Saturday, October 29, 2011

Day 43

Overall, Day 43 was a very disappointing day.  I'll get to that after the positive stuff.  I don't have a picture, but the original upstairs bathroom got an exhaust fan installed!  This is such a pet peeve of mine. I think building codes should require exhaust fans, operable windows are NOT enough.  Coming from a climate of extreme humidity (stinky towels), and seeing a lot of mold in my rental apartments here in Colorado, this issue is a big one for me.



Downstairs got all of the quarter round put on.  That's the piece at the bottom.  It covers the gaps by the floor and just makes the taller baseboard look more finished.  Now it needs the painter to come back and caulk it, and finish the touch up painting bits.



The Water Closet got its toilet paper and hand towel holders.  Now it just needs the mirror over the sink, and the fitting where the drain pipe goes into the wall attended to, and it will be done.  Oh, and the exhaust fan.



Hand towel holder in the master bath.  I'm thinking that eventually we'll replace those electrical outlets and covers with the oil rubbed bronze color.  That's a minor detail though, and I want to get over the sticker shock of this job first.



Toilet paper and towel holder in master bath.  We debated placement of that towel holder for awhile.  The shower is to the left, but we couldn't move it to the left because the shower door would bang into the towel holder if we weren't careful, and it would be awkward to reach behind the open shower door for a towel.  Over the toilet was no good because it would also be inconvenient to reach, and would have to be mounted pretty high to avoid having the towels lay on top of the toilet tank.  

I'm not too sure about this double towel rack.  It seems like if you put two wet towels on it, the one in the back still isn't going to get dry, even with an exhaust fan.  We shall see.  We'll probably still hang one towel over the shower door wall anyway.

But here comes the big frustration for the day - we specifically redesigned the bathroom so that I could mount the toilet paper holder to the RIGHT of the toilet.  No one made sure that the guy who was actually mounting the toilet paper holder knew that, so he put in on the end of the cabinet, like they usually do, but which is to the LEFT of the toilet in this case.  ARGHH!  I was hoping that for the enormous amount of money I'm paying for this job, details that are of utmost importance to me would not get overlooked.  Now I have 4 holes in the side of my beautiful cabinet, and they are right where I can see them Every. Single. Day.


And here comes more frustration, which is NOT ABD's fault.  I've been losing more and more patience with the kitchen, as it gets harder and harder to live with the kitchen in the living room, the constant mess, can't find anything because half the stuff I need is packed away, and there is no good place for what I did keep out, etc.  Its really getting to us and I finally started to lose it and begged our foreman on Monday to get our kitchen to the point where we can move in by the weekend.  It sounded doable at the time, but then the snowstorm hit and we lost the whole day on Wednesday.  Okay fine.  They tried to get at least the dishwasher and oven in by the weekend.  Ron was working on it Friday, and got the dishwasher in (purchased separately through Appliance Factory Outlet) and the darned thing leaked!!  I called the store manager who gave me the service department, which is actually a separate company they use.  They can come Monday, which is the best I can expect at 3pm on Friday, but they won't give me a 2 hour time window until Monday morning.  WTF??  I have to block out yet another entire day for an appliance.  I am livid.  Ron took pity on me and tried to at least get the range installed, but he didn't have a gas line.  He went and got a gas line, only to come back and find out that my power had gone out YET AGAIN (3rd time since the snow).  Then he discovered that the gas fitting the plumber installed is actually 3/4 rather than the normal 1/2 inch, due to the 3/4 inch gas line I guess, but whatever, he still has to go back out and get the right size fitting.  He did, and got the gas line installed, but by now it was too late to actually haul the range up from the garage and get it installed.  So, moving into the kitchen isn't going to happen this weekend.  And one more thing, the darned plumber never did caulk the kitchen sink, so now I still have to be careful about getting water around the sink while I still have to do dishes by hand.  Ron was going to caulk it, but just ran out of time.  I might end up doing it myself this weekend, darn it.  The kitchen tile isn't going to be grouted until Tuesday, so the shelves won't go up before Wednesday.  The doors *still* aren't fixed for the spice cupboards, so we can't load those up.  We can't load up the lower pantry because the water line for the refrigerator still has to be run in the bottom.  So, we can put some stuff on the counters, and load up several of the drawers, but we are still in kitchen limbo.  Truly, I do understand that mine is not the only job, and the day we couldn't work really threw a monkey wrench into the schedule, but it seems like we are so close and it just isn't getting done.  Still, I have to say, the workmanship is SOOO much better than whoever did the previous kitchen and additions, that I know I will be very happy indeed when its all over.  Except for those holes in my bathroom cabinet which will bug me to the end of my days unless they become totally invisible.  Really, what the heck to you put on the end of a cabinet to hide flaws??  Its not like I can hang a picture to cover it.  I'm going to have another margarita...



