The basement project has finally been started! Currently, it is about 1,700 square feet of walk-out basement, broken only by the occasional lally collumn. Thanks to a steel beam, we don't have too many of them. We'll be adding a family room, game room with wet bar (we already have the ping pong table :), wine cellar for Harry's homemade stuff, storage room, guest room, laundry room, and bathroom.
We are mostly starting with the bathroom and laundry room, since they require the most work, and external contractors (plumbers).
We've been getting the materials as we need them, but have all the pulmbing fixtures already. You can see the whirlpool here. We got it, the toilet, bathroom sink, and shower in hunter green.
Here's the floorplan and progress. Pictures of actual work being done will be posted as soon we finish the roll of film and get it developed and scanned.
9/24/99: George finished jackhammering the basement floor and dug out the trenches for the waste pipes.
9/26/99: The plumbers came today and yesterday and laid the waste pipes in the trenches, moved the washer and gas dryer, hooked up the vent lines, and installed the sewage ejector. They guys we have are a Sam, a semi-retired master plumber who also works part time at O'Conner's, his son Mike, also a Master Plumber, and his other son Sam Jr, also a plumber.
9/27/99: The plumbing inspector approved the rough waste and vent lines.
9/30/99: George and Charlie boxed off the areas of the trenches where the shower and jacuzzi drains will be and filled in the rest with sand, then dirt, then cement.
10/1/99: George and Charlie took out the existing basement door (at the upper left corner of the plan) so they could get the shower inside. Then they framed it up, sheathed, and insulated. We'll be adding a sliding glass door a little further down the wall once we pick one out. The other exterior looking door you see (behind the wood-stove hook-up) goes to the garage. They also put up the wall between the wine cellar and utility room.
10/2/99: George and Charlie attached 2x4s and 2x6s to the concrete floor so they can define the bathroom, laundry, and electrical rooms and attach framing.
10/6/99: George and Charlie finished framing the bathroom and electrical room.
10/6/99: We bought American Marazzi "Antica" tile and lights.
10/7/99: George and Charlie started framing the laundry room.
10/12/99: Yesterday and today George and Charlie built frames for the bulkheads in the laundry room to hide the heating ducts and plumbing. They also built the frame for the shelf over the washer and dryer which also hides more plumbing. I think its too bulky, and the machines just barely fit underneath it. I may be tearing it out and re-doing it myself...
10/13/99: George and Charlie insulated and put up a vapor barrier and green board on the back wall of the tub area. They also built the tub platform (plywood only - the cement board will go on after they cut the hole) and front support. We are missing the template for the cutout for the tub, so tomorrow morning we'll call Pearl to get them to FedEx it to us.
10/14/99: No work was done today. George and Charlie were specing out another job. I spent $600 at Home Depot, though. We decided to go with 6"x6" tile for the whirlpool deck and vanity counter, so I got 3 boxes of that, (6) 12" border pieces, and 7 more boxes of the 12"x12". I also bought grout, a laundry tub (the speckled, mid-priced one), and chrome & white towel bars, toilet paper holder, and robe hook, to match the faucets.
10/15/99: George had a little accident this morning. He was hanging window blinds for his wife, lost his balance, and put his hand through the window. He got a few stiches but says he'll be here soon and that he'll mostly supervise Charlie. The plumbers are supposed to come tomorrow morning to install the supply lines, finish hooking up the sewage ejector, and install the shower and whirlpool, so hopefully the whirlpool deck will be done today. The tile needs a day to set before the tub is installed. I suggested moving the plumbers out a week, but George said no, they can get it done. We'll see.
10/15/99: Update: The tiling was not done.
10/16/99: The plumbers came early this morning and were here all day. They installed all the supply lines and lined up the drains for the shower and whirlpool. They also discovered a manufacturing defect in the shower unit. The drain is nice and thick on the back edge, but the front edge is sliver thin, and even chipped a bit. So, Monday we will call the plumbing supply store to get them to exchange it. Since it is a custom color, this will push the installation out about 3 weeks. That will at least give George plenty of time to get the tiling done.
10/17/99: We bought an exterior door, finally. Instead of a slider, we went with a double opening french patio door from Peachtree. It will be nice to move things in and out of the basement through a 6' wide opening!
10/18/99: The plumbing supply store gave the info to the manufacturer. A rep is supposed to call from there to see about getting someone out to either fix or replace it. George and Charlie installed the bathroom fan. It looked really good until I saw that they pushed the duct too hard onto the screened opening to the outside and broke through the screen. George claimed manufacturer's defect. I proved to him that it was not. We'll have to push the duct back through and re-solder the screen back on.
10/19/99: George and Charlie tiled the deck of the whirlpool today. It looked really good until I took a level to it. It ended up that the cement/durabond they were using to adhere the tiles had already started to set somewhat by the time they got to the end, so the tiles were higher than when they started. That left a 1/4" gap around one corner of edge of the tub, where you want a water-tight seal. They agreed that that was way too big a gap, scraped off that last section, and re-did it.
