Neighbor Troubles

We had our first encounter with an angry neighbor yesterday, which isn't bad since we've been on this project since October. Actually he was perfectly pleasant, but not happy. It's the new guy next door - who hasn't even moved in yet - and he'd noticed that a) our workers are walking through his yard to get to our work and b) the foundation for the garden wall has encroached on his property. Naturally I fell on my sword and apologized - I don't want to annoy the neighbor before he's even moved in! - and said we'd stop the walking (which I had only noticed yesterday too) and fix the concrete.

He said that they are in the permitting stage, and plan to get their work started in April. Just as we finish. Which also means that they'll be doing building work all through the summer. Nice.

On the subject of concrete, Hubby and I went out this morning to have an inspect, and we weren't at all sure that the area outside the bedroom door is correct. There is a large landing pad which doesn't seem to be on the plans. I hope they remembered to fix the solar heating pipes before laying the concrete, too. Just emailed the Landscape Designer to ask her to come and take a look this week before any work continues.






We also burst through the dust wall into the guest bedroom/bathroom. There's obviously a lot of detail work going on. The dresser is now installed. I wonder what is going to happen inside the closets?

Traffic Calming

Yesterday we had 15 trucks outside out house, including an enormous concrete mixer. Today was much quieter, just five vehicles.

The landscaping crew continued their work on setting up the forms for the front yard concrete (due to be poured on Tuesday, weather permitting). I have to forgive them their last trench, upon which I poured such scorn, as it turned out to be the base for the courtyard wall.

The guys from Jim's Bunch continued working away inside the house. They ripped out the inside of the closet in our bedroom. They have installed the dresser in our bedroom, and also finished off the wine fridge area in the kitchen. Various bumps and hammers from other parts of the house, tasks unspecified. Everything seemed quite calm today.

Site Supervisor II declares that the job will be finished in six weeks.

Photos here:
i) The old hot tub box on the side of the house, where our predecessors kept the water chemicals and stuff. We're having it taken off - retaining the potentially useful electrical outlet, because you can never have too many - and the wall made good. This photo gives a little peek into the way the house is built, with stucco, paper, chicken wire and lumber.
ii) The dresser in the master bedroom in process. This will be painted.
iii) The back yard as viewed from the redwood trees. The concrete was dry enough for me to venture out this afternoon.
iv) The fancy metal flashing at the weep screed which now extends all around our house's perimeter. Apparently this is state of the art and will block any pesky termites from finding their way in. (The little blighters had eaten quite a lot of our door steps and similar, it turns out.)
v) The wine fridge area in the kitchen almost done. I live in hope that the fridges will be moved into the kitchen and out of our dining room early next week.

Fabulous Concrete

OK, I'm on a concrete jag today, but you've no idea how wonderful it is to see it going in. The back yard concrete has been brushed, the rebars are going in at the front of the house, and the sun is shining. Yes!

Goodbye to the Closet, Hello More Cabinets

I can hardly contain my excitement about the progress in the landscaping, so I could go on and on about that; but I'll mention the wonderful progress inside the house too.

The pocket door is completed in the kitchen/study (except for the insertion of the actual doors, which haven't arrived yet). Since the drywall has been done, we are now in position to complete the kitchen floor tile and install the cabinets for the wine fridges (which have been living in our dining room in huge boxes for over a month.) Lots of cabinets have arrived and the slow process of installing them all has begun. Photo here of the cabinet that fits between the wine fridges going in. Also a big heap of drawer units and bookcases in the office.

As it was our weekly site meeting today, I got a peek at the bedroom/bathroom addition. (We may get more than a peek soon, as Site Supervisor II says that the dust wall will be coming down in a day or two.) The inside of the shower has been prepared by the tiler and is currently drying. I was hoping that some of the mosaic tile would have been installed so I could get a look with the paint in mind, but no luck. Well, you can't have everything. The valves for the tub faucets are in. The cabinets have also been installed in the bathroom and are looking good. We had a fairly detailed conversation about where the handles and pulls should go on the cabinets. It's amazing how much time you can spend on an item like that.

