Incredibly enough the house is ready for us to move in. It's not complete, but the major work inside & outside is done enough for us to live in relative peace. We even have cleaners coming in tomorrow to clean the bathrooms, vacuum and dust.
Even with the tight schedule and me being away almost the entire week at my new VMware job, we managed to get the house ready for people. The floors were finished, the counter was installed, the deck and steps were laid in, and most of the siding is up. A lot of the lights even got done which is great, and some of the kitchen appliances even work like the GFCI's and the fridge, so we can make food, eat it, and store it!
Tomorrow we will move our belongings in from Eugenia's apartment in San Francisco. I'm also hoping to install the china cabinet so we have kitchen storage space.
I'm feeling quite a bit relieved, especially since we had a few little hiccups this week. The ipe wood is proving hard to work with due to its hardness. I'm hoping though that means it will last a long time.
We also had to do some creative counter work. Apparently Kenichi & I didn't make the cabinets perfectly level but there's only maybe a 1/8" gap at the worst, so there was a little shimming they had to do. We also found the wall was a major problem. because of the curve of the wall, especially where the big glue-lam beam is, the counter guys had to cut the granite backsplash in 2 places so the backsplash would stay relatively flush against the wall. If they had kept the 2 long pieces, there would have been a 1" gap at one end between the backsplash & the wall!
The kitchen dimensions are just right for the appliances. Kenichi and I were able to squeeze in the wine fridge and it fit snugly. The dishwasher looks like it'll just fit in and I'm really hoping there's no problems with the stove! I am a little worried since the counter edge around the stove sticks out about 1/8" and I thought the space was already a bit tight...
Friday, April 25, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
final cabinetry work
This week was tough but exciting. We finished the cabinets tonight, and we celebrated with another Ramen Club dinner. We did:
The house now looks almost like a proper home! With the floors basically in place throughout the house and the cabinets, it's really starting to look like the home we envisioned!
The next few days are critical again. Terry & Cody will be in to do a finish sanding coat, and then apply the stain and finish coats of oil sealer. Then hopefully the counters will be ready and installed by next Friday. I'm also hoping Eric will get in for a few days of lighting and electrical install because we need them to live in the house! Next week Shaun, Jed, Mauricio and day guys need to finish the deck and siding so the house is presentable and we can walk in from the backyard.
- Install the floor and wall cabinets
- finish and sanding of all drawer faces and cabinet doors
- Install drawers, faces and alignment
- Install hinges and doors and aligned them
- installed the wine fridge and regular fridge
- The island was also installed with doors and drawers
- installed the border walls to cover up the cabinet sides, and the long back side facing the family room
- Kenichi even installed the remaining natural plyboo at the one stepdown to make it look consistent with the cabinet wall.
The house now looks almost like a proper home! With the floors basically in place throughout the house and the cabinets, it's really starting to look like the home we envisioned!
The next few days are critical again. Terry & Cody will be in to do a finish sanding coat, and then apply the stain and finish coats of oil sealer. Then hopefully the counters will be ready and installed by next Friday. I'm also hoping Eric will get in for a few days of lighting and electrical install because we need them to live in the house! Next week Shaun, Jed, Mauricio and day guys need to finish the deck and siding so the house is presentable and we can walk in from the backyard.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
cabinets day 1 and 2
Wow! what a difference a day makes! Yesterday we had cabinetry sitting around the rooms and appliances in the garage. Today the house is really starting to take on it's character.
The cabinets are awesome. Ken came in Monday night. I saw the cabinets as we unloaded yesterday and they are beautiful black and natural bamboo colors. The drawers look great with the plywood and bamboo lines and the cutouts for the handles instead of hardware. Can't wait to finish the cabinets this week.
Yesterday, we also measured out the space and the leveling. We found there's quite a bit of a discrepancy along the floor - nearly 1 1/2" from 1 end of the kitchen to the dining room! The wall is slightly off-plumb but it's not too bad, we can work with it.
We started the cabinets with the corner floor piece. From there, everything else has to flow correctly so it's critical we got the corner in correctly. The corner took some time and then we made sure to measure the stove gap correctly.
We also had to cut down most of the pony wall that Bob's crew put in place. Originally they had the pony wall spanning the entire length of the floor cabinets that bordered the kitchen & family room. We really just needed a short wall for the back of the stove, where the electrical would come up and also where the gas for the stove will be. So I cut that down and re-sized it to fit the stove only. We butted the cabinets squarely up against the wall and did a little shimming and sawing to get a fairly level surface for the countertop. We'll see how good a job we did in a few days...
We are working pretty hard to make sure we get the floor cabinets all in by today. Reason being is Marble City is coming tomorrow morning to make a template of the counter, and we are hoping to approve the template and granite layout on Friday. So to meet that schedule, we are working a little backwards. We are installing the wall cabinets AFTER the floor cabinets. Normally this would be done in reverse, since the wall cabinets are easier to install without navigating around the floor cabinets. But there's not too many so it should be OK.