10/21/99: I lost it today. I came home to find that George and Charlie had hung the patio door. The problem is, they're used to installing doors in brick, and we have vinyl siding. So, instead of taking down the siding then cutting the hole, then putting the siding back up, they cut this big, raggedy hole in the side of my house. Then they got caulk and tried to make it all nice and smooth to the edge of the moulding, a big no-no with vinyl siding. Then they put in the expanding foam insulation on the inside and that expanded right *through* the caulk. It looked HORRIBLE! I freaked out, and George doesn't want to come work anymore when I'm home because now he's afraid I'll criticize his work. He said he has to have Harry there. He also hung the door a bit crooked. He blamed "manufacturer's defect" for it. It was amazing, though, how it all straightened out once he re-shimmed it. I told Harry that he can do the stuff he's good at, the framing and drywall, but he is not allowed to do finish work anymore. Anyway, before they left, they took the moulding back off the outside of the door and scraped off the insulation and caulk.
10/22/99: This morning I tried to match up our 10-year-old-manufacturer-unknown vinyl siding, since the only real fix now is to replace it on both sides of the door. I went to a local roofing and siding supply place in Lowell, and they didn't have it. They suggested Harvey Industries in Woburn. I went there and they had the exact match, but they're wholesale to contractors only. Luckily, my father is a roofing and siding contractor in CT. We called him and got his official okey-dokey to use his account to bill the $130 in materials. Now we have to borrow the truck to get it. We also need to get the door lock for that patio door. We took off the other locks in the house to get them all re-keyed (we never did it since moving in, so now's a good chance) so we've been without locks, and even handles, on our outside doors for the past 2 days because of the patio door fiasco taking precidence. Also still no call from the shower manufacturer. I called the plumbing supply place again and they'll call them again and let me know.
10/23/99: I put the locks on the 3 exterior doors last night. The plumbing supply place called this morning and the shower manufacturer should be calling "sometime next week." We also picked up 3 pieces of vinyl J-trim. George says he can fix it without us having to buy new siding. We'll see.
10/27/99: It took George and Charlie 2 days to fix the doorway. In the end, I did have to buy some siding. For most of the doorframe, they managed to mask the mistake by adding the J-trim. In a few places, though, they cut too far away from the door and the J-trim wouldn't cover it. So, they took off all the siding and re-cut and hung it. Unfortunately, they mixed the old and the new siding in the same rows and there is a slight difference in their profiles. Also, they did not know that with vinyl siding, you don't drive the nails all the way like with wood, so they deformed the siding.
10/28/99: They put in the window today and did it correctly!! They took off the siding first, cut it to fit, and put it back without driving the nails all the way. You can't tell that the window wasn't always there. Unfortunately, it makes the botch job next to the door even worse looking in comparison. I can probably live with the doorway as it is until we build the garage which might be next year.
10/29/99: Charlie went back to Canada today.
11/1/99: George got another job to earn some "Christmas Money" so will be over maybe one day per week for a while.
11/3/99: The repair guy from the plumbing supply store called 2 days ago, finally. I described the problem to him and he agreed that they need to order us a new one. He wasn't too sympathetic to hearing me bitch about having to wait 2 weeks for him to call us. He said that the plumbing supply place would be calling us. So far, they haven't. They're already closed for the night so I'll try them tomorrow.
11/9/99: The plumbing supply place said the repair guy never called them but they came and picked up the shower this morning. They said they should have it back to us by the end of the week.
11/13/99: I tiled the backspash of the tub! One corner came out gorgeous, and the other came out just ok as far as pattern matching goes, but I am thoroughly pleased. I'll grout on Monday. George did a bit of framing to the electrical room and we saw that the walls don't line up by about 1/2", from one side of the tub to the other. So he'll have to do a bit of adjusting of something so both sides of the tub look even. The plumbing supply store called to tell us that the shower has been re-ordered.
11/14/99: Today I grouted. The variation in the boldness of the colors in the tiles makes it look like I did a lousy job of getting the haze off, but I don't think I did. We'll have to do something with the paint job above the tiles to carry that variation, so it won't look funny. I can't believe how dark the colors are on some of the tiles compared to others.
11/20/99: George and Harry set the tub. They put shims under the lip so that the tub will sit on the base and not the rim, then will caulk the 1/8" gap. We hope that this will lessen the vibration noise you normally get when the whirlpool is on. They also put plastic over the wet cement before they set the tub into it so that we can remove the tub if we ever need to, but it will still provide a firm and contoured base.
12/4/99: George came today and framed half of the back wall of the bedroom, but badly.
12/10/99: I'm finally sick of George, so I bought an air framing nailer, and my friend Blaine and I started framing. We got the rest of the back bedroom wall done after work.
12/11/99: Blaine and I framed around the storage/utility room, up till the doorway.
12/12/99: Blaine and I put in the doorway, took it apart twice (I suck at math), and built the closet doorway.
12/13/99: Blaine and I put in the closet doorway and installed fire blocks around the storage/utility room. I also started taking down the drywall of the stairwell so we can open that up. I pulled off the framing George had done on the back wall of the bedroom, and we put it back up straight.
