Nice Truck, Great Help!

And Peter from my office (our first friend to have a Nanawall in his home, installed by Pete Rankin!) Helped out today too!

Nice Shelves, Great Helper!

Jonathan helped out today (he of new car post back in July).

We're in!

The ceremonial cutting of the plastic wrap on Heather's Hatbox occurred at 8:17 PM on Sunday, November 9, 2008, marking our official move in to HeatherMichael House! No internet connection until Thursday- this is from bberry!

Moving Day Eve!!!

So there you have it; it's Saturday evening, November 8, 2008. Heather and I spent all day cleaning the place up, moving tools to media room (no big TV yet anyway!) and garbage and recycles to where they go, and dusting and cleaning. Daniel helped out in the morning moving stuff around with me, Kian helped in the afternoon, clearing out the place where we'll be building the semi pre-fab storage shed in the back, including leveling out the grade so it'll be fairly flat.


This is our last night in the rental house, I have a couple friends lined up (Peter K and John H) to help us move the big furniture items tomorrow afternoon, and we'll be sleeping in the nice warm house tomorrow!

Pete finished all the shelves in the living room yesterday - here's what the Living Room looks like today, ready for more books! I have a hunch we'll actually not fill the shelves with books yet, but we'll see. It would be a shame to move in and have them full from Day 1, eh? We'll see, of course.


Steve installed all the miscellaneous "jewelry" in the main bathroom yesterday; looks pretty crowded in this cell phone photo, but it's pretty cool in real life.
and to the left, outside of the picture, is another "Billy" Ikea shelf, for towel storage. Funny thing about that sink - it's the second cheapest thing in the house, at $39. The faucet was about 4 - 5 times that. Oy! That' the part you touch and interact with, so we rationalized that was the critical thing to get right. And check out that Toto toilet (it's not in Kansas anymore.) Heather spent about three hours sealing all the grout in that room today - and the tile (as I'm sure you recall) goes all the way around, about 7 feet high. Whew! That was quite a job.

On Thursday, I was there for a momentous occasion, akin to the Promontory Utah event I'm sure you all know about. The very last piece of siding was installed at 11:27 AM by one Steve Rankin, above the outdoor light sconce just south of Nanawall. Small pic is Steve air-nailing it into place.

Larger pic is Steve cutting it to fit.

And today, Pete put in a full day along with us, finishing the closet door installations in Kian and Daniel's room, and putting down the baseboards in the closets (so we can pile them full of storage tomorrow and not have to worry about doing them later), and the bed walls (for similar reasons).

In a word, the place looks AWESOME, and neither of us can believe it's actually ready for us to move in tomorrow, but it is, come hell or high water.

Move In Day Is Here

It's Friday evening, November 7. I was at the house since 6:45 to finish installing closet shelves and rods. At 9:00, I had to hightail it in rainy weather traffic to Ikea to get some shelf units to replace the ones I bought a month ago because they were the wrong color. I don't know how that happened, but nonetheless, had to go. Then I painted the basement bathroom and installed the two sconces and sealed the grout and cleaned up. By then, Pete had finished installing the shelf units in the living room, so I inserted all the individual shelves, then installed the front cabinet panel at the cooktop and the sink we don't have. Ahhh...... So now I'm finally blogging after not giving ya'll an update for what five days now? Oy!

What a week! After the election Tuesday, I went into the office for an 8:00 meeting and then it's been work on the house almost constantly since then. Ray finished hooking up the rest of the plumbing on Wednesday, and I'll be darned if I wasn't real glad I was there to see it before he left. He had placed the overflow for the water heater on the back side, so that if there ever was a leak, it would go into the baseboard and start rotting out the drywall. Sheesh. "That's where the connection was aimed, so I just went that way" he said. I asked him nicely to put it in the front, lie next to the floor drain and away from the wall. My goodness, one really needs to be careful.

Did We Move in!?!?!?!?

This was the weekend targeted for starting our move-in if you recall, and I know you do. Did we make it? What do you think? Let's check out these photos:

For the first time in a really long while, I brought a decent camera to the remodel instead of just relying on the cell phone camera.

