Painfully close

As you can see, things have been moving ahead quite rapidly, but each new item seemingly means consulting with yet another subcontractor, which takes a lot of time. A lack of blogging time has been the biggest side-effect, although I haven't gotten to work before 9am any day this week, either. (Thankfully, my boss is very understanding...)

We also had our hands full -- thankfully, not in the literal sense -- with not one but two major sewer issues. Monday morning, I noticed a stench on the back deck, then realized that I could hear running water. Turns out that one of the main sewer lines had broken, right under the landing off the lower back door. Thankfully, we called Bryan, who called Pat the plumber, and the crew had us all patched up by the time we came home from work.



On Wednesday, I flushed the toilet just as I got in the shower, and heard the shower drain make a disconcerting "glug-glug-whoosh!" sound. I poked my head out and asked Cam to check the back yard, just to make sure that I was imagining things. Alas, no such luck: Now, the same line was plugged, and water was seeping out of the clean-out valve. (Needless to say, I am really looking forward to a leisurely shower one of these days.) Pat's crew -- who were already on site to install the bathroom fixtures -- snaked the line and replaced yet another huge piece of the antiquated sewer pipe. So far, so good.



The huge news is that yesterday Garrett finished up the electrical, and Bryan installed the rest of the appliances and pulled up the paper covering the floors. There are many, many little things left to be done, but as of last night, we -could have- cooked in the new kitchen... as long as we didn't need a dishwasher or a garbage disposal, I suppose.



Last night after dinner, we stood around in the kitchen in a bit of a daze for 40 minutes, at least, hardly able to believe that it's real.

Click here to see a Flickr set of how things look today.

This morning, the wood-floor crew showed up bright and early to sand the floors and lay down the last coat of varnish. Bryan and Noel had told us yesterday that they would be doing a number of small projects at the house today, but I'm not sure how they'll be able to do that with wet floors. No rush, obviously, as Cameron leaves for NYC on Sunday morning, and I follow on Tuesday... we won't be able to move in until Monday the 19th, at the soonest. Realistically, that probably means we can come upstairs during the week and unpack the kitchen gear the following weekend (3/24-25). With any luck, we should be all set for Mom's visit, April 4-7.

Some of the things we're waiting on won't prevent us from using the kitchen, but I suspect we'll be chasing punch-list items into April. The big hangup is that we're having all of the kitchen cabinet doors remade, due to some pretty serious issues with the finish. That, of course, holds up the installation of the door knobs and drawer pulls -- expect a lot of broken fingernails and swearing, if you come for dinner in the first few weeks.

Here's my running list of what's left to be done:

Today:
- Final varnish coat on the wood floors

Today, we hope, or Monday:
- replace breakfast room bench 2x4 support and remove mold on underside of bench top
- glass in the transoms
- hook up dishwasher
- install towel bar and other BA hardware (TP holder, cabinet knobs, etc)
- fix BA-BR door: remove ugly latch, fill old knob hole, install vintage knob
- caulk the BA sink
- straighten BA sink levers
- remove hall door to LR and patch hinge-mortices and latch-holes

Next week:
- finish and prime bench interior; install hinges
- fix pocket-door track issues
- fix drywall dings and touch up paint (Monday)
- install pocket-door hardware
- put lenses on all light fixtures
- final electrical inspection (Monday)
- install shower doors/glass (Thursday 3/15)
- re-affix countertop to drawer tops (Mark returns 3/15?)
- new backsplash... slate now, not tile (Mark returns 3/15?)
- post-construction cleaning crew (Thursday?)
- replace cabinet doors (Jim ??)
- kitchen door knobs & drawer pulls (ASAP after new doors come)

Pending missing pieces:
- paint and install medicine cabinet
- paint and install BA heater vent cover

Post inspection:
- paint the back of the house (Sean L.)
- repaint the BA trim/doors to match cabinets (Sean L.)
- build new back step to upper deck (Bryan)
- install non-code lights and switches (Garrett)
- remove diswasher air gap and install soap dispenser (Bryan)
- figure out breakfast room table and chairs
- get a pad for the breakfast room bench
- window treatments