Finish carpenters to the rescue....

Finish Carpenters to the rescue....

February 4th --  The fabricator who is responsible for the granite counter tops and the tile work dropped by last Friday to tell me that there is a problem with the cabinet base so that the range top does not sit flush with the granite counter top.  My reaction was basically, "Are you kidding me?"  To make a long story short, the finish carpenters returned to save the day.  Of course, this was after the kitchen designer, who measured the cabinets, blamed the problem on the fabricator.  The fabricator blamed the problem on the cabinet makers.  I stood my ground and said that I didn't care who was responsible, the problem just needs to be fixed.  In the end, the finish carpenters not only figured out the problem and fixed it so that the range top fits perfectly now, but they also installed the double ovens, as shown below.  The refrigerator and the dishwasher will be the last appliances to be installed and that is because they can't be installed until the hardwood floors are finished.  Pretty soon the kitchen will actually look like a kitchen!

There is also cardboard covering the granite counter tops in the kitchen  to protect it from the work that remains -- namely the drywall, painting, the installation of the electrical and plumbing fixtures, and when the floors are sanded, stained and sealed.

The painters are making great progress, and hope to be done with the drywall texturing and painting in the master bedroom and bathroom by Thursday.  As such, they have already started on the texturing and drywall repair on the main level. However, it has been snowing all day and by noon, the painters informed me that they were done for the day because no one wanted to be stuck in rush hour traffic on a cold snowy day.  The painters have been talking all morning about how good the powder skiing must be with all this snow....

Tomorrow a person is coming  to measure the shower openings in the master bathroom and the 3/4 bathroom off the gathering room for the custom shower doors, which will be fabricated next week.  Also, there is a good chance that the thin brick will be installed in the kitchen and the remaining tile work will be done in the 3/4 bathroom off the gathering room and in the master bathroom.

Unfortunately, the predictions of very cold temperatures has come true, and so there will be no work on the deck, porch, or greenhouse until next week when, hopefully, it will warm up.  As I write this, the official temperature is now 2 degrees below zero and still falling.

The contractor told me that the hardwood floors, which will be one of the last things to be done, have been scheduled for the first week of March, so I'm cautiously optimistic that the majority of the house will be ready for a punch list around mid-March!  Of course, this doesn't count the work on the second upper-level bathroom that I am currently using, the temporary kitchen/living room and the office/bedroom that I am currently sleeping in.  These spaces cannot be painted and the floors refinished until I am able to move into the master bedroom and I have a functional kitchen.  

So close, yet so far away!