One inspection away from finished.

Things are winding down, and today we had our plumbing, gas, ventilation, and general building inspections officially signed off. The dishwasher has been installed, the under-valance light fixture is back up and, at last, the long-awaited sink trim is finished!

I love, love, love the sink cabinet! The turned legs give it just the look that I had in mind. One little curtain and the country kitchen will be complete. Finding just the right little curtain, well...that might take some looking.





Except for the absence of a fridge, we have a kitchen once again.

I ran the dishwasher through a complete cycle, just to test it out. Afterward, I remembered that it still had the protective plastic film on the door, so I peeled that off and watched it shine!



In the bathroom, I turned on the tub faucet for the first time, let the shower run, and plugged and unplugged the drain with the little rubber drain plug on a chain. Fun, fun! I couldn't help but think of my nieces and how I'm sure they will want to try out the tub next time they visit. What could be better than a bubble bath in a big ol' tub, with bubbles up to your chin?!



The electrical inspection should take place in the next day or two, and then....back to The Cottage!

The little details.

I spent today, guess what? Painting! Not so bad, as it's almost done. I gave a couple of coats of primer, then paint, to the patched areas in the kitchen. One particular electrical outlet looks oh, so much better!



Carlos (whom I have decided is the real "magician" on this jobsite) came back today and replaced the chipped v-cap molding, so all's well again, and the sink is now perfect.

I taped a warning note to the sink, since I thought the plumber might arrive and install the dishwasher today. Silly, silly me.




The little piece of wood trim along the edge of the counter below is something that J constructed, a little feat of genius! The refrigerator's home is right alongside this counter, and I had originally opted to skip the v-cap (at $12 per 8-inch section) along this edge, to save money, since the fridge would hide it, anyway. J thought that something a little nicer might look good here, and this is what he came up with. I completely agree! He did an excellent job, and it finishes off the counter's edge nicely.



In between coats of paint, I made a few phone calls today, trying to find a replacement bathroom door. The old bathroom door was a plain-Jane modern hollow-core door with a wood veneer skin, all function and no form. Hence, once the door was removed from its hinges, out into the trash pile it went. I don't regret tossing it, but we are still sans bathroom door. I'm still looking, and hoping to find something that resembles the old original doors that are still in the house:



They are not pretty, but they are original (I think), and appear to be made of pine. This door illustrates what I don't like about natural wood doors: they darken significantly with age. This is one of 3 doors that all open into a tiny hallway and, man, is the hallway DARK! I really don't want to have to go with a white plastic-coated hollow door, but I'm not having much luck finding something like the one pictured below. Our local architectural salvage place has one old wooden door that's a 2-panel, and the right size, but it's a right-hand swing, and we need a left-hand swing door. And, no, I don't want to just switch the hinges around. They are mortised into the door, and the notches would be visible, and it would be completely obvious.

I also went to the sawmill and picked up some 8" baseboard molding, and started sanding it smooth today. I'll finish that another day.

Now we're cooking!

Went over to CRC after work, and I am happy to report that the plumber must have been there today, because the tub drain has now been fixed!


The replacement part for the defective faucet has been replaced, and the faucet installed:


J did a great job caulking around the sink this week, too. He used sanded caulk (I had never heard of it, but I'm sold on it) in the same color as the grout. Once the chipped v-cap is replaced and the caulk touched up, the sink will look great.



The gas range is also in place and fully functional:




We have ignition! Holy cow, I can't begin to tell ya!


Check out the cool purple light that indicates which burner is on!


The satin nickel vintage-style ceiling registers have been installed, too.

Here are the old white-painted aluminum registers, which are now destined for a good dusting, and then they will be off to our local Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store.


I ordered the new registers online from Atlanta Supply Company. They sell a wide variety of floor, ceiling, and wall registers. One of their customer service reps helped me choose these. They are heavy and made of solid brass. They were also very reasonably priced, and fit perfectly, too.


The dishwasher has been unpacked and put in place, though not actually installed yet.

Crazy legs, a pain in the drain, and anyone seen the plumber?

Just when things were going along wonderfully well, and it looked as if we might actually move back into The Cottage by Valentine's Day, this week had to happen.

