Monday
There was big excitement here in the construction zone today -- they took down the plastic dust shields that had been protecting the rest of the house from all the kitchen mess. We can now walk around from room to room without opening and closing zippers!
We can also see the entry hall carpet again, instead of the plastic covering. Alas, we can also see directly into the living room again, which currently has a massive mess of stuff piled up in it because of the construction work elsewhere. Eek. But hopefully unpacking begins soon.
Cam the tile installer was here again today, and installed more of the tile flooring. A couple of photos posted.
This means once again we can't walk into the kitchen area tonight, while the tile sets. So, no using the kitchen sink. We also can't go in there to unplug the radio, which is on and belting out NPR at a fairly high volume if we plug in the temporary string of lights to see into the kitchen. (Result: It'll be dark in there this evening.)
This week's schedule still calls for the tile floor to be finished tomorrow and the electrician to come on Wednesday to hook up the appliances. That means the kitchen should be usable by Wednesday night and we can start unpacking! WOO-HOO!!!
In a fortuitous bit of timing, I got a call today that our kitchen furniture has arrived! It's scheduled for delivery this Friday!!!
There's still a bunch more stuff to do in the kitchen after this week, but at least we'll be able to start using it again, and getting rid of lots of big things piled up in our few usable living areas. We're also still waiting to get a couple of more estimates on painting, which I imagine won't get done before late October or November. And, roof work should start next month.
Brian (our project manager) called yesterday to tell us that Cam, the tile installer, needed another day to work on the floor. So, the electrician and plumber couldn't come today, and there's no usable kitchen tonight. (Also: We still don't know yet if The Bisque Refrigerator actually works).
However, the tile floor was grouted today (no walking in there again tonight). I also decided on a pattern for the tile backsplash, and that tile was installed today.
TOMORROW the electrician and plumber are supposed to be here, to hook up our appliances and finally give us a usable kitchen! I count the hours!
Cam should be back Friday to grout the backsplash and get the floor tile cleaned up. Also Friday, our kitchen furniture is supposed to be delivered; and another painter (who Sara, Lee's sister recommended) is coming by to give us an estimate on painting inside.
Hopefully, we'll be unpacking stuff this weekend!!!
Another frenetic end-of-week and weekend here at ConstructionWorld.
Our furniture arrived Friday -- it's gorgeous and we love it! ... but alas, one of the stools arrived damaged. Lee talked to our saleswoman, and they'll be sending someone out to repair it (and adjust another one that wobbles).
You can photos of our new kitchen furniture, as well as latest kitchen views (newest pictures toward bottom of page).
The other big news is that we cooked our very first dinner in the kitchen!
It was a lot of fun. We love the space -- there's enough room for us both to be working in there, and it's not so cramped and difficult to find everything; we love the cabinets and counters; and we really enjoyed the new appliances, although it was pretty funny to have to keep reading the manual every time I wanted to, say, turn the oven on to 350 degrees.
I did discover that we hadn't unpacked all the necessary things for cooking, though, such as a potholder or measuring spoons, but all seemed to work out OK. Our friends Bev and Brian stopped by, and were brave enough to join us for dinner, even though it was my first time trying this particular chicken recipe and using our oven, and I couldn't measure ingredients. They seemed to enjoy it nevertheless.
We dined sitting on our new kitchen chairs. We weren't sitting on the new Pergo floor directly, though, because that's still covered with protective paper and cardboard. (While we didn't get to enjoy how it looked, nobody had to worry about dropping food on the floor).
Otherwise, we spent pretty much all weekend cleaning and unpacking (and are far from done yet). After work Friday, we worked in the kitchen til after midnight cleaning construction dust out of the cabinets. Saturday and Sunday, we unpacked stuff, washed stuff (can't wait to see the water and electric bill this month after running the dishwasher a zillion times. But love the new dishwasher!), and figured out where to put stuff and what to throw out (including some oatmeal that said "best used before July 1995").
We discovered that although the kitchen is usable -- making life here a lot easier and more pleasant -- this hasn't ended construction aggravation. In fact, Friday was one of the worst days of the whole project:
Then today, when I wanted to take a brief break from cleaning/unpacking and go for a bicycle ride to enjoy the glorious autumn weather, I discovered that my bicycle doesn't work! It won't roll at all! Lee thinks the brake just spontaneously jammed; I believe it got damaged from being crushed amidst piles of junk in the garage, then moved around from place to place without the tenderest of loving care. I only rode it ONCE since getting an $80 tune-up and tire repair, and am NOT HAPPY. Argh.
"It's always something."
Ah well. We are VERY happy with the new kitchen, if not all the aggravation that accompanies a project of this scale.