We spent part of the morning at Artistic Tile choosing floor tiles for the kitchen - assuming that we are going down the route of changing the floor. We still haven't received an estimate for the time or cost of doing so. But we chose the tile anyway, a creamy porcelain tile with a small square glass accent tile.
This choice followed on an extensive consideration of the 200 possible stain colors for the cabinets, which got so bad we let the kids choose in the end (from our final six choices).
The rain is coming down in buckets today. Thank goodness they didn't rip the back yard up yesterday.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Pool action
Mike the Pool Guy is currently in the pool drilling holes in the bottom of it. It's raining again.
More trees gone
It drizzled this morning but the sun is shining now. Myterious thumps and bangs continue throughout the house from both sides.
The Arborist's team was here this morning removing four pittosporum trees from the side yard, in preparation for the BobCat to be brought here by the hardscaping guy. It was extremely loud. I spent a bit of time this morning moving wet objects around in the back yard in preparation, but I don't know quite what to do with them when the whole thing is going to be razed. I put four bamboo sticks around the lemon tree that the kids bought for hubby for his 40th birthday. I'm hoping that will survive.
The pool is now empty.
The Arborist's team was here this morning removing four pittosporum trees from the side yard, in preparation for the BobCat to be brought here by the hardscaping guy. It was extremely loud. I spent a bit of time this morning moving wet objects around in the back yard in preparation, but I don't know quite what to do with them when the whole thing is going to be razed. I put four bamboo sticks around the lemon tree that the kids bought for hubby for his 40th birthday. I'm hoping that will survive.
The pool is now empty.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Problems fixed and more choices faced
As I write, there is an electrician in the dining room staring at the light. It was flickering a lot this morning, and Achilles didn't like it so he sent the sparky in.
We had our site meeting - another two hours. First we met with the windows guy. A lot of it fairly incomprehensible, except for the point at which I asked "Why does it say 'Forest Green' for the frame color?" Er, yeah, it should be white. No one else had spotted that, so the lay person has her uses.
Next we met with the cabinet guys. More detailed drawings to pour over. We had further dicussion on the microwave and appliance garage location and sizing, inconclusive. We will need to look at another microwave option to see if we can get the cabinet set further back from the edge of the counter top, else the appliance garage will be a vast cavern horizontally but too cramped vertically. Alternatively I suggested getting rid of the appliance garage altogether, but that seemed to shock everyone else present and they are determined to find a way to keep it. They all like the way we keep our bread in it instead of our toaster, kettle etc. It's an education, this remodel lark.
The counter top subcontractors are still not committing on how much it would cost to reuse the Corian counter top. The cabinet guy suspects its a liability issue: If they take it out, and it breaks, then they will be liable for the replacement cost. In which case I wish they'd just say they can't do it and we can move on to the next thing, a replacement. January is coming up fast and we all need to know what the next step will be. The cabinet guys say they'll start making the kitchen cabinets next week. The cabinet guys left us with a swatch of 200 color samples for staining the cabinets, plus 15 types of mesh for the TV cabinet. The Architect says that next week she'll bring along her samples of off-white paint for us to choose from for the cabinet painting.
Then we had a quick run down of all the outstanding points. Kitchen demolition is scheduled for January 13 and 14 (assuming the new cabinets are ready to be installed). We need to get the new washer and dryer for February so probably need to order that soon.
Achilles says that the fix on the not-perpendicular-house-and-addition is working out well. He says that the foundations' relationship to the house looks like we've recently experienced a large earthquake...which will be put right by the foundations guys coming back to build the foundations up in the necessary places. OK, I said, just make sure that if we had a real earthquake the house wouldn't fall down. He said we've lost a couple of days in the schedule because of that issue, but the subcontractors have sent along extra men and that is helping with the catch up.
In the back yard the pool is now about half drained. I have a document to read about alternative shapes of pool coping - it's all about the edge, apparently - and much of the front yard is decorated with pink paint splodges, indicating what is to be ripped out/demolished. Given that we have had a bit of rain this week (and it has only been a sprinkle so far today) I'm not sorry that the hardscape guy has not returned to demo the back yard. It would all be a mud bath very quickly and it's quite nice not having to tramp through the mud to take a look at the work in progress.
We had our site meeting - another two hours. First we met with the windows guy. A lot of it fairly incomprehensible, except for the point at which I asked "Why does it say 'Forest Green' for the frame color?" Er, yeah, it should be white. No one else had spotted that, so the lay person has her uses.
