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February 12, 2007

Pardon our slacking in our blog updates over the last few months. We’ve actually been busy living in our house, rather than working on it. We’ve added some new pictures to see the finished product – decore and all.

We managed to get the majority of the work done before Deb’s Father’s surprise 60th birthday party on Nov 25th. Since we unpacked the kitchen (our last blog entry), we assembled all the dining room chairs and the breakfast bar stools after they were delivered.

A friend of one of our neighbours is a carpenter and he custom-made and installed the banister in 2.5 days. He did a fantastic job! Andrew then went to work to throw on a few coats of paint. We still need to decide on a runner for the staircase.

We added a splash of colour to one of our bedroom walls and Deb also painted her office. We got tired of the white walls in the spare bedroom and 2nd floor hallway so we painted them French White to match the 1st floor wall colour.

After a few other finishing touches around the house, we will then start the daunting task of finishing the basement. We hope to have it ready to rent starting in the summer.

November 6-10, 2006
James finishes up the kitchen plumbing and installs the sink, faucet and dishwasher. We now have running water in the kitchen, yipee! He also takes a look at the stove and fixes the gas connection.

We start to unpack all the kitchen boxes. We need to wash everything since it has been sitting in boxes in the basement for months (thank goodness for the dishwasher).













As we are unpacking everything, we realize how much 'stuff' we have and start to purge the unecessary items. After a little juggling of locations, everything has found it's designated spot and we are ready to start cooking.

Marty glues the cap and will install it early next week once everything is dry and bonded.

We find navy blue sheers to incorporate some colour into the small bathroom, and a mat to keep our feeties warm.

Our neighbours Carolyn and Stephen give us the name of a friend of theirs (Joseph) who does bannisters. He did their porch this summer, so we know his work is great. Joseph comes by to give us an estimate, and is able to start next week (lucky for us). He will install the bannister in a few days, which we will paint white to match the stairs.

November 1-2, 2006

David and Kyle finish up all the electrical work including installing the undercabinet lighting in the kitchen, and all the remaining switches, plugs and boxes.

David removes the dining room fixture to figure out why it's not working. He cannot find the source of the problem and suggests we return it to Royal Lighting. We return the light, and they exchange it for a functional one. We put it up and it works!

Andrew finishes up the kitchen cabinet handles and hooks up the gas for the stove. Despite a good seal, we are smelling gas. We will have an gas guy come by for a look.

Deb continues to silicon all the gaps in the baseboards and quarter round and then gives them a fresh coat of paint.

We install the hallway and above-stove light fixtures.

Our dining room table is delivered. It goes well with the house decor/design and fits well in it's allocated space.

October 28-29, 2006

We had a very productive weekend. We spent Saturday installing the baseboards and quarter round.

On Sunday morning the carpenter from New Canadian Lumber came by to install the counter. With help from Andrew, they installed it in a flash.

Andrew and Marty then jacked up the stairs on the main floor and they are now level. They then installed the granite breakfast bar. We now have all the counter surfaces installed and the kitchen looks great.

Marty then planes the two bathroom doors and takes measurements for the wood cap near the kitchen.

James will come by in the next few days to install the kitchen faucet, sink drain and the dishwasher. We will then be rollin' with a fully functional kitchen.

Andrew starts to install the kitchen cabinet handles on the drawer/doorfronts. We decide to have all the handles horizontal for a unified look.

Deb goes silicon crazy and caulks the window frames, and most of the baseboards and quarter round.

The front enclosed porch is also in the process of being painted. We are painting it in stages to enable traffic in and out of the front door.

October 26, 2006

We have started to cut the baseboards and have laid them into place. We will measure and cut everything before nailing them down.

We have installed all the casing around the windows and doors, and after filling the nail holes with wood filler, we are ready to paint.

Furniture shopping is already underway with our recent purchases of a couch, dining room table and chairs, and two stools for the breakfast bar.

Our counter top will be delivered tomorrow and will be installed on the weekend. We are about a week away from a functional kitchen!

October 18, 2006
We have installed most of the light fixtures except for the dining room and front entrance.

