Monday: What we've been doing during electrical and plumbing (1/24/11)

Or why I didn't become an electrical engineer.  Yikes.  The good news is that they're not done yet.

 



And we have more switches than we'll EVER know what to do with.





The progress over the last two weeks has been less dramatic visually - all electrical and plumbing.  It has, however, involved several shutdowns of electrical and water service...  and one carbon monoxide scare.  But we've made it (almost) through that part in one piece (each).

So anyway, we've been busy obsessing over other details.  It's kind of good that we've been involved in this project for years - it gives you time to make sure you're going to continue (at least for a year or two) to like some of your choices.  We've remained amazingly steady on the kitchen - hope we like it once it's here!





IKEA abstrakt white lower cabinets - pretty much all drawers - and no upper cabinets.



Sorry about the resolution...  Epoxy resin countertops that are used in professional laboratories.

Chicago faucet - also used in laboratories (I'm sensing a theme...)





Ticor sink (not used in laboratories, but very reasonably priced!)





And for drawer pulls, I'm down to either the Tob Knobs Pennington bar pulls...





...or the Doug Mockett "wire" pulls.





And Reuben's being absolutely no help.  He's too busy chewing on Mr. Bill, fittingly bought during our carbon monoxide evacuation.  "Oh noooooooo..."



Monday: New framing in kitchen (1/10/11)

When they opened up the kitchen walls, they realized that it was framed with 2-by-3's, which wouldn't give enough room for the wall header and the electrical boxes, so two of the walls were rebuilt with 2-by-4's.

I'm liking the half-wall to the right here.  It gives the kitchen a bit of openness.

Saturday: Camping deluxe (1/8/11)

Saturday finds us in our make-shift "camping" kitchen, making - what else - macaroni and cheese!

Friday: Busy electricians, lazy blogger (1/7/11)

I've been remiss!  There's been activity, but I haven't kept up.  Here, they've installed the recessed can lighting in the new entry (old dining room).

Wiring for two fixtures in the kitchen...

...recessed cans in the pantry (old office)...

...and in the old front hall...

...and in the living room.

On Friday, they got busy with deck framing.



They also added plywood to most of the open roof framing...



...and part of the carport.

Tuesday: Kitchen relocation (1/4/11)



Well, that was quick.  No more kitchen.



Oh, wait, there it is, in the new dining room!





Not looking very usable, though...



And here I am stressing over the trivialities of not having a kitchen, while Reuben suffers through a particularly bad hair day.  He couldn't see the lack of a kitchen even if he wanted to.

Monday: Anticipation of sinklessness (1/3/11)

We used our stovetop and oven one last time Monday evening, just because we could.

We have a spare fridge in the basement, so losing the fridge isn't too bad  (monolith that it is!).  And the dishwasher barely works anyway.  But we don't have a very good backup for the sink for a while.  That's it.  No more eating.



More work was done on the interior finish on the windows...



...and on the new back door that will be at the end of the new hallway.

Saturday: Little kitchen, you will be missed - for a while (1/1/11)

After a fabulous Christmas with my family, we had a fabulous visit here with Jack's sister and brother-in-law.  Luckily, we ate very well during all these visits.  While Sue and Thom were here, we got the news that the builders would be ready to start tearing out our tiny little kitchen capsule on Monday.  Thus, we begin the more painful part of the renovation...

And in a few short days, they flew through a lot of framing for the roof.  It keeps getting bigger...  and bigger...  The size still seems good on the inside.  It's always a bit of an adjustment for us, as it's hard (for us) to get an accurate idea of volumes from the drawings, even when you've staked it out in the yard.

Happy New Year, everyone!!