Progress - Week of September 21

No photos of the 4th or 5th as access to the upper 2 floors has been restricted in order to avoid walking on the freshly re-stained 4th floor.  Although there are no photos up there, the attic has had 2 coats of polyurethane applied and the 4th floor had a second coat of stain applied.

Photos of the third floor....the master bathroom.  Tilework is just about done and the cabinetry was installed.

Freshly sanded floors on the third floor which will be stained this coming week.

Onto the parlor floor, the hallway and the stair ceiling was plastered and skim coated.

The beadboard is up in the powder room.

Second coat of paint in the parlor/living room.

First coat of paint in the dining room

Closeup shot of the replacement moulding and corbel.  Not too crazy about the corbel...it just kind of sits there.  It should "die" into the wall.  Need to think about this and augment the corbel or just get rid of it altogether and let the header stand on its own.

Ah the kitchen.  Matt's grand vision is starting to come together.  So far we're doing ok although looks like we're going to have to modify some of the hardware for the cabinetry.  The idea of using bin pulls as the hardware (as has been Matt's dream for years) needs to change.  Given the applied moulding to the recessed panels, the face of the drawers is shorter than we thought and thus cannot accomodate "chunkier" hardware.  Sucks.

Slowly teasing out the Wolf/SubZero utopia, the hood is installed.

Lastly, the rental.  Walls are going up, being taped, and spackled.  In places, ceilings are being replaced.  Tough to see from this shot, but it is starting to take shape.

Lovely garbage.

On tap for the week - going from top down:

5th (Attic) Floor - maybe last coat of paint and final coat of polyurethane.
4th (Kids) Floor - first and maybe a second coat of polyurethane.  Stairways stained.
3rd (Master) Floor - first and maybe a second coat of stain.  Grouting the master bathroom.
2nd (Parlor) Floor - second coats of paint.  Start tiling the hallway.
1st (Rental) Floor - move the trash to the container (coming Wednesday I am told).  Continue putting up walls.
Elsewhere - craning in the HVAC condensers Tuesday.  Restoration of the exterior of the bay window.

Progress - Week of September 14

Delays and cranky newborns notwithstand, we are proud to show off the latest progress.  Going from bottom to top:

The kitchen floors.  As many know, we have installed reclaimed chestnut in the kitchen and the dining room.  Here are a few snapshots of the floors in unfinished condition:

Here's the kitchen all skim coated and ready for cabinetry installation...

The parlor also skim coated and ready for priming and painting.

Plaster repairs to the crown moulding.  For those loyal followers, several months ago when the plumbers were removing the old cast iron pipes, a large chunk of the crown moulding was dislodged in two locations in the parlor.

Hey look!  I almost forgot we had a fireplace in the parlor seeing as how it has always been covered up in crap.

The master bathroom and progress of the tiling.  This will probably be going on for another few weeks.

The library and the seat in the bay window.  Note the plaster repair to arch.  The detail work on this was quite extensive.

Up to the fourth floor...floors are stained albeit in a few shades darker than we really wanted.

The kids' bathroom was also painted...

Up to the attic...stained and sealed...

A few shots of the front exterior.  It kind of looks like a house.

What posting would be complete without a shot of the pile of shit in the rental?

You Lie!

Good progress made last week although not on the items I had hoped...specifically, no condensing units and no kichen cabinetry.  Both have been promised for this coming Tuesday.

In the meantime, I will update the blog with photos which document last week's work.

Progress - Week of September 7

Not a lot of pictures this week.  As a matter of fact just 2 photos of architectural items - the replacement medallion for the dining room (remember a few weeks back when the original medallion became dislodged and broke when work was being conducted for the radiant floors in the master bedroom?) and a pair of corbels which will be located beneath the header in the transition from the dining room to the kitchen.

Also part of the reason we are not posting a lot of pictures this week is that next week will probably have some really good shots (and maybe even a mid-week posting).

