Love at first sight!

Isn't that a beautiful sight :)

As you can see, the plumbers made it out to hook up our kitchen sink and dishwasher yesterday. Peter did an awesome job trying his hand at electrical work, and got the dishwasher running smoothly. It did a great job on it's first load. Now I just have to get some detergent - I'm using the little sample pack that comes with the dishwasher.

Dad made it last night after a little mix-up at the bus terminal. We managed to keep missing each other for a few minutes after the bus arrived - long enough for me to call home and tell Peter he wasn't on the bus. All was well in the end and Dad got a good coat of crack-fill on the master bath. He's hopeful that once it's sanded it won't need any more coats. That would be wonderful.

Peter finished fixing our mistake on the master vanity, so it's full steam ahead tonight on that.

Waiting with bated breath ...

I'm sure everyone's waiting anxiously to hear about our lovely plumbing that was installed yesterday. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a little longer :( The plumbers did come yesterday and do some work but didn't actually perform the final connections to the sink / bathroom / dishwasher.

However, one thing we did notice is that there is no pipe in the half-bath for the incoming water to the toilet - a fairly major oversight I think! Peter was talking to them today and they're still not exactly sure how they're going to take care of that, but they do have one possible solution that doesn't involve ripping out my newly-painted wall. The situation is complicated by the fact that the most logical place to run the pipe would be through an outside wall, which is a big 'no-no' in plumbing apparently.

And now for the good news: I have it on good authority (Peter's) that he saw the water actually running and draining in my kitchen sink when he went out to take a look at lunch. So ... looks like I'll have new pictures later on tonight! Peter's going to try his hand at a bit of electrical work to finish hooking up the dishwasher when he gets home so I'll let you know how that goes as well. My Dad is arriving tonight to rest and put his feet up (at least, that's what he told me this morning!) - actually, I think he's going to be doing some crack-filling over the next couple of days, for which we're very grateful.

Getting there ...

Sorry this picture is so dark. This is what Peter spent his evening working on last night - the wall that goes underneath our bar counter eventually. This wall will hold all the plumbing for our sink and dishwasher, so it needs to be in place by tomorrow - I can't believe the plumbers are coming tomorrow! He spent most of the evening building it, and will level it tonight. Having the wall in place really helps me to see what it will eventually look like - it looks great :)



This is where I spent my evening - on my hands and knees like Cinderella ;) I prepped and grouted the floor in the half-bath last night. It's hard to tell, but the walls have been painted - the same colour as the front wall in our living room for anyone who's actually been there. As you can see by the nice patina-like haze on the tiles I have some more washing to do tonight before the plumbers come (have I mentioned they're coming tomorrow? lol). I also have to get another coat of paint on the walls. All in all I have an "easy" night tonight. I guess I still have to clean out the dishwasher - I've been storing my clean dishes inside to keep them out of the dust. I want to make sure the kitchen area is all cleaned up before the plumbers come.



I also want to say a big "Thank You!" to Dale from church. He came over yesterday while we were at work and chopped all our firewood that we had sitting in 8' lengths! I have no idea how quantities of wood are measured - but we really appreciate the help. Thank you so much! Not much of it has to be split as it is mostly from smaller trees, so now I'll be stacking as soon as we can find the time.

Time to get to work and watch the clock tick away the hours until we have plumbing in the kitchen ...

Weekly plan & BIG NEWS!!!!

Yep, I'm shouting ;) We found out on Friday that the plumber is going to come hook up our kitchen sink, dishwasher, half bath, and master bath shower this Wednesday! I am so excited. These last few weeks have seen such a difference in our living habits just from having a countertop and stove, so running water on the main level is going to be amazing :) So ... if all goes according to plan I'll be shining my sink (see Flylady) on Wednesday night. Yippee! Watch out Noonan Bible study girls - I might be a bit giddy on Wednesday!

Unfortunately, the reason the plumber is coming out early is because we need to do some modifications to the tub surround in our bedroom. We didn't account for putting tile underneath the lip of the tub when we built it, so now we have to have the plumber unhook the tub, re-do the surround, then have the plumber come back and finish all the plumbing (master bath sinks, toilet, and tub). The good thing about this is we've decided to hire someone to come tile the tub surround, so he's coming this Thursday.

