Week 24

This week felt like a slow week, but that's what all the books say -- the finishing stage is excruciating, because it goes very slowly. So I guess, then, that we're doing great!

I was at a conference Sunday through Wednesday, so we're skipping straight ahead to what I found on Thursday.


The upstairs trim is now done:

There are exciting looking measurements and sketches written on the wall where the countertop will go:

And a surface planer arrived that Mr. Bunkport will use to clean up the wood that we're recycling into the countertop & bathroom furniture:

A large framing board was cut out of the threshold of the bathroom door, leaving nothing further to trip over:

And the backer board for the tile backsplash was installed:

I still don't know why the bathroom was mysteriously boarded up last week. I guess whoever they put in there is finally out of timeout.

Friday

A little more exterior trim was added on Friday:

And they began to clean up that recycled wood:

This tiny stack generated two huge trash cans full of saw dust:

Meanwhile, the rose bush is looking very happy:

Saturday

No guys came to work on Saturday, so I took advantage of the calm & space (& industrial-strength wood glue) to use some scrap wood to make a table top & shelf for this old Ikea rolling hanging file caddy:

And Pickles took advantage of the beautiful weather to practice her best junk yard dog impersonation:

Sunday

No work happened on Sunday either, except I measured things to plan for buying paint & mulch. AJ went to perform taiko drumming at a local street festival (& I just wanted an excuse to post this picture of her doing it):

They were fantastic!

Also, I want to add that last night at 3:20am, we had our biggest earthquake since the 1989 one that collapsed the Bay Bridge. I am very happy to say that everything is absolutely fine, thanks to our excellent new framing. Thank you, Mr. Bunkport!

Next up: final patching & priming upstairs & down, finishing the electrical bits, and installing the countertop. We may also do a painting party on labor day weekend...we'll see how close I get to organizing that.

Week 23

Lots of exciting things got done this week. There's still a to-do list a mile long, but we're very close to at least having the kitchen back to normal. In addition to having normal meal preparation again,  this also means that a ton of stuff currently stored in the dining room also gets to return to its rightful home in the kitchen, making life just generally better.


Monday

Sheetrock was finished on Monday. Also, the bottom outside step was replaced and the whole staircase was bolted to the concrete:

Safety Inspector Pickles signed off on the work.

Tuesday

I'm not sure why, but the top step was replaced on Tuesday, and a railing along the landing was replaced.

This also passed Pickles' careful inspection.

The cement was poured for the footers:

The work to level the kitchen floor was done. It's a combination of special board and some kind of concrete-like substance:

Pickles, in her zeal to inspect the work, stepped right where she wasn't supposed to:

Oops.

Wednesday

For some reason, they blocked up the bathroom door on Wednesday:

Not sure what's lurking in there now.

They put most of the interior trim in downstairs:

And started on the trim upstairs:

They also took the forms off the footers for the stairs:

Thursday

Trim downstairs was finished:

And they got most of the way there upstairs:

The supports for the stairs -- which I hit my head on more than once -- were removed:

Stairs back in business!

Meanwhile, Pickles had a particularly good scavenging week:

Lots of fast food wrappers all over the place, & unfortunately, chicken bones. I mostly got things away from her before she could eat them, but she got a couple bones before I saw them. Not good for her, but she seems ok.

Friday

They began installation of the kitchen floor on Friday:

Saturday

They continued it on Saturday:

A few hours' worth of work left on the floor, & essentially we'll have our kitchen & dining room back.

Inspector Pickles, coming in from a tiring walk, took one look at the cool floor & flopped down:

Approved!

Next up: finishing the floor, working on the bathroom, light switches and outlets.

Week 22

Last week I said that the next steps were "sheetrock, installing the tub, & removing the old tile in the kitchen." I'm excited to report that those things all happened this week!


Monday

Sheetrock went up downstairs:

And on the back wall in the garage, making it a firewall:

The bathroom got sheetrock, as well, and the tub was also installed:

The purple sheet rock is moisture-resistant. The spot where there is no sheetrock is where a tile backsplash will be installed. The front part of the platform the tub sits in -- made of wood recycled from other parts of the house -- will be added closer to the finish of the project, when Mr. Bunkport is doing all his fun carpentry work.

The bathroom vent was connected up to the great outdoors:

The electrician also put in the new outlet for the washer & dryer:

One step closer to laundry!

That writing on the wall behind the copper pipe was there when they removed the interior wood to install the pipe. It's someone's subtraction problem -- the way the "2" is formed, it makes me think that it was written by someone from my grandmother's generation. Mr. John Davila, perhaps?

Tuesday

Sheetrock went up in the sun room:

And on the ceiling in the kitchen:

They also ripped up the old tile floor & removed a sleeper floor that had been fitted over the original floor to even out the (extreme) slope:

Wednesday

Sheetrock work continued on Wednesday, & these cement board panels went down in the kitchen:

These are part of the moisture barrier that will protect the wood underneath.

Thursday

The sheetrock passed inspection:

And the guys got right to work taping & mudding over the seams. Here is the bathroom:

The ceiling downstairs, including the soffit for the bathroom fan:

They also finished enclosing the partial walls in the kitchen:

Friday

More progress in the kitchen, including finishing the ceiling:

And they also started setting the back stairs into concrete:

This is one of the concrete blocks that the stairs were resting on before:

This looks much safer:

Meanwhile, the yellow rose bush is in bloom again, despite living in a pile of construction materials and yard tools for months:

Saturday

A very large gentleman came over & spent about 5 hours putting more mud all over the sheetrock & the strips of metal on the corners of the walls. Almost done!

Next up: sheetrock gets finished, tile floor gets installed in the kitchen, and light switches & outlets get installed.

Week 21

More milestones this week!


Monday

Good progress on exterior trim:

And the rough electrical work passed inspection:

Meanwhile, the back neighbor isn't living in his house while it's under construction, & his rose bush is growing out of control, intruding into our yard over the top of the fence. It doesn't really belong here, but it's the only pretty spot in this construction site of a yard, so I've let it be:

Tuesday

Trim completed!

Stairs reattached!

Wednesday

The beginnings of the platform the tub will sit in:

The hardware for the sliding French doors was installed: 

Mr. Bunkport also spent time meeting with some neighbors who are dissatisfied with the way the south wall was rebuilt, explaining to them why it had to be done that way.

Thursday

The rough framing passed inspection, and we got the ok to install the sheetrock:

Friday

Insulation made out of recycled denim started going in:

As well as some standard insulation in the bathroom:

Saturday

They came in on Saturday this week, too, to finish up some odds and ends before the sheetrock goes up, including finishing insulation in the ceiling of the new downstairs room:

And venting the bathroom fan:

Next up: sheetrock, installing the tub, and removing the old tile in the kitchen.