12/14/99: The shower arrived today!!!
12/15/99: Blaine pretty much finished the framing!!! He did the long, interior wall of the bedroom, with room for built-in bookcases, and a door, and fixed what George had done over the washer and dryer. All that's left is the doorway from the bedroom into the bathroom (we had to take it apart to get the shower out), and some plywood for the ledge in the bedroom. After that he will start drilling for and running the electrical for Harry to hook up.
12/16/99: The framing is done! Blaine went home.
12/19/99: The plumbers were here today and hooked up the whirlpool and shower.
12/22/99: Blaine came back today and found that George had made all the doorframes 1" too short. So, he cut and raised some of them. Harry and Blaine picked up the 10 doors and some drywall.
12/23/99: Harry did the electrical plan. Blaine cut the plywood for the bedroom wall shelf, raised the rest of the doorframes, and hung a bit of drywall around where a few of the doors will go. Since they have the attached moulding, the drywall needs to be in place on at least the attached side.
5/11/00: Wow, I haven't updated this page in a long time! Not much has changed. The framing is done, as is most of the electrical for the bathroom only. Harry needs to do the rest of the electrical before we can get anything inspected, which we need to do before starting to close up any walls. Hopefully he'll have time to do it soon!
9/11/00: I got tired of waiting for Harry to do the electrical, so I got quotes and hired an electrician,Keith! He started today, and will work a few hours a week to get it done, as a side job.
10/31/00: The rough electrical is done and the inspector signed off on it yesterday. Today and tomorrow I hope to do all the insulation so we can get the framing and insulation signed off on too. We hired a company called At A Moment's Notice to do the majority of the work remaining. They hope to start the drywall in less than a week. The main guy I'll be dealing with is Peter.
11/3/00: The Building Inspector was here today and signed off on the framing and insulation. Next inspection will be when the drywall is up. The electrician called and will come out either tomorrow or Monday afternoon to take out the old lights and switches that won't be part of the finished plan.
11/9/00: The blueboard and plaster guys came today. They used up all 50 sheets of blueboard they had brought, and estimate that they'll need another 35-40 sheets to finish. They plastered about 3/4 of what they put up. It turns out that we need a carpenter to come in to do a few more things before they can finish anyway. That will take a few days to line up. The inspector came and signed off on the blueboard, so the next inspections will be the finish ones.
11/10/00: The electrician came back tonight, with his eldest son, to do the few remaining wall outlets. The lights that will be taken out he won't do until the ceiling is ready to go up, so that there will be light down there in the meantime.
1/3/01: The carpenter, Georgie, finally came today and finished everything needed for the plaster guys to do their stuff! I also cut the wood for him for the built-in bookshelves and he installed them since the pregnancy is messing with my coordination and hand strength - I keep missing the nails with the hammer.
1/13/01: It took a while for the plasterers to finish their job to come back here but they finally did today. They got about 3/4 of the basement done now and will be back on Monday. They even left their tools here as proof. :) These guys remind me of Bevis and Butthead. All day long I can hear them laughing like them through the floor while I paint the baby's room. They're amusing, and are nice guys too.
1/15/01: The plasterers did come back today! And they *almost* finished.
1/16/01: Today the plasterers did finish! Well, they missed the closet ceilings and made a few mistakes, but they can come back for those later.
1/17/01: We picked out ceiling tiles for the areas which will have drop ceilings - the bedroom, laundry, and game rooms, and the Pergo flooring which will go in the game room and down the "hall."
1/19/01: We're going to have a full house today! The ceiling guys are here. I don't like them. The main guy reminds me of Harry's friend George (not the comapny's carpenter Georgie). Oh well, they're only here for a day or two. He got off on the wrong foot when he rang the bell at 7:45am to ask if it was the right house. I guess the building permit hanging next to the doorbell he rang, all his materials outside and the unlocked basement door weren't enough proof for him. We have to wait for Peter or one of his main guys, Brian, and Georgie to show up to make some decisions about what *can* be done because the ceiling guys are bitching about everything. The heating guys are also here, and the mason is supposed to show up too.
The ceiling guys only did the bedroom and will be back on Tuesday. The heating guys ran most of the ductwork except for the trunk and tying it in to the furnace, which they'll do on Monday. Cliff, the mason, didn't show up; his son is sick. Maybe on Monday. I didn't like how the box around some of the ductwork came out, so when Peter came over, he took out his frustrations on it and ripped it down. They'll re-do it a different way on Monday. The carpenter was busy all day and will be back on Monday to finish up boxing in some other things too, like the trunks of the heating ducts.
1/20/01: We went to Home Depot and picked out the vinyl flooring for the laundry room, and carpeting for the bedroom and family room.
1/22/01: The heating guys showed up first thing in the morning and were here most of the day. The stone also arrived. Here are some pictures of the truck getting stuck, the mason trying to use his pickup truck to help, and the stone being lifted off the truck! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Brian was here and did enough of the boxing in for the ceiling guys to finish their job.
