Endless Summer

Well at the suggestion of our friends, Sandra & Juergen, Mary-Lynn & John, in lieu of renaming the blog, summerandautumnrenovation.com, we will just say that we are living in an Endless Summer.
In the mean time, take a look at the gorgeous main floor with painting all done and floor finished. The picture of the outside was taken today (October 17, 2010). The grey `cement' goes on both underneath and overtop of the white styrofoam.

Raindrops keep falling on our heads..

What's wrong with these pictures? The left one, with the hardwood completed under the protective paper, was taken earlier than the one at right. The plumber, unfortunately, did not close off the small hose on the left wall (destined to be a `tea station' -- or `bar', depending on whether you are female or male, respectively). The result was a flood all over the hardwood, which then warped and had to be ripped up again. At the time of writing, we are waiting for new hardwood, since the replacement batch that was sent didn't match exactly.

In the mean time, we can now use the kitchen on the main floor again (woo-hoo!). Slight problem in that the plumber forgot to connect the dishwasher, resulting in a flood -- the indoor rain fell into the downstairs bathroom through the door jamb and the closet ceiling. No permanent harm done (we think) and the dishwasher is now happily connected again.

One Thing leads to Another

The deck, which we thought could be saved, was a little too rickety. Out it goes! Brian, who has been working hard on the renovation, has done a beautiful job on the deck (and plenty of other finishing touches). Today is Thanksgiving, the Sunset Stucco guys are here working, and we have much to be thankful for.

Stucco unstuck!

After many weeks with only plywood on the house, we learned that the original stucco company that had bid on the project was no longer interested in carrying it out. A last minute scramble to find someone else who could do it led to Sunset Stucco (who are awesome and work on weekends even). Check out their rig and the transformation of the house. The house must about R-infinity by the time they finish. Consider the layers on the front from the inside out: drywall, then thick foam insulation, then plywood, then a kind of grey cement layer, then styrofoam, then another layer of grey cement, then (we think but it hasn't happened yet) the layer of colour. Many tiny flecks of styrofoam sprinkle down from above, making it look like it's snowing. There always seems to be someone outside of a window! Well never mind about privacy -- we're thrilled that progress is being made while the weather is still good. The roof railing is up too, except for the glass.

It's an Inside Job

Sept. 24 -- Well it's now officially fall so maybe we should have called this blog renovationfall.blogspot.com! No change to the outside of the house, but the inside is slowly receiving detailed attention. The left picture below is of the main floor looking towards the atrium. This is the dining area, where the white and black checkered floor and mirrored column used to be. What a transformation! On the right is a view of the library in roughly the same direction towards the atrium but one floor up. The dark hardwood had actually already been installed but is covered over by sheets of paper for protection. The trim is in place, the pot lights are installed, and you can see that the painters have started work.

Basement Blues

It's Sept. 12, term starts tomorrow, and we are still living in the basement. This is the point at which it's hard to remember how nice the renovations will look when they are all done. It has now been almost 3 months since they started. The outside of the building looks the same as the last picture in this blog. There has been more interior work, but as the seasons change, we start to worry more about finishing the outside, both for the soundness of the building and for aesthetics. Two nights ago, the metal ramp that we use to prop up the canoe was stolen out of our pick-up while it was parked on the street in front of the house; as a construction site, we are targets. It's hard to keep our living space clean since there is dust everywhere, and it would be nice to have the main kitchen back so that I can stop cooking on a hot plate and we can use the dishwasher again. My fall clothes are in boxes somewhere. Hmm, well as I re-read this, the word 'whiner' comes to mind. Stop it now! Next post will be better -- honest.

Stairway to Heaven

The stairs on the right (east) side of the house are in place now. Take a look at the view from the roof!