about 15 inches and will connect to the wall near the doorway to the 3/4 bathroom. I requested that the section of the wall that faces the kitchen be constructed so that it was open with small shelves for a spice rack, which would be most convenient to the range top.
Ta duh...here is the roughed in support wall for the granite breakfast bar. The adjustable shelves, with a little lip so the spice bottles don't just off the shelf, are stacked vertically below, and I put one of these shelves on top of the stack in its horizontal position to give you an idea of what a cool little feature this will be.
Here is another photo that gives a better sense of how the granite breakfast bar will be supported and connects to the existing cabinets. Once the template is made for the granite counter top, the granite breakfast bar will be supported by the "spice rack" wall and two corbels that will be attached to this little support wall.
So, who showed up on New Year's Day?
I had received an e-mail early evening on New Year's Eve from the heroic painter. You might remember that he was elevated to hero status when he pulled an all-nighter to complete as much of the dry wall prep as he could before leaving for a 10-day holiday visit to his family. The e-mail was to tell me he was back in town and eager to get back on the job. He asked if he could stop by around noon on New Year's Day to see the progress that had happened while he was away and so that he could begin to form a plan for the drywall work and painting that he would need to do next.
When he showed up, we walked through the house together and he told me that he felt that he wanted to redo some of the texture work because he wasn't 100% happy with it. This guy takes tremendous pride in his work, which I very much appreciate.
We are still feeling the effects of the "drywall debacle" because the sequence of tasks that remain is still off. There is no way that the painter can do what he wants to do, especially because the finish carpenters and tile setter are having enough logistical problems just trying to work around each other. Now, add the painter into that mix and soon, the electricians to install outlets, switches and fixtures, the plumbers to install the plumbing fixtures, the crew who will need to sand and finish the hardwood floors, and well, you get the picture. The painter recognized this logjam and told me that he is eager to return to this work site and is willing to put in 10-hour days, if need be. He promised to meet with the contractor to figure out the logistics.
And, this is why he continues to be the heroic painter!
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