A Little Bit of Sunshine and Everything Happens at Once

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On a bright, sunny Monday morning Brian and Hank were unloading kitchen cabinets, so many cabinets! We were only going to be in the way so we beat feet out of there to return that afternoon.

When we returned we were pleased to see Ryan the painter busy on the first coat of finish paint and Rueben the tile guy was on hand. Brian and Hank had been very busy in the kitchen.

One of the island cabinets is painted the wrong color - Aloe. Not sure where the mix up occurred here, but even the green-ish cabinets in the primary bath, aren't this color. A new cabinet has been ordered from the local-ish (Eugene, OR) vendor.

On Tuesday, another beautiful day, the steel guys were back to finish paint the deck railings, string the cables and template the front of the fireplace.

Flooring Brian worked in the evening on Monday night and finished the kitchen and powder room floors allowing contractor Brian and Hank to install cabinets in my cubicle, scullery, butler's pantry (whatever).

They didn't waste any time putting the doors and hardware on the cabinets.

Ryan the painter was back on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. He worked on the outside until the rains on Wednesday chased him in, where he puttied and detailed the interior trim getting it ready to paint.

Back to the tile guys, they were on hand this week to tile the bath surround downstairs and prep the primary bath walls for tile. Preparing the walls entailed a thick coat of cement type material that takes a couple days to dry. They'll be back Monday (I just jinxed it) to tile.

The steel guys came back on Thursday and installed the steel panels for the front of the fireplace, returning on Friday with the side panels. They've made the decision to paint the panels on site as moving these large panels after paint risks the finish and because they're fearful of damaging the hardwood floors. 

Flooring Brian was back later in the week and made good progress on the living room floor. he promised contractor Brian he'd have the living room done by Monday morning so Brian could trim the doors. As of Sunday afternoon it doesn't look likely.

We noticed today that the electricians had finally installed the STOP button (emergency shut off) for the solar system. This means I can call Stan to come out and finish the solar setup. I believe it's a matter of some re-wiring, setting up the battery and labeling. After that an inspection by the county, certification from the power company, installation of a net metering meter and we can go live.

Exterior Primer, Kitchen Flooring and Railings

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Ah, finally some great spring weather. In Astoria that means sunshine, light breezes instead of blowing winds and temps in the 60s. The beautiful weather brought out the eagles, all kinds of flowering trees and our painter Ryan.

Because of unpredictable winds Ryan is rolling and brushing both the primer and finish paint, in his Tevas and usually with a cigar in his mouth. Before the week was out Ryan completed priming the Hardie siding except for the wall behind the garage and the Hardie panel accent pieces between the upstairs windows on the front of the house and the racing stripe on the west side of the house.

The hearth and wood storage box now installed, flooring Brian showed up on Tuesday morning as promised and made some headway on the kitchen floor, also showing up for a while on Wednesday. 

Then, as he is wont to do, flooring Brian disappeared leaving his equipment strewn everywhere. Contractor Brian must have jumped on flooring Brian a bit. Flooring Brian showed up at the house on Saturday and Sunday promising to completely finish the kitchen floor so contractor Brian could install cabinets on Monday.

So close...

When they brought the hearth and wood storage box on Monday, the steel guys also welded the metal top to the railing stanchions on the decks. Next they will repaint the stanchions and install the cables. Then Brian can install the ipe rail cap, seen to the right of the ladder in the photo above.

The rail tops make the decks feel so much safer!

Landscape, Cabinets and Delays

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Let's start off with the fun stuff! Britta delivered the planting plan for the front yard on Wednesday and I love what she's doing. She calls the area in front of the retaining wall the Sun Slope and plans for a California feel. New Mexico Century Plant - a type of agave, New Zealand Flax, creeping rosemary, blue oat grass and a crape myrtle multi-stemmed tree, which features prominently.

In the Upper Garden she has planned a more Pacific Northwest garden featuring, not one, but two multi-stem Coral Bark Japanese Maples, sweet box, lilyturf, hosta, black mondo grass, lamb's ear and Irish moss. Mugo pine and cotoneaster are threaded through both garden areas. The illustration above does not include everything, I just wanted to give Scott an idea of the plan. Yes, I'm totally geeked out. 

I submitted the plans for the front yard hardscape with the City on Wednesday. Two amendments, for the existing Right of Way and Grading and Erosion permits, and I filled out a new structural permit application for the retaining wall. Now we wait.

Floor tile complete in the primary bath, Brian installed the vanity on Monday.

On Wednesday IKEA delivered the insides for the wardrobes in the primary bedroom, laundry, den and entry. I got to work on Thursday and Friday and Scott helped on Saturday putting together the primary bedroom wardrobe insides. On Sunday I installed the insides of the laundry wardrobe.