The cabinets are awesome. Ken came in Monday night. I saw the cabinets as we unloaded yesterday and they are beautiful black and natural bamboo colors. The drawers look great with the plywood and bamboo lines and the cutouts for the handles instead of hardware. Can't wait to finish the cabinets this week.
Yesterday, we also measured out the space and the leveling. We found there's quite a bit of a discrepancy along the floor - nearly 1 1/2" from 1 end of the kitchen to the dining room! The wall is slightly off-plumb but it's not too bad, we can work with it.
We started the cabinets with the corner floor piece. From there, everything else has to flow correctly so it's critical we got the corner in correctly. The corner took some time and then we made sure to measure the stove gap correctly.
We also had to cut down most of the pony wall that Bob's crew put in place. Originally they had the pony wall spanning the entire length of the floor cabinets that bordered the kitchen & family room. We really just needed a short wall for the back of the stove, where the electrical would come up and also where the gas for the stove will be. So I cut that down and re-sized it to fit the stove only. We butted the cabinets squarely up against the wall and did a little shimming and sawing to get a fairly level surface for the countertop. We'll see how good a job we did in a few days...
We are working pretty hard to make sure we get the floor cabinets all in by today. Reason being is Marble City is coming tomorrow morning to make a template of the counter, and we are hoping to approve the template and granite layout on Friday. So to meet that schedule, we are working a little backwards. We are installing the wall cabinets AFTER the floor cabinets. Normally this would be done in reverse, since the wall cabinets are easier to install without navigating around the floor cabinets. But there's not too many so it should be OK.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
paint and flooring progress
The last few days we did quite a bit of painting. The ceilings were done last week, and we put up the primer paint layer. It's a special primer for new drywall which basically seals the drywall. Pretty neat stuff since now we have a nice, impermeable surface to put the real colors on.
I feel fortunate - Julie liked my color suggestions. After a lot of back and forth this winter, we settled on Benjamin Moore for most of the finish paint, Lighthouse for the basic wall color and we chose Caliente for the accent wall, which basically is what the south interior wall of the house became.
I told the drywall guys & day laborers not to bother painting the entire wall. We'll put cabinets up so no reason to paint the whole thing. The colors have turned out quite nicely and add a lot of character to the house, reflecting the sunlight into the house quite nicely.
We're basically now ready for Kenichi's cabinets to go in, since the flooring is also laid in, but not entirely finished.
Cody and Terry came in and put in the rest of the hardwood flooring. We at least got the base floor in, and after the cabinets are done they'll come in to sand and refinish the floors. It was really tough getting them in since they had some major personal family stuff going on, which is totally understandable, but boy was I getting nervous!
I'm also now really trying to manage the schedule tightly as I know I'm starting with VMware in a week's time, and we really want to move in 2 weekends from now - April 26 and 27! So much left to do inside the house to get it ready for us to live in. It's critical now that we get the major work done so that we don't have to create lots of noise and especially dust when the baby is living in the house.
I feel fortunate - Julie liked my color suggestions. After a lot of back and forth this winter, we settled on Benjamin Moore for most of the finish paint, Lighthouse for the basic wall color and we chose Caliente for the accent wall, which basically is what the south interior wall of the house became.
I told the drywall guys & day laborers not to bother painting the entire wall. We'll put cabinets up so no reason to paint the whole thing. The colors have turned out quite nicely and add a lot of character to the house, reflecting the sunlight into the house quite nicely.
We're basically now ready for Kenichi's cabinets to go in, since the flooring is also laid in, but not entirely finished.
Cody and Terry came in and put in the rest of the hardwood flooring. We at least got the base floor in, and after the cabinets are done they'll come in to sand and refinish the floors. It was really tough getting them in since they had some major personal family stuff going on, which is totally understandable, but boy was I getting nervous!
I'm also now really trying to manage the schedule tightly as I know I'm starting with VMware in a week's time, and we really want to move in 2 weekends from now - April 26 and 27! So much left to do inside the house to get it ready for us to live in. It's critical now that we get the major work done so that we don't have to create lots of noise and especially dust when the baby is living in the house.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
deck solution and progress!
Ah, so while we didn't get the flooring going this week, we started putting up some siding and painting the ceiling. House is starting to look like a real home. We cleaned up the floor and vacuumed a bit as well - my wet-vac showed up and it's way better for cleaning the drywall crud and dust.
We figured out a solution for the deck. I also talked with Dominic Chu, the structural engineer, about what to do. We'll use 2x8's for the framing, and it's OK to cut some of the hold-downs in the concrete pads, as long as we leave 4 screw holes on each side of the 4x4 posts. Actually, since we measured and leveled all 4 pads, it's only the pad closest to the driveway that needs to be cut off a lot -the rest just need 1/2" to 1" max. This will allow us to use the 4x8 beam as a foundation beam across the pads and rest the 2x8 joists on top of it.