1/23/01: The heating guys finished in the morning. They even installed the vent in the master bathroom that I've wanted ever since we moved in. Now I can close my closet door and still have heat in the bathroom! The mason also arranged for different stone to be delivered tonight, instead of what was delivered yesterday. The stuff from yesterday is ok, but isn't a very good match to the stone fireplace upstairs. Hopefully this new stone will be closer. He didn't figure one of the walls into the quote, so will have to do that. Also order more stone... The ceiling guys were supposed to come today and didn't. The new stone arrived. This time the truck didn't get stuck! 1, 2, 3.
The electrician and a friend came out tonight and put in some of the switches and outlets. They're still not attached at the panel though. He also found that 3 or 4 boxes are buried. Since the wire was run in the walls for a few of them we'll have to take a guess at where they are.
1/24/01: The mason, Cliff, and his assistant, Plinio, were here today and started the wood stove surround.
1/25/01: Cliff and Plinio were here again today.
1/26/01: And again today... It looks like a real wall!
1/27/01: And today! Today they did the "roof" of the surround. Its really looking nice now.
1/29/01: Cliff and Plinio were here and also brought 2 helpers to move stuff out of the basement and into the garage so that the floors can be done. I can't believe how big it looks down there with all the stuff gone! Mittens is a bit upset that all his prime sleeping spots are now gone.
1/30/01: The ceiling guys were supposed to be here this morning and weren't. Cliff and Plinio were here, as was the head carpenter, Andy, who is doing the drywall ceilings at the moment - the places the plasterers either forgot or didn't know about. Peter's father, Johnny, is a painter and came by to look at the space and will give me quote for painting, since my OB said I can't do it. Cliff is cute, he keeps worrying about me with my rapidly expanding belly slipping on the sheet of ice we call a driveway so puts down sand for me.
1/31/01: The nicer of the ceiling guys came alone this morning and got the rest of the drop ceilings done. He got more done in the same amount of time that he and his 'boss' got done together the other day. The heating guys stopped by to see if its time yet to hook up the ducts. It isn't quite. Cliff and Plinio look like they're almost done with the surround!
The carpenter, Andy, worked on boxing in the ducts and on the cat run. Andy was very insistant on using drywall under the glued-on carpet for the cat run, and installed part of that drywall. I think that's a really stupid idea, so am going to have him change it to plywood. If a cat ever has an accident or we want to steam clean the carpet, the whole thing will be ruined.
2/1/01: It turned out that part of the stone was bulging out a bit on one side, so Cliff and Plinio spent most of the day fixing it. Some of the stone they removed and re-set and some they ground. The ground part looks kind of funny. I mentioned that it would look better if they chipped at it a bit to make it rough and blend in better. They haven't done it yet, but they're also not totally done.
2/2/01: Cliff and Plinio almost finished the surround today! They finished the walls (here's the last stone being set), set the underneath of the limestone base: 1, 2, 3, 4, installed the limestone base, and pointed most of the walls. One of the heating guys came over and installed the duct in the laundry room now that the ceiling is up.
2/5/01: Cliff and Plinio came a little earlier today so they could finish pointing before the snow storm hit. We got about 16" of snow here!
2/8/01: The floor guys were supposed to start today but didn't show up.
2/9/01: Same deal as yesterday. Evidently they are still finishing a job in Boston. I talked to Peter, as the basement will obviously not be finished by mid-February as promised, and warned him that I'm getting a whole lot more hormonal now as I am at the end of week 32 of my pregnancy. He said that the floor guys and carpenters will definitely be working here in the upcoming week and things should be a whole lot more done by Friday 2/16. His father's painting quote was good, so we'll be going with him instead of waiting for a few months after I deliver for me to be able to paint again.
2/12/01: After letting the cement set, Plinio came over alone today to acid wash the stone. The floor guys didn't show up again.
2/13/01: The floor guys finally showed up! Peter went with them to Home Depot to pick up the flooring, and it looks like it will be a while. The pergo came in but was wrong so needs to be re-ordered, the carpet still hasn't arrived, and the vinyl was supposed to be in stock, and is in another color, but not the one we want, so needs to be ordered too. So today they're putting down the Dry-Lok in the bathroom, family, laundry, and game rooms.
2/14/01: The floor guys were supposed to be here in the morning to put on the second coat of Dry-Lok, go away for a few hours to let it dry then come back to start the tile, but only showed up in the afternoon, put on the second coat, left, and never came back, saying they had another job.
2/15/01: The floor guys came this morning and laid the floor tile in the bathroom and the linen closet. The pattern looks really nice. The tiles aren't leveled, but it might be ok because of the rough type of tile we chose. If they were smooth, shiny tiles, it would need to be redone as there are lots of high and low corners. We'll see how it looks once its grouted.
