Day Forty-Four: A Completely Different Room
I've no idea why I get up in the morning. Things just get more complicated whenever I'm awake.
I stayed home a little later than usual today (until about 7:30, about 30 minutes beyond my normal departure time). My plan was to get a chance to talk to the guys, and I succeeded. I talked to John a bit about a few issues. I confirmed the location and height of the kneewall in the bathroom, but I noted that there still needed to be enough space for the strip heater. Because the guys didn't know the kneewall was still going in, they couldn't nail it to a board and had to use anchors through the drywall.
I needed to know how soon things would be ready for painting, and John estimated that the bathroom would be ready for painting by tomorrow evening.
John said that tiling would begin in the bathroom by next week, so we'll want to have the bathroom painted before then. And we don't have much time. I have lots of grants to read at night, and we aren't here over the weekend. We'll have to paint at night and probably stay a little late on Saturday just to get some painting in.
John confirmed that tiling would cover the entire floor and that the cabinets, toilet, etc., will rest upon the tiles. I asked, and he said that the same would be true for the kitchen and that it's better that way.
I asked John if they could re-create the wall they tore down in the basement on the first day. They thought the wall was hollow, but there was a solid cement or stone weight-bearing wall behind it, so things will look better if the old paneling goes back up. John said they could do it.
He said that the rest of the windows would be going in today.
I asked John if he could leave enough wallboard behind so that I can finish Tim's closet after Chris puts in a light. (I also decided that I need to talk to George to see if Chris the electrician can put an outlet right by Tim's desk, so we can eliminate the trailing wires in his room.)
I also told John that we'd be away for most of next week.
And then my day began. As soon as I made it to work, I called our heating contractor and asked to talk to Dave about our boiler issue. I really needed this information before I called George today. The woman said that Dave would call me back at my cell phone, but I never heard from him today. So I never called George.
Also, I still haven't heard from Dan the floor guy, so we might have to talk to some other flooring vendor about flooring for the basement. Maybe I'll just put that off for a few years.
Then Nancy called me. She works 0.7 miles from home, so she drove home to see the kitchen with the new window in place. She said it was beautiful and that the kitchen looks like a whole new room. She also said that the guys were preparing to put the cabinets in the kitchen today because the guys who would be templating for the counters would be coming in a week from Friday. This means that the floor won't be in place before the cabinets are in, which doesn't sound like a good idea. And this means that we won't even have time to prime the walls of the kitchen. Strangely, the bathroom was supposed to be the priority project, so I've no idea why we would move to the kitchen now. Maybe this is because I told George yesterday that he won't make his self-imposed deadline of April 26th (a month from when he told Nancy the project would be done in about a month).
So I called Dave for details. First, he told me that the kitchen looks like a new room. Then he told me what Nancy told me. He said he'd be calling Dan the flooring guy to figure out what was happening. When Dave called me back, he told me that Dan wasn't sure the flooring would be available in time. (What happened to the story that all the flooring material was "readily available"?) The flooring might be in on Monday, or might not be here until a week from Monday. So maybe this is the reason for the new plan with the kitchen. Who knows? All I know is that I need to talk to George early tomorrow morning. I can't wait until he calls me back in the afternoon. Things are changing too quickly.
Nancy called me about four times about this issue today, and still we have no resolution and no real idea what's going on or why. This isn't fun.
The New Kitchen, Filled with Light
But at least we have another beautiful window in the kitchen now, and the kitchen is a bowl of light with these three windows. We will also be much more on display than in the past. There are three times as many windows, and each window goes stretches lower and longer than the single window we used to have.
A Kitchen Window Well Catching the Sunset
The guys are also working hard at finishing off the windows. I missed this at first, but there's a lot of wallboarding, taping, and "plastering" going on around these windows.
The Back of the House with the New Kitchen Window
From the backyard, the new window looks great, even though the back of the house is quite unfinished, even though the old siding is torn and broken all over the place. This view should be even better when the back window to the bathroom is in.
The Back Kitchen Window With the Old Electrical Service Wire Clearly in Evidence
When I go in close to the window, it is even more obvious that the huge wire on the back of the house is still there, going straight across the window.
At the Corner of the New Window, a Few of the Layers of the House
Look at the multiple and colorful layers of the house visible around our new back window.
The Taping of the Second-Floor-Hallway Wall in the Near-Twilight
This wall was an existing wall. They guys didn't create it. But the hammering and pounding has cause nails to pop (except it's just drywall screws causing dimples). So Dave and John (and probably mostly John) have been pounding the nails back in, taping, and plastering.
The Kneewall (Pretty Much a Waistwall) in the Bathroom
Okay, the kneewall is in, and it's causing me claustrophobia. It's too high by six inches or so and it's too close to the toilet, it makes it difficult to get to the toilet, and I don't think I'll like it. Nancy says I'm crazy.