As a result of all these developments, our plans for the week have been modified significantly ;) So ... here are our plans for the week:

Monday
- Build the wall to support bar-height countertop behind kitchen counter (it is going to contain all the pipes for the kitchen in it, so needs to be in place by Wednesday)
- Grout the floor in the half-bath

Tuesday
- Paint (second coat) walls in half-bath
- Wash floor in half-bath
- Level wall for bar-height counter

Wednesday
- Plumber comes to hook stuff up!
- Remove tub from surround and rebuild surround to correct height. Remember to leave access holes for plumber to reconnect the tub ;)

Thursday
- Plumbers finish work for now
- Attach face frame to vanity and stain
- Clear out back hallway and back bedroom

Friday
- Stain vanity (coat 2)
- Crack-fill master bath, back hallway, and back bedroom
- Hang door to half-bath
- Paint door to half-bath

Saturday
- Varathane vanity (coats 1 & 2)
- Crack-fill master bath (hopefully that will do it ...), back hallway, and back bedroom
- Install doorknob on door to half-bath
- Hang remaining drywall upstairs

So, if you're looking for us, you know where we'll be!

Weekly plan updates ...

In case you haven't noticed - I keep updating the weekly plan post below to reflect reality ;)

We're behind already ...

Well, it's 11:30 and I'm going to have to concede defeat. We didn't accomplish everything on our list for tonight. I was only able to lay half the tile for the half-bath (kind of fitting don't you think!) and Peter got interrupted by phone woes so didn't get the boards planed for the face frames (although he did start cutting them to length). So, we're going to be playing catch-up for the rest of the week!

Here's a picture of the bathroom floor as it looks right now. This was the closest colour-wise of the three I took.

Weekly plan

It's that time again - time to figure out our "schedule" for the next week. We've seen lots of progress in the last week, so it's pretty easy to stay motivated right now! We need to capitalize on that ;)

Our short-term goal is to have the house ready for the plumber by March 25th. Here is the list of what's left to finish for that goal:

1. Paint half-bath ceiling
2. Paint half-bath walls (2 coats)
3. Lay floor in half-bath
4. Grout floor in half-bath
5. Finish crack-filling master bath
6. Joint and plane boards for master bath vanity face frame
   
7. Attach face frame to master bath vanity
8. Stain vanity (2 coats)
9. Varathane vanity (2 coats)
10. Prime master bath
11. Paint ceiling in master bath
12. Paint walls in master bath (may only need 1 coat as it's white over white primer)
13. Install master bath vanity

Whew! Alright, so our first steps will be ...

Tuesday:

• Lay tile in half-bath
• Crack-fill master bath
• Plane boards for face frame

Wednesday:

• Plane boards for face frame
  

Thursday:

• Lay rest of tile in half-bath
  

Friday:

• Paint half-bath (ceiling and walls)
  
• Put together face frame
  
• Attach face frame to vanity
• Stain vanity (coat 1)

Saturday:

• Paint half-bath walls
• Prep and grout floor in half-bath
  
• Crack-fill master bath
  
• Stain vanity (coat 2)

I think that should put us on a good course for finishing on time. We shall see how closely we stick to that schedule!

And, as you can see, I'm starting to customize some links and trackers at right. It's about time!

We have a stove!!!

Yippee! This was a great weekend. Peter put the finishing touches on the crack-fill for the half-bath,


we got the first coat of crack-fill on the master bath, our stove was hooked up,



we cut out the hole for the kitchen sink,



and we assembled the vanity for the master bath.

Finally ...

Some pictures of our newly-installed countertop (and finished cupboards)!


Yay!

Coming soon ...

... to a kitchen near you ... countertop :) We talked with our friend Derrick yesterday and we've scheduled his help on the countertop installation for Wednesday night. Wednesday ... as in two days from now. So ... what do we have left to finish before then? We have one more coat of varathane (tonight) and the installation of the drawer slides (tomorrow night). Hopefully we can get it done.

We have pictures of the cupboards thus far, but we can't seem to capture the colour of the stain very well. Maybe I'll still post a few tonight. We're very happy with how the stain turned out as well as the way all three colours (stained wood, natural wood, and countertop) look.