Even though there are no pictures showing the progression of work, a lot has taken place, particularly on the parlor floor:

- the reclaimed chestnut floors were installed (they are completely covered with a protective covering so there is nothing really worth photographing there)
- the kitchen is completely framed and mostly taped and spackled
- the pantry is completely framed and the doors are almost installed
- the powder room and closet are completely framed
- the dining room is almost spackled
- the hallway patchwork is completed for the walls (still need to do the ceiling as well as the ceilings above the stairs)
- test stains for the floors were applied and some of the floor stains have been decided
- the fireplace marble is beginning restoration work
- half of the ballusters have been painted
- the plaster work on the occulus has been restored and the plaster work for the bay window interior has started
- the HVAC installer has brought in the ducts and will hopefully install them first thing the coming week

Without further hesitation, here are the aforementioned photos:

Here is the plaster medallion which was picked up on Saturday.  Again, the location of this will be the dining room.  To provide a sense of scale, the diameter of this piece is about 32".  Two more medallions should come this week - one to be located in the hallway just as you enter the house and the second will be located in the master bedroom.

This is one of the corbels which will help frame the transition between the dining room and kitchen.

A big week coming up.  Here's what we have on tap:

- continued work on the tiling of the master bathroom

- framing, sheetrocking, taping, spackling and plastering on the parlor floor

- installation of the HVAC equipment including the ductwork AND supposedly the delivery of the 6 ton and 2 ton condensing units which will need to be craned OVER the house and into position in the mechanical space above the master bathroom

- installation of the kitchen cabinetry!!!!

Progress - Laboring on Labor Day

Progress over the past week was pretty good: fan coils arrived and were installed (but for one of the units); the kitchen and pantry were framed and sheetrocked; the bathroom tiling commenced; the wood restoration is now onto the ballusters; more hallway painting; master bedroom also painted; new floors in the rental; work commencing on the facade and window tins.

Before moving onto the photos, let's consult our outstanding checklist;

1. Air handlers? Dare to dream.  AMAZINGLY DONE
2. Finish tiling laundry room  DONE
3. Start tiling master bathroom  JUST STARTED
4. Finish framing parlor floor DONE FRAMING THE KITCHEN AND PANTRY; STILL A NUMBER OF AREAS ON THE PARLOR NEED PATCHING
5. Continue framing rental ACTUALLY NOT DONE AT ALL BUT ALL NEW FLOORS HAVE BEEN INSTALLED AND THE GARBAGE IS PILING UP EVER HIGHER
6. Reclaimed chestnut flooring expected arrival ARRIVED

7. Hopefully replace the HVAC installer with another tradesman with the "Bane of Matt's Existence Award" NO FINAL CHOICES HAVE BEEN MADE BUT THE TOP 3 NOMINEES INCLUDE MY CONTRACTOR, MY NEIGHBOR TO THE LEFT, AND MY NEIGHBOR TO THE RIGHT

Now the photos...nothing new to show on the 4th or 5th floors, so let's jump to see what's doing on the 3rd (master) floor...

Painting commenced in the master bedroom...

Marble floor tile going down in the master bathroom...

Hallway painted...here's a shot of the stairway from the 3rd to the 4th floor...

Here's a shot of the 3rd floor (and you can see the library in the background)...

The painting in the library now includes the lighter green below the chair rail...

Framing up the kitchen...

Onto the rental which is now serving as the central repository for any and all garbage...

Work is also starting on the outside.  Priming and minor repairs to the cornice and window tins...

As well as the bay window...

On tap for this holiday shortened week:

1. Remove the garbage from the house...again

2. Install the reclaimed chestnut flooring in the kitchen and dining room

3. Tape and spackle the kitchen and pantry and prep the area for millwork installation

4. Patch and repair the remaining areas on the parlor floor and commence finishing work on the floor

5. Continue tiling the master bathroom - hopefully have enough of the wall tile installed in order to install the clawfoot tub and prepare for the area for the millwork

6. Install HVAC duct work