Friday, October 28, 2011

Day 43

We had a snowstorm this week, and lost power for most of a day, so nothing happened on Wednesday.  Thursday was Day 43 of actual work, and we are now at 8 weeks since construction started.



The electrical trim out got finished today, which included hanging our new pendant lights.  It was dark outside when I was taking pictures, so I'll have to get some lighter ones.  That tile wall was finally finished today!  That was a whole lot of tile cutting.  I think it looks fabulous.  It will get grouted next week, and then the shelves can go up.



Down in the basement the rest of the doors were hung, and hardware installed.  This is the mechanical room door.



This is the freshly painted quarter round that will line the baseboard in the rooms with laminate.  It covers the gaps where the floor isn't level.



Our office closet doors.



Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Days 41 and 42


Nothing happened in the basement yesterday.  Upstairs the kitchen tile got started but I forgot to take a picture.



Today the plumber came back and finished installing the wet bar faucet.



He got the Water Closet sink mounted on the wall but still needs some kind of part to finish it.  You can see there isn't really any room for soap on the sink itself, which is why we did the niche in the wall.



He got the black strainer baskets installed.  We had chrome ones in there so I could use it until the black ones came in.  He still didn't caulk around the edge though, not sure why not.



There was a lot of tiling done in the kitchen today!  Yesterday he got all the way around the counter, today was the back wall.  I feel so bad, there are only 2 pieces of tile on that entire wall that didn't have to be cut.  Every single cut requires a trip up and down the stairs to the wet saw outside.  It is very labor intensive.


Here's a closer picture of that new inset that will be above the stove.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Days 39 and 40


On day 39 not a lot of visible stuff happened.  The wet bar sink was set in place, and the painter continued working on the trim.



Some very visible stuff happened on Day 40.  The shower door was installed.  I *love* the oil-rubbed bronze finish!  Its a good thing, because it costs a lot more than chrome or gold-toned.

We also had a door installed in the upstairs bath, where there had been a curtain before.  But, there is also a Jacuzzi tub upstairs, with tightly curved sides, so curved that the shower curtain doesn't even come  close to the wall, so a lot of water leaks out, even when I'm taking a shower, and its not the kids being sloppy.  That water had been leaking on down into the basement, which the former owner was apparently fine with, but I am not.



We got carpet today!



Carpet in the master closet.



Carpet on the stairs is *so* much easier for our elderly dog.



Got the glass in the mirror for the master bath.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Day 38

A whole lot of electrical went on today, and we have light downstairs!!



There are 5 of these wall sconces in the master bedroom.




Lights in the master bath.  A lot more electrical stuff happened that doesn't make for exciting pictures, like trimming all the can lights, installing all the smoke detectors, installing all the outlets, switches, and covers. 



Shower fixtures actually got installed yesterday, but I was so excited about the toilets that I didn't notice.



And here is a better picture of our cool new faucets.  I love them!

The painter was here all day too, caulking in the trim, which is so tedious.

Nothing happened in the kitchen today.  I wish the plumber had actually caulked the kitchen sink in so I wouldn't have to worry about getting water under the edges.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Day 37


I have a functional kitchen sink!!!  The faucet is so cool, its touch activated so you can turn it on by touching it with your wrist when your hands are too gross.  That head is a pull out nozzle.  Now to make sure the kids don't play with it, lol.  And no, that tile is not our new tile, its a sample that I brought home but didn't like.



And I have not one, but TWO more functional toilets!!  This one is in the Water Closet (aptly named, don't you think?).  The sink is here, but not installed yet.


Okay, so maybe 1 and a half functional toilets downstairs.  This one flushes but I don't really want to sit on it until the seat is on.  I had forgotten that we ordered dual flush units.



Part of the backsplash is up, the sink is working.  The faucet is really cool but I didn't get a good picture of it.  I'll do that next time.  So, we can use the toilet in the water closet, then come over to the master bathroom to wash hands.  I like this sink, but I'm really glad we went with the black sink for the kitchen.

Oh, the rest of the appliances did come in today.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Day 36

No photos today, but the door casings and baseboards are almost completely installed downstairs.

Went to a tile store and picked new tile for the kitchen wall, as well as new accent tile to go over the stove.