As mentioned in a previous post, the plumber came last week and installed the clawfoot tub, which is made of acrylic. On top of the tub's plastic wrapping was the tub installation instruction sheet. The very same instruction sheet that I later found tossed aside, apparently completely ignored, in the living room. The tub, meanwhile, had its drain installed by the plumber using plumber's putty rather than silicone to seal the threads. Too bad the plumber did not bother to read the manufacturer's instructions, a neon orange piece of paper with big black letters stating: DO NOT USE PLUMBER'S PUTTY TO INSTALL THE TUB DRAIN!!! USE ONLY SILICONE!!! (<-- only bolder, and in a much larger font).
When I stopped by The Cottage after work and found plumber's putty oozing from around the drain, I was seriously not happy. The tub, being plastic, is never supposed to come into contact with petroleum products or other solvents. Heavy naphthenic distillate, one of the ingredients in plumber's putty, sounds like a petroleum-based solvent to me.
The plumber was informed of the above, and promised to fix it ASAP. Six days later, the tub drain still has not been correctly installed. The plumber is nowhere to be found. He wasn't answering his phone or returning phone calls. One of his crew was supposed to come out on Saturday and finally take care of it, but never showed. Some excuse about meeting with his taxman. The plumber sucks, and I hate him. I also hope the IRS sticks it to him, big-time.

That was probably the most distressing of several blunders, goofs, oversights, and other assorted minor but annoying problems that the past week held in store for us.

The Plaster Guy (who we call "Houdini," because we were told "he's a magician" who would have a supposedly transformative effect, hiding all flaws and making uneven walls seem straight again) was expected to come back to rectify the semi-crappy drywall work he did a few weeks ago:


We were given word that Houdini was expected to rematerialize yesterday evening, but he somehow never showed up until today. In anticipation of Houdini's arrival, I carefully masked off the no-fly zones, remembering all the mud that got slung everywhere the first time he came out. The man does not own a rag, I don't think!


Houdini patched things up okay, for the most part, and only managed to slop drywall mud on a few off-target places in our new kitchen.

Another unexpected twist occurred yesterday when the v-cap molding around the sink got chipped by the contractor while he was trying to set the sink into its final position prior to caulking it in place. Poor J. He was very apologetic, and has ordered new v-cap. I know he is hating this sink right now, for this and many other reasons. I guess Carlos will be hating the sink some more, too, since he will now have to come back and replace the damaged v-cap.


Finally, the wood trim around the sink, the final design of which is still a work in progress, had a bit of a setback, too.

Pictured below are the 2 halves of a red oak kitchen island leg that will be used to trim out the area around the sink base. I ordered what was supposed to be a single leg, split in half lengthwise, from a millwork company in Tennessee. Sounds pretty straightforward, but this is what got delivered yesterday:


two mirror-image pieces of wood that are completely different colors! I emailed this photo to the company's customer service department, explaining why this was just not going to work. To their credit, they were very apologetic, and went out of their way to make things right. Two new (matching) half-legs were shipped out today, and the mismatched ones will be shipped back to them at no cost.

What a week!

North Florida Crossword Puzzle Tournament, and we have lights!

Today, Andrew, our friend Steve, and I competed in our second North Florida Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Our team, The Wordsmiths, were Runners Up, finishing just 5 points behind the winners. We hope to come back next year and take the Team Division title! The Tournament proceeds go to a local non-profit organization.


We got to meet crossword puzzle creator Merl Reagle, whose puzzles are featured in the San Francisco Examiner and The New York Times.

Merl was kind enough to autograph one of his puzzle books for us, and joined us for a photo:



After the big puzzle competition, we stopped by The Cottage, since the electrician had earlier today installed our new light fixtures. We have lights and working electrical outlets again in the kitchen and the bathroom!



The new pendant light over the dining area:

Although the globe looks yellow in the photo, it doesn't actually appear that way. It has low-energy CFL bulbs, like the other fixtures.



The bathroom ceiling fixture, ventilation fan, and sconce are all functional now.




Only thing is, I will have to pick up some more light bulbs, since I didn't buy enough at Super Wally World a couple nights ago, and that's why the sconce has only one bulb at the moment. By the way, this sconce was a real bargain, just $19.91 at Sam's!!


The plumber will be here Monday.

Bathroom tile is finished, and we (almost) have a countertop!

Every day, the work goes on, and there is a bit more progress. On Wednesday, Carlos installed one final layer of Durock in the kitchen, finishing up the underlayment for the tile countertop:




He also finished grouting the bathroom walls and floor, so we now have a bathroom once again, minus the plumbing fixtures and lighting, but it's still an amazing and welcome sight! It's a great feeling to see it exactly as I had imagined it would look.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, he has started working on the tile countertop:


Much of the countertop surface is already tiled. The backsplash will be done next, and all will be grouted:




The tile backsplash behind the range is coming along nicely. Another double row of 1" mosaics with a row of 4x4 blue squares to top it off, and it will be complete! The bottom edge of the range hood will rest just above the top edge of the tiles. We are really happy with the blue-diamonds-on-a-white-field design, and with Carlos's careful installation.



