Tomorrow's a big day, the drywall starts to go in, which means the cabinets are not far away, which means the sink isn't far away, etc. We're about half way through and getting a little tired of the whole thing. We've discovered that cooking a pasta meal on the grill is NOT easy, washing dishes is even harder and the one remaining functioning bathroom is too small for both of us. The good news is I'm getting more exercise because when I go to Gold's Gym to take a shower I exercise as long as I'm there.
Anyway, a lot of progress this week.
1) Granite has been selected and ordered : Blue Pearl for you granite fans
2) All plumbing fixtures have been ordered. Mom has a great story about the plumbing supply guy. He's one of my hockey buddies and his email address is TTOILET@AOL.com so it's not hard to imagine that it's entertaining. You gotta hear the story, so ask her sometime.
3) Electrical is all roughed in. True to my opinion that electricians are like programmers, they finished late after committing to be on time and didn't really finish. Ask Mom about her back and forth with the head electrician when she asked the simple question "When are those cans going to installed" (she was pointing to them at the time). Reminds me of a LOT of conversations I've had at work over the years.
4) Tile for the backsplash has been chosen and ordered (I think). Light blue in a subway size. I predict this will be the highlight of the kitchen.
I'll post pictures once the drywall is installed. We should also be seeing cabinets by the end of next week.
We're getting there.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Week 2 ends, Week 3 plans.
Two weeks down, five more to go. Lot of progress this week and hence a long post. No pictures this week as there is not a huge visual difference from last week.
What's been done :
- The plumbing is all roughed in for both the kitchen and bathroom, all we need now is to hook everything up. No major problems or surprises which is always a good thing for remodels
- The electricians showed up and got the electrical and lighting design finished. Electricians are a bit different from all the other trades; they don't where construction clothing, they seem a bit cleaner and don't seem nearly as boisterous. I remember the same impression when I worked construction while in college. They're the programmers of the construction trade and the ones that we need to watch schedule wise. I learned this working with Lance at Apple.
- Armando outlined on the floor where the cabinets and center island will be and this avoided a potential major problem with the island. We changed the design and somewhere along the way the plans ended up with a much smaller island than we envisioned (imagine requirements being changed and not documented). We spotted the problem with floor outline (proof that protyping works) had a small meeting (meetings bloody meetings !!!) and resolved the problem. The resolution cost more money obviously.
- Karen has picked out a medicine cabinet and mirror for the new bathroom which has a lot of mirrors, lights and shelves. I didn't think medicine cabinets could cost this much money but it's nice.
- We've decided on glass tiles for the backsplash and I think these will be very cool....and not terribly expensive.
- We're narrowing in on the choice for the granite countertops. The current favorite is "Blue Pearl".
- Flooring has been nailed down, it's a cherry colored manufactured product. We decided on manufactured wood vs real wood after discovering that dogs running on fake wood do not cause any damage....and it's 1/3 the cost. Better and cheaper, what's not to like.
- And last and certainly very well appreciated, Courtney & Brandon fed us a nice steak dinner with an interesting Argentinian sauce (can't remember the name) and a nice wine (which is probably why I couldn't remember the name of the sauce) last night. Nolan was supposed to demonstrate his newly acquired walking skills, but decided that screaming around the floor at top speed was a better way to go last night. He climbed all over Grandpa for quite a while which was an added bonus to a nice meal.
What happens next week :
- The electricians finish roughing in all the electrical and install the indirect lighting in the ceiling. This will be the first piece of the remodel to go into "production"
- Armando is just about finished with framing the wall so that the TV can be mounted inside the wall. This is a big deal as it will allow us to put the TV into the wall and get all the goddamn wires and boxes out of view. Very cool. This should be finished next week and ready for painting and installation of the TV bracket.
- This TV thing will create another flurry of research and buying as I have to find the proper remote controls. Should be interesting. Of anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, let me know.
- The drywall is supposed to be installed
And....
I'm going to Alaska for two days, which requires a day of travel in each direction so I'm gone for four days.
Karen is moving to Courtney & Brandon's for a few days to watch the little guy while C & B go to Vegas.
Next post will be next weekend....and let's hope the Sharks start to win hockey games by then.
