Drawers

Ok, so I know this is silly so you don't even need to tell me, but I thought it was pretty cool how these drawers close slowly even when you slam them... check it out.

Yard wark starts

John Gaunt, our neighbor, has started fixing up the back yard. We asked him to fill in the old driveway and smooth out the rest of the back yard. Hopefully we still have enough time to plant grass this year. Below you can see the microwave got installed and the plumber hooked up the faucet so we are almost fully functional! There is one thing that has been stressing us out though. Ever since they took the plastic down in between the dining room and kitchen we noticed a big bump in the wall. Our contractor is trying to figure out what to do about it and it may involve tearing down the existing plaster! Just when we thought we were almost done with all the cleanup work!

Family Hike

 
We went on a family hike today and had a great time. Indy provided most of the entertainment while we walked around bear pond in Hard Parker State Park. Here's a picture of Ethan and Lucas on a huge rock that they found.

Appliances and a new view!

The appliances were delivered today! They are not installed yet, but I unpacked them and set them as close to where they will be to get an idea of the space. They all look pretty good - the microwave will be installed over the stove, but it seems HUGE. Note: the dishwasher is not blue. Dave also took down the plastic that was up between the diningroom and livingroom. The archway is huge so it makes the dining room seem smaller. We are thinking that we should have made the archway a bit lower to match the other ones in the house, but we are still getting used to it so we may come to like how tall it is. I don't think you can see it in the pictures, but I can't reach the top of the archway so it's about 7.5 feet tall!

Trim around door and bottom of one cabinet

Not too much to see today except for some more trim was finished and the trim for the bottom of the wall cabinets started going in. The boys were hiding where the dishwasher will go...soon they will be washing the dishes.

Kitchen window is trimmed and lights!

The electrician was here to do most of the lights and all that. It looks like he'll be back to do a couple more outlets. And Dave did a great job with the moulding around the window.

Counters are in.

The counters were put in today and the tile was grouted...almost there!
 
 

Tiled

The kitchen was tiled today. Grout and counter top tomorrow. 

Cabinet Crown moulding on

A couple days later and we have crown moulding.
 
 
 
 

Cabinets are going in

Here are some shots of the cabinets as they were going in.
 
 
 
 

Kitchen with first coat of paint.

Kitchen with paint on it. Next will be the cabinets!
 
 

New Steam Radiators

Here's a couple shots of the new steam radiators. They come out of the wall about 1-2 inches! They are also only about 20 inches tall. I guess we won't really know if they work until November.
 
 

Plaster guys are gone

And our kitchen is starting to look like a room again!
 
 
 
 

Wallboard started

So the wallboard guys have started and ... what a mess. I'll be staying home today to keep an eye on them. It's a bit strange to come home and find plaster foot steps all through the house and hand prints on the phone and refrigerator. So today I'll be working from home while they, hopefully, finish up.
 

Almost back together

They istalled a triple LVL beam in the ceiling and the kitchen looks like its back on track. The lights need to be hung again, but we think the framers are finished.
I just hope the inspector likes it.

Moving Backwards?

Kitchen cieling reconstruction.

Framers are back

The framing guys are back to fix up some things that the GC flagged and some things that the framing inspector flagged.
1) Box in second floor drain.
2) Install interior doors
3) Fill in gaps around doors and house.
4) Nail the double LVL beam from both sides (not just one)
5) Install fire blocking at the top of most first floor walls.
6) Install the new beam and double joists in kitchen ceiling.
7) Build a wall in attic space to install blue board on.

They arrived yesterday and started a bunch of these tasks and also napped next to the sandbox for a while. Later the kids had fun in the huge puddle in front of our house with the builders lunch trash.

We also found out that the cabinets would arrive the week of September 3rd. ARG!

Not much in a week.

The outside of the house if almost finished. We just need a garage door, but now we are moving on to interior work.

The framing inspection happened yesterday and the inspector didn't like how large of a span we had in the kitchen. So our contractor went back to the drawing board and came up with a plan that they will present to the inspector tomorrow. The plan is to add a beam that extends the wall between the kitchen and dining room all the way to the back of the house. This will split the joists in the kitchen from a 15ft. span to about 11ft and 4ft spans. Then they will double all the 11ft joists. One issue is that the electrical work has all been finished in this area so I hope they don't need to mess with it. Our contractor will be doing all of this with no extra cost to us since there was always a plan to add a beam in the kitchen anyway.

We also had a bit of a scare when the plumber told us that there was no mention of a heater in the mudroom. The contract clearly does not say that there is heat in the mudroom, but we discussed having heat in there with our contractor before we signed the contract. We found out today that they will be adding the heat in the mudroom with a change order. We are relieved because we were starting to feel like everything that we did was costing too much more money.

So, with all that there is not too much to show on the blog, but I thought I'd post some links to some of the appliances and accessories that we have chosen.

Refrigerator: Maytag or GE
Range: Maytag or GE
Microwave: Maytag or GE
Dishwasher: Bosch, Maytag or GE

Faucet:Price Pfister or Moen

Plumbing and Framing

This is the sink...ok, it's the pluming for the sink. And then a look at the cieling on the second floor looking from the old hallway into the new addition.

Siding Finished

Things have slowed down a bit this week. The exterior is almost finished as you can see. They have been doing some work on the second floor entry to the addition and lolly collumns in the basement. Other than that we hope that all the supplies are here to finish up all the little jobs they have to finish.