The sunroom is now finished. We love the colour scheme and are pleased with the results.

Despite not having tackled the baseboards and quarter-round, we are starting to add some decorative touches with curtains, etc.

We hope to get our counter top this week and have it installed on the weekend.

LIGHTING

October 4, 2006
We shop for light fixtures over the weekend and purchase everything except for the dining room and sunroom. We will decide on those in a few weeks.

We install the bathroom ceiling lights as it's a 2-person job. After a quick lesson from Andrew in light fixture installation, Deb starts to tackle some of the simpler light fixtures. Andrew re-wires and installs the new programable thermostat.

We prime the sunroom, and remove the old curtains/rods. It looks great and really brightens up the room.

Deb paints an old dresser black and it looks sharp with the silver handles.

We start to level all the kitchen cabinet doors/drawers in preparation for installing the handles and counter top.

FUNCTIONAL SHOWER! AND OTHER PROGRESS

September 19-27, 2006
We have finished applying all the silicone around the tub area and now have a functional shower! The plumber comes to install the drains in the bathroom sinks.

We salvage the old door casing with a new coat of paint. It adds character to the bathroom and has a nice "old vs new" effect.

The end is in sight with the bathrooms, but we still have to install the baseboards, quarter round, window casing and light fixtures.

We decide to paint the main floor stairs white. We remove the current hideous runner, and paint every other step to allow us to get up and down the stairs. We Lilu-proof the stairs but she sneaks by and only manages to get a drop of paint on her paws (luckily the paint drys fast).

We finally decide on a kitchen counter colour and have New Canadian Lumber come in for measurements. It will take a few weeks before the counter arrives and we will have it installed shortly thereafter.

Following the counter installation, the final plumbing for the dishwasher and kitchen sink will be installed, and David (our electrician) will secure the downdraft vent for the stove.

Over the weekend we ordered our baseboards, window casing and quarter round and begin to paint each piece. It is primed so painting is fairly easy.

We took back the kitchen faucet and ordered a shorter, similar model to ensure clearance between the counter and cabinets.

HARDWOOD IN!

September 18, 2006

The hardwood installation begins and they work fast as they will be finished tomorrow. It's looking marvelous! We install the mirror cabinets above the bathroom sinks and finish the trim around the bathtub area.







September 15-17, 2006

Deb paints the trim around the living room window to avoid paint dripping on the hardwood floors when they are installed. We pick up the slab of granite for the breakfast bar. I looks great but is very heavy, even for a small piece.

We get started on assembling the mirror cabinets over the bathroom sinks.

UPDATES

September 14, 2006

It's been a busy few weeks since our last entry.

Kitchen:
The kitchen cabinets are all installed and our next step is to order the counter. We will have someone come in and take measurements to ensure a good fit. Once the counter is installed, we can hook up the dishwasher and stove and we'll be functional.

Fred (Andrew's Dad) discovers that one of his patients owns a granite company. We get in touch with him and order a piece of black granite for the breakfast bar area, which is half the cost of what we'd pay at Home Depot.

Living Room:
The plywood and hardwood flooring is delivered and waits patiently to be installed. We anticipate installation to start in the next few days, and should be done in 2-3 days.

Bathrooms:
We install the bathroom sinks and vanities into place. They are now ready for the drain and faucet installation.

We purchase the tub tiles and install them. Instead of mortar, we used acrylic tile adhesive as it has a stronger hold and sets faster. It's tricky to set the first row to ensure it is level. We purchase an inexpensive tile scorer/cutter for small straight cuts so Andrew isn't constantly using the wet saw.

After letting the tiles set, they are grouted. The tub has taken a beating, encountering everything from plaster, to paint and grout. With a little elbow grease and TLC it comes sparkling clean (gotta love acrylic!). We start to silicone the gaps between the tub and tiles, and still need to finish off the edges with water resistant trim before the tub shower is functional.

James comes by to install the toilets and the remaining bath faucet fixtures. We are excited about having a functional toilet on the second floor, even though we still have to wash our hands in the bath tub. He will be back next week to install the sink drains.

Andrew does a fantastic job installing the washing machine and gas dryer. We love the front loaders!