We will be sanding and varnishing the bathroom ceiling, and priming (and possibly painting) the bathroom this weekend, after which the rest of the electrical work (outlets and light fixtures in both rooms, and bathroom vent fan) can be completed. Next week: the kitchen floor tile.

Inauguration Day, a new kitchen sink, and the bathroom tile is nearly complete!

On this Inauguration Day, hope and positivity prevail! What an exciting time for our nation!
On the home front, the remodel is going smoothly, and the pace seems to have picked up, maybe because the structural work is now done, and the decorative, creative part- the best part- is the main focus now.
Andrew and I spent some time at The Cottage last weekend, cleaning up and putting one more coat of Friendly Yellow on the kitchen walls before the countertops were installed.

We decided to make an upgrade to one of our new cabinets. One of the lower cabinets contains pull-out shelves. When we ordered our cabinets, we went with the basic stock shelves, which have flexible white plastic rails around the edges, to keep objects from falling off. Andrew gets the credit for noticing that our current shelves just are not right, and look flimsy alongside the sturdy chrome rails on the shelves of the pull-out pantry. We have opted to replace the current shelves with box-like shelves that resemble shallow drawers. The new shelves will require upgraded ball-bearing slides. Making both changes will add just under $200 to the cost of the cabinet, but we think it will pay off in the long run. Luckily, our cabinetmaker will have the new shelves ready to install by Friday.

Upon careful inspection, we also realized that 3 of the new cabinet doors had minor dings to the wood finish. The affected doors have been taken back to the company's shop for sanding and refinishing. The doors will also be re-installed on Friday. We love the new cabinets, and have been very impressed by the cabinet company's efforts to make sure we are completely satisfied, right from the beginning. They have truly been a pleasure to deal with. (Shameless plug here for Town & Country Cabinets of High Springs, FL)!

Today, Carlos returned to grout the bathroom, and what a fine job he is doing!
Here are some photos of the grouted subway tiles:

Closeup of the glass pencil trim, which really has depth and sparkle now that it has been grouted:

And the junction of the grouted and not-yet-grouted walls:


And, in the kitchen, big news! The porcelain farmhouse sink has at long last been removed from its box and given a place of honor! The countertop construction has begun. The plywood and Durock underlayment is now in place, almost ready for tile to be set.
Here, Andrew stands beside the new countertop base around the kitchen sink, with the sink dry-fitted in its new home:


When we got to the Cottage this evening, it was immediately apparent to me that the sink had been installed backwards!
The guys evidently failed to notice the blue trademark stamped into the porcelain:

and had it facing the window, rather than the front. Andrew and I hoisted the sink off of its stand, gave it a 180-degree turn, and slipped it back into place. However, because this sink has an offset drain, the drain-hole that has been cut out of the wooden sink base will have to be corrected, but that should be a relatively easy fix. I blame the mixup on the fact that the installers are male and, as such, completely oblivious. (In their defense, Andrew also said that he didn't know the sink had a trademark until I pointed it out, so it must be a guy thing, and only confirms my suspicions).

The sink, correctly positioned:

and resting on its sturdy wooden base:


The bare wood sink base will be completely concealed behind wood trim and some fancy millwork when all is said and done. The space beneath the sink will be kept open (without cabinet doors), and a curtain will eventually cover the under-sink opening, to complete the country kitchen look.

Kitchen cabinets are here!

This is a very busy time of year at the hospital and, due to our high census and a last-minute emergency, I ended up working until 7 p.m. last night, but I stopped by The Cottage to have a look at the new kitchen cabinets. The room was completely dark, since the electrical installation is still a work in progress, meaning no light fixtures or switches yet! These photos were all taken using only the camera's flash. Suddenly, we have a kitchen again!
Here is a view of the cabinets where the sink and dishwasher will be installed:

We opted to have the interior of the cabinets finished the same as the exterior: red oak:

The cabinets have Shaker-style doors, with beadboard insets. The hardware is satin nickel. Our new light fixtures will match.

Some of the upper cabinets have seeded glass insets, which had not yet been installed in this photo:

Inside the lower cabinet closest to the kitchen door is...

...our new pull-out pantry:

No more cereal boxes on top of the fridge!
After the glass was installed, a view through the seeded glass:


Meanwhile, the bathroom floor tile was grouted yesterday. No photos yet, because the entire floor is covered by a protective layer of brown kraft paper while the grout sets. We chose gray grout, as opposed to white, for the bathroom floor, to keep a more traditional look, since I have learned from the very helpful customer service rep at Tilehaus, hexagonal tiles were historically set using gray mortar.
Our tile order has come in at last, after a few weeks' delay, so tomorrow the the bathroom wall tile will be installed. The kitchen floor will be tiled next week.