We will also change the steps slightly, so that the concrete pad will now be the first step. This will keep the wood off the dirt which is great, plus we're doing the standard 7 to 8 inch rise so we only need 3 steps!
We figured out a solution for the deck. I also talked with Dominic Chu, the structural engineer, about what to do. We'll use 2x8's for the framing, and it's OK to cut some of the hold-downs in the concrete pads, as long as we leave 4 screw holes on each side of the 4x4 posts. Actually, since we measured and leveled all 4 pads, it's only the pad closest to the driveway that needs to be cut off a lot -the rest just need 1/2" to 1" max. This will allow us to use the 4x8 beam as a foundation beam across the pads and rest the 2x8 joists on top of it.
We will also change the steps slightly, so that the concrete pad will now be the first step. This will keep the wood off the dirt which is great, plus we're doing the standard 7 to 8 inch rise so we only need 3 steps!
Monday, April 7, 2008
new schedule hiccups
ok... more schedule changes - what else is new? looks like now we won't have Kenichi install the cabinets until next week. Fortunately that should be OK. he's been pretty backed up with having to go to Japan last month and also getting the flu. we'll still be able to have the granite counter template made and approved before we move in, which means that if timing is good, we'll have the counter installed our first week of living in the house.
Not too bad, i think.
We should still be able to complete the bathroom and painting on time. I also believe we'll get the electrical and plumbing done in time. Plus we should also have the deck installed by this time so we can get into the house! At least from the backyard, or what will be the backyard.
The tricky thing now, for me at least, is getting the flooring done at the right time. As I'm writing, supposedly the hardwood floors were sanded and the bamboo floors (master BR, family and study) were installed.
However, the staining & sealing of the hardwood floors will still take about 2 days to complete. TJC flooring told me they really would like the HVAC in place so they can run the heat all day & night when they stain the floor. This ensures the newly-wet wood won't buckle due to the temperature fluctuations. So we can't do it right now. I may be able to jury-rig the HVAC with electrical so that at least we can do the floors later this week.
But I think that even if we got the floors done after the cabinets, we can still get the interior of the house 95% done in time for when Julie and I move in. Keep praying for good timing!
Not too bad, i think.
We should still be able to complete the bathroom and painting on time. I also believe we'll get the electrical and plumbing done in time. Plus we should also have the deck installed by this time so we can get into the house! At least from the backyard, or what will be the backyard.
The tricky thing now, for me at least, is getting the flooring done at the right time. As I'm writing, supposedly the hardwood floors were sanded and the bamboo floors (master BR, family and study) were installed.
However, the staining & sealing of the hardwood floors will still take about 2 days to complete. TJC flooring told me they really would like the HVAC in place so they can run the heat all day & night when they stain the floor. This ensures the newly-wet wood won't buckle due to the temperature fluctuations. So we can't do it right now. I may be able to jury-rig the HVAC with electrical so that at least we can do the floors later this week.
But I think that even if we got the floors done after the cabinets, we can still get the interior of the house 95% done in time for when Julie and I move in. Keep praying for good timing!
Friday, April 4, 2008
drywall taping and mudding
we are now full-on into the mud and topping work. we've got joint compounds on all the joints and screws.
BTW, forgot to mention that we smartly bought a HILTI drywall gun so that the screws went in perfectly, plus i also bought several drywall drivers for the power drills. this ensured we didn't break any of the drywall when drilling it to the walls.
Jed and Shaun are making sure we're doing 2 coats of topping. i didn't know if this would be overkill, but it's turning out nicely. it is really helpful as it's smoothed out the walls quite a bit. we've actually not had to do much sanding as a result.
the other benefit is that i am getting a really good idea of how the natural light works in the house. we are getting a lot of light thru the skylight and the front windows & door, and even the kitchen garden window!
looks like we'll get to putting primer on Saturday. the guys want to get it up before the floor guys start sanding.
BTW, forgot to mention that we smartly bought a HILTI drywall gun so that the screws went in perfectly, plus i also bought several drywall drivers for the power drills. this ensured we didn't break any of the drywall when drilling it to the walls.
Jed and Shaun are making sure we're doing 2 coats of topping. i didn't know if this would be overkill, but it's turning out nicely. it is really helpful as it's smoothed out the walls quite a bit. we've actually not had to do much sanding as a result.
the other benefit is that i am getting a really good idea of how the natural light works in the house. we are getting a lot of light thru the skylight and the front windows & door, and even the kitchen garden window!
looks like we'll get to putting primer on Saturday. the guys want to get it up before the floor guys start sanding.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)