Floors laid, next up the finish carpenters.....

Floors laid, next up, the finish carpenters....

December 20th -- With the new hardwood floor already laid in the kitchen and gathering room on the main floor and the master bedroom on the upper floor,  the floor guy returned to the main level to work on the guest room hardwood floor that  needed to be repaired with patch work and new sections.  Below are photos that show how new pieces of oak have been fitted into the original oak floor.  Eventually, the new pieces will be almost indistinguishable with the older pieces after filler, sanding and staining the old and new wood will make them blend together

December 20th and 21st -- The finish carpenters are not from Finland.  They are however, a very interesting bunch of guys, and I've only met a few of the crew so far.  The main man is a very thoughtful guy who spent a good part of the first day plotting the strategy to attack this very complicated job.  

There are several things that make this job complicated.  First, is the total lack of space for them to work in because all of the trim, doors, and cabinets are being stored in the house .  The carpenters have to step over piles of trim as they set the cabinets.  By the end of day on Friday they had almost all of the cabinets out of their packing boxes and just about set.  The head carpenter told me that he was concerned about the appliances that will be delivered on Monday because he doesn't know where they will go and where they will set up their saws and work tables.  Sure enough, later that evening the contractor sent me a text telling me that the "head carpenter's head is about to explode" because of the lack of work space.  So, it looks like not only the refrigerator will need to go into my "temporary kitchen/living room" but so will the double ovens, the microwave, and the range top.  Second, the tile is supposed to be delivered on Monday as well and the tile guy will begin work on the file floors in the two main level bathrooms -- yes, that means the carpenters and the tile guy will be working simultaneously.  Third, the head finish carpenter will also need to begin on the AV cabinet and the floor-to-ceiling bookcases in the gathering room and he needs space to work in that room.  Fourth, there is so much mill work to do that I think they are almost overwhelmed by the very thought of all the trim that will go around the windows, doors, baseboards, and all the finishing trim around the kitchen cabinets, the laundry room cabinets, the double vanity in the master bath, and the vanities in the remaining three bathrooms.  Finally, the cabinets are maple painted bright white, which means they need to be very careful to keep them clean.

Nevertheless, these guys seem up for the challenge.  When I got home late on Friday, the day before the shortest day of the year, the three finish carpenters were working with headlamps on as there are no light fixtures in the house.

I got to see the very first glimpse of my farmhouse apron style sink, which was temporarily set atop the base cabinet for the sink that will hide the garbage disposal.  Here are a few photos, but the stainless steel sink looks black because there is no light and the flash from my camera blacked out the sink.

The carpenters carefully took the sink out of the crate to align the base cabinet and then they put it back in the crate to protect it.  They told me that there were taking bets about how much the sink cost. They all lost the bet because the sink looks way more expensive that it was, although I got an amazingly deep discount by ordering it on Amazon after doing a lot of research.  Just wait until they see the faucet!

The head carpenter told me that he thinks all the trim, cabinets, doors, bookcases and built-ins in the mudroom will take over two weeks worth of work.  These guys are a pleasure to have around because they are meticulous, precise, pleasant, and clean up before, during and after they do their work.  

Here is a photo of the cabinet that will hold the refrigerator with the wine rack that goes above it.

In this photo, one of the carpenters is working on the cabinetry (in the dark with his headlamp) that will hold the double ovens.

Here is a good view of how the galley kitchen will open to the gathering room.

The view for almost all of these photos is from the gathering room.  In the next several photos you can see the cabinet that will hold the double ovens, with the cabinet over it with dividers that will hold cookie and baking sheets, and other shallow baking pans, as well as platters and glass casserole dishes. You can also see a cabinet next to it where the double ovens will go, and the space below it where the microwave will be mounted so that it will be positioned under it.  The base cabinets include drawers as well as a desk area. There will be more wall cabinets that will go above the desk area, but they have not yet been mounted.