2/16/01: The floor guys did the floor in the electrical room with the leftover tile. They did the inverse pattern of the rest of the floor, so it looks pretty neat. We have 3 full tiles left over of both colors to keep as spares, so it worked out perfectly! I went to get the bathroom vanity this morning so that once the floor is grouted, they can install the cabinet and do the tile counter top. Andy also came this morning and put more strapping on the ceiling where the shiplap will go. Johnny arrived with the wood, but it was barn siding, not shiplap, so he had to take it back. He also brought the vinyl with him, which the floor guys are supposed to install tomorrow. I also talked to Andy about the cat run and he'll put plywood over the drywall he already installed since that will be easier. I disconnected the washer and dryer so they can move them out of the laundry room to install the vinyl.
2/18/01: The floor guys were supposed to be here to install the vinyl but didn't show up. I also called to complain to Peter that it seems like we're really low priority here. The job was supposed to be finished by now. There were supposed to be guys other than the mason and floor guys these past few weeks, working on the trim, patching the drywall, and all sorts of other jobs, and they're always promised somewhere else.
2/19/01: Looks like we'll be getting a lot done today! Andy was supposed to be starting another job today but since its President's Day they couldn't get the permit, so he was here bright and early. Since he wasn't supposed to be here to do the ceiling for a few days, I told the electrician when he called back last night that it was ok if he didn't come till Wednesday. Unfortunately, that now presents a problem. So, Peter sent in his own electrician, Ritchie, to take care of the wood ceiling parts of the electrical so that Andy can start the shiplap. Brian, Johnny, and Georgie, brought the wood, and Andy got about 2/3 of the shiplap of the wood ceiling done! We still need to figure out what to do about the fake beams. Andy wants to make them, but Peter wants to buy Douglas Fir.
I was told that the floor guys will be here Wednesday, along with the carpet. Georgie hung the doors for the electrical room and linen closet, and started to trim out the windows. Brian and Georgie also took the garbage away!! Yea!! Peter stopped by to check up on things and make sure I was happy. Harry and I went to get the lights for the game room, the laundry room, and outdoor lights for Keith to install on Wednesday and all the locksets/levers too.
2/20/01: Georgie was here first thing this morning and hung the wine cellar door, installed the levers on the 3 hung doors, finished trimming out the window he started yesterday, and finished another one too. On the third window, the inside trim is missing! It seems that when sucky George moved the window, he never re-installed the special trim that hides the hardware and has the slots for the screens to fit into. Since it would be extremely difficult to make, Peter is going to try to order the trim from Anderson Windows. Brian was also here helping Georgie do the drywall, and he started installing the pipe for the central vac. He also had to move a bit of the existing pipe so Georgie could put in some drywall. They got part of the duct drywalled, and got a first coat of mud on everything. And surprise of surprises, Andy showed up in the afternoon to work on the wood ceiling! He had a very difficult time scribing the wood to go around the stones! Home Depot didn't have black track lights in stock, so I went to some other stores today. They're more than twice as much at those other stores! So either I'll either buy white ones from Home Depot or order the black ones from them.
2/21/01: Andy was back again this morning and finished the shiplap part of the wood ceiling! He is going to make the beams out of laminated 2x4s. We looked at Douglas Fir beams and didn't like them, and he thinks this is what they did upstairs, which we're trying to emulate. He also got the cat run all ready to be carpeted: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Georgie finished boxing in the ducts, and worked on drywall mud and tape and plaster patching: 1, 2, 3. I asked him to use drywall tape in some places that he wasn't and we felt he should, like in the half-assed patching job between the corner bead and drywall. Also to tape in the corners where the plaster and drywall meet instead of running the tape only as a butt joint against the plaster.
2/22/01: Georgie was alone today, and just for the afternoon. He put the second coat of mud on the drywall. The floor guys were supposed to show up but didn't. Brian drove to some far-away warehouse to pick up the carpet because it would take another week to get to Home Depot from there. I also heard that Johnny was able to get the window trim from a local supplier.
2/23/01: I was out until about 1:30 and when I came back I found Andy here putting up some of the finish trim board on the ends of the wood ceiling. He is going to manufacture the beams offsite. The floor guys had also just arrived a few minutes before me. They unloaded the track lighting (we bought white) and tile from my car. We decided to put tile right in front of the double doors. It might look a bit cheesy, but it will be practical. At least not as cheap looking as using vinyl there... I got the same tiles as in the bathroom, since they're low slip, but in a slight pink color, instead of the beige and green in the bathroom. I also bought new backsplash tiles for the vanity since we didn't have enough for the whole backsplash and I wanted them to match. Those trim pieces have all 3 tile colors in them. So, I'll return the older ones. Georgie put another coat of mud on the drywall. There are a few bulges left, so we'll see how it looks after its sanded. The floor guys grouted the bathroom floor and put some cement down in the laundry room to level the floor. They ran out halfway through. Brian helped the floor guys clear out some of the stuff from the bedroom.
2/24/01: The floor guys said they'd be here at 8, and didn't show up. Georgie was supposed to be here to put up drywall in the closets which the plasterers forgot, but didn't show up. Keith was also supposed to come over and install some lights and switches so we can all see down there, since the other electrician got rid of the light switch for the old lights a few days ago, and didn't.