Here's a pop at the new entry; do you like all the wood? The walls on both sides of the front door will be clear T&G cedar too, so it'll be all woodsy warm when you come to the front door. (If you're an evironmentalist, it'll be all old growth too, but fortunately there's not much of it.) Can we move in like this? You betcha.

Here's the main floor bathroom now; I powered up the Tech Lighting fixtures today and popped in the GFI outlet and got the fan running, cleaned up the tub, and tested out the Hans Grohe shower. Awsome. Can we move in like that? Well, kind of - just need the shower curtain.

You've already seen the living room and the floors; the shelves aren't done yet, but they're almost there; are they good enough for a move-in if we have to? You betcha!

I powered up the water heater today too. That little snake from the ceiling to the heater is 10 gage armored cable, baby. I turned it on and could hear the water warming up and expanding the chamber. Can we move in like that? Well, not quite. If you look at the photo, the piping that gets the hot water to the tubs and sinks isn't there yet. So, no; can't move in until we have hot water.

And here's a shot at the most pesky circuit I'm trying to figure out. If you come to the open house on the 15th, hopefully it'll all be figured out by then and you won't accidentally electrocute yourself like I almost did. Just kidding!!!

Bottom line is, we start the move-in process next week. Until then, Ray needs to finish his plumbing stuff, and we really need to have Steve finish the walkway to the sidewalk so not so much dirt gets tracked in.

That's it for now; I just need to get some much needed sleep. More manana!

Ever have one of those days?

The kind where you're doing a small project and yo go to the store that you know has everything instead of Home Depot, but the store that has everything doesn't have what you need?

And then you go to the other store that has it all and you finally get what you need but you get home and you're still missing a critical part? So you go get the missing piece, and it's small so you just put it in your pocket and you get home and find that somewhere between the store and your house it fell through a hole you didn't know you had? So you have to go again to the store to get a replacement, so you're finally ready to get 'er done, but when you put the "industry standard" pieces together they don't fit right because another piece is missing? How about when you get that part and finally are just about to finish, and something really basic is missing because you never thought what you alreday had wouldn't work, like wire nuts being too small for instance?

Not me- I never have days like that. Not! Argh- I'm having a buffalo burger w/bacon and cheese at the ale house now. I'll get back to the project in a few minutes. :-)

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Went to a big formal event yesterday at which Mr. Bill spoke. First time I've seen him in the flesh. Yee ha.

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Soooooo Close..........

Just a couple of lunchtime photos. Tom the Flooring Guy put the second coat down this morning about 8:30 - he's coming back after lunch to do the third and final coat. I hope it's nice and thick.

And Steve put more siding up - between the front patio door and the pilaster by the entry. (After moving a whole bunch of stuff so Tom the Flooring Guy could do his thing too.)

This afternoon, the Evan Conklin heating guys are coming by to put in the hydronic baseboards in the basement, so the kids will have nice warm rooms too.

Plastic Laminate Looks Great!!!

The plastic laminate is on the countertop and the drop-in sink and cooktop are - uh - dropped in. I need to get a better camera this weekend and take some decent shots that actually show something more than impressionist images, huh?

That's the diswasher on the left side there, Ray wasn't able to get anything done in the kitchen yet, just the main bathroom toilet, the sink is hung but not plumbed, and the shower fittings are started.

The pair of light fixtures in the bathroom are from Tech Lighting; they are the most solidly built well designed light fixtures I've ever installed. Lots of room for wiring, lots of screw holes for varied boxes, and solid metal componentry. They were pretty pricey though. The diffusers still aren't on there, but I'll do that this weekend.

Steve did siding on the rest of the bedroom wall today too, so he's working his way around. What's kind of funny is that when he started, the way he talked I thought he'd be done with siding in a couple of days. It's been weeks. There's always been something else to do, like the tile in the utility room, or the countertop, or the grouting.

Tomorrow, Tom the Flooring Guy shows up to put the final two coats of stinky smelly Swedish Finish on the oak on the main floor. It's really going to be smelly.

We won't be ready to move in much this weekend, but we'll be able to get a start. Good thing we have the house until November 15. That wasn't how we originally planned it - tried to get a half month rent back but landlord wouldn't let us - now it's a good thing we get to stay that long!