As for the appliances, they came at 815 this morning, without having called last night to give me a time.  We figured out that someone had transposed a couple of numbers on his paperwork.  After he unloaded the refrigerator he got ready to leave.  I asked where the other 3 appliances were.  He said he had no idea, maybe they'll be here tomorrow.  What a load of crap!  I called the warehouse and asked for a manager.  Some guy came on who didn't know squat.  He said the other pieces got hidden.  WTH??  He said that when someone picks one of the pieces up, it gets hidden in the computer so the warehouse won't try to deliver another one.  Great, except I never picked any of this stuff up.  He had no idea how this could have happened and said no, they couldn't deliver the other pieces today, and no, he can't promise I will be first on the list tomorrow.  Clearly I was getting nowhere with him so I hung up.  I was livid, so I went to the store and asked for the manager there.  He was a really nice guy, and already knew what was going on.  The driver told him I was okay with waiting until tomorrow, where he got that idea I don't know.  The store manager also had no idea how this could have happened.  We left it that I would be first on the list tomorrow morning, between 730 and 8.  I thought it was interesting that they got a call from another very irate customer while I was in the store.  The driver called a few minutes ago to confirm that he would be here between 730 and 930 tomorrow.  I said great, but you mean between 730 and 8, right?  Oh, and to top it all off, their truck leaked a huge oil spot in my driveway.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Day 35


Tabitha, the designer, came out to bring the original sample and take a look at what we got.  She agreed that its not even close to the sample, so we'll be getting different tile.  I still can't believe the tile company sent a sample that is so different than the end product.  Its incredibly lame and annoying.



So instead of the backsplash being installed today, the floor went in.  It is laminate that looks like tile.  I love how much softer it is to walk on.  



This will be the backsplash tile for the wet bar and master bathroom downstairs.



A whole lot more trim work went on down there today, as well as building some much nicer stairs to the root cellar.

The appliances were supposed to be delivered today, but no one ever called yesterday to let me know a timeframe.  I called this morning and was told between 11 and 1.  When no one showed by 2:15 I called again and spoke to a second person.  She tried to reach the driver but he wasn't answering his phone, so she said she would keep trying and call me back.  After another hour went by with no word, I called and spoke to yet another person.  He then told me I wasn't scheduled until tomorrow.  There is no way I would ever have scheduled delivery for a Saturday, they just totally screwed up.  I changed the delivery to Monday.  We'll see what happens but I don't think I will buy there again.  This is Appliance Factory Direct, the gaudy blue and yellow building on south College.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Day 34



A whole lot of trim work went on in the basement today.



Remember this?  Its the samples of stuff we chose all those weeks ago.  That piece of tile up there next to the wood is for the kitchen backsplash, which covers the entire wall.



This is what came out of the box.  I don't know what you guys think, but this does NOT look like the same tile to me, even allowing for a good bit of variation in natural stone products.  There is hardly any contrast with the cabinets, and its going to be a big, dark hole at the end of the kitchen.  Hmmm.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Day 33


There was a great deal of discussion about the shelves this morning.  They are 3" tall, which I was afraid would be too thick and overwhelm that small space.  It was going to be a huge pain in the butt to change them though, and add more time to the whole project, so we decided to just go with what we had.  These are not permanently installed yet, but the wall supports were put in, so after everyone left we stuck the shelves up there to see how it looks.  I think they are fine, and will look great when we get our new dishes on them.



The laminate is completely finished downstairs now.  I sure am glad someone else has to clean up the construction mess.



The door trim started going in today.  Its a little wider than standard, to go with our taller than standard baseboards.  I like it.



The niche in the water closet got tiled today.  A teeny wall-mount sink goes under here.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Day 32


The downstairs laminate is nearly done, the main areas are done, but the entry way/coat closet need to be finished.



Countertops in progress.



Countertops are done!  The color difference isn't really this noticeable in real life, the red is not this bright.


Day 31


The tile got set on the landing.  Since it was still wet, I couldn't walk on it to take a picture downstairs, but more laminate got put down.  Nothing happened in the kitchen.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Day 30


The rest of the kitchen cabinets got set today.  The shelves for the back wall are sitting there on the floor.



Apparently I forgot to take a Before picture of this, but there was a step down from the main house at the doorway, then another step back up partway into the laundry room.  It was a stupid design and everyone tripped.  The floor is now built up, and there is a step where it makes more sense.  I don't feel like unloading the entire laundry room, because its a pretty big storage area which is full right now.  Finishing the floor in there will have to wait  until the current project is done.



The countertops are done for the wet bar and the master bath.



The tile went in in both downstairs bathrooms.  It was dark and rainy when I was taking pictures, so better ones will have to come later.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Day 29


Laminate got finished in the office/sewing room



The linen closet in the master bath



The master bathroom sink cabinet

Several of the kitchen cabinets got installed today also.