2/25/01: Keith came by and installed the tracks for the track lighting in the livingroom, and the ceiling light inside the fan of the bathroom.
2/26/01: We were in Montreal today so no work was done in the house, but we found some great lights! They're dining room lights, but are so nice that we bought 4 of the #1853 and will use them in the family room in the basement. I don't know if we'll use them in addition to or instead of the track lighting. We'll see how mad Keith is at us. :)
2/27/01: The floor guys finished adding the leveling cement to the laundry room and also to a corner of the bedroom.
2/28/01: Brian brought the Pergo and it needs to acclimate in the basement for 48 hrs. The floor guys didn't show up until 4:15! They finished scraping the leveling cement to make it as smooth as possible for the vinyl, laid the vinyl, and hooked the washer and dryer back up for me.
3/1/01: Today was a very good day! The floor guys actually arrived at about 9:30. They took the 6lb pad they had brought with them the other day and exchanged it for the 8lb pad I wanted. They installed the vanity cabinet, and we found a bit of damage on it. They said that Johnny is really good at touching up stuff like that, so to ask him to do it when he's doing the polyurethane on the wood trim. I also found that the cabinet came with knobs! They match the door levers fairly well, so I'll return the ones we got from the depot. Since the tiles weren't leveled when installed, the gap under the cabinet wasn't the same, so they sanded the cabinet base to match. They finished the second coat of dryloc in the bedroom, put down some floor crack filler where needed, installed the pad: 1, 2, and started to install the carpet: 1, 2, 3. Its very stiff, so they need to bring their stretcher tomorrow. They also did a bunch of tile work! They got the tile done in front of the double door: 1, 2, and also the counter and backsplash of the vanity. They made sure to level the floor tiles this time! The tiles for the counter were so different in size and thickness that they didn't bother trying to level them and I don't blame them!
The wood stove arrived and was installed! Here are some pictures of how it went: 1, 2, 3, 4.
3/2/01: They carpeted the bedroom today, with the big stretcher! Also grouted the tile in front of the double doors.
3/3/01: We got some Pergo down! They got about half of the main section done: 1, 2.
3/4/01: Today they finished the main section of Pergo and got a little bit down the "hall": 1, 2, 3.
3/5/01: I've started the 9th month of pregnancy. The race is on to see if the basement will be done before the baby arrives! Today they finished the hallway Pergo except for the threshholds.
3/6/01: We had a blizzard today! We got about 2.5 feet of snow, so nobody came to work, of course! Peter and Barbara did stop by, though, to see how things were going.
3/7/01: Georgie was here first thing and found that the mirrored bifold and sliding doors for the closets are too tall, and whined incessantly about the snow clearing job on the streets around here, and everything else that crossed his mind. He's finishing installing the window trim, and doors, and drywalling the ceiling closets that the plasterers forgot. I special ordered the mirrored bifold and sliding doors from Home Depot, but Georgie can trim them out in the meantime, so that painting next week won't be held up for the approx 21 days it'll take for them to arrive. One of the openings was 39.5" wide but the door would have cost $205 instead of $131 for 36" wide, so Georgie will frame it in a little narrower than he planned. Today he managed to get the 2 closet ceilings drywalled, the door between the bedroom and bathroom hung, the bedroom closet for the mirrored sliding door framed, and the 2 windows in the bedroom framed for the most part. He needs a bit of a different moulding for the base of one of the windows, since the base of it is almost like a shelf. The floor guys also showed up about 9 and finished the most of the threshholds and laid the tack strips and pad for the family room carpet:1, 2. Johnny also came by to check on things and see when he can start painting. Looks like I might need to get another gallon or two of paint, but that's no biggie.
3/8/01: We forgot the section of ceiling right at the base of the stairs, next to the workshop door! Georgie will start to plaster it this morning to match the walls in that area. He also made the central vac closet rough opening narrower so it will fit the mirrored bifold door I ordered, drywalled the side of it, and hung the bedroom, laundry room, and half of the bathroom doors. Johnny brought the mouldings and some other supplies. He brought carpet samples of remnants they have, for the cat run, but we don't like either of them. So I'll go to Home Depot and pick up a roll of something in the next few days. The floor guys installed the rest of the threshholds, and laid the carpet in the family room: 1, 2. I didn't like how it came out next to the stones, as there's a rather long depression before the carpet ends, so he re-did it.
3/9/01: Georgie finished hanging the rest of the doors. Brian was also here, for about an hour, before returning to his sick bed. He started the trim in the bathroom. Georgie added that section of ceiling and didn't notice that it was out of level both from side-to-side and frint-to-back. I asked him to re-do it.
