If at first you don't succeed...

This is not what you want to come home to:

Apparently everything is fine (as in not really dangerous). The gas company showed up first thing this morning, about two hours before the inspector got here. Without the inspection, the gas company can't 100% certify there isn't a leak (there isn't - there's been no drop in pressure on the line for about two days) so they put this lovely little tag up. In the long run, though an unpleasant surprise to come home to, it's not a huge issue because we wouldn't have been able to take advantage of the gas anyway. (Un)surprisingly, there's one more piece that needs to be special ordered for our Triangle Tube water heater/boiler. So even if we had gas we'd still be waiting.

In other news the kitchen/powder room floors are being finished...

...and they look fantastic.

Our powder room floors are actually recovered from the second bedroom. We're very happy we were able to keep them in the house. You can also see a sneak peak at the color of the bead board.

Empty Promises and Shattered Dreams?

So maybe that's a little melodramatic.

This week finds our project a little beehive of furious activity. It seems like there's always at least 2 or 3 different groups of people working on different aspects of the house. (Today, for example, we had the plumber installing the boiler/water heater, the paint guys painting the powder room and trim, gas guy installing a new gas line under our house, and the siding folks working 'til dark on the exterior.) The good news is that things are really falling into place; the bad news is that all these people in a small space is bound to cause some confusion and frustration (been there already). I think I'll focus on the good. Tomorrow the boiler/water heater/space-age thingy will be fully installed and all systems go. Fingers crossed that everything works as it should. Otherwise, we'll be having awfully chilly showers on Friday morning. In yet another daring feat of scheduling, our contractor has the flooring folks slated to sand the floors at 2 pm tomorrow. This, of course, is entirely dependent on the gas company coming out in the morning (8-12) to turn the gas back on... no gas means they can't finish installing the boiler, and if they can't finish with the boiler, the sanding will have to wait.

Phew. Tiring, isn't it? And that's just a small piece of the puzzle for the next few weeks.

Contractor also gave us a (tentative? optimistic?) date of estimated completion: September 18, 2009. Three weeks. Holy crap. That would be amazing. (Can you tell we're not betting the first-born on it?)

Important Couple of Days

In a pretty amazing act of fate, our parents anniversaries fall within 24 hours of each other (25 and 26 August). Once we figured this out years ago, we both pretty much knew we would get married. I mean, really, who can pass up that kind of sign?

We could like to congratulate both sets of parents on 30+ years of marriage. Thank you for continuing to set a great example.

Cabinets

The kitchen cabinets have (mostly) arrived. The missing pieces should be here early this week. Unfortunately though, we're still a ways away from having full use of the kitchen.

The new farmhouse sink.

These are half of the "hutch" cabinets we have around the original window. The others will reach to the celling (covering up the pipes) and be the same maroon-ish red (I think technically it is a cranberry color). Directly under the window will be a moveable table/cutting board.

Our lovely new stove and range hood will fit in nicely. This is looking from the backdoor of the house.

The pantry, wall oven, and microwave/small oven. In the foreground is the table (still missing the wheels and, most importantly, the cutting board) going under the window.

Spot for the fridge.

In other news, two sides of the house are now sided. These two sides have new siding; the other two (more visible to the street) will have mostly original siding, with some new mixed in as necessary. I guess this means we should start picking out paint colors!

Coping Strategies

We all have our methods of coping with stressful situations. After almost 4 months of living in a construction zone, we're not the only ones seeking the means to cope.



Harry cuddling with his stuffed rabbit (a bit unrecognizable after a brief de-squeaking attempt)



Teeni settles in for the long haul in Andy's discarded shoe box.



"Just do it" is exactly what we're thinking, Teens. Trying our best to convey that sentiment to the contractor.

Calm before the storm

In less than 24 hours one of the final (hopefully) phases of the remodel will begin. Tomorrow the cabinets show up and installation begins. That means we've spent the weekend moving things around downstairs trying to make room. Originally this was going to be relatively easy: we'd just put everything into the 2nd bedroom. Since the final coat wasn't put on the floors in that room until Friday afternoon, we decided to find other locations for our things (now the floors will have a good three days to set).

Here are some shots from the past few days:

Our new hot water heater/boiler. The thing is friggin' huge. And, until the gas company gets off their duff, the most expensive piece of wall art we own. A new gas meter needs to be installed before this can be hooked up; Washington Gas, being the monopoly that it is, is taking their sweet time in getting back to our contractor about doing this.

Wainscoting in the new powder room. The floors are from the 2nd bedroom. This room is where a fair amount of our stuff is now stored to make room for the cabinets.

Old and new floors in the 2nd bedroom. We think both look really good, but despite being "inferior" (according to the contractor), we still like the older look better.

371 days and counting...

It's been just over a year since we first met with the architect regarding this project. Will it ever end?

As Katie said earlier today after figuring this out:

"the house is going to be gorgeous....

the house is going to be gorgeous....

the house is going to be gorgeous...."

On the bright side the kitchen floors are going in now.

Doggie Happy Hour

A hotel just down the street hosts a Doggie Happy Hour twice a week during the summer.  Even though this is nearing the end of the second summer with Harry, last Thursday was the first time we went.  We met up with some other greyhound owners and had a great time.  

Harry was his normal, lovable self, acting as a wonderful ambassador for his breed (as we walked through the courtyard people kept saying "is that a greyhound?").

No, you're not seeing double.  Harry is on the right and Laddie, who was kind enough to share his bed with Harry, is on the left.

Slow and Steady

Let's hope the old Tortoise/Hare story is right.  We're definitely moving slow, not so sure about the steady bit right now.  The kitchen cabinets are being delivered and installed starting on the 17th.  Before all that we have to have:

• our kitchen floors installed
• two coats of stain applied to said kitchen floor
• the trim finished in both the upstairs and downstairs
• all three coats of stain applied to the upstairs floors
• enough time for the stain upstairs to set so we can move things in there
• move as much as possible from the downstairs into the upstairs to make room for the cabinets
• all walls primed
• kitchen painted
• countless other things done I'm sure

And this all has to happen before the 17th.  Hopefully the contractor will return to their "let's amaze the client with how much we've accomplished everyday" ways of yore (two months ago).  Hopefully.

On the flip side, some of the trim is up and it's starting to look good.