What's been done :
- The plumbing is all roughed in for both the kitchen and bathroom, all we need now is to hook everything up. No major problems or surprises which is always a good thing for remodels
- The electricians showed up and got the electrical and lighting design finished. Electricians are a bit different from all the other trades; they don't where construction clothing, they seem a bit cleaner and don't seem nearly as boisterous. I remember the same impression when I worked construction while in college. They're the programmers of the construction trade and the ones that we need to watch schedule wise. I learned this working with Lance at Apple.
- Armando outlined on the floor where the cabinets and center island will be and this avoided a potential major problem with the island. We changed the design and somewhere along the way the plans ended up with a much smaller island than we envisioned (imagine requirements being changed and not documented). We spotted the problem with floor outline (proof that protyping works) had a small meeting (meetings bloody meetings !!!) and resolved the problem. The resolution cost more money obviously.
- Karen has picked out a medicine cabinet and mirror for the new bathroom which has a lot of mirrors, lights and shelves. I didn't think medicine cabinets could cost this much money but it's nice.
- We've decided on glass tiles for the backsplash and I think these will be very cool....and not terribly expensive.
- We're narrowing in on the choice for the granite countertops. The current favorite is "Blue Pearl".
- Flooring has been nailed down, it's a cherry colored manufactured product. We decided on manufactured wood vs real wood after discovering that dogs running on fake wood do not cause any damage....and it's 1/3 the cost. Better and cheaper, what's not to like.
- And last and certainly very well appreciated, Courtney & Brandon fed us a nice steak dinner with an interesting Argentinian sauce (can't remember the name) and a nice wine (which is probably why I couldn't remember the name of the sauce) last night. Nolan was supposed to demonstrate his newly acquired walking skills, but decided that screaming around the floor at top speed was a better way to go last night. He climbed all over Grandpa for quite a while which was an added bonus to a nice meal.
What happens next week :
- The electricians finish roughing in all the electrical and install the indirect lighting in the ceiling. This will be the first piece of the remodel to go into "production"
- Armando is just about finished with framing the wall so that the TV can be mounted inside the wall. This is a big deal as it will allow us to put the TV into the wall and get all the goddamn wires and boxes out of view. Very cool. This should be finished next week and ready for painting and installation of the TV bracket.
- This TV thing will create another flurry of research and buying as I have to find the proper remote controls. Should be interesting. Of anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, let me know.
- The drywall is supposed to be installed
And....
I'm going to Alaska for two days, which requires a day of travel in each direction so I'm gone for four days.
Karen is moving to Courtney & Brandon's for a few days to watch the little guy while C & B go to Vegas.
Next post will be next weekend....and let's hope the Sharks start to win hockey games by then.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Week 1 summary Week 2 plans
We're one full week into the project with 7 more to go and I'm happy to say that we're AHEAD of schedule....that's something I never heard during my manager days at Apple !!! We're not ahead by a lot but we are ahead. The demolition is complete, the cabinets have arrived and are in storage in the garage that looks like it's going to fall over any minute....but is dry as a bone.
I'm doing the pictures a little different today, here's a link to a Picasa Photo Album with all the pictures from the remodel, you can see the before and after easily. Copy this to your browser window and enjoy.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tminick/2009Remodel#
This coming week should see the plumbing roughed in and the start of the electrical roughed in and perhaps complete. Armando (the General Contractor) is a little concerned about having the Electrician on the job with the Plumber...apparently the Electrician is a little finicky about things.
My paying job is busy this week so I may be a little slow in posting.
I'm doing the pictures a little different today, here's a link to a Picasa Photo Album with all the pictures from the remodel, you can see the before and after easily. Copy this to your browser window and enjoy.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tminick/2009Remodel#
This coming week should see the plumbing roughed in and the start of the electrical roughed in and perhaps complete. Armando (the General Contractor) is a little concerned about having the Electrician on the job with the Plumber...apparently the Electrician is a little finicky about things.
My paying job is busy this week so I may be a little slow in posting.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
t
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Day 1
Well the first day was uneventful, Armando simply prepped for the demo guys who tear the place apart on Tuesday. Mom and I went out for dinner to celebrate our 35th anniversary and sat in our lovely living room for the second night in row. This means we've used our living room 3 times now since we moved in.
For those of you who are following the project schedule (that would be Lance) we're one day into the project and we've slipped the schedule by one day. Reminds me of Apple Order.
Pictures for tomorrow's post.
For those of you who are following the project schedule (that would be Lance) we're one day into the project and we've slipped the schedule by one day. Reminds me of Apple Order.
Pictures for tomorrow's post.
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