Should be some impressive looking floors in the pictures tomorrow.

Ciao for now!

What's That Column?

What the heck is that post? And why is it on the counter like that? Hmmm..... apparently the glued-on layer of plywood was warping a bit and curling upward, so Steve was pushing it back down and making sure it would stay down this time. Hope it stays!

As you can see, the holes are cut for the sink and the cooktop. And there's almost nothing on the countertop, which is rare for sure.
And because I wasn't able to get a picture of the siding progress yesterday, I shot it today while there during lunch.

Ray the plumber didn't make it today; he will be there all day tomorrow; I'm curious to see how far he'll be able to get in one day. On Thursday morning, Tom the Flooring Guy shows up before 8:30 to put on the second coat of Swedish finish, and the third coat goes on about 1:00. Then there won't be much in the way of walking around until Friday. So if the weather's good Steve will rock and roll on the siding.

Counting Down? How About T Minus 5 Days?!?

Pete is on his way to Puerto Vallarta tomorrow, leaving behind a fully floored basement in his wake, thank goodness. Here are three pics of the basement as of Monday, October 27, 2008.

Somewhat different than what it looked like on May 19, 2008.

And still, there's plenty to do in the next week to get ready for the move-in.

Ray the Plumber will be here tomorrow, getting the washing machine, water heater, and basement bathroom. Steve is supposed to be doing the plastic laminate for the kitchen counter tomorrow (I picked it up today!), so that Ray can put in the kitchen sink on Wednesday, along with the toilet, sink, and shower in the main floor bathroom. (Note I said sink as in singular sink when referring to the kitchen, not big sink and small sink.)

Sunday, One Week Left!

Pete almost made it all the way through the basement with the flooring yesterday, Saturday. Here's a peek into Kian's through the man cave.

Today, Heather finished painting her office and the main floor bathroom, moved a bunch of dirt into the planter in the front, and did a ton of cleanup while I focused on the electrical in the main entry, finishing the day with getting the master bedroom and Kian's bedroom all fully electrified.

The circuiting for the basement hallway lights around the stairs is driving my nuts. I can't figure out how the power is supposed to get to the lamps, and I tripped the breaker three times trying to get it figured out. I may need to call in Sparky for this last one. I did however get the main entry 4-way light working, and the upper floor hallway lights too. Entry light is good. Gettin' there. One week left. We're on about the same schedule as the election.

Saturday, one week to go. Baby.

How do you like the modern austerity of the barren stair detail we got going? How about the red carpet treatment that Pete has on the floor? That red stuff is actually the rubber pad with the little beads underneath for moisture to escape. Cool stuff. The stair is sheathed with Pete quality drywall on the underside, the sides are going to have some nice VG fir trim soon. What goes on top of the red stuff is the engineered bamboo flooring, which pretty much just floats on the top of it, with glued tongue and groove joints. Here's Danny's room with the stuff all layed down looking pretty finished. Pete arrived about 1:00 today; not sure how far he got but will see soon.

Danny helped out today, moving dirt from the back yard to the front, helping to fill out those planters in the front. Looking good!!

And incidentally, I installed an outdoor light by the new basement door, with a motion switch. Very cool. Here it is with the door open, and you can see (if you squint and imagine a clearer picture than what you actually see here) the new tile on the floor of the utility room.

Awsome!!!

Friday Morning Update

Apparently, Pete stayed late to put in these Billy shelves in the Living Room last night. The extensions above go in this morning.

Down below in the basement, Steve will be working on grouting the tile in the man cave alcove and Central Plant, which looks pretty good for a Central Plant. The tile needed to be fairly small because of the irregularities in the floor, so I got a 3"x6", and it's porcelain so it's very dense and durable. Looks like travartine though.

In a hurry to get it done, I told Steve to just use the same grout we used in the bathrooms. This morning, I selected an alternate that would be better, but he said the Mapei grout is all special order and we have no time. Oh well; as they say in the construction business, it is what it is. And in this case, it's light colored grout.

