A few more things

There is nothing left to do now but some cabinets in the library and baseboards in the new basement. (And the "little" details - finishing the stair rail, knobs and finger pulls on closet doors and cabinet doors - that sort of thing). 

Now that there are not many daylight hours, I finally have the curtains up in Timothy's old room (slight delay due to the death of a 39 year old second hand sewing machine!). And the basement bathroom now has toilet, sink, and shower in place and hooked up! 

In the last month and a half, we have had various overnight visitors for 15 nights - it is very good to feel like the house is finished enough to be able to do that again.

Garage floor

Another while-we're-at-it-why-don't-we-just work was re-pouring the garage floor. It tended to form an ice dam at the door - now it has a properly sloped central drain, and - gracious me! - in floor heat (NOT my idea). It has been snowing here the last few days, but the floor needs to cure a little more before we can park inside!

Top picture is the insulation with heating tubing, then the rebar, and last the finished floor. It is quite a big step at the door into the house from the garage - there will be a step built there, but I'm not sure when.

Our reno is so nearly done, that the contractor has moved on to the next big job, and they only come back to finish small leftovers when there is a pause in the next jobsite. They were great fellows to have around, and I do look forward to the last details being finished, but I can't say I miss the dust and noise...!

Sod

The landscaping and deck are in their (nearly) finished form now! I have had some questions about all those bird's eye views of the back of the house - they are taken from the top of the treehouse at the left of some of these pictures. (The bottom picture is just before sod was laid; the picture of the front shows our new tree! The cedar chip areas will eventually have perennials.)

Landscaping

It isn't done yet, but the outside is beginning to look more home-y and less like a construction site/ gravel yard! The patio has been rebuilt, there is a new tree in the front, and - miracle of miracles - our one remaining apple tree has produced 5 apples, even though it was pruned down to very little in the spring. OK - we won't get many pies this year, but I expected NO fruit!

We will get sod laid in early September.

Ramp!

The ramp off the deck is nearly done (just a few boards at the end, and a railing to go)! I am more excited about this than I thought I would be. Tomorrow we hope to finish treating the pine soffits under the overhang; then we can remove the scaffolding, and the deck (less railings) will be pretty much fully functional! We had a barbecued meal for the first time in 14.5 months yesterday.

Paths

It looks like not much has happened (and sometimes feels that way too), but it is STILL going on. The basement is now drywalled and painted - just some finishing things like flooring, closet inserts, window coverings, etc to go on the inside. Outside, the sidewalks have been poured, complete with "landing pad" for the wheelchair next to the driveway in the front. There are some soffits yet to be installed in the back porch over hang, then the ramp down to the side walk from the deck, and the deck railing. And landscaping. It is so nearly done, that I think that this is as frustrating as anytime- because it is so close, but not quite done!!!

Happy Anniversary

It has seemed eternal at times (and it isn't quite done yet) but it has now been a year of work. Here is a picture taken June 10, 2008, and a picture taken today.  

On the inside, the basement is now insulated, basement windows in the old basement have been enlarged for more adequate egress, and there are only a few (significant) steps to go to finish that part of the basement - drywalling, painting, plumbing fixtures, and flooring! Then a little work on the garage floor, landscaping to restore the yard, and maybe we'll be done for a bit.

Jackbunnies

 There are no rabbits here, but MANY hares (jackrabbits) and this spring they have been particularly abundant in our neighbourhood. Last week they seemed to be going especially crazy, chasing each other all over the place. Then last Friday (May 1), one son noticed some moving bits in the pile of concrete rubble in our back yard. And there they were - he counted 5. They looked like their fur was still a little damp, so they must have been very new! You can see especially in the lower photo how well camouflaged they were. By the next day, they were all moved out, and the adults haven't been seen much either!

So there we are - the Timothy addition has indirectly provided shelter for 5 baby jackrabbits.

No, it isn't done yet...

I haven't posted for awhile, but things are still happening. We replaced the grey carpet (was it once white???) in the living room and dining room with hardwood (while-we're-at-it). The hole is where some moisture was found under the floor boards on the south side of the house. Leaving that open for a few days dried it out sufficiently and then the hard wood installer came! We are beginning to move furniture back into these rooms now. We think that almost every piece of furniture in the house, and many other items, has been moved at least once in the past year. It has a disorienting effect after a while!

Now they have moved on to the basement. Removing the drywall revealed no vapor barrier, and insulation that only went down as far as the frostline-ish. No wonder it was always cold down there! So we are getting that all re-framed, re-insulated, and change some of the non-supporting walls to better suit some ideas we have for using the space down there.

When they took off the drywall above the basement fireplace, we were amazed to see the kind of masonry job that one might do when one knows it will be covered up!

Moved in!

Timothy is in his new room!! And the lift and slings have arrived - you can see the lift at the top of the picture. Not all is finished in there yet - I haven't moved his dresser down from upstairs, and his closet isn't finished, but he is on the main floor!

