Sheetrock

Siding is up. Sheetrock is up! The house looks completely different.

Observe the view from the original dining room, through the swinging door, into my former deep dark cave of a kitchen. This is the way it used to be.


Now look. This change we did so the hall goes all the way through to the West yard is great.


My future kitchen! Even with the huge pile of drywall scraps, I love it.

Porch flooring

New front porch flooring went in. We'd planned to paint it, but now that we see it, we'll clearcoat it. It will make a stunning entry. Plywood covers the opening for what will be our new front door.



Here's a peek at our new front door, which the guys kindly opened up from its substantial packaging so we could peek at it.


Family room fireplace is in too!

Rough Inspection Passed

Rough inspection passed! Despite these minor protrusions into the 3'10" no-no zone on the south side. This is our new kitchen bay window, too bad it faces a fence.


This is a huge milestone! Now they can start buttoning up.

Windows have arrived!

They're here!


Wah, I wanted those squares on the top of the living room window to be...well, square. A check of emails reveals that this is the design I'd approved, and rationalized at the time. Something about balance and proportion. Goes to show: go with your instincts.

But of the numerous things I have to "get over" in this project, this doesn't even make it into the Top 10.

Fire in the hole

Paraphrased from an email from our contractor today:

You missed an exciting day at the Doudna remodeling project today. Everything is fine, but we had a brief scare. Plumber was working with his torch sweating pipes together and hit a piece of the paper backing on the old insulation between the floors. The old paper backing went up pretty fast, and then hit the piece of insulation in the next bay, and then the next piece. Only the paper burned, but it went fast. Fortunately we had fire extinguisher on hand. We pulled down the burnt pieces of insulation and hauled them away. Only the paper side was burned. There was only one spot on the edge of a floor joist that got lightly scared from the flame.

We went ahead and called fire department just so they could give the all clear. They had the street blocked for a little while with the fire truck, so some of the neighbor may say something. Firemen poked around and said everything is fine.

Whew.

But the really really bad news comes from PG&E: over $5000 to move our gas service -- and that's the easy, straightforward cheap one. I can't "wait" to see what they want to move the electrical service.

Choosing exterior paint colors

Testing out paint colors. On the left, "templeton gray," (bluish) and on the right, "hancock gray" (greenish). The test trim color is an off-white interior color I had lying around.


I stink at painting, but fortunately, my photography is even worse and conceals the drips and streaks and surges.

Exterior framing done

Kitchen cabinets ordered!!

Exterior framing pretty much done. Rumor has it that windows will start to arrive next week.


The arch for the tile niche above the cooktop is framed in the wrong place, as our most marvelous kitchen designer observes.


Someday it might look like this.

(editor's note: that inspiration persisted right up until tile selection, and I still love it.)

Making use of all spaces, this area under the stairs will be accessible for storage, from two different places. It'll be a great place for kids to hide. Or grownups to hide from the kids.


Big meeting with the plumbers today to review valve placements.