Here is the view of the north side of the kitchen where the refrigerator, range top, and range hood will sit -- at the near end of this bank of cabinets will be a small penninsula/breakfast bar that will be built later and will help to divide the gathering room and the kitchen.  I keep imagining myself sitting at this breakfast bar sipping a latte.

I'm back at the house today, Saturday, to meet the contractor to go over a few details.  Before he shows up, I have time to take some new photos.  To the left are the cabinets in the laundry room that have been  mounted on the same west wall adjacent to the where the washer and dryer will sit. There are base cabinets adjacent to the washer and dryer with a corner unit  and base cabs on the north wall of the laundry room.

Here is another view.  Just as I shot this photo, the contractor walked in and told me how jealous he was of my laundry room!   Yeah, baby it is going to be pretty awesome.

While the finish carpenters have been busy the last two days, so have I.  I needed to go select the actual slabs of granite for all the counter tops.  Because the sink, faucet and range top will be the focal points of the kitchen, I needed a granite that would complement the white cabinets, oak floors, and stainless steel appliances, while not "fighting" with everything else.  I decided to go with Nordic Black Antiqued granite.  This is a stone that comes from Canada that is black with cells of grey and mica with occasional veins of white mineral deposits.  I decided to go with the honed or antique leathered finish instead of the polished finish, again to complement the appliances.  

Here is a close up of what the granite looks like.

   

To make a very long story short, for the last two days I spent a lot of time visiting granite yards and I finally was able to locate three slabs for my project.

I also ordered "draw downs" which are 8.5 x 11 inch sheets with selected interior paint colors so that I can tape these to the walls and move them from room to room as the light changes.  I picked up the draw downs and the containers of sample paint.  I will  spend time tomorrow trying to finalize the ceiling and wall colors by throwing some paint on the walls and moving the draw downs.

With the majority of the drywall done, I spent several hours today cleaning.  I used the shop vac to suck up as much as the drywall dust and grime as I could.  Then I did a serious damp mopping.  I also tried to rearrange the space in my temporary kitchen so there will be room to store the refrigerator, range top, microwave, and double ovens until they can be set into the cabinets in the kitchen -- that will be in about two weeks given the holiday.  Also, once all the cabinets are set, the counter top fabricator needs to make a template of all the base cabinets and vanities so that the granite tops can be cut.

The penultimate accomplishment was to order the decking material for the south side deck and the decking for the rear-entry porch.  In addition, I ordered replacement boards for the decking for the front porch.  These materials will be delivered to the house in about three weeks and the decks will be constructed as the winter weather allows.

And, the last triumph of the day was that after I got the contractor to sign the paperwork, I submitted the application and supporting documentation for the 2013 heating system rebate from my local utility -- with 10 days to spare!

A heroic effort....

A heroic effort...

December 19th -- On my way to my house this morning I picked up a dozen donuts for everyone working on my house.  As I pulled up, I saw the head painter and one of the members of his crew standing outside.  They were literally covered from head to toe in white dust.  It turns out that the head painter "pulled an all nighter" and had finished texturing all the walls so that the cabinets can be set.  He will need to do some touch up before painting, but that will wait when he returns from his working vacation with family after the first of the year.   He had worked all night except for two hours that he spent sleeping in his truck.  His assistant showed up at 5:00am and helped to complete the job.  The two of them looked like a wreck but they had actually finished before they thought they would and were so happy to see that there were donuts for breakfast.  I also gave the head painter a Starbucks gift card and told him that I didn't want him to be thirsty when he was at the airport.  This is a huge hurdle out of the way.  I am very grateful that the painters have indeed come to the rescue, although I never imagined that it would take an all nighter to get the job done.