So, the plans for this week (I think this is the only reason I keep blogging - to keep track of my To Do list!) are:

Monday: varathane on cupboards (last coat)
Tuesday: install drawer cleats and slides
Wednesday: install countertop (yay!!)
Thursday: call electrician to set up time for stove installation ;)
finish crack-filling half-bath
wash master bath floor (still one more rinse of grout)
Friday: Sand crack-fill in half bath
Prime half-bath
Crack-fill master bath
Saturday: Crack-fill master bath
Paint ceiling in half bath
Paint walls in half bath (one coat)

And, if we can follow the schedule I've set up we should have the master bathroom finished (including the vanity, which we're building) by March 25th. The race is on to get the plumbing all hooked up by the end of the month!

Plain old update

I realized I hadn't updated in a while, and although I have pictures, they haven't made it from the camera to the computer, so they will come later.

A week ago Thursday we received our countertop - all cut and ready. Unfortunately we weren't ready, so we're still waiting to install it. Last week the evenings were kind of a write-off. This past weekend was pretty good though. We finished sanding the cupboards and got the first coat of stain on the face frames. It looks so good (and so different)! I'll post the pictures I took as soon as I remember :)

This week the plan is to finish the cupboards (1 more coat of stain and at least 3 coats of varathane). Hopefully by next week we'll install the countertop. I absolutely can't wait to have a stove - I'm lining up my stir-fry and pasta recipes that we haven't been able to eat for 6 months! After the countertop is installed we'll finish the bathrooms so that we can get the rest of our plumbing hooked up - probably within the next month or so. Another big milestone :) Once those things are all hooked up we just have to finish the walls and lay flooring as major projects and then we'll be mostly finished. Getting closer every day :)

Another one bites the dust ...

... another weekend, that is!

Peter and I crashed on Friday night, which was unfortunate but we were both really tired and needing a break. I think it was a good thing because we ended up being very productive on Saturday. We put the last back on the cupboards (the sink cupboard). Peter tried out his new air nailer and what a difference - we saved at least an hour on that one cupboard!

In addition to putting the back on the cupboard, we hung the last remaining sheets of drywall in our master bath (the last green sheets for the whole house - yay!), Peter crack-filled the downstairs bathroom, and I grouted the floor in the master bathroom. Not bad for a day's work!

We still have lots to do before we can install the countertop, which is the next big thing. We need to put the finish on the cupboards and install the drawer slides. At this point we have lots to choose from each night we get to work. This isn't always a good thing, as sanding the cupboards is the last thing I want to do! Hopefully Peter is more motivated than me in that department.

We are busy most evenings this week, so I probably won't have much progress to report until next week.

The week that wasn't ...

For those of you who haven't heard yet, Peter kidnapped me for a much-needed weekend of relaxation last weekend :) Unfortunately, it seems to have stalled my motivation for working on the house!

This week Peter put another two coats of crack-fill on the half-bathroom downstairs while I did .... nothing! So, our plans for this weekend will look very similar to last weekend. The goals are:

1. Finish hanging drywall in master bath.
2. Attach last two backs to cupboards.
   
3. Sand cupboards
4. Stain face frames
5. Crack-fill as much as possible

The countertop arrives at the shop on Tuesday, after which they have to cut it to fit the measurements we gave them. We'd like to have the cupboards finished (i.e. stained and varathaned and the drawer slides installed before it's installed, so we're going to be busy early next week. Our priorities for the next while will be:

1. Varathane cupboards (3 coats)
2. Install drawer slides
3. Cut hole in countertop for stove.
4. Install countertop.
5. Lay tile in half-bath
6. Finish crack-filling bathrooms
7. Prime bathrooms
8. Paint bathrooms
9. Grout floor in bathrooms

Then, and only then, can we get our kitchen plumbing hooked up! I guess that should be motivation enough ;)

My kitchen!

If you want pictures, talk to Pete

As you can see, Peter posted some fairly recent pictures of our cupboard progress last night. It's even changed since those pictures were taken, as we now have our dishwasher in place and the sink cupboard beside it (the dishwasher sits beside the part of the cupboard that is stained, and the sink cupboard sits on the other side of that).

I went and picked out the countertop today and ordered it, while Peter met with a carpenter who's going to install it for us. He'll do all the corners and cutting out which will be great. He also said he can put the seam (grrr for 12' lengths) in the stove section so that there's only a small length of seam on the backsplash and at the very front. So ... our countertop should be in the store around Feb. 14th - how romantic ;) with installation to follow sometime after that. Now we'll be scrambling to get everything else finished.

Lest you think we've been idle, last night Peter finished the cupboard with the sink, and I laid the rest of the tiles in the master bathroom. Not bad for an evening's work, and we still had time to watch 24 before heading to bed.

