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.

Almost finished!

More progress in the kitchen: the tile countertop and backsplash are now complete, and the range hood was installed today.

The bathroom's console sink has now been installed. The legs need a little adjustment and caulk to anchor them in place, but it's otherwise as it should be. This faucet is not the one we ultimately plan to install. That faucet is still on order. Since the plumber was coming, and we figured any faucet's better than no faucet, we picked up this porcelain and chrome American Standard at Home Depot on clearance for a mere $27. Now that is has been installed, we kinda like it. Maybe we'll send the other one back.




Dixie checking out her new auxiliary water dish.

We have a tub (and a toilet, too)!

Yes, at long last, the tub has been installed! The toilet, too. The sink is on the floor, ready to be mounted on the wall atop its pretty legs. Hopefully, all plumbing will be finished tomorrow. I think there needs to be some sort of inspection by the Building Inspector before it's all kosher, but....we have a tub, and a toilet!

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.

A peek at the bathroom floor, and the subway tile is up!

Carlos has now installed and grouted the bathroom floor tile (using pale gray grout- very nice!), and installed the bathroom wall tile. He will be coming back to grout the bathroom walls next week.
Installation of this small section of hex tile near the door threshold was delayed a couple of days while I quickly ordered additional tile from Tilehaus. Yes, I under-ordered.
After the floor was installed and grouted, and before the wall tiles were installed, the bathroom looked like this, to protect the new grout:

I had to take a peek at the floor when it was partly uncovered while Carlos finished tiling near the door:


Luckily, with a quick phone call I was able to order the extra tile, and it was shipped out the same day. It's still a mystery why there wasn't enough tile, since the bathroom is 8.5' x 6' (= 51 sq. ft.), and I ordered 62 square feet of tile (which included more than the standard 10% overage allowance). Does the 10% rule only apply to square tile? .....I'll have to think about that one......

Despite the minor delay, the installation otherwise went smoothly, and the new bathroom floor looks great, although it's mostly still covered by paper until the walls are grouted. Below are some photos of the bathroom with the wall tile installed, but not yet grouted.

We're very happy with the bathroom's new look, especially the glass pencil trim accent tiles!