Cleaning…Day 1

We’ve engaged Steve Carmichael’s wife Amy and her mom (Jo) to give the “L” Shaped House a complete cleaning. They started in the bonus room Friday night and finished up in the basement late yesterday afternoon. The photo below shows Amy and Jo working to in the kitchen as they cleaned cabinets, walls, countertops, windows, and light fixtures…the place looks fabulous!

Appliances…The first floor laundry

Paul and Nate finished up the new dryer venting and finally pushed the washer and dryer back against the wall in the first floor laundry room for good. The first photo shows the new appliances plugged in…turned on…and ready to go!

The next photo was taken with my 17-40mm zoom lens that allows for a wide angle view of the room. Here we can see how nice this washer and dryer look tucked in under the cabinets along the wall. The last photo shows off the unique laundry chute above the top loading washer feature I have been planning since the very beginning of this big adventure. I think this is going to be really cool…despite what (almost) everyone else says about it!

Last weekend in August…part 2

Continuing the theme from last night’s posting…the photos here show more of the results of last week’s flurry of activity at the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows the dryer in the first floor laundry room after Paul finished hooking up the newly routed venting that allows a closer fit to the back wall.

The next photo shows the tall upper cabinet above the washing machine in the first floor laundry room after Paul cut a hole through the ceiling to connect to the laundry chute above. The third photo shows the basement microwave cabinet after Luke (Wire-Rite) finished installing the electrical outlet in the cabinet above and routing the power cord to the microwave.

the fourth photo shows the stacked washer and dryer in the second floor laundry room with nearly every detail completed including paint touch-ups, window hardware, and plumbing hook-ups.

The fifth photo shows the first floor bathroom after Luke (Wire-Rite) finished wiring the light fixture…Pete (Carmichael Decorating) repainted the wall…and Paul mounted the mirror Deb selected. Paul and Nate also removed, re-scribed, and re-mounted the cultured marble vanity top to get a better fit along the back wall.

The sixth photo shows the lockers Paul is building in the mudroom. He has all of the maple trim attached and is just about ready to start sanding and filling. The 18” high upper cubbies and 8” deep hanging wire baskets underneath the lockers should give us plenty of storage for our day-to-day clothing accessories.

The seventh photo shows the French doors and side lights leading to the screen porch from the living room after Paul removed the plastic film protecting the glass. The view through this “wall of glass” at the front of the living room is fantastic and it feels like the amount of light streaming in has increased ten times.

The eighth photo shows the master bathroom after Pete (Carmichael Decorating) finished touching up all of the little “imperfections” he could find (there are still a couple pieces of masking tape on the wall). He has worked the last few days touching up “here and there” throughout the “L” Shaped House.

The ninth photo shows the collection of paint in the basement storage room Pete has to sort through as he works his way around the house touching up walls, trim, and ceilings. It kind of makes you wonder what we are going to do with all these cans of paint after they leave…

The last photo shows the mechanical room in the basement with…I’m pretty sure…all of of our plumbing and mechanical systems in place. Jeremy (Steinkraus Plumbing) finished up all of the “loose ends” on the plumbing system including the drain for the water softener early in the week and Gordie Buhrer showed up Friday to plug it in and set up a program for softening.

Glass…Dining room hutch

Paul Winters and Nate have continued working on some of the little details throughout the “L” Shaped House. The photos below show the upper cabinets in the dining room hutch after Nate finished installing the clear glass in the doors and tempered glass shelves. Paul insists on installing the glass using a little bead of clear silicone all the way around the inside perimeter to eliminate any “rattling” when the doors are opened and closed…its a nice touch!

The dining room hutch has a halogen “puck” light installed in the top of each cabinet, a set of Xenon under cabinet lights illuminating the countertop, and a provision for LED rope lighting above. Combined with the 14 electrical outlets in the space between the upper and lower cabinets we might be (fairly?) accused of going a little overboard!

Glass…Kitchen cabinets

Nate picked up the fluted glass for the kitchen cabinet doors and installed it late this afternoon. The photos here show both cabinets with the new glass installed in the doors.

