Out of Town :)

Sorry about the delay, but I left town for a family reunion at the end of last week. I was really hoping to get these photos posted Thursday, but it didn't happen. So, anyway, here's what's going on . . . the appliances are all installed (except the cooktop), and so is all of the cork flooring. However, the cork flooring is all covered up to keep it from getting destroyed during the remainder of construction. We also have the pantry closet systems installed too. We met with the glass installers last week and discussed details of the backsplash and that should go in by the end of the week. Here's a few shots of what's happening . . . first is a shot of what the inside of the pantry looks like:

It's not the most exciting stuff in the world, however I can tell you when you haven't had a pantry and you get one like this - it's pretty close. This stuff is really cool and can make a huge difference in the efficiency of a kitchen pantry, closet, or laundry room. This system was installed by a local company called Treasure Valley Closets. Great company. And here's a couple shots of the kitchen with the appliances installed:

We've obviously got several things to still take care of, but I think it's really coming together great. As I mentioned, the glass backsplash should be in by the end of the week as well as most (if not all) of the other outstanding items.

Quartz Install

I know I've mentioned this a few times, but I really love the last part of a remodel. It's when all the fun stuff starts going in and transforms the space almost daily. We'll be 90% done by the end of this week. Very cool.

Anyway, I went up to the house yesterday to check out the installation of the quartz tops made by caeserstone. This particular product is a newer finish for the quartz materials and looks awesome. Most of the quartz tops are seen in a gloss finish while this one is more of a honed look. It almost comes off like a limestone - it's gorgeous. We also have a knife mitered edge to allow for a thicker profile . . . I think it's a 2" drop here. Here's a few photos, keep in mind it's still kind of dirty. First, let's take a look at the overall shot:

We still have the two upper cabinets being repaired so they're not installed yet. Once they go in, we'll have the glass slab backsplash installed along that wall. Below is a photo of the sink install. It's a really nice rectangular sink in stainless steel. I think it's made by Houzer . . . anyway, the white covering on it is to keep it from being scratched during construction. You can see the small hole at the back of the sink for the future faucet.

This next photo is a closer view of some of the materials coming together. You can see the detail of the quartz top as it's intersected by the wenge wood at the fridge enclosure as well as the teak wood. The wall in the background will eventually have the glass slab on it and strengthen this intersection of materials even further.

That's about it for now. If I get a chance I'll head up there again later today, if not I'll get up there tomorrow and check the progress. Have a great day!!

Let the Install Begin!

This is one of my favorite parts of the remodel process . . . big things coming together. Cabinets are a huge part of the design so it's really nice when they get installed. Here's how things look so far:

As you can see here, the tall box form will house the fridge and is the darker wenge wood. The grain runs vertically and seems to intersect the horizontal grain teak cabinets. I really like the contrast of the two woods working together and the forms are really nice. Here's a shot a little closer up:As I was leaving the house the installer of the cork flooring was starting to bring in cartons of flooring to begin that install. That stuff goes down pretty quick and was supposed to be completed by the end of the day today. The key phrase there is "supposed to be". I just got a call from the flooring company letting me know that out of the 21 cartons of flooring only two were not damaged. The real bummer is that earlier in the day I spoke with the homeowner about how great it will be to have the flooring in when they get home. Yep, not my favorite kind of phone call to make after saying something like that. Basically I felt like crap. Fortunately the homeowner is awesome and understands that life can sometimes deliver damaged goods to your door . . . especially in a remodel.

The flooring contractor is working very hard to get a new batch of flooring overnighted to the site for installation tomorrow. I'll be crossing my fingers :)

Cabinets Arrive!!!

Very cool - the cabinets showed up on site today. Granted, they were a couple hours late . . . but hey, better late than never I suppose. Once I heard they were there I went up to take a few photos before the installer started to get them in. So, if you've ever wondered what it looks like to have a bunch of cabinets delivered to your house - here you go:

Yep, kind of a mess. Well, an organized mess. It was less of a mess when everything was packaged up neatly from shipping but I had to open a few of them to see what the wood grain looked like. Can you blame me? Here's what it looks like:

I hope you can get a good idea from these pictures. I know they're not the biggest files, but it's the best I can do right now. The veneer looks awesome. I shot a photo of the wenge wood but it just looks like a big dark square in the pictures. It's too bad, because it's gorgeous. We did notice that one of the upper end cabinets shipped in the wrong configuration so we'll have to get a new one built. Fortunately it's an end cabinet and it's an upper so it won't impact the installation and inconvenience to the owners. We should easily be able to have it built and shipped before everything's finished.

Almost done . . . with carpet

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but with the carpet taking center stage there's not a whole lot to show or talk about. When you carpet an entire house, the logistics of moving furniture from one area to the other and getting the carpet installation finished can take a while. Especially when you combine all new baseboard trim and painting. But . . . we're almost wrapped up with it and then it's on to the cabinet installation next week. We have confirmation from the manufacturer that they will have the truck on site Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. Can't wait to see those cabinets! Until then, I thought you might like to see the current state of the home. This first shot is of the Red Room as it's getting the window sills drywalled up and waiting for the new carpet tile:In this next photo you can see how the baseboard is installed in reference to the carpet tile. The installers use the carpet tile to verify the gap required between the baseboard and the subfloor.

And here's a picture of the repairs at the window sills. They used to have some wood sills and they weren't holding up too well. With the more modern direction we'll be taking the design, going to what's called a "4-way wrap" is ideal. A "4-way wrap" is simply saying that all for sides of the window opening will have the drywall wrap around and terminate into the window framing member. Here you can see the drywaller has completed the mud for the left one and will be doing the one on the right next.And finally, . . . I just have to share this with you. On the drive back to the office I was minding my own business when I passed something that practically slapped me across the face. At first I just kept on driving passed thinking it just couldn't be - but then I just had to stop the car and turn around. When I did, I went back and got out of my car to get an up close look. Here's what I saw:

What the heck?! What is that, Snufalufagus or something?! Yeah, it looked like someone killed Captain Caveman and installed him on their living room floor. I mean, I get the fact that shag carpet was "cool" for a while there, but this is insane. And this is 2008 so you know it wasn't from the 60's or 70's. Well, I guess I don't know that - wow. Anyway, I know that was probably a total waste of some of your time but I couldn't help it. I just thought it was funny how I was coming back from our carpet install and saw this old carpet on the side of the road. Way too coincidental and way too funny . . . well, at least it was to me.