upstairs was
upstairs is
the balance
The upstairs back room has been gutted. The cats are now restricted to the master bedroom during the day, but they've been good little sports about it.
Once our cabinet designer got back from vacation we discovered that the cool split wood/glass door we had planned for a couple cabinets is not available in our door style. We discovered that and about five other things. There's been some agony working with an outdated catalog, but I think we're just about there. Hopefully we'll have the dang cabinets ordered by the end of this week.
The builder told me today that he'd like to keep to his original schedule, which had given us three weeks of free time with the kitchen before demolition set in. But that three weeks was supposed to be right now - the cabinets will take 6-8 weeks to deliver - and if the whole project is to keep to its final completion date he'll have to bust up the kitchen (for the plumbing and all that) nearly two months before it will be put back together again. We were hoping for four weeks without a kitchen sink; now it may be seven. Or so.
The woodwork in the back has been moving along quickly, and that room is starting to look really nice. We signed off on some fixed shelf dimensions only to find that our big books won't fit. This has caused some strain. We're veering from the contract in spots - we'll eat the extra cost of rebuilding two cabinets with adjustable shelves, it's cool - and I think the builder's getting antsy. Heck, I'm getting antsy. I can't get out of the house in the morning without making three detail decisions, two of which will probably get overturned (if not today, then later for more money).
fixed shelves were
adjustable shelves will be
We discovered that the electrician contract had nothing in it about all the rewiring we wanted done upstairs. We spent a lot of time discussing outlet upgrades but somehow they fell out of the final building contract (a ton of stuff in there - we just assumed electrical was in there). More strain. The electricians will come back again next week, but until then I think all of our stuff will be piled in the middle of the bedrooms, away from the walls.
One of the decisions this morning was about the recessed lighing cans for the living room. The missus wasn't so psyched about the big 5-inchers, but I think that's what we need for that large a room. It can now wait until next week.
On a positive note: the back room's coming along nicely.
Last week ended on a sour note as our kitchen designer left for a week's vacation with a fax telling us that our layout won't quite work. The sinks are impinging on a couple of the cabinets we want to use, meaning something has to give. We'll probably end up getting a smaller main sink, but that will have to wait until next week when she gets back. We're a little torqued after taking time off work to go over the plans - why couldn't these things have been uncovered at that point? The whole kitchen part of the project is timed off of the cabinet order.
The living room and spare bedroom are full of boxes already and we haven't even begun to pack up the kitchen.
The cats are starting to calm down. We shut them up in a few connected rooms upstairs during the day but that will narrow to the master bedroom tomorrow when the sitting room is gutted for the electrical work.
Trixie has a little trouble with the dust barrier sometimes.
Yesterday they installed the glass door in the back room. What an improvement.
We're still trying to figure out what kind of vinyl tile to put on the basement floor. This stuff looks pretty good... I imagine with a stylish European price tag.
Here's an interactive room designer - it's actually pretty helpful in showing the impact of different tile & wall color choices on a room. I wish they had a "basement bar" option.
Some folks really like linoleum.
The mystery bump-out bites back.
Our house was built in 1933 or 1936, depending on which set of records you consult. Over the last 70 years or so some weird things have been attached. I try not to look too closely at anything. Out of the corner of our eyes there was always the mysterious incursion behind the stove.
Now it's an issue. We want to put a counter-depth refrigerator where the stove is but the wall bump would push it into the footpath, along with interfering with the trash cabinet we want to install next to the sink. Looking more closely:
The wall has been extended to cover plumbing vent pipes from the basement. At this point the laundry room walls have been ripped out and it's clear that the elbow to the left has been abandoned. The straight pipe on the right is still in play.
The plan now is to move the active pipe all the way to the corner, leaving enough room to wedge the refrigerator all the way to the main wall. The plumber's stopping by on Monday. Fingers crossed. I think we can order the cabinets anyway - we'd be able to chip enough away to fit the trash cabinet flush with the rest of the counter.
Dude it never stops.
Our favorite back room has been gutted to the original porch brick.
Under the carpet we discovered this neat tile pattern. 1962 all over again.
It's kind of touching uncovering house history like this. I'd like to incorporate that square-and-diamond somewhere in the house, maybe the basement, maybe a rug somewhere. A kind of ripple in time.
When I got home there were footprints everywhere and one of the breakers was blown.
This is for the back room and basement. Kitchen demo needs to be coordinated with the cabinet delivery.
8 AM Monday.
*gulp*
The kitchen designer took our comments, redesigned the cabinets and faxed the result to the builder.
The new cabinets are $7000 more than the original design.
We want to see an itemized list of these changes.
Holy cow.
The builder is pulling permits today in Rockville.
The dumpster will arrive on Monday.
Found this discussion of appliance options.
Kitchen Aid also has some nice products, but costs a few dollars more and they're the same company as Whirlpool.
The missus is gonna flip.
Wait there's more:
I found the KitchenAid the best "non luxury" brand of fridge. The architect series is a great value for the money, although for budgetary reasons I ended up getting the KA $1700 Superba.
And this:
We ended up getting the Kitchen-Aid Superba. Prices were quoted at $1699, but through a special 3-day promotion we got it for $1364.
!
We're torn between the Kenmore Elite dishwasher and the high-end Kitchen Aids. Both are in the price range of Consumer Reports' favorite Bosch, but with the Bosch models you have to dig in and clean the food traps yourself. Yeah right.
Lots of 5-star reviews for the Kitchen Aid Superba (not positive if that's the model we're looking at - at Sears you can select from a booklet full of door styles & options), no reviews at all yet for the Kenmore.
Anumber of glowing reviews and one bomb in this recent discussion of the Kitchen Aid.
The refrigerators are fighting us as well - dimensions, etc. That may be another entry.