Nice…

 

Appliances…The upstairs laundry

This posting could (should?) be titled “So…you want to be a builder”

I’m wandering around the “L” Shaped House after work last night catching up on what’s going on and see the washer and dryer stacked together nearly ready to be pushed back into the cabinetry. It strikes me that the 12” of clearance above the dryer might be better used lifting the washer higher off the floor. I know Paul will be back later so I “ambushed” him at about 7:30 pm with my new request. We talked about the possibilities and came up with a plan to build a platform 10” off the floor for the washer/dryer assembly.

Because the crew from American Air Supply is coming first thing in the morning to install the dryer venting in the outside wall Paul has to get busy building the platform right away. The photo below shows the scene at about 8:30 pm just before I drove off to get Sam at karate and head home.

It seems an appropriate photo for Paul’s first appearance in this blog!

Carpentry…The mudroom lockers (day 2)

Paul continues to work on the lockers in the mudroom (in-between all his other duties). The photo here shows the lockers after he finished attaching the cabinetry to the outside wall and started assembling maple trim on the fronts. I think building them with an open back (allowing the wall paint to show through) was a really good idea. We have decided to have Steve Carmichael finish them with a light stain and varnish.

Carpentry…The mudroom lockers (day 1)

Paul Winters went to work yesterday building the lockers that will be installed on the outside wall of the mudroom. The photo below shows the beginnings of the cabinets partly mounted to the wall on the right. The five open lockers (one each per family member) will have a 4’ main section for jackets and an 18” cubby at the top. A wire basket will be mounted under each locker leaving enough space under the cabinetry for shoes and boots. The idea here is to have a functional mudroom…encouraging  function to win over form.

I think this unique space is going to be great!

Appliances…Day 4

Today was a day filled with changes to the appliances at the “L” Shaped House. First the new Samsung Refrigerator we bought at Lowes was delivered and set up in the basement kitchen. We decided to return the GE refrigerator we selected earlier just because we like the way this one fits in the space (it’s wider, taller, and, importantly…shallower).

Sorry about the bottom freezer Sam…

Second…Paul took the Faber vent hood down and set about accommodating our desire to have it mounted 3” lower on the wall. This required tearing one course of the tile backsplash off the wall, adding some additional blocking, extensive sheetrock repairs, and (probably) a little grumbling about fussy homeowners. It looks like he has everything ready to re-install the hood tomorrow.

Thanks Paul!

Appliances…Day 3

Paul Winters worked yesterday installing the Faber Synthesis vent hood on the wall above the cooktop in the kitchen. The first photo below shows the newly installed hood, double oven, and cooktop all in place along the end wall of the kitchen. As we stood at the cooktop last night both Deb and I got the feeling that we asked to have the hood mounted a little too high on the wall.

So…

We turned to my old friend Adobe Photoshop to “see” what it might look like with the top course of subway tile removed and the hood mounted 3” lower. Unfortunately for Paul (and Matt Sletten) both Deb and I like the lowered hood better.

Click on the image (below) to see an animated version of the two photos…

Cabinets…Installing knobs and pulls

Paul Winters has been busy installing knobs, Bin-pulls, and cabinet pulls throughout the “L” Shaped House. The first photo below shows the back corner of the kitchen after he completed installing the cabinet hardware late yesterday afternoon. That we decided to include an abundance of drawers in the kitchen is pretty obvious in this shot!

See Deb and Martha’s knob and cabinet pull plan here.

The next photo shows the kitchen desk area with all of the cabinet hardware installed. Here we can see all three of our hardware selections…The knobs on the doors, the bin pulls on the drawers, and the cabinet pulls on the long doors of the kitchen pantry cabinet.

The last photo shows Paul’s hardware installation operations underway on the built-in desks in the book nook at the top of the stairs.

Cabinets…The living room stereo

One of the little details included in the living room cabinetry is a venting system built into the lower cabinets on the left hand side that will house our entertainment electronics. Each of these lower cabinets have an integral “grill” milled into the base that will provide an entrance for cooling air and an unobstructed pathway through the cabinet to a vent in the top. We hope this “passive” system will provide enough cooling for our electronics but have included a provision beneath the vent for an axial fan if necessary.

