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Dyeing Again

I signed up a for a class through Quilt University called Dyeing to Design. Our first assignment was to dye a black gradation. I did two blacks and used my leftovers to make the mottled piece. What was most surprising was that I managed to find all my dyeing supplies (that's the good surprise) except my scale, which I think I put somewhere special so I would remember where it was. As a result, my concentrates are off, so I didn't get light enough, but I'll go back and dye a few more. It felt really good to be dyeing again, even if it was challenging to do stuff on top of the washer and then do the washout in our small half-bath.

 

 

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Endeavor

Yesterday Endeavor started the final leg of her journey and we were lucky enough to be able to see her at her first rest stop.

It is truly awe-inspiring. We also went to see her in transit last night, but the best viewing was at the rest stop. There is so much planning involved in moving her- we saw downed stop lights, cranes lifting power lines out of the way, and lots and lots of workers. It was very festive with all the people that came out to watch.

 

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Day 42 - Sunday

More framing was done on Friday and Saturday. The rooms are all delineated now and they're doing more work on the roof. They did put in the framing for Megan's closet-

The black pipe you see in the photo above is the vent stack for the downstairs bathroom. We still don't have water. I think they're a little stuck on how to run all the drains.

Here's a photo of how the front of the house currently looks. Most of the wood has been used up. I'm not sure how much more framing (besides the balcony) still needs to be done.

On Saturday we went shopping for granite again. We're down to two choices. The first is a bit more of a risk as it has lots of color and texture-

The second choice is much more traditional, but it's also 50% more, cost-wise-

I think I've chosen a sink, but the two people I've talked to have said it will be a challenge for the granite guy. I hope it doesn't end up being too much of a challenge!

Day 39

I knew something was wrong this morning when Tom called on the house line and didn't chat with Kelly before he asked for me. The cabinet guys were at the house unloading cabinets and they wanted knobs and drawer pulls. Knobs and handles were not on my radar! I asked Tom to ask them how many they needed and they didn't know. They said they'd call me around 1:00 to give me the number.

Tom and I went to Home Depot around 2:3o. After a long while, we agreed on something and Tom went to pay while I visited the special orders table. I don't think I've mentioned that as things get done, I start noticing old things that really stand out. One of the latest is the ugly closet door. A new door will only cost me $68. That's not too much, right? Oh, and I'll need hinges and a door knob...

Anyway, back to knobs. As we're leaving the store, I mention that maybe we should have gone to Lowe's, too. Before I know it, we're headed off to Lowe's to see if there's anything I like better. While at Lowe's, I get a call from the cabinet guy asking me if I have the knobs. I promise I'll be there as soon as I drop Megan off at soccer practice.

I have to admit, I was nearly speechless when I saw the cabinets- they look wonderful! It only took the guys about half an hour to get all the knobs and pulls installed and then I took the photos.

This is the new pantry. It has pull-outs!

Here's the west wall. The cabinet door is missing because they took it off so I can take it with me to the granite yard. The electrical outlet will need to be changed before we put the refridgerator back.

This is looking down the hallway that leads to the dining room. A range and microwave will go in the open space.

This is where the sink will go. The angled cabinet is different than before and we didn't have the upper right cabinet before. The open space under the cabinet is where the dishwasher will go. The dishwasher moved from the other side of the sink.

Now to get working on the granite. I'm nervous about messing up what we have so far since I like it so much. Light or dark granite? White or biscuite sink (or buck the recommendations and go with black)?

Although the kitchen was by far the most exciting thing happening today, more of the framing was completed today. Remember the opening in the dining room? This photo is taken from above, looking down into the dining room.

Still no news on when we'll have water. Did I mention that we also have no phone? I think that might be due to the removal of one of the jacks so they could paint, but we'll have to see.

The trash bin has filled up, so things are piling up in the back yard. We're wondering how Nessa is taking it. You can see her in the bottom of the photo-

More of the walls have plywood now. This is a look at the master bathroom. It looks like we'll have enough room for double sinks. Tom and I have shared a single sink for the past 11 years and I didn't think it bothered me, but I had to admit that it was nice having double sinks in our vacation condo!

I thought I had taken a photo from the front of the house, but I guess I intended to do it on my way out and forgot. Much of the roof has now been framed. You can see it in this photo-

Tom has had a couple of solar companies in to give quotes. Once Ronnie's crew gets the plywood and the first layer of the waterproofing on, they'll wait for the solar people to come in and do what they need.

Day 37

Megan wanted to get into the picture. She's standing in one of the walk-in closets. With the framing of the closets, all the rooms are now defined. Most of the windows and doors have been framed and the roof is progressing.