Next we met with the cabinet guys. More detailed drawings to pour over. We had further dicussion on the microwave and appliance garage location and sizing, inconclusive. We will need to look at another microwave option to see if we can get the cabinet set further back from the edge of the counter top, else the appliance garage will be a vast cavern horizontally but too cramped vertically. Alternatively I suggested getting rid of the appliance garage altogether, but that seemed to shock everyone else present and they are determined to find a way to keep it. They all like the way we keep our bread in it instead of our toaster, kettle etc. It's an education, this remodel lark.
The counter top subcontractors are still not committing on how much it would cost to reuse the Corian counter top. The cabinet guy suspects its a liability issue: If they take it out, and it breaks, then they will be liable for the replacement cost. In which case I wish they'd just say they can't do it and we can move on to the next thing, a replacement. January is coming up fast and we all need to know what the next step will be. The cabinet guys say they'll start making the kitchen cabinets next week. The cabinet guys left us with a swatch of 200 color samples for staining the cabinets, plus 15 types of mesh for the TV cabinet. The Architect says that next week she'll bring along her samples of off-white paint for us to choose from for the cabinet painting.
Then we had a quick run down of all the outstanding points. Kitchen demolition is scheduled for January 13 and 14 (assuming the new cabinets are ready to be installed). We need to get the new washer and dryer for February so probably need to order that soon.
Achilles says that the fix on the not-perpendicular-house-and-addition is working out well. He says that the foundations' relationship to the house looks like we've recently experienced a large earthquake...which will be put right by the foundations guys coming back to build the foundations up in the necessary places. OK, I said, just make sure that if we had a real earthquake the house wouldn't fall down. He said we've lost a couple of days in the schedule because of that issue, but the subcontractors have sent along extra men and that is helping with the catch up.
In the back yard the pool is now about half drained. I have a document to read about alternative shapes of pool coping - it's all about the edge, apparently - and much of the front yard is decorated with pink paint splodges, indicating what is to be ripped out/demolished. Given that we have had a bit of rain this week (and it has only been a sprinkle so far today) I'm not sorry that the hardscape guy has not returned to demo the back yard. It would all be a mud bath very quickly and it's quite nice not having to tramp through the mud to take a look at the work in progress.
More rain, mysterious progress
After two days of cold and frost, we have rain again today. The builders are currently here banging away on both sides of they house. I took a look after they'd gone yesterday and honestly couldn't tell you what they've been doing. But they've been hammering away with enthusiasm the whole time, so I guess they've been doing something.
The new bathroom area is framed inside the house, incorporating what used to be the closet area and the old bathroom. It looks smaller than I expected...but then things seem to look larger again after the sheathing is put on. (Hubby and I had a long conversation in bed last night about whether internal walls are sheathed or not. I don't think they are - I don't think the sheetrock, which is the US equivalent of plaster board, counts as sheathing. I suppose we'll find out.)
It occurred to me yesterday that we haven't seen The Site Supervisor for a week. I wonder why. A question to ask at the site meeting this morning. Now I must stop and look over yet more kitchen cabinet plans.
The new bathroom area is framed inside the house, incorporating what used to be the closet area and the old bathroom. It looks smaller than I expected...but then things seem to look larger again after the sheathing is put on. (Hubby and I had a long conversation in bed last night about whether internal walls are sheathed or not. I don't think they are - I don't think the sheetrock, which is the US equivalent of plaster board, counts as sheathing. I suppose we'll find out.)
It occurred to me yesterday that we haven't seen The Site Supervisor for a week. I wonder why. A question to ask at the site meeting this morning. Now I must stop and look over yet more kitchen cabinet plans.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Pool progress halted
Mike the Pool arrives at my door, very disappointed that the level of water in the pool has only fallen 12 or so inches instead of half way down, like he was expecting. Apparently the electrical outlet has failed... We investigate the sub-panel, where all is well. We ponder. We check the wine fridge that is plugged into the same outlet. It is still working. The pool pump has burned out.
Perpendicular House
It's very cold today - frost and everything - but no rain.
There are currently eight men working on the bathroom/bedroom addition. I spoke with the main framing guy this morning and he explained that yesterday afternoon they pulled the front wall off the family room and reframed it, so that the end of the old part of the house is now perpendicular with the side walls; and this will allow them to make the addition perpendicular too. I don't completely understand all this, but he seemed confident that the problem was solved, and The Structural Engineer was here yesterday, apparently, giving his input on this solution, so I guess that's okay. No photos as it's not a very photogenic process....
There are currently eight men working on the bathroom/bedroom addition. I spoke with the main framing guy this morning and he explained that yesterday afternoon they pulled the front wall off the family room and reframed it, so that the end of the old part of the house is now perpendicular with the side walls; and this will allow them to make the addition perpendicular too. I don't completely understand all this, but he seemed confident that the problem was solved, and The Structural Engineer was here yesterday, apparently, giving his input on this solution, so I guess that's okay. No photos as it's not a very photogenic process....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
