Carpet, Granite & Appliance Installations

Continued on Friday, April 26th, from the previous post--we also got to check out the carpet installation!!

Can you tell I'm excited??

Master bedroom:

2nd Bedroom:

Hallway:

Gabe worked the rest of that day getting started on installing the upstairs bathroom vanity and toilet.  Apparently it was a little difficult to level them on the slightly uneven slate tile.  The next day, he was able to make more progress:

51" double vanity

Yay, progress on the toilet installation!

Dad and I took a trip to the nursery to pick out some large plants/trees while we had Gabe's truck.  We got some shrubs, a "false cypress" tree, arbor vitae trees, a dogwood, and some juniper trees to create privacy between the next door neighbors.

Arbor Vitae & "False Cypress"

 I had selected an antiqued (honed) granite in a dark gray color from Marble Systems in Fairfax:

Shown with a sample of the backsplash

Our granite fabricator stopped by that afternoon to measure the space.  He mentioned that the connections for the refrigerator and the dishwasher needed to be set before he could install the granite next weekend.  So Gabe and Dad worked at the end of the day to prepare the drains, etc.

Next weekend on Friday, was the 3rd of May, and once again, we had a full driveway full of cars.  First, when we got there, Gabe scurried to get the connections finalized for the kitchen appliances before the granite fabricators got there.  Then, Gabe's cousin Andrew arrived; he would stay overnight and leave in the morning on his way home to SC.  Rene, one of our subcontractors was there working on some of the landscaping.  He planted the trees on the road side of the house:

And then, drum roll please.....

Granite arrived!!!!!!

New farmhouse sink (from Ikea!):

Upstairs double vanity:

The next day, Andrew stayed long enough to set in place the refrigerator, stove and dishwasher.

Here you have it-- the most narrow french door refrigerator on the market:

Here is a fun video of the frig installation:

And then the range/oven:

After Andrew left, Mom & I left to go pick-up some more landscaping materials.  Gabe stayed behind and helped Dad replace the old water tank that was leaking so that he could finalize the installation of the toilet.  By the time we came back, we had a fully-flushable toilet!!  I'd call that progress after a couple weeks of no porta-potty...

Amazing, Dad on a ladder, at will:

Mom and I picked up some plants to line the front of the house, in front of the lattice.

They will be planted after we get the weed barrier laid.

Next Friday, Gabe was the installing the water shut-offs for the vanity sinks.  He also started working to prepare the shower for tile installation.  He realized one of the shower valves, that were installed early on during rough-in, was broken.  That will have to be found and replaced, sheesh.

In the morning, Gabe continued working to prep the shower upstairs.  He secured the cement board with more screws, mixed up Thinset, patched seams and screw holes.  I brought them lunch, and saw that Mom had been working to clean up the downstairs in preparation for the painters that would be coming next week to paint the downstairs, yippee!  Dad had sealed the stair treads that he bought last week in our beautiful heart pine:

Looks gorgeous, no??  They need a few more clear coats before they are installed, but are almost there!

Here are the slats for the platform:

They removed the old construction treads made out of particle board, and reinforced each step with blocking, that took quite a while, but will reduce (if not completely eliminate) the possibility of squeaking--

All done!

Meanwhile, I was back in saddle!!

Mom and I tackled the fireplace stack-stone, making sure it was all clean before we put the sealer on.

You can see just a little baby bump too!

We finished with the table saw and it's just taking up space so, they packed it up in Gabe's truck:

This is probably the only time I will see the truck driving in the back yard:

look how tall the grass is!

Gabe spent some time waterproofing the shower stall so that we could begin tile installation asap.

HOT PINK!!  :D

On our way out to the house yesterday, we picked up some more lattice to finish under the porch:

More landscaping materials:

And last week, Dad had someone come out, gravel the driveway and used the bob-cat to tear out poison ivy from the side yard.

And that's a wrap!!  Now we are current. :)

Exterior Work and Interior Painting!

So much has happened since I last wrote.  I have emerged from the first trimester of pregnancy, and have more energy to start helping at the house again.  There was a while where I was so tired and didn't have much to offer in the way of physical labor input.  I have finished my school semester a couple of days ago, so my focus has turned to packing and preparing the house for us to move.  The last I wrote, we had just embarked on a small vaycay to Myrtle Beach for a few days with a stop to Greenville, SC for a cousin's wedding on the way home.  We got to see many of Gabe's side of the family, which was a treat--including some special bonding time with two other pregnant gals-my sister-in-law and cousin.

So, that puts us back a month to the second week of April, when it started getting warmer outside and could begin some of the outdoor projects that had been held off for so long!

One of our contractors worked on finishing up the exterior window and door trim:

Notice that the only trim that still needed to be done were the windows enclosed in existing stucco siding.  The other windows were trimmed last summer when we had the lapp siding put up.

Don't worry, the existing stucco stains will all be painted over soon!!

Here is the back patio door trimmed out:

Front door trimmed out

The next weekend, I was gone on an all day field trip to New Jersey on Friday, so I couldn't be there while Gabe worked on paining prep for the upstairs.  We had planned for some friends to come out on Saturday to paint the walls of the upstairs rooms before the carpet would be laid.  Gabe worked to do a final patch, sand and wipe down job before our friends would come the next day.  I think he managed to go over the walls three times--so the walls were very ready for paint!

We had 4 friends come out: David & Angela:

Joseph:

And John, who had been around to help a couple times before:

I didn't stick around while they were painting just taking precautions not to be exposed to any toxic fumes while pregnant.  Even though the paint is low-VOC (volatile organic compounds), I still wanted to be careful.

But before I left, I did take a few pictures of some of the other progress that had been made while we were gone:

The fireplace tile installation was finished:

Dad had worked on the stairwell rail balusters:

Trim was finished downstairs:

Outside, Rene, our subcontractor, had started in on patching the holes in the stucco, something that had to be done before we could re-paint the stucco sections:

Looking at where the stucco meets the stone foundation on the road side of the house, we saw that it needed a little bit of patching before we could add the trim.  Rene added some concrete behind the trim so it would remain varmint-proof:

Next Saturday, we got to see the gutters that had been installed during the week:

The electricians had installed the exterior light fixtures:

 Lots a-happenin'!!  We had a parking lot full of cars today with a couple of different contractors at the house.  The painters were upstairs painting the trim and doors:

Gabe and Dad worked to finalize the soffit above the cabinets since there were a few gaps that needed addressing:

Right side

Left side

I have been doing some sewing lately, so I left to do that.  Before I left, I got a shot of the lattice work under the porch getting started:

The next weekend, we got to see some MAJOR changes that had taken place.

Remember this??

Now this:

Exterior stucco has been painted!!!!!!!!!  I've been waiting for this for a long time.

Unpainted last fall:

December 8th, 2012

November 24th, 2012

And now:

Before:

October 10th, 2012

And now:

Woo hoo!!!  Consider me excited.  :D