Primary bedroom wardrobes

Laundry wardrobe

Brian and I worked out some fit issues on the first floor bath vanity and it has been placed in the bathroom for the short-term pending final wall paint.

Just in time for the den shelf cabinets to arrive on Friday. This morning, Monday, Brian opened the cartons to find the shelf cabinets are ten inches too tall. I double checked my paperwork, I ordered the right size. Nope, this was a data entry error by our sales rep. It happens. What's important is how it gets fixed. They could order new cabinets or have a local craftsman fix them. We're trying the local craftsman first, no charge to us, of course. If we have to order new cabinets we're looking at a couple months wait. I don't have that kind of time.

Brandon the tile guy was on hand on Thursday and Friday to tile the entryway (it looks great!) The wall tile seems to be taking the long road from wherever it was shipped. It now has a delivery date of this Wednesday, so Brandon should be here Thursday and Friday unless our luck holds out.

The hearth and wood storage box under the fireplace has been a pacing item for a while. Flooring installation can't continue until they are in place. The week before last we were given finish samples for the hearth and surround. The three samples on the left are various blackened metal finishes. There is an unevenness to the finishes that is typical of a blacked finish which we always thought would be really cool. The far left sample has a gloss clear coat that we didn't care for, the other two have matte finishes that we preferred, but. We tested their durability by scraping wood across the samples. You can see the scratches that were left. This is a problem for three reasons - first, the scratched area will "flash rust"; second, to repair the finish takes sand blasting and an acid bath and several other steps not practical for in home use; and third, the scratches would drive Scott crazy.

The final sample on the right is a matte black painted finish. It is really beautiful and we're told that it's much more durable. It's also much easier to repair should it get scratched. Decision made, the hearth and box were to be delivered last week. From there it's almost a comedy of errors. Monday - bugs in the paint; Tuesday - repair orange peeled, sandblast and repaint the entire thing; Friday - painted with the wrong finish. Plan for Monday morning!

It's really hard to photograph, but the hearth and wood storage box were installed today, Monday, around 3 pm, the fit perfect and it looks great. Now the flooring can continue, flooring Brian says he'll be at the house first thing tomorrow morning. We'll see.

Tile and Doors, Cabinets and Floors...Landscape.

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Last week was tile week. Brandon was on hand first thing Monday. He had tile laid out in the first floor bath so I could indicate our direction preference, east to west. Scott and I had already decided on a stacked tile pattern. Over the course of the week Brandon laid tile on the floors in both baths. They ordered more tile to complete the entryway which arrived late last week. Next week? Entryway floor, bath and shower surrounds and hopefully, grout.

The architects specified "no transition thresholds between differing floor materials at interior doors - align finish floor materials with flush, level surface and tight butt joints," insert appropriate Beavis and Butthead joke here. Brandon did a beautiful job lining the tile up with the hardwoods, shown in the photo above.

Brian and Hank picked up the interior doors from the painter and Brian got to work installing the first of three pocket doors. They are heavy, solid-core doors and the soft-open-and-close pocket door hardware is top notch. They also installed doors at the (future) elevator downstairs and closet under the stairs.

The steel guy was at the house mid-week with samples so we could pick a finish for the steel fireplace surround. He also brought by the steel shelf for the primary bath. Finish selected, the steel guys will be back to install the fireplace surround in the living room on Monday.

Brian began installing the counter in the laundry, while Hank installed baseboards in the den, laundry, hallway and closets on the first floor. Hank then trimmed out the closet doors. After flooring Brian finished the floor in the primary bedroom, Hank built the wardrobe cabinets and installed baseboards there.

Flooring Brian was MIA most of the rest of the week, but showed up today to install flooring in the upstairs elevator closet. While we'd love flooring Brian to work straight through and finish up with the living room, kitchen and surrounding areas, he has to wait for the fireplace surround to be installed before he can really finish upstairs. Maybe this week?

We're still working through the landscape plan for the front yard. In order to place our retaining wall in the right of way as we planned we would have to go through a new process,  License to Occupy, whereby the City Council has to approve it. The application says right on it that it will take more than six months to gain approval. I just don't have six months in me, so new plan.

The new plan moves the retaining wall back, just inside our property line. This leaves a seven foot planting area between the retaining wall and the sidewalk. While we still have to submit the plan to the city, it's only an amendment to our current Right of Way and Erosion and Grading permits. There will be a new structural permit for the retaining wall, but we believe that will be approved without issue. I'm just waiting on stamped engineering drawings and then we'll get it all to the City. Stay tuned.