Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Move In Day!

The finishing touch.
Grout in the kitchen. 

Grout in the entry.  The fireplace tile was grouted, as well.
Today, I thought that my job was bucket hauler, but the tile guy said that I was the water girl. That was such a nice thing to say about such a nasty job!


Within a few hours, it was time for my favorite part of any project!
Move in!
Move in the dishwasher.
Move in the stove, all 400 pounds of it!
 
The hook ups are a little difficult to get to.
We spent two hours getting it in place, level, hooked up and the 75# door back on.  I see no need to EVER move it again, but I admit that it was good to clean under the appliances!
And, just look at the final result!


What is this? 
Boxes of hand scraped hickory that need to acclimate.
Our next project incoming!
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Power Outage

Today started off a little rocky.
It was too windy for the hot tub. 
Then, the power went out.
The tile saw must have electricity.  But, my tile guy doesn't give up easily.
He marked all the tiles that needed to be cut and pulled out his battery operated tools with fully charged batteries to use where possible!
  We were without power for about three hours.  So, he prepped all that he could, read a little, we ate lunch and he took a short nap.  Me?  I have totally lost control of my kitchen, so I began to clean and organize other areas.  For instance, under the kitchen and bathroom sinks and the big black cabinet full of food staples.  I didn't think to take a before picture.  It was too scarey, anyway.  But, here is the after:

Ahhh, yes!  It makes me happy to see what we have, to locate the peanut butter, the rock salt and the kosher salt, the popcorn and the taco shells!
Finally, the power was restored and the tile saw was running.
With the tiles chosen and marked, the cutting went quickly.
One tile had to be removed and replaced by this perfectionist.  Things just looked different today.  Maybe there was too much time to inspect.
There, yes, much better.
The entry. 
Tomorrow we will grout, then my favorite part of any project - move in!
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The Tile Setting has begun!


We awoke this morning to find
a couple of inches of new snow
and 12 degrees!

No time for playing in the snow!

Ready?
Set
Tile
The first piece needed two cuts.
But there were very few additional cuts.
The hearth required a center start.
Moving right along...

The kitchen and the hearth nearing completion.
Oh, it is definitely a tylenol pm night!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Tile Correction

We have returned to finish the tile job!

Arriving with the tile and the wood,
we are anxious to see it on the floor here. 
hmmm... perfect!
Tomorrow morning we will begin installing the tile.
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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Warm floors in the frozen mountains!

Overnight, there was freezing fog.
There is a layer of clouds over the valley.
 
Installing the thermostat!
"It's warming up!"
Our work is done for now.
 
But, it is really difficult to leave
the winter beauty of the mountains!
 
 
 

Who flocked these trees?
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Saturday, February 11, 2012

New Floor!

There were just so many things to do first...
transforming the partially divided loft into 2 bedrooms,
adding a bathroom upstairs,
making the attic a bedroom,
dividing the downstairs bathroom to make two bathrooms,
removing the wood burning stove and rocking the fireplace,
the kitchen remodel (times 2),
rebuilding the stairs,
roofing, which brought about a whole new list-
extending the back covered deck,
building the stone patio
and creating a driveway to the back door.
We send a BIG shout out to all friends and family who have helped,
"Thank you!"

Now the time has finally arrived
to replace flooring.
Much prep was done last weekend.

Right after our arrival last night,
Mickey got busy.

He finished the hardy backer.
And unloaded the tile!
Something was not right.
He mulled it over and over.
This morning the problem came to light,
literally.
The tile was wrong.
There are 14 boxes of incorrect (left)
and 1 box of correct (right).
What a sick feeling.


Meanwhile, I had stocked my temporary kitchen.

 

Don't be fooled by the oven.
Aside from the missing 70 pound door
(removed for easier handling),
it is NOT hooked up.
But the toaster oven works great,
along with the crock pot, refrigerator,
coffee maker, outdoor grill, counter top ice maker
and an unused hot plate.
There's just something about a cloth cord
on an antique appliance that makes me a little uneasy.
The microwave and kitchen sink are available occasionally.
What about the dishwasher?
Disabled until the floor is complete.

Below, is the wood flooring that we have chosen.
 
Shown here, with the tile that we chose.

There is plenty of work to do,
 
starting with electrical.
This is the heater for the tile in the kitchen.
 
It's pretty interesting
and will be warm!

Lunch was easy!

This hot ham and cheese sandwich
was compliments of the toaster oven.
Yes, we are old and use a toaster oven!
Please make note that it does offer
convection bake and a cookie setting!
Back to work.
 
 

The heater requires a layer of thin set.

The tile requires a return and a new search.
Apparently, the manufacturer has made a change in the color.
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