3/12/01: The painters were here! Johnny arrived with 2 helpers - his son-in-law, Elias, and a friend, and they put the first coat of polyurethane on about half of the woodwork. Keith also came over in the afternoon and powered up the track lights. We also found that we can't put in 1 of the laundry room lights where we wanted to because the ceiling guys made all the ceiling tiles in the lower area centered, so are not full size. We can still put one, or both, in the higher section, but there will be some nasty shadows now. Also, we can't put a recessed light above the bar because of the framing, so I'll buy another track light kit for there. Peter's electrician was supposed to come over and wire the jacuzzi since Peter was the one who ripped out the wiring, but he didn't show. I also reminded Peter that we're still waiting for Cliff to come by and drill the hole in the surround for the cord of the blower for the wood stove to go through. Georgie re-did the ceiling section and its not flush with the rest of the wall, but won't be overly noticeable.
3/13/01: The painters continued to put on the first coat of polyurethane. The company's electrician also came and wired the outlets for the jacuzzi for me! Now if I go into labor early, I'm all set! He also found the 2 boxes the plasterers had buried. Keith was supposed to come by but remembered that it was his wife's birthday. I went to Home Depot and bought commercial level-loop carpeting for the cat run and pole, and the track lighting kit for over the bar. The floor guys were here installing the last bit of carpet in the central vac closet and said they'd be here when I got back, to install the carpet on the cat run today, but weren't.
3/14/01: The painters continued with the polyurethane. Keith and a helper came by and installed one of the bedroom lights, and figured out some of the switches for the bathroom lights.
3/19/01: Johnny started caulking the crack between the masonry and wood ceiling and it looked better without it, so he took it out. He also caulked around the door and window trim with phenoseal and kept just the minimum on there, which will give him nice, straight lines when painting. Georgie and a new helper, Rob, did trim work. They got almost all of the baseboard done, and also the finish trim around the bookcases, and the some of the trim for the special window in the bedroom. Georgie also put on some texture over the drywall ceiling outside the shop door, to match the rest of that area. Cliff came by and drilled the hole for the plug of the blower, and roughed up the stones he had ground. Johnny finished the final coat of ployurethane on the wood ceiling.
3/20/01: I went down the basement this morning to ask Georgie to add some more moulding under the bookcase trim since it looked incomplete the way we had discussed it, and found that he had already done it! Elias said that they should be polyurethaning today and tomorrow then painting from Thursday on. Georgie got half of the hard pine stair treads and risers done, and the maple edge for the bathroom counter so that it can be grouted. He also did the maple edge on the tub, but I don't like how it came out. We'll see what he can do to fix it tomorrow. Johnny and Elia got most of the polyurethaning done. Brian finally put in most of the central vac (he needs to buy a wall plate), and Ricky put together the cabinets for the laundry room.
3/21/01: They forgot about the wine cellar door when polyurethaning, so will do that. Georgie got all the treads and risers done. Unfortunately, the wood he got for the risers wasn't wide enough, so he has to fill in 3/4" square holes. He spent a long time on the skirting and still couldn't get it right. He also didn't line up the treads and risers exactly. Half-assed job.... Here's how it went: 1, 2, 3, 4. We decided that we can get away without the skirting, but Peter didn't agree, so he came and took off all the treads and risers, moved the stringers away from the walls, traced for the skirting, and told Georgie how to continue in the morning. Georgie also installed the non-moveable cabinets in the laundry room. The cabinet next to the dryer will need to be removeable so that we can get to the back of the dryer when we need to. Maybe we'll put it on casters, but that can wait. Georgie also rounded the maple edge of the tub better, and Elias polyurethaned it and the edge of the counter. Elias also got the final coat of polyurethane on almost everything else.
3/22/01: Johnny and Elias primed everything except the bedroom, laundry room, and stairwell today. Georgie finished the stairs, including the skirts but not including the moulding or railing, and attached the toekicks and counters to the cabinets in the laundry room. Some of the end pieces of the counters and toekicks he needs to re-glue. He also cut the corner of one of the counters a bit short, but it won't be overly noticable once he re-glues the edge pieces better. I asked Georgie to add some trim to the edge of the decorative tile on the backsplash of the tub. He added these square blocks that look horrible. I'll show them to Johnny tomorrow. He also hasn't finished nailing the maple edge of the tub. The more I see of his work, the more disappointed I am with him. He needs to do a lot of things twice, and doesn't even notice a lot of mistakes until they're pointed out to him. What is it with me and contractors named George?
3/23/01: Because of the flooding last night in some of the Boston suburbs, the guys were helping people drain their basements all night. Johnny and Elias came this morning a little late because the way they usually come was closed due to flooding and they had to find a different way around. They got all the ceilings finish painted, 1 coat of finish paint on the bathroom walls, and the laundry room and stairwell primed. Carl came by and grouted the counter.
3/24/01: The plumber was here and installed the bathroom sink, toilet, and shower head: 1, 2, 3. He also added the shut-off valves for the laundry and bar sinks. The laundry room needs to be finish painted before he installs the laundry sink, and we haven't even bought bar cabinets or the sink yet. Carl also came by and grouted the backsplash of the bathroom sink. He tried to put up the carpet for the cat run with contact cement but it wouldn't work. Hopefully he'll be coming back on Monday with an electric carpet tacker.
3/25/01: We found out that the gas pipe snapped off the dryer from being moved around so much. Peter says he'll fix it.