The photo below shows both of the cabinets under the bookshelves in the living room window seat. The left hand cabinet will house the entertainment system for the 46” LCD television we plan to mount above the piano in the music room. Our current plan is to simply use a Sony Play Station and possibly a cable box. The right hand cabinet will provide a home for my “real” Macintosh home stereo system that includes a pair of integrated amplifiers and one of their wonderful Pre-amplifiers driving a set of B&W speakers. The speaker wires for this system are already installed in the walls and terminate into the cabinet.  The details of our home automation plan can be seen in this posting from October of last year.

Painting…Day 30

The painting job at the “L” Shaped House involves at least as much masking and taping as actual “painting”. The Carmichael crew has started in earnest on what will certainly be the most painful part of the job…the kitchen cabinets! We decided a (very) long time ago that we wanted a “distressed” white finish on the kitchen and first floor laundry room cabinets. Steve Carmichael tells me that they will achieve this using a four step process.

• Prime the cabinets (spray)…
• Paint the cabinets using white enamel (spray)…
• Distress the cabinets using a tinted glaze (brush)…
• Clear coat the cabinets (spray)…

The process requires that all the kitchen and laundry cabinets are disassembled, marked, masked, and then carefully reassembled after painting. The first photo below shows the beginnings of the process. All of the drawers, doors, and shelves have been removed and the masking is just underway on the kitchen desk.

The next two photos show the back corner of the kitchen and the desk area after all the loose bits have been removed and the masking begun. This is going to be interesting to watch!

Cabinets…An Update

The girls and I wandered all around the house over the weekend trying out some of the new spaces. Helen thinks the window seat in the living room will be her favorite reading spot…especially after we add a comfy cushion and pillows. Anna just can’t stay out of  “colossus” in the basement kitchen!

Laminate Countertops…Day 2

Jim Coffin’s crew from Fabri-Top was back this morning and finished up installing laminate countertops in the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows the green soapstone countertop on the basement kitchen cabinets. The cabinets are made from of poplar and will be stained with the same half-strength cherry we used on the dining room hutch.

We elected to use an integrated 4” laminate backsplash in the basement kitchen area as seen below. Jim Coffin was amazingly patient with us even as we made him produce a slightly different countertop detail everywhere we used laminate.  The last photo shows the small section of laminate countertop installed in the first floor mudroom. Our dog kennels and food bin will sit under the cabinets and countertop which will probably house all sorts of dog related paraphernalia.

Cabinets…The Basement Kitchen (2)

Just how big is that upper corner cabinet in the basement kitchen?

No Photoshop here…really!

Cabinets…The Basement Kitchen

After carefully considering a few basement bar options we settled on installing a modest kitchenette in the back corner of the basement family room. We want the basement of the “L” Shaped House to serve as a family room, home theatre, and game room… as well as provide a private retreat for out of town guests. The refrigerator, microwave, and free standing induction cook-top will allow our basement guests an independence that may well encourage longer visits.

In a layout considered earlier we projected an island bar into the room from the front wall of the house. Although a bar arrangement like this provides an efficient seating area this layout works best with the (full size) refrigerator placed on the outside wall…especially if you want to preserve family room space. Furthermore the volumetric (and cost) efficiency of an “L” shaped set of cabinets is compelling.

And this house is all about the letter “L”…Remember Bogr?

The basement of the “L” Shaped House may well end up looking something like the sketch below and “game-night” at the Arneson house will live on in high style!

Carpentry…Day 10 (Evening report)

Dan and his crew from Solid Construction made a lot of progress in the basement this afternoon (enough for another evening report). The first photo shows the kitchen cabinets installed in the South East corner of the basement family room. The scale of the kitchenette seems about right for the space and the giant corner (upper) cabinet kind of disappears into the corner of the room.

The next photo catches the corner of the basement stairs in front of the new cabinets in the background. This view does a nice job of showing the scale of the cabinetry. The last photo shows a close up view of the first flight of stairs leading upstairs from the basement. The Solid guys installed the full hardwood treads on the first five steps and finished all of the risers and trim. Next they will install a hand rail and balusters just like the one on the first floor.

 

Carpentry…Day 10

The Solid Construction guys are back this morning installing some of the Great Woods Cabinetry items delivered earlier this week. The first photo shows the cherry countertop installed in the dining room hutch. The next photo shows the first two upper kitchen cabinets installed in the corner of the basement family room. This corner will include a lazy-Susan in the lower cabinets with a giant corner cabinet above.