A Bit of Good News, Lots of Paint and a Schedule

 Note to our email subscribers: To view this post on our website (recommended), click here.

Another hint: Click on photos to enlarge.

Back in April I swore come hell or high water we were going to move in by May 31st for a number of reasons. May 31st was a year since we broke ground for the foundation. The apartment lease for my brother, who will be moving into the condo when we move into the house, was expiring. And as much as Scott and I enjoy each other's company, the condo was getting a bit small. 

May 31st has come and gone, we don't yet have a water main and the house doesn't have water and sewer. I was talking with contractor Brian about schedule (he's anxious to finish the project as well) and asked, "What if we ask the city if we can connect to the sewer?" If the City said yes we could have the front excavation and concrete work completed. The city did say "Yes" and the following Monday Nate began work on the sewer connection in the front yard and then stopped. Waiting for a part. A week later, we're still waiting on the part.

Meanwhile, inside the house Daren Orange was taping off the trim for primer and paint. All exterior door and feature wall trim will be black.

The supervisor and her interns have been on site to check progress.

Before: The trim at the sliding doors and transom windows in the living room getting their final coat of black paint.

After: Tape removed, revealing a very sexy bank of windows and doors!

Primary bedroom sliders all trimmed out and painted.

Then it was on to the walls. Most of them are white so I won't show you photos of white paint drying. ☺️ Instead here is the feature wall sporting its second coat of Benjamin Moore Black Tar paint.

Ryan also prepped, primed and first coated the stainless steel cap on the first floor deck. The deck tiles on this deck have moved around some. Brian is waiting for Ryan to finish and then he'll reset and secure them.

While Ryan was waiting for paint to dry in the house he secured a side-job across the street. Clever marketing!

With completion of interior painting in sight, Brian was able to schedule the finish electrical starting Tuesday, July 2nd, countertops on Wednesday, July 3rd, and finish plumbing starting July 9th. With any luck we'll get a water main, sewer and water hookups and concrete somewhere in there. We'll keep you posted.

One Big Thing and Lots of Little Things

 Note to our email subscribers: To view this post on our website (recommended), click here.

Another hint: Click on photos to enlarge.

On a Tuesday we rounded the corner at 4th Street and Jerome to be greeted by the best site we'd seen in a while...The vacuum truck was on site and pot holing for the water main had begun! Did this mean the water main could be done soon? Well, that was May 28th and here we are on June 16 and no physical progress has been made.

That doesn't mean nothing has happened. Once the pot holing was complete Nate, the contractor in charge of this work, reported exact utility locations for all the connections, water, gas, sewer, etc to the civil engineer. The civil engineer drew it up and submitted the plan to the city. The city reviewed it and determined that the new mater main had to go below all the existing connections meaning additional parts and materials have to be ordered.

And because they can, the city is requiring that the welds, done by a certified welder, must be spot checked and certified by another party. And the certified welder welding certification parties seem to only be located in Portland. This is a bureaucracy nightmare. Although Son-Scott, a welder, tells me this is standard procedure for critical welds - that makes me feel a little better about it.

On to other things...the range hood was installed! I was able to get a better idea of what the kitchen and the island will look like. 

Along with the range hood, the make up air vent was installed and hooked up. When the range hood is turned on the make up air vent opens to let in fresh air. Apparently it's required in Oregon for any range hoods over 650 CFM.

The counter top guy was out to measure for all the counter tops. I thought he would have one of those new-fangled laser measuring apparatuses (apparatusi?) But no, he did it old school creating wood templates of all the countertops. I'd not seen it done that way before. It was really cool.

And...Brian the flooring guy finished the floors! OMG! He completed the stairwell over a weekend (on Sunday just two weeks late) and then laid flooring under the stairs on Monday! I'd love to say we'll never see him again, but he will be back after painting is complete to fix several areas.

Contractor Brian installed faux drawer fronts at the top of the pantry which makes it look more finished. Counter top material (at 1/4" thick) will go up the sides of the pantry.

And the painters are back. Ryan, with Daren Orange, were taping everything in preparation for priming all the trim.

They primed the upstairs trim on Saturday. Ryan says they plan to be done painting the trim mid week and then on to second coating the walls and touch up.

Two Mondays ago Craig, the glass guy, came out and measured for the shower enclosure. This past Thursday I called him because I hadn't received the quote. It was buried and he had yet to work up the quote. He called Friday with the quote and we approved it. Craig said 3 to 4 weeks to deliver and install. I think I'll drop by on Monday and get this formalized. I don't want to call him in four weeks to find out it got buried again.

Sadly our neighbors across the street, Daniel and Julien, have decided to move to warmer climes. The home listing on Zillow includes a drone shot of their house and the neighborhood. The photo presents a unique look at our house as well. Click on the photo - our house is the one with the solar panels, just above the drop pin.

Speaking of solar, our solar installation was inspected and approved by the county last week. Next, Stan the solar man submits the inspection approval to Pacific Power, who will then install our net meter. After that's complete we can turn on the system and start generating our own power! 

This coming week we are hoping for movement on the water main, expect painting to continue, and maybe late in the week countertops and PacPower net meter. We'll see.