The New Bathroom Window and a View to the Outside
A new window actually went in the bathroom today. The existing window on the alley was replaced. It is great to be able to see out the window now.
honi soit qui mal y pense
I stayed home a little later than usual today (until about 7:30, about 30 minutes beyond my normal departure time). My plan was to get a chance to talk to the guys, and I succeeded. I talked to John a bit about a few issues. I confirmed the location and height of the kneewall in the bathroom, but I noted that there still needed to be enough space for the strip heater. Because the guys didn't know the kneewall was still going in, they couldn't nail it to a board and had to use anchors through the drywall.
I needed to know how soon things would be ready for painting, and John estimated that the bathroom would be ready for painting by tomorrow evening.
John said that tiling would begin in the bathroom by next week, so we'll want to have the bathroom painted before then. And we don't have much time. I have lots of grants to read at night, and we aren't here over the weekend. We'll have to paint at night and probably stay a little late on Saturday just to get some painting in.
John confirmed that tiling would cover the entire floor and that the cabinets, toilet, etc., will rest upon the tiles. I asked, and he said that the same would be true for the kitchen and that it's better that way.
I asked John if they could re-create the wall they tore down in the basement on the first day. They thought the wall was hollow, but there was a solid cement or stone weight-bearing wall behind it, so things will look better if the old paneling goes back up. John said they could do it.
He said that the rest of the windows would be going in today.
I asked John if he could leave enough wallboard behind so that I can finish Tim's closet after Chris puts in a light. (I also decided that I need to talk to George to see if Chris the electrician can put an outlet right by Tim's desk, so we can eliminate the trailing wires in his room.)
I also told John that we'd be away for most of next week.
And then my day began. As soon as I made it to work, I called our heating contractor and asked to talk to Dave about our boiler issue. I really needed this information before I called George today. The woman said that Dave would call me back at my cell phone, but I never heard from him today. So I never called George.
Also, I still haven't heard from Dan the floor guy, so we might have to talk to some other flooring vendor about flooring for the basement. Maybe I'll just put that off for a few years.
Then Nancy called me. She works 0.7 miles from home, so she drove home to see the kitchen with the new window in place. She said it was beautiful and that the kitchen looks like a whole new room. She also said that the guys were preparing to put the cabinets in the kitchen today because the guys who would be templating for the counters would be coming in a week from Friday. This means that the floor won't be in place before the cabinets are in, which doesn't sound like a good idea. And this means that we won't even have time to prime the walls of the kitchen. Strangely, the bathroom was supposed to be the priority project, so I've no idea why we would move to the kitchen now. Maybe this is because I told George yesterday that he won't make his self-imposed deadline of April 26th (a month from when he told Nancy the project would be done in about a month).
So I called Dave for details. First, he told me that the kitchen looks like a new room. Then he told me what Nancy told me. He said he'd be calling Dan the flooring guy to figure out what was happening. When Dave called me back, he told me that Dan wasn't sure the flooring would be available in time. (What happened to the story that all the flooring material was "readily available"?) The flooring might be in on Monday, or might not be here until a week from Monday. So maybe this is the reason for the new plan with the kitchen. Who knows? All I know is that I need to talk to George early tomorrow morning. I can't wait until he calls me back in the afternoon. Things are changing too quickly.
Nancy called me about four times about this issue today, and still we have no resolution and no real idea what's going on or why. This isn't fun.
The New Kitchen, Filled with Light
But at least we have another beautiful window in the kitchen now, and the kitchen is a bowl of light with these three windows. We will also be much more on display than in the past. There are three times as many windows, and each window goes stretches lower and longer than the single window we used to have.
A Kitchen Window Well Catching the Sunset
The guys are also working hard at finishing off the windows. I missed this at first, but there's a lot of wallboarding, taping, and "plastering" going on around these windows.
The Back of the House with the New Kitchen Window
From the backyard, the new window looks great, even though the back of the house is quite unfinished, even though the old siding is torn and broken all over the place. This view should be even better when the back window to the bathroom is in.
The Back Kitchen Window With the Old Electrical Service Wire Clearly in Evidence
When I go in close to the window, it is even more obvious that the huge wire on the back of the house is still there, going straight across the window.
At the Corner of the New Window, a Few of the Layers of the House
Look at the multiple and colorful layers of the house visible around our new back window.
The Taping of the Second-Floor-Hallway Wall in the Near-Twilight
This wall was an existing wall. They guys didn't create it. But the hammering and pounding has cause nails to pop (except it's just drywall screws causing dimples). So Dave and John (and probably mostly John) have been pounding the nails back in, taping, and plastering.
The Kneewall (Pretty Much a Waistwall) in the Bathroom
Okay, the kneewall is in, and it's causing me claustrophobia. It's too high by six inches or so and it's too close to the toilet, it makes it difficult to get to the toilet, and I don't think I'll like it. Nancy says I'm crazy.
The New Bathroom Window and a View to the Outside
A new window actually went in the bathroom today. The existing window on the alley was replaced. It is great to be able to see out the window now.
honi soit qui mal y pense
posted by Geofhuth at 9:38 PM
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