Thursday, February 23, 2012

It's a New Day....

Come Monday:  The electrician has arrived and is trying to figure out the mess of wires and the kitchen plan.  There is not enough room to put a three switch box where it needs to go, so what to do.  The wall of cabinets and appliances fit between the studs on one end of the wall and all the way to end of the other wall with no room to spare.  The two new switches we need will go next to the garbage disposal switch.  That works.  Fritz can take out the plugs in the pantry because those will be covered up by new cabinets.  The television plug is being removed because I just don’t have the need to watch TV while cooking and we have never used it.   Eleven new cam lights are being installed in the ceiling, electrical for the hood vent, refrigerator, and plugs for the island.  New plugs for the microwave cabinet, and the door bell was wired into a light fixture which is not done to code so Fritz is fixing that also.  The wire that was nicked during the kitchen demo will be replaced and the new fan for the study and light fixture for the kitchen sitting area will be installed.  Fritz will come back to install the kitchen island fixture when we get the cabinets installed.

The plumber arrived and now that he can see the copper plumbing in the exposed ceiling we need to have some additional work done inside besides the work under the house.  Tony left to buy supplies will return later today to begin the needed repairs and again on Wednesday to complete the job.  Tony needs to move some of the copper plumbing so Fritz can install one of the cam lights in the pantry.  He will be moving the gas fitting for the cook top and installing a new shutoff valve in the kitchen, moving the plumbing so the sink is centered to the kitchen window, plumbing for the dishwasher, and a new water line for the icemaker in the refrigerator.  Bill will be here tomorrow so he can remove the old toilet and check to see how extensive the dry rot is, get it fixed and Tony can install the new toilet Wednesday.  Tony said the plumbing for the new bathroom sink should be okay with what we have picked out.  Good news…yeh!

Larry is off to a meeting for Communities In Schools so we will go out later today after the workers have gone to do our ordering and shopping.

The good news is the kitchen sink and faucet have shipped and the light fixture for the kitchen island should arrive tomorrow.  I love online tracking for shipping.    

There are just certain smells that remind me of my dad.  The plumber is drilling through old wood to install the new plumbing and the wood smell reminds me of all the times my dad would working on a project in the garage.

There are bits and pieces of electrical wire everywhere in the kitchen and Fritz is trying to figure out where all the new outlets and switches go, where some were removed and now need to be replaced.  Toolboxes, tools, ladders, wire, pipes, it really is a two person kitchen right now so I am staying in the study.

Change of plans…surprise…shopping will have to wait until Tuesday because it looks like we need a few more things and the plumber and electrician also need more supplies. 

Tuesday:  Tuesday I’m out of the house by 6:15 AM to attend a board meeting and the electrician is due to arrive by 7:30 AM, and Larry needs to leave by 9:00 AM.    By the time I arrive back home the guys have decided that if Larry is sitting my desk chair then he could make executive decisions.  A baseboard heater at in the entry by the stairs is coming out, a partial wall is coming out in the entry way, and the electrician discovered the heater in the living room has never been connected. 

Bill is going to build the wall hung vanity for the downstairs guest bath for us and the good news is we only have a small area of dry rot in the bathroom to remove and replace a small section of subfloor that had some water damage a few years ago. 

Bob is working on removing engineered wood floor in the entry way that is glued to the vinyl floor that is glued to the subfloor.  When the slate tiles were installed next to the fireplace they just used lots of motor to build up the base before laying the subfloor and tile and it is going to be a tough job to remove. Bill says he’ll rent a jackhammer to get ‘er done.

Fritz is working finishing up the electrical in the kitchen and as he was cutting out a grove in the overhead joist to hide the electrical wiring he discovered that some of the joists are not nailed in or at least not nailed in as securely as they should be.  Bill assured us he will make sure they are unmovable before we sheetrock.  I would really like to meet the carpenters who built our home but then again maybe for their safety I should never know who they are.  Not everyone is meant to be a carpenter even if they can swing a hammer and wear a tool belt.

The big green giant dumpster is almost full and the pile of debris is still growing.  Larry said he is thankful he ordered the largest size instead of ordering a smaller dumpster that he thought would hold it all.

The pressboard wall that was installed instead of sheetrock in the guest bath has been ripped out…literally once a small hole was punched in the wall almost all of it could be pulled out by hand except the portion where they used glue.  We now have one working sink in the house, the laundry sink in my studio.  Both toilets upstairs are working as are the bathtub and shower, but not the upstairs sinks. 

Deuce the dog is nervous to say the least, barking at the guys as they come and go like he had never seen them before when really they are just passing back and forth in front of him.  Fritz said maybe Deuce has a memory problem.

The end of the day and the crew will be back tomorrow.  Tony will be working in the bathroom and cutting a hole in the wall in the living room to refit a connection to the outside faucet bib to update it and keep it from freezing during the winter.  Fritz will be a little later as he is picking up a ceiling fan/vent for the guest bathroom.  Everyone talks about an open concept living area…well we are wide open right now.  You can see all the way across the house from the dining room to the studio.

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