I've been doing some shopping. I wanted to see what it would cost to get a new sink in the garage. I found some very nice unfinished oak cabinets and inexpensive formica and drew a layout to fill the entire corner of the garage where the laundry is. I've been wanting to do that since we moved in. Of course, it's out of our price range (as are toilets, bathtubs, vanities, flooring, etc.), but I'm working on talking Tom into it. It would be such an ideal wet studio!

I also found some very nice carpeting and a sink for the kitchen. Maybe I should try buying a lottery ticket!

Day 36 - Tuesday

Monday was very hectic. I started my day with a 5:00am conference call and ended up staying at work until 5:00pm to work a customer problem. After that I had to rush to pick Megan up and get her to her first dance class of the year. I didn't get any photos taken.

So there's lots of stuff to show now. They were right when they said that things would start to move fast once the foundation work was done. As you can see from the photo below, they've got the rooms framed and they've started on the roof. The area behind the guy is the wall of the master bath. To the right of that is a sliding glass door and window in the master bedroom. There is a small amount of balcony where he's walking.


The photo below is taken from Megan's room looking towards the bathrooms. The small window is in Megan's bathroom and the larghe window is in ours. There's nothing separating them yet.


The photo below is taken from the door of the old master bedroom, which is the transition from the old section to the new. On the left, you're looking down the hallway, through the master bedroom door to the master bedroom window (that you saw in the top photo). To the right is Megan's bedroom. Note the trashcan which is full of our old blown-in insulation. Tom is happy to see this go.

Here is a photo which shows the new kitchen ceiling. I'm still impressed with the quality of the drywall and texture. You can't tell very well from the photo, but the room is all painted and ready for the cabinets.

Here's a photo that shows the new tile in the entry way. The tilers actually came on Monday. You can sort of see that the quarter-round has been installed on the step. I had trouble envisioning what it would look like when Ronnie described it, but I think it looks really nice. Unfortunately, they ran out of the quarter-round, so it's still not 100% finished.

And here's the closet under the stairs with new tile, although it hasn't been grouted and it still needs quarter-round-

Here's what's been going on in the dining room. This photo was taken near the window looking up. The beam (next to the heater vent) is supporting the wall on the second story which is the outside wall of Megan's bedroom.

This photo is looking to the left. Notice the missing mirror panel?

This photo is looking to the right. You can see the bottom couple of inches of the drain that was removed in the wall. And don't miss the hole in the slab! Although they turned back the carpet, the pad is being damaged, so we'll probably need to replace the carpet in here.

Day 34

Nobody at the house today, but we went over to try to get the gate reattached (they had to take it down to put up a new support). We got it in place enough that we could leave Nessa while we went to Megan's basketball game. Tom finished it up later while I cleaned out the closet under the stairs so it could be painted.

It is a relief to have a place to keep Nessa during the day. I'm not certain that Kelly's yard is Nessa-proof and we've all been worried that she will find a way out. We've settled into a routine where Megan and I are staying at Kelly's and Tom and Nessa come over during the day, but go back to the house at night to sleep.

Day 33

This morning was soccer picture day. After that, I went over to the house to meet with the cabinet guy (we're still at Kelly's because of the water). We needed to approve the final layout and he wanted to double-check his measurements. We modified one set of cabinets 3 inches, but other than that, I think we're good to go. He thinks they'll be installed on Friday.



The painters were also there, putting on the color coats in the kitchen and family room. The color for the walls is Behr Cornerstone and it looks really nice. So far everyone has complemented me on the color (although I can't imagine anyone telling me they hate it, even if they did). I was really mad at myself that I forgot to take pictures of the painted walls.



I went back to Kelly's and about 1:00 I get a call from Ronnie. He's over at the house and expecting to meet with us and the cabinet guy. I told him, "Been there, done that." :-)



We head on over and have a really good meeting. Ronnie explained that the reason we're not as far along on the framing was because of the pad they had to build up to make sure all of the second floor was at the same level. They went back and forth with the engineer and inspector before it was all settled and everyone agreed on how it needed to be done.



The issue with the water is that in order to re-route the drain lines they had to cut, they need to figure out where the drains run. To do this, they have cut dug a hole in the foundation in the dining room (picture to come). On Monday, they will bring in a camera to help map the drains. Then they'll have to figure out how to re-route it. Ronnie's guessing optimistically it will be Wednesday, pessimistically Friday. Hope Kelly can stand us for that long!



The delay with the tile was because the quarter-round was not in stock and it needed to be ordered. It should be in on Monday and the tilers will come back on Tuesday. We also went over a lot of little things that we noticed and they'll be taken care of.



