Laying thin brick....

Laying thin brick....

February 5th -- The tile setter returned and beat the painters to be the first one on site this morning at 8:00 am.  Which is truly remarkable given that the temperatures were below zero, snow had fallen overnight and the roads were icy with lots of accidents.

The tile setter finished installing the 10 pieces of corner trim in the master shower that he had previously run out of.  As far as I can tell the tile is now complete in the master bathroom.

Then he started on laying the thin brick on the south wall of the kitchen.  The photos below show the brick with little plastic separators that he will replace tomorrow after the adhesive has set. Tomorrow he will remove the separators when he installs the grout that will look like the mortar between the bricks.  

There was enough thin brick to also install it on the south wall of the kitchen on the other side of the double ovens, which wasn't in the original plan, but ties the kitchen together, as shown in these two photos.

 The white subway tile remains to be installed on the north wall of the kitchen at the back of the range top and around the range hood vent, but that can't be done until the plumbers come to move the pipe for the pot filler.  According to the contractor, he has had a call into the plumbers to move this pipe for two weeks, but they have not yet appeared.  When the north wall of the kitchen is tiled, then the tile will be completed in the kitchen.

Finally, the tile setter installed the white subway tile in the 3/4 bath off the gathering room on the wall that goes behind where the toilet will be installed, as shown below.  The green spacers separate the tile until the adhesive sets and then he will remove the spacers when he comes back tomorrow to install the grout.

The guy from the glass company came today and measured the master shower and 3/4 bath shower for the doors that will be fabricated next week.  If all goes well with the fabrication, both shower doors will be installed on Monday, February 18th.

The painters used their rollers to paint the ceilings in the master bedroom suite (bedroom, bathroom, closets and hallway).

By the end of the day some very large buckets of paint magically appeared in the gathering room, but I can't tell which colors are in these buckets.  The head of the painting company told me yesterday that his representative at Sherwin-Williams gave him a very deep discount to use an architectural grade paint for the interior of my house.  The idea is that if the painter is happy with this product, he might then suggest it to other customers.  Since the painter hasn't used this product before, the incentive was the deep discount, which is a nice added bonus for me as I get a higher quality paint and do not have to pay any more for it.  As the head painter explained, this is such a high-quality paint that it will not only look great on my walls but will be very easy to clean and will wear especially well over time.  Works for me!

Last night the official low temperature was 8 degrees below zero and even lower with the windchill.  It will be even colder tonight at a predicted 10 degrees below zero, not counting the windchill. BRRR....

As I was just about ready to wrap up this blog post, there was a knock at the front door.  I looked out to find two police officers standing on the porch.  I welcomed them in and they explained that they had a list of about 5 addresses in my neighborhood for houses where there was construction in progress.  They were visiting each house to warn the home owners or contractors that there had been some break-ins at various houses with construction, that the break-ins were happening mostly in vacant houses after the workers had left for the day.  The burglars were primarily stealing construction tools that were left on site.  Again, this is an ugly by-product of there being such a high demand for construction as there are now workers flooding the area presenting themselves as skilled workers with tools, but "their tools" are stolen from other construction sites.  At least the police are aware of the problem and are trying to do their best to keep an eye on things.  I hope these thieves are caught soon.

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!  

All Hands on Deck...

All Hands on Deck....

February 3rd -- The delivery of the decking material was delayed from Friday to today because of the snow.  After a negotiation with the delivery driver, who wanted to dump his load in the street or on the parkway, both of which is a violation of the city code and would have resulted in a rather large fine, I agreed to sign the waiver that would absolve the company of all damages if he drove his truck on the parkway and sidewalk in the front of the house.

Here is his truck, parked on the sidewalk.

The delivery guy was very nice and was able to back his truck up and get the end right between the two fence posts.  The delivery truck had a bed that could be tilted, which you see in the next few photos.

 After the bed was tilted, below, he began to unstrap the decking and off load it.

 He created two nice stacks of the material -- one stack is a material called Aeratis classic, which is a PVC tongue and groove decking that will go on the front porch http://www.aeratis.com/classic

The second stack is a material called TimberTech, another PVC, capped decking material that will go on the south side deck off the dining room, under the pergola, and on the small porch leading to the rear-entry at the back of the house  http://timbertech.com/products/earthwood-evolutions-natural

Although the temps only made it to the high 20s today, the sun was out and the weather was perfect for the delivery.  

Unfortunately, the weather doesn't look too good for installing the porch planks and the decking this week, with 1-3 inches of snow and highs of 18 predicted for tomorrow, and highs of  8, 11 and 18 predicted for the rest of the week.

The painters have painted all the mill work around the windows and the baseboards in the master bedroom with a gloss white, including the fireplace, the chest of drawers, and all closet doors.   They are still working on the texture of the walls in the master bathroom before they will prime the walls.  At the same time, part of the painting crew is working on the drywall on the main floor in the guest suite and dining room.  Every day I can see more of their prep work.  The gloss white paint for the mill work trim looks great!  It is difficult to take photos of the painters working because so much of the room is taped and covered.  Trust me, it is looking great and I will post photos as soon as it is possible.