Saturday, February 27, 2010

Saturday Evening Post


Viktor worked Saturday. He finished the tile in the garage entry and poured the pan for the downstairs shower. He had friends coming to his house at 4:00pm. He didn't leave here until 3:15. Since it's an hour and a half for him to get home, he was late.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Medallion

Viktor got the curb poured today for the downstairs shower. This one will be fun.


Finish carpenters got the window trimmed out in the great room. They also got the doors hung that will go into the office.

Viktor set this medallion for us in the back entry. It is centered in the garage entry, laundry, kitchen entrance area. It looks good and Diana made a good selection.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Completed

The front of the fireplace was completed today. Along with some masonry caps on the porch posts, I think they are totally finished. I want to give Baker Masonry a plug here. They are two of the nicest people and their attention to detail is superb. If you need any masonry done in this part of the world, I highly recommend them.

Viktor put this random pattern tile down in the garage entry. He has given us one for the record books. He worked last night until 1:30 am. Since it's one and a half hours for him to drive home, he opted to just sleep in his truck in our driveway and then picked up where he left off this morning. The word for that is dedication.

Now here's a novel concept. These warning posters are all over the house now. Hopefully they will be read. Only thing missing from Josh's creation is a picture of my face on these posters.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Mid-Week


The masons made it all the way to the peak today. They also removed the covering and their scaffold so we finally get some pictures that show the whole thing. This has come together very nicely and the juniper shelf that was once in our shop has found a home.

Finish carpenters finished the door and windows in the man cave. They say they still have some sanding to do.

Viktor continues to work on the tile. He's getting the tile cut and laid out for these bathroom counter tops.

For those who may have wondered, Josh actually still owns a tool belt and when the situation warrants, he will put it on and go to work. The handy device he's holding is a camera so he can check under the floor. What's he looking for down there? Seems the cabinet installers hit some of our heating lines when they fastened the cabinets to the floor. He's finding them and getting them fixed. We checked on our powder room vanity today. It's very nice and nearly done. We also found more cabinet hardware, this time at Home Depot. We also went to the fabricator to see the layout for all our granite counter tops. They have a cool laser guided machine to do the actual cuts. We got to see a demo where they placed a sheet of granite on the machine, turned on the lasers and we could see the lines where it will cut out the top for the island. Yes I'm impressed with technology.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Peaking

Viktor got this trim piece in the Lou shrine bathroom today. He also put some tile down in the powder room.

Finish carpenters are still at it. They are getting the man cave doors trimmed out as well as the base shoe downstairs.

Masons made it to the ceiling on both sides of the chimney. Now they just have to finish the front up to the peak.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Beams, Stone and Tile

The finish carpenters were here today and put up two of these beams in the study.

Masons are staying with the chimney. They keep getting closer to the ceiling.

Viktor polished the flagstone edges on the back porch then moved indoors. This is the bath and shower in one of the downstairs bathrooms. I have dubbed this particular room the 'Lou Shrine'. This is one of those days when three crews were here and progress appears to be slow, even though they are all working. Some things just take time.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Friday

The masons worked today. They are continuing their slow climb to the ceiling. The Celtics are in town tonight so I'm pretty sure I know where they'll be.

This cabinet is in the woman cave bathroom. This room is a little tight so the decision was made to reduce the depth of the cabinet a couple of inches. F & C made the modification and reinstalled it with the desired result accomplished.

Viktor is getting the porches close to completion. He is trimming out the edges so after landscaping is done, there won't be any exposed concrete between grass and the flagstone.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Downspouts And Mortar

Gutter crew was here today. They took down temporary downspouts and put up the 'real' ones. Now the system should drain as designed.

F & C worked on the cabinets. Mostly more trim at this point. Once the upper cabinets were put in, a couple of can lights needed to be moved. Mark is taking care of that for us.

Viktor is getting the mortar worked down and finished. Travertine is here for bathroom and laundry floors and cafe forest tile for the man cave bathroom is also here. Viktor has a lot of work to do.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Ash Wednesday

Viktor has the flagstone all down and put mortar in tonight before he left. We really like how this turned out.



