Renovation update 05/17/2007

Things are coming to a head now.

The counter folks picked up the sinks, hopefully that means they are actually working on creating the counter now.

Here is the master bedroom with the window knocked out

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That’s Tommy doing the knocking..

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They had to pull away a bunch of the vinyl siding to get to the wood

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Then cut away the exterior wall within the frame that had been built

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Outside view of that hole

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The three of us carried the window and placed it into the opening to be shimmed plumbed

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WOW! is it ever much brighter in the room now

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Then some replacing of the siding and the window looks great from the outside. I’m seriously thinking about doing the same thing on the other spare bedroom wall.

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And the frame is primed and painted inside.

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It looks hotter than it was today. A good day to be doing hard work!

(Tommy and Larry)

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Renovation chronology

If you are interested in just stepping through the renovation entries to see the progression of pictures, you can click on the “On the Home Front” category on the sidebar.

You “can” use the search bar at the top right – it’s powered by Google’s search engine and is VERY useful for finding stuff on this site – but it will bring back summaries of each blog entry (no pictures until you click on them) where the category will bring back the entire entries immediately.

Renovation update 05/16/2007

Today saw much of the framing for the new bedroom window completed with proper support being put in place (see the patch work going down either side of the wall).

Hopefully we’ll get the actual window installed tomorrow (Thursday).

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The counter folks called and will be picking up the bathroom sinks tomorrow to mount as part of the counter construction.

Here is our new “air assist” Gerber Toilet (as recommended by Consumers Reports). It’s a Gerber EF-21-312 (elongated) with a Toto SS114 (softclose) seat. That’s the top part of the seat in mid-close.

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The master bathroom window has been trimmed and painted. We’re pretty much playing a waiting game on this front until the counter arrives. You can see one of the medicine cabinets to the left of the window with the outlets installed in it. We want to get most of those rechargable items off of the counter and out of the way.

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The bathroom fixtures were also installed. Pretty much all that’s left to do is install the shower door. I need to verify that the caulking has been sealed but I’m pretty sure all is well in there.

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Phoebe is remaining relatively unaffected by all of this activity. She’s pretty laid back anyway.

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Mav has taken to hiding in the morning so that he won’t be forced to stay in a big, airy room with plenty of food, water and a litter box. Preferring instead to cower under a bed or piece of furniture in some room right next to where the construction is going on.

He’s fine in the evenings but I can’t figure out what drives him to disappear each morning. It’s a little funny when he does this on days when Tommy and Larry aren’t coming over…

Hotmail Member notices- take it or leave it

I had to laugh when I received this message from “Hotmail Member Services”.

As with any reputable newsletter sender, they provide a way to opt out of their communications:

“If you do not wish to receive these letters you may discontinue your participation in the service and close your account.”

It’s good to know you’ve always got a choice 🙂

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Renovation update 05/15/2007

Today, in addition to cleaning up the tiles to prepare for sealing, the electrician came and finished up the switches in the water closet and the outlets in the medicine cabinets. Also we’re playing with the accent lighting in the living room to make sure it nicely highlights the pictures over the buffet and the mantel.

The counter guy came to make a template,

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He probably uses more glue in a week than I will in a lifetime 🙂

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Also prep work began to replace the bedroom window,

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It turns out that the window that was already there was not quite properly installed. The header was shaky and there were no real supports on the sides. Also, there was very little insulation around the window. This will all be corrected with the new window.

Renovation update 05/14/2007

Today the grouting was done,

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and showing the bathtub

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You can see a few more washes will be required before the grout can be sealed.

Also the side window was removed,

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From the outside,

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Here is the old window,

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It looks like all that sawdust, grout and paint has become too much for Larry!

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Also, the vanity cabinets were installed,

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and front view.

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the casement window was installed

Adventures in Golfing

I went golfing at River Pines golf course on Friday with Glenn, David and Shuo. It turns out that River Pines’ championship course is still a fair bit above my skill level so my game was not what you might call “spectacular”. 🙂

Two items of note, however. Shuo and I were sitting in our cart at the 2nd hole when I happened to look up and saw a badly sliced ball curving gently towards us. I managed to get out a short warning before the ball whizzed between the two of us through the open front window and hit the back of the cart. That definitely gets the adrenaline flowing.

Then later, while hitting on the fairway of the 8th hole I struck the ball with my 3 iron and saw a curious flash while simultaneously feeling the club lighten dramatically.

It turns out that the iron had not simply separated from the shaft but the iron had actually broken off the shaft.

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Here’s a closer look at the actual head

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These are Prestwick px-7 clubs that I bought as a package a few years ago when I decided to become at least passable at the game. I figured I could invest in some nicer clubs when I had decided what I did and didn’t like with the current set.

Definitely in the “don’t like” column would be “falling apart”. 🙂

David has an eclectic collection of clubs that he’s assembled over the past few years that serve him very well, I’ll need to pick his brain for ideas for some new clubs. After watching his wonder clubs in action and Shuo’s new driver (easily the largest head I’ve ever seen used on a driver) I’m definitely convinced that the right clubs will help make the game that much more enjoyable.

Renovation update 05/10/2007

The floor tiles are now laid down. Today turned out to be a short day. Tommy and Larry will be dealing with another job on Friday (VERY pregnant lady who needs to get her coming kid’s room finished off a.s.a.p.) so no more progress until Monday. The folks who are building our vanity counter will be coming on Tuesday to create a template for it. So the next piece is to install the vanity cabinets. Then probably the window and finally the grouting.

Here is the vanity area with the floor down.

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Straight view into the water closet

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and on an angle to see the coming together of wall, floor and bathtub frame

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Renovation update 05/09/2007

The wall tiling has finally been completed! It looks just wonderful. Next will be the floor tiling and then grouting the works.

Here is the shower head wall

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And here is what the bathtub and back wall (behind the commode) look like,

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Tommy was able to finish the far wall in very short order (to your immediate right as you look into the water closet from the door).

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Also, good news, the awning-style windows for the master bedroom and the casement window for the bathroom arrived. We bought our windows from Andersen Windows – Doors. For the expansive bedroom window we also opted for their “TruScene” insect screens. Since our bathroom only looks out on some juniper in the side yard I just went with a normal screen on that window.

Here is an exterior before shot of:

Master Bedroom window

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Master bathroom window (ignore the fan, it’s there to help keep air circulating as paint and adhesive in the house dry/cure)

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Here Tommy is inspecting the new 12′ master bedroom window

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And a quick shot of Larry immediately after helping to carry the window up from the truck.

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