Day 72, The Friday before Labor Day

This the Friday before a three day holiday weekend. Our project is the only thing between Darrell and Stacy starting their time off till Tuesday.

Both are being targeted for honey do projects.









 BOTTOM, Darrell is putting the final touches on the pony wall molding installation.

The downstairs molding and baseboard is just about ready to paint walls and stained the half door. The other tasks are picking out the carpet for the stairs.

Also left is the hand rail.

Stacy hangs the beverage door. Just as he swing the door to test the swing he notices the doors are not on the same level.




He must shave some wood off the installed door.

Now have both doors swinging at the same height

Friday was also install our new poly shower three-sided stall. There are  panels to be install as well as a seat and soap and shampoo storage wall unit.

The installer must take these panels and weave them through the interior job site to the hall bathroom.














BOTTOM, you can see the glue dobbed on the sheet rock wall as the installer position the first piece with the window cut-out.

ABOVE, Darrell lends a hand to position the first wall.

now he is readying his hammer to tap the wall to insure a tight fit.








BOTTOM, the second wall is carried into the final location. You can see the hole for the soap and shampoo insert. The final window trimming is another task to be done later.

Here; Mario uses a template to precisely locate all openings for shower controls.

This is what our new shower looks like. We have decided to install two sliding doors with 3/8" or 1/2" glass doors.

Mikey is caught in his various electrical to-do list by Sandy just in time photography. He is under the kitchen floor to provide energy to the island and "L" counters.

Mikey is ready for the long weekend as well.





BOTTOM, Sandy just told Mikey she didn't want an electrical outlet where he cut a hole in the brand new cabinet... Just Kidding!

Another Mikey project was to correct a door swing problem with one of the Tiffany pendant lights. The builders and Mikey figured out that the light box needs to move 3" out of the way of the door swing.





RIGHT, is the new light shade looking like they are purple and lime. 





Mikey accommodate us by hooking up the energy so we can illuminate one of the light. When will used a 75 watt light we saw all the warm tones of the pendant shade.

Stacy and Darrell remove the final flooring. Now the way has been paved to install the new flooring.

 

RIGHT, shows the comparison between the original wood floor and the new flooring material to be installed. We will be sanding the old stained off and staining the new wood so they look the same.

Note the grooves on the planks and how they fit tightly with the other planks.

NEXT: Floors and Stonework

Days 70 & 71, Fix the Sub Floor and Jobsite Family Visit

We had a very special Family visit to our job site.

TOP, Darrell's Mom, Rita hugs her son. 

MIDDLE, Stacy is hugged by his Mom, Anna and Mother-in-Law, Rita. 

RIGHT,  Michelle, Darrell's wife and D-Built business manager, is surrounded by her moms, Anna and Rita. Her brother, Stacy is pictured above. 

Now we are ready to attack the sub floor so we can provide a true and flat surface for our new red oak floor. Being level is everything based on weaving the current planks with the new planks.

When the builders removed the sub floor plywood. they found a second sub-floor underneath. That was a stroke of luck. They were able to re-build a new floor true and level.

Stacy applies glue to the wood sections that the new sub floor plywood will fit over. Once the floor is set, Darrell comes along with his magic floor screw machine

I was very pleased that Darrell and Stacy were able to get the desired flatness. Now that that task is complete we can move on the next phase.

Darrell finished the final fastening of the new sub floor. Stacy pushes the plywood down as the final sheet is secured in place.

Darrell sands the pony wall finished rail edge. The whole family room wall looks like one piece. I can't wait to see it painted and the half door stained.

Look at our new French doors. They are waiting for their stain and hardware so they can allow the home dwellers, family and visitor to enjoy their passage through the opening living space to back porch.

New to the back porch is our new lights, all wall mounted in oil rub bronze.

NEXT: The Entry floor is fixed and ready for its new floor.

Day 69, Cabinets, Rough Boarding and Counter Formatting

                      Rich, Darrell's Dad, is ready for the next job task while Mikey thinks what he has to do   next, maybe find the cross wire in the Utility room.

Darrell is checking for level and flatness. He and Stacy are constantly checking for these two elements. I have discovered these builders are uncompromising in their attention to this basic rule.

Both builders can trace this rule of conduct back to the previous generations of builders attention to detail.

Below all three builders consult with one another to figure out the net effect of their actions to level and my flatten the counters.

The moment of truth is when you you drove that screw into the supporting wood piece and know that it is absolutely true, level and flat.

Stacy drives a screw carefully into the rough boards that will support our new counter tops. A builder's eye is a very precious gift to spot spacial relationships and lines of alignment or not.

Above is the completed rough boards in place for far Kitchen counters and island counter in the foreground.

Left, is the Refrigerator enclosure for our new Kenmore sitting in wait for the moment it will be unpacked all these 15 months and lift upstairs to it new home and roles as our primary food cold storage unit

Darrell points out to Mikey and dad the rule of threes. Ask Darrell what that means, this reporter doesn't have a clue.

Stacy is seen checking some measurement with his tape in hand. He is always on the alert to insure that the project sustains its quality image.

Below you get a better look at the apron sink we purchased. Sandy got the biggest sink we could fit in our kitchen and enjoy the hammered look that she wanted.

                                                     

The cabinets are being set in place over the count cabinets.

This is Steve who really goes by Bubba, he is our granite fabricator. 

Bubba is here today to start measuring for the slabs of granite at his shop. He uses a stack of wooden slates that he glues and staples together forming a square or rectangle. He writes notes and relationships to one another on the wood so Bubba can plan for how to cut the granite.

Here are the templates built and ready to go back to the shop for placement. Darrell helps gather up all the templates so Bubba can get his work done.

The hall bathroom gets it template and where the vessel sinks are located.

Below, is our special order Toto toilet. We had to wait six weeks for this model in a specific white to ship from New Jersey.

Mikey may look like he is measuring, however he is really hoping Bubba leaves his glue gun. He love that shade of red in a hand tool.

Mikey is seen in various electrical tasks. He loves his DeWalt drill. We love he does such a good job getting us connected with our energy company, PGE. Left, Mikey gets the reward for discovering where the magnifying mirror was originally located in the deep sink carton.

NEXT: The entry sub floor is trued.