7/29/09 - Painters are back!

The painters are hard at work with trim filling, painting and what appears to be sanding (for a smooth finish).

The banister is looking great! Better than we could have hoped for. Same with the fireplace. Just amazing how it starts coming together when the painting happens!

7/27/09 - Wally

So, in a sad twist of "I didn't think of that," we are ending up with a retaining wall on the narrow side of our lot, constricting passage to about 28". Sadly, if you change the grade (regardless of if you're up or down grade), you get to build the retention system. It's fair, but damn - had I realized we were going to loose 12", I would have had the house footprint moved 12" in the other direction. Too late now! The good news is that the fence will be on the neighbors property line. The bad news is that it's on the neighbors lot and we're paying to have it built. It's a strange compromise. Technically, the fence should sit right on the property line, BUT, that would mean attaching it to the retaining wall. This way, we get the maximum use of our property line (and a nifty seat retaining wall we can sit on). I've specified a "good neighbor" fence (where the vertical fence board alternate sides of the posts).

The interior trim has been caulked and nail holes filled (something the old house lacked!) The backsplash in the kitchen is mostly done. They will come back at some point and continue it up to the level of the vent hood we're having installed so it doesn't look funny.

Our front door arrived. I had picked it out the day I signed papers. It's red on the other side. Since the contractor already had it and was going to pitch it (another owner didn't want it and had paid for it already), we struck a deal to take it and in exchange increase the budget on the back door for the french doors. Nice!

7/24/09 - Concrete, Finish and Interior Doors!!

The concrete has been poured for the sidewalk, driveway and landing pads for the two sets of stairs. The concrete guys did a great job - I'm really impressed. We immediately carved our initials into a discrete corner of the nearly set-up concrete. :)

The trim work and doors are installed! These turned our BETTER than we had hoped for. Betsy got very excited when she saw the installation. It's pretty dang amazing. I'm particularly taken by the upstairs hallway, as it reminds me quite a bit of my grandfathers old place down on the banks of the Willamette river.

While it's a little hard to see right now, the mantle and hearth of the fireplace are starting to shape up. I really like how the mantle turned out in particular. It feels very old-fashioned. Very nice.

The base trim is quite nice, too! It gives the house some much needed character. In a few years, Betsy and I may install some crown molding.

All the shelving has been installed in the walk-in closet and is looking fabulous. The whole closet - walls, ceiling and shelving will all be painted white.

The stair railing and banister were also installed. These will be painted white like the trim.

We also picked out light fixtures and appliances. That was a lot of work. There are so many choices. In the end we went with traditional fixtures that are very "old Portland" in character. We were careful to select coordinating fixtures only where necessary. Most fixtures don't necessarily match, giving the house a more varied feel.

There is some sidewalk on the side that the city has decided needs to be repaired/replaced. I'm not entirely sure how the contractor is going to deal with this, but I suspect it's just a matter of fixing some broken concrete.

7/20/09 - Don't blink! You'll miss something!

We took a few days off of updates and lots has happened!

The gravel for the sidewalk was delivered and spread out. The excavator was back to level and grade the driveway, side yard and back yard. The back yard is more difficult than we anticipated. There is a huge tree back there that we can't disturb the 'drip line' around. As a result, there's currently a big ledge that the excavator carved out when he realized he was hitting roots. This may be the part of the project that I have the most difficulty with.

The counters in the kitchen are moving along. The contractor tells me that they will be able to finish these soon, once the finishers come through and install the casing around the window (the back-splash will butt right against this).

Interior doors have arrived. They're sitting in the family room at the moment waiting to be installed. We're really liking our choice on these. They look phenomenal - kind of an old-Portland/Farmhouse look.

The floor tiling has been completely grouted in the bathrooms and utility room.

The master shower is looking amazing - there's not much left to do. The sub has done an amazing job putting together the whole thing. We had forgotten about the recess for the soap, but were quite pleased when it showed up. What a great touch!

Finish materials have arrived and are stacked in the garage, waiting to be installed.

Last, I came by on the 21st (I think) and took a picture of freshly graded driveway with the forms setup and ready for concrete.

7/17/09 - Flooring done, Tile almost there!

The water meter is FINALLY in and connected to the house. That only took a millennium! That's the city for ya'!

The flooring downstairs is complete! It looks amazing. The tile shower in the master bath is looking great, too!

7/16/09 - Progressing nicely...

The water meter still isn't in, but the city has cut some holes in the asphalt where they are going to excavate and locate a main to tap into, as well as where our meter will go.

Today was the first day we braved putting our truck in the driveway - just to see how it looks. :)

The counters in the kitchen have been started and the flooring is nearly complete. The contractor has been putting down a protective cardboard layer over the flooring to keep it from getting dinged up as construction continues.

It's funny - every day there is a new pile of refuse and materials in the garage. I think that's how you know construction is moving along at a nice clip.

7/15/09 - Floor!

Some significant progress, as usual. The flooring downstairs started to go in. I can't tell you how pleased I am with our selection of this floor. It's an engineered floor, meaning it's built up like plywood and has real stain. The grain patterns are pretty neat and the bevel edges between 'planks'.

The tile guys have done some more work on the back-splashes in the bathrooms and utility rooms, too.

7/9/09 - Cabinets, tile and PAINT!

In 8 days, lots has happened!

The cabinets in the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room are in. These really turned out well and make a nice contrast, particularly in the kitchen.

The paint is up (most of it - there's a bit of touchup to do, but that's to be expected!). It looks really good. We're feeling good about our choices.

The counters in the bathrooms and laundry room are done. The kitchen is next, I suspect. It looks like most of the tile and slabs are in, too. The backsplashes should start tomorrow.

Where tile will be going down (bathroom floors, shower), there is hardibacker installed. This is what the tile will actually be grouted to.

Last, the siding guy came by and put the vertical slats on the gables! Yippie!

7/1/09 - Textural

The mudding, taping and texturing is done! Wow. It's pretty amazing what a coat of plaster over everything does to create some solid planes and bring it all together. The Painters have been in to mark off their work.. which starts next week!