Closets

The railings are being fabricated partially on site and installed on the front porch and stairway. Here, on the topmost stair landing, the exterior pieces are in place.



Not too great of a picture.



Inside the house, the California Closet packages were installed in one long day by a guy named Steve. This is the cut down kitchen pantry. My mom and I went over the design thoroughly in order to maximize space and utility. Three baskets (two the same, and one larger) for mix-match stuff, vertical shelves for pans, and enough shelves that are adjustable.



The front entry closet with space for shoes in the shelves.



Basement bedroom



Upstairs closet



East bedroom, with more selves for storage if the bedroom is used like a den.



The west bedroom, similar to the basement bedroom



I don't have a picture of the master closet yet. The toilets and remaining sinks were delivered. However, the storm of the decade hit the Seattle area, and we had to delay the appliance delivery, and any other work. The baseboards have a 1st coat of paint as of today, and the plumbers are beginning to work on the finish plumbing.

Here is a picture from Bainbridge Island of just about 1/2 of the show that has fallen from a few days ago. This reminds me of 1996 in Custer.

Decks complete and how to protect new cement

It actually snowed in Seattle. And it is cold, around 15 F at night and 32 F during the day. It is suppose to be this way for a week, at least.



With that in mind, it was necessary to protect the recently poured cement, still curing, from contraction cracking.



Basically we just took off the tarps.....



And put about 4 inches of hay over the cement, and covered it up again with the same tarps.



The garage step into the basement was also poured a few days ago.



And the decking front and back were completed, to a satisfactory quality. Below is the back porch.



The next few pictures are the front porch, the stairs down, and the base plates for the railings being installed.







The baseboards are filled, caulked, and sanded inside, and ready to be painted. Closet packages are being installed tomorrow.

Rail example and countertop slabs

The "railman" came over on Tuesday. This is the dimensions we all agreed upon. In his hand (on the left) is the rail cap. On the right is the vertical member, with 2 of the 6 horizontal pieces. He had a larger horizontal example, but it seemed a little clunky when looking from the street towards the house. Fabrication was suppose to start today at the job site. A black coating of some sort (which reflects light) will go on as well.



The two slabs finally went into the house. They were cut on site and installed.



Here is what the island (where the burners will go) looks like after being cleaned. A back splash with the same granite material (in tile) was installed at last night, as well as for the area facing the wall where the sink is located.




I put up some signs to impress the importance of not walking of the floors with shoes.

Front driveway pour

Most of the driveway in the front of the house has been poured.



It has a darker color, and is finished off with swirls.





Marking this location below in case it is covered in near future. Don't know exactly what the pipe is (methane mitigation, or more probably the drainage). Why would it be placed here?



Final pour is on Monday.

Driveway pour (outlines), curb cut and sidwalk removal

With the inside floors sanded down and a first coat applied, my Dad and I put down paper and cardboard to protect it until the subcontractors are done with the finish plumbing and appliance installation. Only the baseboard installation (in work right now) need be completed to wrap up the finish carpentry.

Here are a few shots of the driveway.

Progress

The cement stairs from the driveway were poured, and stripped yesterday.



Inside the house, the hardwood flooring is being laid. A cork base is being used to raise it to the proper height of the jams and doors. It will also act as an acoustical softener and will give the floor some give.





The floor will be varnished the same color as the cabinets (or abouts).



The vacuum system was installed in the house (or rather, the engine and the covers for the hose attachments to the wall. A vacuum sweep apparatus was installed along the foot board under the kitchen sink. Supposedly this allows one to sweep stuff, and it will suck it up. Not sure how this will work, but giving it a try.



The cabinets are about "99%" complete, according to Igor. Looks just about there. Handles are still to be finalized (but a couple options are picked out), and the kitchen island and sink counter top need to be installed.




The mini-bar looks pretty cool.




The basement cabinet was modified to fit without blocking the two top recessed lights above. This is the only cabinet that has a "step."



The faucets, lighting, and handles have all been picked out. Today a bidder on the railings for the outside (and inside main staircase) came over. Things are moving along again.

Front Steps, Garage Door, Finished Trim and Doors, Delivered Hardwood Flooring, Tile and Cabinets

The hardwood floors were delivered yesterday.





The cabinets are very close to being completed. Here are some updated pictures.






Most of the tile is laid and some of it (in the bathrooms) are grouted. Pavel is an excellent tiler.







The garage door was installed a few days ago. It is very nice looking, and expensive. It has a side mounted motor.



The glass panels were suppose to be sand blasted, or whatever the non-clear version is; I don't know when this will be replaced.



It is somewhat difficult to see from this picture, but the metal trim is black. Pretty cool fire-door type of garage door.



Geoff poured the steps from the driveway to the first landing. They look very nice and finished off very neat.