F & C got upper cabinets installed in the kitchen. We are liking the detail work that has gone into the cabinets. Cousins Al, Joann, Len, Carol and Michael stopped by today to look at our project. Always fun to have people stop by and check things out. We are very happy Joann likes our flagstone. Mark installed lights in our storage area so they are now well lit up. Josh was by to keep things coordinated. Masons are working their way up the chimney. They think they will have it all wrapped up the first of next week.


Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Stone and Flagstone

The masons were back today. They made their way up to the top of the cabinets. They are at the basketball game tonight, their usual activity when the Blazers play home games.

Viktor was hard at it today. Flagstone has been placed on the lower back porch and he's made his way into the loggia. Since this picture was taken, he actually got that area finished. Cabinet people were also here today working on..........cabinets. Diana went to CFM to finish up tile details which is a good thing since Viktor will need the material very soon. Also, on my drive home from work today, the temperature started with a 6. The early spring like weather is being enjoyed by all the workers and myself of course.

Monday, Monday

The masons have returned. The fireplace is the last of their part on our project. They've been enjoyable to have on site.

Finish carpenters are continuing their work. Doors are pretty much all hung and they are getting them trimmed out. This door is one of four in the woman cave. Framing left four spaces we decided to turn into storage. We just didn't want to waste the space and they turned out very nice.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Wind, Rain and Tile

The finish carpenters finished the beams in the great room Friday. Ed will be off for a while. He's going to Hawaii and I'm jealous.

Viktor had to re-do some of the tile on the screened porch Friday. The wind blew the plastic off and the speculation is that it has been recovered somewhere around Forest Grove. End result was the removal of a couple of rows of tile, then they were cleaned and put back down again. He also got some of the flagstone down on the lower porch.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Porch Tile

F & C put more cabinets in place today. These shelves were Diana's idea and they turned out really nice. We had planned on setting a couple of different things here but it was the wrong size or they would have to face the wrong direction, like the grandfather clock. The shelves were a good solution.

Viktor has the tile down on the back porch. Most of the screened porch is also done. The porch looks bigger with the tile in place.

This is Viktor, a true craftsman. He's been helpful with some design ideas. He has one for the downstairs shower I won't try to explain until it's done. I can't wait to post that picture.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

More Cabinets

Elite brought the granite for the hearth today and installed it. It's hard to tell from this picture but the color is tropical brown.


F and C continued the cabinet install. Island is in place and more of the kitchen cabinets are also installed. The lower picture is of the kitchenette in the man cave. Finish carpenters have most of the interior doors hung and closet shelves are almost finished. Viktor is getting more tile down on the porches and prep in most areas upstairs is close to being done. Beams in the great room should be finished tomorrow and then most of the scaffolding can come down.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Arrival

We caught Ed cutting shelves for the pantry. The weather is obviously very nice this afternoon. They are getting the rest of the doors up and trim installed.

Cabinets arrived today, well most of them. They are not all installed but they are here. This is the master bath unit and should be moved out of the bedroom soon.

Some of the kitchen cabinets have been placed. We like them a lot. Upper level cabinets are all stained in fruit wood. Downstairs will be natural but glazed. Tommy checked out basement
insulation for moisture from the in floor heat mishap. It all appears to be dry so I think we are good to go.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Paint And Beams

I picked up paint samples today and used the shop wall for testing. Sue's picks for exterior are the combination on the right first and the alternates on the left.

Viktor was back at it today. This liner is in the master bath shower. He, Josh and Diana discussed tile options this afternoon for a couple of hours.

Shelves are going into closets. This is the HUGE pantry off the kitchen.

First of the beam work went up today in the great room. This went up in one piece and we are told it contains about five sheets of OSB. Up onto ladders first, then hoisted up to the top of the scaffolding with ropes, then the three of them lifted it into place.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Back To Tiling

Friday all of the floor repair was completed. Viktor did a good job of getting this all put back together. Lines were all repaired and the heat is back on throughout the house.

Finish carpenters also got the rest of the cedar put up on the ceiling Friday. Beams will be put up next week. They also put up more doors and some base molding in one of the downstairs bedrooms.

Viktor is now back on the tiling project. He worked Saturday putting sealer on the upper back porch and the screened porch. It's nice to see him back on the tiling. We are very appreciative of the quality of work on the repair.