3/26/01: Johnny was here alone today. He didn't like how some of the walls weren't perfectly smooth, so went around with a 300 watt light and spackle. Even in the bathroom, which already had the first coat of finish paint. Keith came tonight and installed the closet lights, the track light for the built-in cabinets, and the outlet and 3-way switch in the bathroom. Hopefully he'll be coming back tomorrow. When Georgie hung the drywall ceiling he brought the wire for the track light through wherever, so that's where Keith installed the box behind the track. I asked him to move it so it was centered, which was about 8.5" over, and also a little further out from the wall. Johnny won't be very happy that he has a big hole to patch tomorrow.
3/27/01: Johnny and Elias patched and sanded a bit more, and re-primed everything, including the bedroom, but not the exterior doors. They picked up wire mesh to fix the hole left by Keith last night and started to patch it. They also finish painted the stairwell. Carl put the carpet on the cat run and pole! We had enough left over that we decided to do one side of the lan column too. He also took off the plastic lip and stupid looking blocks from the backsplash of the tub, stiffened the maple piece Georgie had put on, and grouted the edges to match the sink backsplash. We also decided that when bad George put the plastic over the concrete when he set the tub, it was a big mistake. The tub rocks way too much, and I'm afraid the plumbing will snap off after a while like the gas pipe snapped off the dryer. Carl thought of shooting expandable foam into the whole tub surround, which might do it. Carl also put in a transition strip between the tile hall and vinyl kitchen floors upstairs so people won't trip over the edge of the vinyl anymore, and re-glued some of the edges of the counters that Georgie didn't get very well. Peter asked Carl and Mike, the electrician, to put the gas pipe in the wall, and they both, quite rightly, refused. I still think I should ask my plumber about it but Peter insists he can get it done.
3/28/01: Johnny and Elias are finish painting today, and priming the exterior doors. They used the baby's room color for the laundry room, and I got some Linen White for the bedroom. The bathroom is a medium pink ("funky" was the word Peter used to describe the color), and the game room, family room, and stairwell are a very light pink. Not as light as it looked in the store, but I can live with it. They also sanded and re-painted the duct to make it smoother. Peter finally showed up today! He told Brian what to do with the gas pipe and dryer vent, and we figured out what we want for the stairs. Peter suggested lifting the tub, pouring in plaster, and re-setting it. Eventually he'll also send Mike over to re-do the electrical for it, so it will be inside the access panel.
3/29/01: Johnny and Elias had to put on another coat of finish paint on all the walls, as there was a lot of flashing. We don't know if it was because of bad primer, or what. They also put a 3rd coat of polyurethane on the wine cellar door and bookcases, and a 1st coat on the stairs, even though the carpenter wasn't here today to finish them.
3/30/01: Johnny touched up a few spots, including the hole in the ceiling he had patched, and took the tape off the baseboards and mouldings. He also filled cracks and put a second coat of polyurethane on the stairs. Peter came with a makeshift gas pipe, as the one they ordered didn't show up. The carpenter said he could come later this afternoon, but Peter doesn't want hom working alone, so it will have to wait until Monday. Home Depot called and the mirrored doors are in. Carl and Brian installed Harry's mother's cabinets! They really look like they were designed for that space. When we designed the space for them, we planned for drywall, not blueboard and plaster, so the top is VERY tight. The bottom has maybe 1/8" of play.
4/2/01: Today's my due date, and true to his word, Johnny is done with the paint, not counting tiny touch-ups of areas that I couldn't even see but bothered him. Johnny was alone this morning, doing a bit more touch-up work and also put the 3rd coat of polyurethane on the treads and risers. He also took away a lot of the garbage that had been piling up outside.
4/3/01: The new carpenter, Mike, is here today working on the staircase trim, baulisters and banisters! He didn't get very far, but its very slow work. Scribing around the stones was pretty tough. Johnny also stopped by to clear away the rest of the garbage and bring Mike some materials. Mike had a good idea about the tub - to use a spline type stuff that has a lip to it, and put it under the edge, since the edge doesn't sit on the tile. Hopefully that will keep it from rocking, and will be instead of caulk for waterproofing the seam.
4/4/01: Mike came back today and mostly finished the stairs. There's just a little trim left to do, and the ends of the treads. He also hung the sliding mirrored closet doors in the bedroom.
6/8/01: I had Benjamin on 4/8/01 so kind of lost track of what happened on what day. Before today, the painting was finished, the stairs were finished, doors for the washing machine hose access were bought and installed to match the cabinets already in the laundry room, the electrical was moved for the jacuzzi and access doors were hung in the electrical room for access to the motor, the mirrored bifold door was hung in the family room closet, and the window trim in the bedroom was finished.
Today, Carl and a helper installed the glass block window in the bathroom, installed a better wood edge trim on the jacuzzi surround, patched a little under the skirt of the stairs, and finished patching and painting the hole that was made to in order to move the dryer vent into the wall.
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Ellen Savyon Vig ellen_vig@yahoo.com