The rest of the evenings this week are busy, so Friday is the next time we'll be able to work on the house. So, the goals for the weekend are:

1. Grout the master bathroom
   
2. Hang remaining drywall in master bath
   
3. Crack-fill one coat on each bathroom
4. Lay tile in half-bath (??)

In order to do this, since obviously you can't hang drywall or crack-fill in a room that has recently had its floor worked on, we will try to: Friday night hang drywall and crack-fill one coat on ceilings of each room. Saturday morning we will crack-fill walls in half-bath. Saturday afternoon we will: crack-fill walls in master bath and lay tiles in half bath. As soon as crack-filling is done in master bath we can grout those tiles. We'll see how well that schedule sticks ;)

So we have all of our cupboards in place and are awaiting a quote for a counter top. As you can see, Ange is very happy. Our cats are also enjoying the cupboards. Shver is testing out her balance in the picture above.

We learned the hard way that it is far better to scrape the excess glue away then try to sand it off latter

A productive night

Last night was a housework night, and we almost completed our list - that's a miracle in itself! I finished cutting most of the rest of the tile for the master bathroom (the last few will have to wait until we have the door in place), Peter put together the last major piece of face frames, and we attached one more back onto the cabinets. Tonight we're busy, so our next chance to work is tomorrow night.

Let's see ... the goals for tomorrow night will be:

1. Attach the last back to the second corner cabinet section.
   
2. Attach that section to its base.
3. Build the base for under the sink cabinet.
4. Put together the last face frame section (for the first corner cabinet) and attach
   
5. Lightly sand the first corner cabinet
6. Sand the second corner cabinet

We'll see how we make out. I went to take some pictures and realized there really isn't much to show. Hopefully soon we'll have some new flooring and the cabinets will all be in place (and some of them stained) so I can get some more interesting pictures.

On a more upbeat note ...

I didn't like looking at the title of my last post when I logged on. It seemed like too much of a downer!

Another weekend has passed, and we did well with keeping on track. Friday night we had a minor setback, as one of the boxes had warped a bit, and wouldn't pull together with the screws we had been planning on using. So ... what do you do when all else fails? Use lots of glue of course! Peter spread glue over the whole side of the cupboard and then we clamped them together overnight (it seems to have worked ...). Peter also jointed and planed several more boards for the face frames on Friday night while I cut out the two tiles to go around the toilet pipe in the main bath. They look pretty good if I do say so myself!

Saturday we got another back on a corner cabinet, we finished planing the boards for the face frames, put together another set of face frames, and I sanded the glue off one of the corner cupboards.

I was looking back over our goals for January and we'd better pick up the pace! They're still possible, so it would be great if we could accomplish them. Tonight and Wednesday we're busy, but the rest of the evenings and weekend should be good to go.

My goals for the week:
- Finish assembling the base cabinets including face frames.
- Finish laying tile in master bath
- Finish sanding and staining corner cupboards
- Post some pictures ;)

Will it ever end?

I had a time of discouragement yesterday, where I started feeling like this construction process is never going to end. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, these feelings of hopelessness aren't much fun. I'm mostly over that today and anxious to get back to work :)

Last weekend Peter routed the backs of the cabinet boxes in order to easily install the backs (not cut out yet - that will be this weekend). I spent some time cutting some of the more ... interesting ... tile squares that need to go in our bathroom. These are the tiles around the pipes. Thanks to Dad for the use of his wet saw - I'm a pro now for when you want to lay some tile in your house. I still have a few more tiles to cut, and hopefully I'll get them laid shortly. It will be nice to finish the flooring in another room of the house.

Peter and I are both busy tonight. Tomorrow night will be devoted to cutting out the back panels for the cupboards. Friday night I'm busy for a couple of hours, but we should hopefully be able to get the backs done by the end of the evening. Then on Saturday we're back to the jointer / planer combo (otherwise known as major sawdust creators!) to get the wood ready for the last few face frames.

I know I've been saying this for a while, but it really does look like we'll be ready to order the countertop early next week ;) My time estimates haven't been that wrong, it's just that we needed to have the cabinets closer to "finished" than I thought we did in order to take measurements for the countertop. So ... by this time next week we should be talking countertop colours, and then the mad dash to finish (stain and varnish) the cupboards is on to beat the arrival of the countertop (takes 2 weeks from order to delivery).