The finish carpenter explained that there was a slight glitch with the installation of the kitchen cabinets and the range top hood fan that he discovered.  He came up with a solution and wanted to run it by me.  Because of the placement of the vent for the range top hood fan, a small portion of the stainless steel chimney for the vent will need to be covered with a trim piece, valance, and molding instead of being positioned between the cabinets.  It was a good solution as there will be a future photo in which I will describe the problem and the solution.  The finish carpenters put a lot of thought into what they need to do before they begin their work, which is very impressive.

The contractor was on site and told me to go pick out the granite slabs for the kitchen and vanities.  When I went to the granite yard, I was told that there were only three slabs of the granite that I had decided upon and was given the location to view them.  All three slabs were from the same block and although granite is known for its veins and fissures, each slab had a serious flaw -- a fissure that looked as if someone had taken a key and gouged a line across the granite.  This type of fissure weakens the granite and will make it more difficult to install.  Given that I selected a black granite with grey cells, this fissure was not acceptable.  Unfortunately, the granite yard was not expecting another shipment of my selected granite.  Ugh...now I will have to see if there is another source for my granite. I will deal with that problem tomorrow.

At the end of the day I returned back to my house to pick up my mail.  The progress that was made in just one day was amazing, in large part due to the painter's efforts.

First, the hardwood floors are done in the master bedroom, closet and hallway, and all the walls and ceilings have been textured, as shown below

Also, the hardwood floor guy had even used my snow shovel to clean up as much of his mess as well as the drywall and texture mud.  You can see the snow shovel in the photos below

The finish carpenters had moved some of the new four-panel doors from the mud room on the main level to the upper level in preparation to hang them.

With the hardwood floors installed on the upper level, it is time to tackle the repair and patch work to the oak floors on the main level in the dining room and the guest suite.  The hardwood floor guy removed the sections of oak planks that he will replace and blend into the existing floor.  In these photos you can see the original fir floors below the red oak floors and the sections that had no flooring because there was a wall that we have now moved.

The finish carpenters were working hard to get the kitchen cabinets in, especially since we need to make room for the appliances that will be delivered next Tuesday.  The contractor will pick up the dishwasher first, and then the double ovens, microwave, range top and refrigerator will be delivered.  All of the appliances will be set into the cabinets, with the exception of the refrigerator, which will have to be temporarily placed in my kitchen/living room area.  The refrigerator will be installed later with the sinks and plumbing fixtures.

When I walked into the kitchen, I was so pleased to see much progress, as shown below:

Here are the cabinets on the south wall of the galley style kitchen

Here is the wine rack above the cabinet that will hold the refrigerator.

Below are photos of the north wall of the kitchen -- you can see the wall cabinets, the venting pipe that goes into the ceiling, and the space where the hood vent and chimney will go over the range top, in between the two wall cabinets, and then connect to the vent pipe. These cabinets have already been set, and the finish carpenters put that big piece of cardboard up against the base cabinets for protection.  As the head finish carpenter told me, this kitchen will be a challenge because the maple cabinets are finished in a farmhouse style, brilliant white and they will do their very best to make sure they leave no dirt or fingerprints on my new cabinets -- I love these guys!

Here you can see one of the finish carpenters working on the wall cabinet on the south wall of the kitchen and the base cabinet where the farmhouse, apron style sink will be set, shown in greater detail in the final photo below

When I left the house tonight I began to feel as if things are getting back on track and in sequence, but there will be several weeks of very detailed trim work to go.  

Full steam ahead.....

Full Steam Ahead....

December 18th --  Yesterday I fulfilled my civic duty by reporting for jury duty.  It was a break from the current routine of being consumed by the details of the house and the almost unbearable amount of construction dust and grime.  I am beginning to recover from the nasty upper respiratory virus that caught up with me.  Given the connections among stress, the immune system and illness, it is really pretty amazing that this is only the second bug I've been hit by since this process started.

I am very fortunate to have dear friends who welcomed me to sleep at their home to escape the dust while I recover.

