Slow Speed

Our last post was over two months ago. Our progress slowed this summer, because we took a few little trips and had company off and on, plus it was a banner year for the garden, and that took a lot of Sami's time. Plus, Sami is neck deep in a volunteer project for Oliver's school the "Oregon Battle of the Books." A wonderful reading incentive program.

Don did solider on, dealing for almost two months with doors. Counting the screen/storm doors, there are five doors in the kitchen entryway and two in the living room going out to the deck. Most of them had layers and layers of paint. We let a professional remove it by dipping them in chemicals. After that, it wasn't just a matter or repainting them, some of them required extensive work, rebuilding and refinishing. This morning we finally made four new check marks on our tasks list. (don't ask why there are four checks for seven doors, we aren't always good at counting). It is a little hard to see all the work Don put into them, after all a door just looks pretty much like a door, but they are defiantly new and improved. 

This door to the back deck was one we did not have "dipped." Don sanded it inside and out and added new parts to the wood where it was designated. He installed new panes of glass where needed and installed a special closing mechanism to the new storm/screen door he added. The outside of the door was in such bad shape he had to paint it to make it look good. He was able to salvage the wood inside and stain it, to match the wood trim throughout the living room.

 

The four new check marks means that our part of the remodel is now 70% complete!

Crawling

A built-in wine rack and stemware holders are nestled in the recessed shelves.

Summer activities have slowed our progress to a crawl, but we are not stopped all together. Don finished the built-in shelves that go in the peninsula alcove yesterday and Sami has begun to move cookbooks and other things into the space.

Milestone

We passed a milestone on Tuesday. The city inspector visited, and signed off on all of the final inspections. Plus, Corey, our contractor and friend, completed his final task; fitting the oak side on the cabinets below the peninsula and the accompanying quarter-round trim.

His exit means the rest is completely up to us - scary!

After everything else is done, the wood floor will be refinished.

We have had a busy couple of weeks apart from the remodel, so our work has slowed down considerably. But, we are still making progress. Don is building the shelves that go behind the peninsula alcove. The vertical pieces will be a finished oak and the horizontal pieces will be painted black. It is turning out to be a major undertaking.

Don built and fitted all of the pieces together completely. Then, he completely deconstructed the unit and is putting on finishes, one side of one piece at a time. It will probably be another two weeks before they are complete and installed.

After all of the appliances were hooked up Sami was unable to go back down to the basement and cook on the hot plate. Using the new kitchen is such a joy. However, the BIG move-in won't happen until all of the plaster work on the main floor is finished and the dust cleaned up.

The kitchen was done just in time to deal with all of the fruit and vegetables the garden is producing.

Kitchen Launch

The plumber returned on Monday and hooked up the refrigerator, range, dishwasher, and sink. Now we have a fully functioning kitchen! Sami tried everything out by preparing last night's dinner in the beautiful space, using all of the new appliances. It feels like a real luxury to have burners, water, and cold ingredients all within a few steps of each other.

Water leaks around the faucet, chipped Formica, holes worn through the floor... just a distant memory.

We have moved from an all electric range to one with gas burners and a convection oven, even a griddle/grill, plus a computer-operated control system.

Most fun was making a rhubarb pie that was evenly cooked and browned.

We will not actually move into the kitchen and start using it regularly until we are done with the plaster work on the main floor, which will be extensive and a big mess, because we will insulate the living room walls. But it was fun to give everything in the kitchen a test drive. Sami has some learning to do, especially regarding the new range, but the lessons will be fun. Can't wait!

Another PDX Floor

ALL DONE!

The old PDX Airport carpet got a lot of press, but our kitchen floor deserves at least one headline. We had to wait for a week to get the grout color we wanted. Then, yesterday, Don spent all day on his hands and knees "grouting." Now it is finally compete and we really love it.

Final Touches

We thought we should post photos of a few other things on which we have put final touches.Grout has been added to the kitchen back splash tile, and we have purchased a new cast iron bed and ceiling fan for the guest bedroom.

Mural behind the range

Elsewhere on the back splash. Eeeeeeek!

 

Voila!

Laying the Kitchen Floor

For the last three days Don has laid the tile on the kitchen floor, about 130 pieces. About half of them were a custom-made size and shape. It seemed like the smaller the piece, the more time and effort it took to create and fit it into the pattern.