Ronnie also mentioned that as soon as the framing upstairs is done, he'll have the guys finish the garage so we can start using it again. This will include getting the washer and dryer hooked back up. I asked about the laundry sink. Ronnie asked us if we really wanted it- did we even use it. Before I had a chance to open my mouth, Tom starts in on how necessary it is for my dyeing. I don't know if he was afraid I'd start dyeing in the house, but I'm going with he understands how important it is to me.



Anyway, Ronnie said he could put in the old one or I could get a stock vanity and sink and he'd put it in. I asked if maybe I could have a window over the sink that looks out into the back yard and he said maybe. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!



Like I said, it was a really good meeting and we understand what went on while we were gone and what the next steps are. Ronnie gave us a list of stuff he's going to be needing, so we need to start shopping for stuff like tubs and tile. I'm very excited.



Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the painting again.

Day 32 - Friday September 9th

I had to get out a calendar and count the days to figure out we're 32 days into the project. Today is Megan's first day of school (school started yesterday) and she's starting it from Kelly's house. Doesn't she look cute? I don't know where my little baby went, but the young lady that's replaced her is very special.

Last night, Tom went back to the house. He wasn't comfortable staying at Kelly's because the house was all open. He found out in the morning why the tile guy said not to turn on the water. While washing his hands in the sink, he heard an odd noise. Turns out the drains had been cut to install the new beam in the dining room and all the water went and soaked the new dry wall.

And the painters are coming today!

Coming Home - The Good and the Bad

Our flight went from Orlando to Philadelphia and then to LAX. Even though the flights were on time and uneventful, it was still a long day, especially when you take into account the late night the day before to get all the packing done.

We came home to this-


Rather surprising in that we expected a lot of the framing to be done. Doesn't look much different from when we left, does it?

There was also a note on the front door, "Do not step". So we go around back and find this-



It was another surprise in that I understood that they would start to tile a couple of days after we left. To be honest, I expected the tiling to be done and thought that there was a good chance that the cabinets would be in by the time we got home.

There was a new beam in the dining room, but the room was open to the sky (along the back wall)-



There was also debris in the back yard and it looks like my fern is history-

On a positive note, the concrete has been poured around the supports in the garage-

Also, it looks like the electrical has been run in the garage and we have a new sub-panel.

The sub-floor for the addition is being built up-

And the best part of all- I love how the tile is looking-

I'm thrilled we ended up having the entryway and bathroom done, too, even though we might be eating ramen for a long time!

You can't see it in the photo above, but the drywalling in the kitchen and family room was also done while were were gone. They did a spectacular job. The new alcove in the ceiling looks great!

Part of the way into our explorations I called Kelly and asked if she wouldn't mind some house guests for the night. She'd already been expecting the call because she'd been to the house the week before (and that was before the tiling started!). The tile guy showed up a bit later to pick up some equipment and told us it was ok to step on the tile, but not to turn the water to the house on. This was confusing to us because the water was already on. Anyway, it was late and Kelly was already expecting us, so we headed on over to her house.

Miscommunication

Before we left, I had asked Ronnie for an estimate to re-tile the entryway. Of course, it was more than I hoped, so I said we'd wait until later. I figured he'd have his tile guy back when they got to the bathrooms, so maybe we could do it then.

A day or two into our trip we get an e-mail from Ronnie asking to clarify what we want tiled and the layout. It was odd because he asked about the bathroom. We wrote back to say we were doing the kitchen and closet. His response was that they already tore out the floor in the bathroom, so what did we want in there.

I guess we're tiling the entry way!

Catch-up

Well, I thought I'd get the 8/25 photos up while we were in Orlando, but as you can see, that didn't happen. The last day before we left was very stressful. I had to pick a floor tile in a hurry. The one I liked was 3x the budget. The one that looked the most like the favorite just looked like it was dirty because of the slight color difference. I ended up choosing my least favorite with Ronnie's advice. You'll see later it all turned out ok, but the first couple of days of vacation all I could think about was how much I was going to hate the tile and trying to calculate how long it would be before we had the money to change it.



There was also this new, unexpected hole in our relatively brand new bathroom. You can't tell from this photo, but both the bracket and bolts extend out past the drywall. Up to this point, that was probably the hardest thing to take.





There was good progress, though. The support posts are up in the garage and you can see that all the temporary walls have come down.






We were also told that they were going to need to break open the ceiling of the dining room to add a beam to support Megan's balcony. This caused us to have to close down our temporary kitchen and move stuff out of that area. Luckily they said we could leave the stuff in the front half of the dining room, otherwise I don't know where the stuff would have gone.

At this point, we (I) relinquish control and early the next morning we board our plane.