With jury duty behind me, I had a two-hour meeting with the contractor; the first time we've talked in person since he returned from vacation and the first drywall crew was fired.  It is very easy to get upset and frustrated, but that doesn't do any good.  The problem with the drywall crew was the result of a perfect storm -- there is an unbelievable amount of construction going on all throughout the city.  It is really amazing how much demand there is and how crews that have been very loyal to contractors will suddenly decline a job -- even after a verbal agreement -- because they get a better offer.  My contractor is known among his subcontractors for being very loyal and having long-term working relationships.  His usual drywall crew backed out of my job because they were offered more money and a lot of work by a developer.  The contractor had to go with a new drywall company that was a disaster.

Although we have lost 6 weeks, the real problem is that this came at a crucial time where a sequence of things was supposed to happen, and now everything is pretty much messed up, or to use an old military term -- FUBAR (F*ucked Up Beyond All Reason).  The approaching Christmas and New Year holidays is also contributing to a slow down in the work flow.  I am getting my head around the reality that I will most likely NOT have a functional kitchen or a bedroom in which I can sleep on an actual bed until February......2014.

The painter/drywallers have to get the walls textured and the hardwood floors installed before the cabinetry can be set.  However, the cabinets have already been delivered, and the new doors have been delivered, and all the trim for the windows, baseboards, and doors has been delivered.  There is no place to store this stuff except in the work space so the work has to go on around, on top of and over everything that has been delivered.  I finally met the head of the finish carpentry crew, who is a really amazing guy and exceptionally nice.  As we talked he looked at the pile of trim on the floor between where the kitchen cabinets are to be set, and said that he would probably have to move the pile of trim several times in order to get the cabinets installed.  Unlike the hardwood floor guy who is easily 6' 4' and over 200 lbs, it is a good thing that the finish carpenters are shorter and trimmer because there isn't a whole lot of space to maneuver.   

The contractor and I finalized the dimensions of the deck and pergola that will be built on the south side of the house that will be accessed through the sliding doors in the dining room.  I will order the decking material at the end of the week once the contractor figures out exactly how much material I need.  The painters spent a good part of the day sanding the walls in the dining room, as shown below.

By the end of the day, the head of the painting company asked me if he could come to my house in the evening to texture the walls in the dining room, guest suite, guest bath, master bedroom, and master bathroom. He is scheduled to leave town on a flight Thursday afternoon to spend 10 days with his family.  He has to get the walls textured before he leaves.  He also told me that he is packing his paint brushes because he will spend the days before Christmas painting a family member's house!

At 9:20pm as I was staying at my friends' house, I received a text message on my phone from the painter letting me know that he was working in my house with portable lights and hoped that I didn't get a phone call from the police to say there was an intruder in my house!  I told him I would see him in the morning and he said he would be there until noon.

Before the finish carpenters left for the day, they unpacked some of the cabinetry for the kitchen, and I caught my first glimpse of them.  In these photos you can see the wine cabinet that will go over the refrigerator.  You can also see one of the wall cabinets, and if you look to the right on the floor, you'll see the pile of trim that will get moved several times.  You can also see the boxes, some still unopened and some of the base cabinets freed from their boxes.

Here are the new four-panel, pre-hung doors that will be installed on the main level and the upper level of the house.  They are stacked in the mudroom waiting to be hung.  And, here are more cabinets in and out of their shipping boxes. 

Here is a better view of the pile of trim that will be moved just to get the cabinets set.

The hardwood floors have been laid in the master bedroom suite and nailed down with the exception of one small area in the bedroom.  Here you can see the unfinished hardwood floor in the hallway leading to the master bedroom and in the closet.

Here are photos of the hardwood floor around the fireplace in the master bedroom.

And, above is the one section of the master bedroom where the hardwood floor will be nailed down tomorrow.

While all this progress has been made on the hardwood floors, master bedroom ceilings and walls are ready to be textured in the wee hours of the night.

Early tomorrow morning I will stop by to catch the painter before he leaves for his 10-day working vacation.