Billy Shelves Going In

Ikea calls them " Billy". Bookshelves. We picked up a boatload of them last week, and Pete is putting them in place, beteen the carefully dimensioned and crafted walls so they'll fit like a glove. The beech wood color is the perfect foil for the flowering herbs wall color. What's that on the shelves you're wondering? Those tubular things? That's the glue for the wood flooring that's also going down tomorrow and Saturday.

We are entering our last week of construction craziness. On Monday and Tuesday, Ray the Plumber will be coming to install the showers, sinks, and faucets in both bathrooms, along with the water heater. If the plastic laminated arrives on Tuesday the way it's supposed to, Ray puts in the kitchen sink on Wednesday. (What are the chances, right?) We'll see....

Tom Le the flooring guy is supposed to come Friday, maybe Thursday and Friday both, to put the last two coats on the oak floor. Then we start moving in over next weekend, November 1 and 2. Whew; it's going to be down to the wire totally on everything. There will definitely be some stuff undone, that we'll just have to get to as soon as we can. (As if we will still have all the energy; this has been exhausting and stressful, but we need to keep the momentum up.)

Can't wait to sleep in a house that's finally warm for goodness sake.

Sunny Remembrances

Golly; it was so sunny yesterday when I took this picture.

Entry & Kitchen; Just Pics

Monday Catchup

There's the Kitchen "before" view on the left, taken on June 4, and the current view is below, taken from about the same location. Not much different, are they? Maybe when all the finishes are in you'll notice it more. I ordered the wall tile the other day for the backsplash - it arrives maybe October 29, just before we start moving in. Down to the wire, baby.

Notice something else? There's built in lighting again for the first time, too! Dishwasher still needs to go in, the doors on the sink front won't go in until the sink goes in, which can't go in until the plastic laminate arrives, knee bone connected to the hip bone, etc. The trim in the picture isn't blue by the way - just a peculiarity of the lighting.

Steve's preparing to put down the flooring in the utility room too; here's a shot of the Central Plant in the cleanest condition it's ever been. Washing machine and dryer are moved temporarily out into the media room. And dig the light fixture in there too! You can tell, I've been busy, and Darren helped almost all day Saturday. Hence all the progress.

Kian's man-cave has its own light for the first time also. If you look carefully at the bottom right of the photo, you can see a little sliver of the new bamboo flooring that Pete will start installing sometime tomorrow he tells me. Still kinda looka like a basement; we'll have to get some nice interior design work and foraging sessions to finish out all warm and cozy like.


Lastly, the much ballyhooed and long awaited pull-out pantry has been partially installed today

Here it is with three of the four pull out shelves in the partially pulled-out position. Seems like a lot of shelves, for some short things I guess. We'll have to probably reconfigure it a time or two before we can consider it optimal.

So as you can see, there's been much progress, which is really one of the big reasons I haven't been able to update this blog for a while. (Not to mention the haiku blog, which takes time too.)

Where've I Been?

Well, lessee.....Since Wednesday....

On Thursday evening, there was no post because Heather and I went to the final dress rehearsal of a new play at the ACT Theater, commissioned by a friend of mine as a birthday present for his wife. It's called "Becky's New Car", and Charlie Staadecker of Staadecker Real Estate presented it to his wife Bonita, (whom Heather decided she wants her to be her mommy) at a very heartwarming ceremony full of love and humor, and of course, suggestions that more people do the same thing. VERY funny play; we are going to go see it maybe with the Quacks soon- highly recommend seeing it.

But we got home very late and no post that night.

Then on Friday, I took the day off and did loads and loads of electrical work all day long until fairly late, after which Heather and I went to get something to eat fairly late, after which I just crashed, and then got up early on Saturday to do more electrical work, but I also started a new blog that took my morning time instead of this one.

It's called Election Haikus for Starbuck Cards. Why not? Win a $5 Starbucks card and get in the drawing for the big one.

So here it is, Sunday, and H and I need to head for Ikea to get all the bookshelves so Pete can install them next week. Sounds like the flooring guy can come in at the end of the week and get that done, the walls in front are done to the point that Steve can pour the stoop maybe tomorrow if the weather holds, and we're in good shape for the big move coming up. Yah sure you betcha!