Vacations and Deliveries

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The last three weeks have been hard. We've been frustrated with the progress on the house. Someone???? told contractor Brian that it was okay for him to go on vacation. I think it was his wife. ☺️ In his defense, we all thought the house would be done by now and he did have contractors lined up for while he was gone. But as the saying goes...while the cat's away for a week and a half nothing gets done. Okay, that's not entirely true. 

Let's recap the last couple weeks. Jacob the electrician was on hand for a day to install some wiring for the kitchen hood/makeup air system and run more stuff for Stan the solar guy.

After a protracted shipping hassle, Ruben the tile guy finally received the correct linear drain. He, along with helper Daniel, then pulled up some of the primary bath floor tile to install it. Once that was complete they leveled up the walls so the wall tile would run right up to the wall board. Brandon the other tile guy was on hand again to finish up the wall tile. 

And the appliances did arrive. Well, most of them. Brian wanted all the appliances that will reside on the second floor delivered before the flooring on the stairs was installed. The refrigerator, cooktop, oven, dishwasher and microwave, along with a ridiculously large television box, are artfully displayed in the middle of the living room. The washer and dryer, first floor dwellers, will be delivered after paint.

But that's not all that has arrived. I've been shopping sales and then pushing off deliveries...we were supposed to be in the house by now. So things are starting to show up - coffee table, end table and wall mounted shelves in the bedroom. New cushions for our 14-year old outdoor furniture and counter stools for the kitchen arrived and are chilling in the den.

Having ridden his motorcycle over what seemed to be the entire western frontier, Brian arrived at the house last Thursday refreshed and annoyed with absent sub-contractors. But, cabinets arrived. I think in a play to appease my frazzled nerves Brian completed the island installation. It worked, it made me happy.

Brian picked up the reconfigured cabinets for Scott's den from the local cabinet maker and got right to installing them on Friday. He started work today on the counter top that runs the length of the cabinets and becomes Scott's desk area. He also worked on the top for the credenza.

In addition to the progress Brian was making in his few short days back, Monday brought a different kind of progress. Stay tuned.

Making a Mess to Make Something Special

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While he didn't quite finish the living room floor last week, flooring Brian was able to complete enough that cabinet work could continue this week in the living room. The living room went from wide open expanse to crowded with cabinets, packaging, furniture deliveries and other detritus during the week. 

Brian worked all over the house, placing the floating bench in the entry, building the counter in the laundry room, installing hardware on all the cabinets and adding the ipe cap to the deck railings. He also covered the new flooring and brought in the living room cabinets, ready for the fireplace to be complete. 

Brandon completed the tile surround in the den bath. The hardware and the fixtures in the room are matte black so we choose a black Schluter edge next to the tile. Ruben ordered a replacement linear drain for the shower upstairs. They had inadvertently installed a tile top drain. The new drain arrived yesterday, in stainless steel. I'm told a replacement in matte black will arrive today and Rueben will be working on the shower surround this week.

The steel guys were on site almost every day last week, finish fitting the panels on the fireplace, buffing out scratches and readying the steel for painting. They covered the walls, ceiling and floors surrounding the fireplace with plastic and constructed a makeshift paint booth with fresh air intake, exhausting to the outside.

The first coat looked really nice to me, but there were a couple areas they wanted to improve so they buffed those areas, applied a second coat of paint and a final clear matte finish.

Brian didn't waist any time on Monday this week installing the living room cabinets and hardware. It's really looking like the architects renderings! The fireplace trim will be installed after the walls and trim are painted, which should start next week.

Speaking of paint, Ryan took advantage of every sunny hour (in between rain drops) last week and yesterday to finish second coating the exterior siding and the "racing stripes" on the second floor. There is still metal trim painting and touch up to do, but it looks great.

Appliances arrive this week. Brian wanted them delivered before the flooring was installed in the stairwell to avoid damage to the flooring. Also my stupid big Frame TV for the living room is being delivered this week. I pushed out deliveries as long as I could, but dang it, these vendors don't want to store the stuff for me.