In the master bedroom, there has also been progress on the closet reworking. The drywall and "mud" has been completed. When we started on the closet, I assumed that the interior - the hanging space and shelves - would be ripped out. Then I had a conversation with SS2 who said we should keep them till we had chosen our new layout. Well, the net result of the reframing and drywalling is that the closet interior has been wrecked. (I never really expected anything else.) I told SS2 that they might as well rip it out and dispose of it for us. The doors for the closet have not yet arrived on site. I guess we'll be living with our clothes on wonky IKEA hanging racks for a while longer.



Time to call California Closets?

Beautiful Concrete

Today is is not raining. Woo hoo. So this means that the landscapers have been able to make real
progress with the hardscape. As I write, the clouds are starting to gather, but keep your fingers crossed for us that it stays dry till tomorrow.

Four pictures here to gladden the heart of any remodeller.

First, the landscaping crew in their best yellow all-weather gear yesterday, setting out the wooden forms to hold the concrete.
Second, a photo of the concrete crew laying the forms in the front yard. (No more mud, yay. Yesterday they forgot to put out the boards for us to walk across into the house, so Carolina and Little Starlet literally waded through the mud to the front door.)

The other two photos are of the concrete crew smoothing out the poured concrete in the back yard. Look at it, what a thing of beauty.

A Rainy Day, Good for Drilling

Nothing happening outside the Cardboard Box today because of the rain. The back yard is a little puddley, but comfortingly flat. The front yard is still a battlefield. Site Supervisor II had to walk through the mud to put the tree protection fence back up (after the landscaping crew had taken it down - dudes, it's meant to stay there to protect the tree! Duh...) and his boots were caked with inches of sticky mud. Nice.



Inside the house, things are also fairly quiet today, but there is still activity. I can hear some thumping from the bedroom/bathroom addition. The guys have put up the framing for the new closet doors in the master bedroom (and have produced a pretty nasty smell in the process. I guess there must be some glue.) and they are drilling away on something in the laundry area. The pocket door framing is sitting there invitingly, waiting for someone to pay it some attention.

Have you been paying attention? Finish this sentence: "Another Day..."

It is Monday. Welcome to week 21 of the remodel. Guess what joyful occurrence has gladdened the hearts of the Cardboard Box dwellers today? Yes, a new hole in the front yard. In fact, to be specific, two holes. The first hole is involved in a sewer relocation connected to the "outdoor kitchen" we are building in the back yard. The second hole is to accommodate a pipe that was the subject of installation in a previous hole. This landscaping crew is worthy of employment with BT or British Gas or one of those wretched utility companies. Site Supervisor II says he tried not to notice what they were doing, it was too painful to watch.

Inside the Cardboard Box, the dishwasher finally came back to life today. Unfortunately it leaked into the cabinet under the sink. Turned out to be something to do with gravity and one of the pipes having a dip in it. Anyway, SS2 called the plumber in to fix it and told him very sternly that the whole kitchen remodel was predicated on eliminating the leaking faucet and water damaged sink cabinet, so it had better get put right. SS2 is a pretty mild mannered guy, so it's easy to see when he's not tremendously impressed. While he was here, the plumber also swapped the Insinkerator (garbage disposal) around from the big sink to the small sink, and installed the second Insinkerator in the vegetable sink. Houston, we now have total sink capability.

We've spotted various little fixes that are needed around the kitchen, but we've decided not to moan on about them just now. We'd rather the guys get on with some of the remaining big stuff than spend their time fiddling with the little stuff. That can wait for the punch list at the end, if necessary.

Our whole house fan was working over the weekend, but isn't now. We discovered that the attic fans had been left switched on, so we turned them off at the subpanel. SS2 said that the thermostatic controls for the attic fans would be installed today. Quite what actually happened I'm not sure: The attic fans are still permanently on, while the whole house fan is no longer working. It seems like that with all our electrical work: One thing gets fixed and another stops working. The electicians claim that we have funky wiring (and I can believe that) but even so, surely this isn't absolutely necessary.

The carpenters continued working on the windows today and seem to be close to finishing.



In other big news, the pocket doors for the kitchen/study wall have arrived. Yay! A couple of the guys from Jim's Bunch started to install the pockets this afternoon. This is arguably the last big piece of actual construction needing to be done. When the pocket doors are in, they'll be able to finish the drywall in the kitchen, the tile floor, install the last cabinet, and take the blessed wine fridges out of the dining room at last. All good stuff.

Now, to return to yesterday's important question about the light switch in the living room, here is a photo of it. Would you have it moved or not?