The lift capacity is something like 400 pounds, so the next older brother had fun testing out the "zip line" over the tub in the bathroom!

Our original purpose - making a barrier free living area for Timothy - is now just about complete. The eternal renovations, however, continue - not just the finishing details in Timothy's area, but insulating and modifying the basement, changing windows and re-dry-walling in the master bedroom, etc. But it does feel like the end could truly be in sight.

Bathroom (all but toilet...and curtain)

The tiling, walls, tub, and cabinets are all finished now. We do need a better curtain on the window! And a toilet. And a mirror, but otherwise, it is useable.  Compare the bottom picture in this post with the bottom picture in the January 31, 2009 post!

One picture shows the ceiling track that will take Timothy from his wheelchair into the tub and out again. Yesterday the equipment vendor and occupational therapist came by to fit Timothy with the right size sling for the lift - he quite liked it! 

So now the paperwork is in for the lift motor and the slings, and it's just a matter of time before lifting Timothy in and out of the bath, and in and out of bed, and carrying him up and down stairs, will be a thing of the past!

Bannister manufacturing

It has been a while since the last time I posted - most of that can be blamed on computer woes! One of the most interesting developments in the last month was this fellow who came and made the bannister between the dinette and family room and alongside the ramp. He pretty much moved in with his sort of portable workshop, and bent and laminated this beautiful right angle curve.

The plywood flooring  you see is now all beautiful hardwood and nearly finished - more photos soon. And the bathroom has been painted, ceiling track for the lift installed. Photos of that coming soon too (we're only missing the toilet in the bathroom now!).

Timothy's room also has ceiling track for the lift; the hardwood is being finished there today, and all that remains after that is his pedestal sink, baseboards, closet doors, and, eventually, window coverings. He doesn't need all of that completed to move into the room, so he may be there as soon as next week. Not a moment too soon either - I finally did strain my back lifting him a couple of weeks ago!

More paint

I was talking to a friend last evening, and telling her about the paint job in the family room. She couldn't find a picture on the blog - because I haven't put one up yet apparently! The green is how it was when we moved in - very much the colour of hospital scrubs. It had been very well done, but it was never the way I pictured it. The blue is what I pictured in this room from the time we first looked at the house - during the process of painting, there was a brief time when the trim of the fake panel was outlined against the light coloured wall, and I liked that so much, we finished the room that way - so there you are, Nicole - pictures of the family room!

A friend living in a north African country mentioned a haboob in one of her recent communications, which makes our chronic construction dustiness seem like nothing. But the dust does keep ahead of me. And I have to say, our crews are about as tidy as you can get, often vacuuming up after themselves at the end of the day. But the dust spreads beyond where they are working... Sometimes I feel I need to clean my glasses, so I remove the dust on them, put them back on my face - and there is still a fine fog of dust in the air!

inside/outside

With the unusual thaw we have had in the last two weeks (off and on), it has been possible to go back to some outside work - here you can see the back of the house with a lot of the Hardie board siding now in place, and the white and cranberry trim around the windows! I'm quite happy with the look!

The plumbers have been busy working away in the basement, getting the boiler system and sump pump, etc. all ready to work. They seem to be enjoying themselves - this is how they left the sump pump hole when they went home at the end of one day! (Click on photo for a close up view.)

The tiling in the bathroom is now finished, though Timothy seems to know it really isn't quite complete without a tub too!

Paint colours

We are very happy with the colours for the spare room (the left hand doorway - "blue room"). Timothy's room is in the northwest corner of the house, and won't get a lot of direct sunlight a lot of the year, so we went for bright and cheery, though the colours in this photo are a little washed out - it's kind of a vivid lime green and yellow. We'll live with it awhile and see how it looks through a few season changes, but we're not quite as sure about it! (I THINK I like it.)

(Finally - I got the picture order right!)

Bathroom developments

I had a question recently about whether the tub was being installed in the shed - I guess because of two pictures which I happened to put up in the same post a little while ago. Nope - it will be inside. The frame to hold the tub has been built, and the floor and anything near where wetness could happen has been sealed, and the tiler is hard at work - I am very happy with how it is beginning to look with the tiles we picked. (You never know, just from looking at a sample tile in a shop. Same with paint - you never REALLY know, just from looking at one of those little sample cards - but that's another post.) (Pictures are in the wrong order again - I need to remember to put the picture I want on bottom in FIRST...)

And now for something completely different part two

Otherwise, Happy Epiphany!

Now that holidays are over, work is proceeding apace! The furnace/boiler for the addition will be operational by next week; the tiler comes to start work on the bathroom tomorrow; and we will give the painter colours for the addition (and redone family room!) tomorrow, so things may look and feel very different in the next 10 days or so!

And now for something completely different part one

The workers were off from Dec 24 until Jan 5. Today I finished this late Christmas present for a friend. Of course if you are Ukrainian or some other Eastern Orthodox, it isn't late at all - Merry Christmas!