Reflecting on Today's Work

I installed the new mirror in the powder room today, and couldn't resist a self-portrait.


Here's the finished product, complete with mirror, hair dryer and pull bars on the cabinet.  I also installed five pull bars in the kitchen and finished the ceiling touch-up paint.






































Our resident Fire Protection Engineer has certified the fire extinguisher that I installed by the stove this afternoon.





























And last, but not least, we installed Sharron's second wall hanging in the dining room.

Clean-up

We have a lot of re-arranging to do with our furniture.  When we started the floor work, we moved the wall unit out of the hallway and into the living room  The plan is to give away the desk in the family room and move the wall unit in its place.  After we sell our no-longer used piano, we'll move one of the sofa pieces in its place.  Sharron has the master plan in mind, and I am here to execute it when the time comes.  So today we cleared out more of the stuff that had been crammed into the living room.  I removed the curtains that Sharron no longer wants and did a lot of dusting to remove spackling dust that had settled on everything.  Had to take a Sudafed to stop my nose from running from the reaction to all the dust.  So, this may not look like progress, but it's getting there.

Living room after today's clean-up

When I went downstairs tonight to grab the above photo, I flipped on the dining room ceiling light - BIG MISTAKE!   The low angle of light immediately revealed several divots in the ceiling.  So, out came the bucket of spackling for one.....last....application!  I'll sand that area again tomorrow and quickly paint it while the scattered daylight obliterates any semblance of a shadow from any remaining surface imperfections.  The touch-up painting WILL be completed on Monday.

Shopping

I did a minor amount of touch-up painting in the powder room and, once again, applied spackling to some spots that still needed "just a little more work", so the ceiling touch-up painting has to wait until tomorrow.  I also ordered an 18-gauge brad gun, which will be a huge help in attaching the 100 feet of quarter round to the baseboards.  This afternoon, Sharron and I went to Great Gatherings in Annapolis Towne Centre and ordered a couple of counter stools, which should arrive within a week.  We look forward to eating meals at the end of the island and watching the birds in the backyard.  I think we are finally finished with purchases to outfit the kitchen.  Well, maybe......

After dinner, Sharron brought in one of our Star Gazer lilies.  Very odoriferous!  

Patches

Dear bloggers, sorry for the one-day lapse in my reporting, but the only thing accomplished yesterday was a bit of sanding.  Today, I applied more spackling on some spots that needed some touch-up.  They are sanded and ready for painting tomorrow.  We also moved the old buffet out of the dining room to clear some much needed space.

Wall patches and cleaned dining room 

Finally, enough room to walk around in the dining area!

 Of course, the living room is a total mess!  But Sharron has been cleaning a lot of it out and storing in the cabinets/shelves.  We will probably store the original dining room table in the basement and bring it upstairs as needed.

Plastic Wood

Took it easy today, doped up on Benadryl to fight off the swelling from a bee sting that I acquired during my Tuesday morning bike ride.  The bee had a head-on collision with my forehead and felt like a bullet.  I was flying down hill and the relative speed of the bee and my forehead was probably at least 30 mph


So, today I went over our new baseboards and filled cracks at the corners and at junction points.  I'll sand them down smooth tomorrow and start painting the various trim pieces.  Here's how it looks before sanding.  It will look a lot better after sanding and painting!

When there's a crack at the odd corners, slap a little plastic wood on them!

I also installed the towel bar in the powder room, after verifying (Google, of course) that the standard height is 48" above the floor.

24-inch Gatco towel bar

Today was the first day in about three weeks that we had useable sinks, so I cooked green beans in butter with salt and garlic, Cornish game hens on the rotisserie, and gravy, flavored by herbs from our garden.  Amanda cooked rice and we grabbed a bottle of Venho Verde and gave it a quick chill-down in the freezer while everything was cooking.  Now that we have use of a dishwasher, we can stop eating microwave meals on paper plates!

Water!

Today, I installed faucets in the powder room and kitchen. What a novelty to have running water in the kitchen again!

Kitchen faucet parts

Kitchen faucet after initial test

Vanity faucet and soap dispenser parts

Vanity sink ready for action

I also installed the garbage disposal and connected the dishwasher water lines.  Flipped on the circuit breakers, and all is working!  We are starting to get back to normal here, but there is still plenty of detail work to wrap up during the next two weeks.

Counter Productivity

Well, the counter top installers arrived at 11am today and had their work cut out for them.  I had cleared out the garage to provide a clear entry point for them, and before long, the first heavy piece of granite was set in place.

Truck with our counter tops on the A-frame in the center

Maneuvering sink counter top in a very tight space

Whew!

Suction cups help with maneuvering, but lose their grip within a few minutes!

Then came the marble top for the vanity

Marble counter top with porcelain under-mount sink and holes for faucet and soap dispenser

The dining room counter top was in three pieces

Initial placement, later integrated with epoxy to blend the seams

Finally came the island counter top, one big, heavy piece of granite that required four strong men to carry it inside.  But first, they had to swing it 180 degrees to get it correctly oriented.

Island counter top on A-frame dolly and wood blocks covered with carpet

Sliding the slab into proper position

12-inch overhang for dining at the island

Meanwhile, the crew discovered that the sink backsplash had an unpolished end, so out to the deck it went for a buffing with 3 different polishing pads.  That portable buffer did a fine job.

Polishing backsplash

The smallest piece is on the cabinet to the left of the oven.

We chose a sink with a corner drain to maximize the useable under-counter space

Island inside corner detail

Completed dining room installation

After dinner, Sharron and Amanda organized more of the drawers.

Where are we going to put all of this stuff?

Olive oil and Balsamic vinegar

We have to let the epoxy set between the granite and counters for 24 hours before working on the plumbing, so I have a temporary reprieve.  Tomorrow, we will finally have running water in the kitchen!