Post Move-In Projects

Everyone knows that moving in is the end of one chapter, but it’s also the beginning of several others. Closing the door on construction means saying goodbye (mostly) to Ken and Aaron and co, but marks the start of smaller projects… one after the other, or one alongside another, for a year or more to come.

What’s next, then?

1. Finishing the fireplace surround
2. Hang some art
3. Re-laying the patio with existing pavers
4. Trim some of the unruly trees in the back yard
5. Putting in the shower glass
6. Installing the chandelier in the master bath
7. Acquiring and putting up window treatments
8. Redoing the drive way
9. Adding a paved front walk
10. And then… landscaping with all it entails (grass, plants, sprinklers, lighting etc)

Ken and Aaron arrived last week with the metal for the fireplace surround, putting the modern into the Modern Farmhouse! First things first; they had to remove the temporary trim that framed the fireplace for the purposes of the City of Boulder inspection. 

Ken had already cut and welded the metal at home before arriving with it. As my dad says, “measure twice, cut once”…. And hey presto, it fits like a glove. That is not as easy as it sounds. The top to bottom clearance for the surround, was a fraction of an inch. With care, the guys walked it, pointy corners and all, through the house and bent it gently until it straightened back up against the wall. The openings for cable, power outlets and the fireplace itself, were perfectly aligned and I was mesmerized. 

Aaron and I discussed the virtues of a “remote controlled” fireplace whereby someone holds the switch in their hand, the wires threaded under the rug, and could then turn on the fireplace from the sofa. In the end I decided that mounting that switch on the wall was a tad classier. We have ordered a real remote control… and continue to wait patiently for its arrival.

I hired Flatiron Landscaping for the patio project.

10 years ago, it was me who was on my hands and knees on a gravel base, sweeping a little more or a little less sand under each stone paver to get a level patio. Couple that with memories of trying to achieve the necessary 2% slope away from the house and working with little skinny arms and I was easily convinced that I didn’t need to be the one redoing that patio this year!

The plan involved compacted road base and then sand. Each paver – being a natural product was of a different thickness to its mates and it is a labor intensive process to get it looking just right. 

Friday a week ago,  5 guys descended on my back yard with wheelbarrows of product, heavy tools, camaraderie and smiles. They began work just as the first week long rainy spell arrived over Boulder this season. I was fascinated and impressed with their hard work and so were Marley and Smokey Joe!

Yep, they hung tarps and a shelter to protect themselves and the project from all that unwanted water.

All that remains is a few little details, a final walk through by me and then… it’s ready to put the patio furniture on!  Did I mention that we don’t have a dining table yet, so getting patio furniture in place means dining is about to get a whole lot classier too!

Our downstairs guest bathroom got it's glass and it was nice to see Aaron again!

Storm Form goes above and beyond... again

Using the "conveniences" at 285 Martin Drive is NOT convenient!

Yesterday was just one more example of how well I feel taken care of by the guys of Storm Form. Every job site needs a potty and for a while my house had a couple of bathrooms, so that worked well. But the first one was removed in March and the second… sometime in April?  I admit that I never noticed the day that the powder room was removed. The house was a mess, the dumpster full of what used to be my pride and joy – 285 Martin Drive – and when one more room became “open air” I guess it just slipped by me. 

It wasn’t until a week ago, hopping around with a full bladder and lamenting the fact my neighbor was not home and I needed to use her loo, that the “bathroom situation” at 285 Martin Drive was explained to me. The toilet in the powder room (now the back end of the garage) was still there… behind the hanging black plastic sheet! In an effort to save the cost of a port-a-loo for another month, they were making do with what they had. Ken didn’t think I’d appreciate it for what it was though and advised an alternate solution be found.

I never used that toilet, or even dared look behind the plastic! The bathrooms at King Soopers seemed like more my style. Which is something you won’t hear me say very often.

Anyway, all good things must come to an end and the last toilet (with its plastic wall) was removed from 285 Martin Drive this week, which meant, it was time for a portable toilet delivery.

A little background: It has rained a LOT here in the past few weeks. The ground is soft and this is a great time of year to dig through clay if needed. I used last Sunday to do a little excavating of my own and widened the front path to the house. Spending a couple of hours there, I dug up the old flagstone, the irrigation system and my xeriscape plants, 10 years established. The path was now 6′ wide. And apparently that is wide enough for a port-a-loo because…

Tuesday morning, bright and early the toilet arrived. Instead of putting it at the top of the driveway as requested, the delivery people put it here; one foot from the sidewalk!

I had several “first thoughts”

1. Will this encourage random joggers, slightly intoxicated new grads and small kids on the way to the park, to use our potty?
2. Will children, dog walkers and neighbors be able to hear the workmen using the potty?
3. I’m no whiz with the shovel and the work I did on Sunday is not going to win awards for being level. In fact there is a step, by design, now under the potty! Could the potty tip over if the occupant was not careful?

Interestingly, while Ken and I laughed about it’s unusual placement he told me he had asked the potty delivery folks to come back and put it in a less conspicuous place. One of his reasons…. Because the home owner was into taking pictures of the house project and the potty placement would be bad for pictures.

So thoughtful!

Full Steam Ahead!

What do you call it when the 285 Martin Drive pop-top gets a roof, windows and front porch all in one week? Exhilarating. Wonderful. Heartwarming! Yes, a busy week indeed at the job site. The house started out Monday looking like this: Plywood. No roof. Window holes not cut in the lower level. No cover on patio. And still drying out, from the blizzard the week before.

Inside, the framing was coming along. Ten foot ceilings were about to be a reality, closets and bedrooms and bathrooms were all mapped out.  And the whole place smelled like freshly sawed wood – which I could inhale all day!

By Tuesday, the front porch distinctly had a cover and Ken, Dirk and Aaron were working a little roof for the front entrance area. All of a sudden the 2-dimensional drawings paled in comparison to the real thing and I went from being eager with anticipation to downright ecstatic. Nightly phone calls to Mark, fishing in Canada, took a turn and he could barely get a word in edgewise; I just couldn’t wait to show him the progress that was being made.

Then came the day (Thursday) that the whole neighborhood had been waiting for – windows! Yeah!!! For the first time in 2.5 months we looked like we were building a house that would actually feature natural light on the first floor. Lots of light. The windows are huge… and IMHO, gorgeous. Everything I hoped for and more.

Yep, one was damaged in transit and sports a a cute cardboard and duct-tape Bandaid for now. Its replacement parts are on the way and the transplant to fix this double-hung window will be quick but not paneless.  😉

And then… more windows. Slowly the stored pile in the garage was finding homes in spaces around the house. A transformation was underway and our 285 Martin Drive pop-top was looking AMAZING!

Mark was back from Canada and we took trip to Boulder Friday afternoon to check out the progress, perhaps just in time to lend a hand and officially earn the honor of saying we helped build the house. Ok, it’s a stretch, but my contribution has been small and I’ll take what I can get.  Alongside Ken, Aaron and Dirk, we aided in the task of lifting the large front window up the stair well (no stairs yet) to the second level. At 400lb, it was an exercise in teamwork and drew on all the collective “Tetris” skills of the group. Once on the second floor it was slid between the framing and was positioned, leveled, shimmed into place overlooking the front yard. My goodness that was satisfying!!!

What a difference a week makes, huh!?  

I can’t even begin to describe how it feels when you have a long held dream, a vision; then you describe that vision to someone else and ask them to help you create it…. And they do! I hope this is what people feel when I help them achieve their real estate dreams and goals. 

There seems no higher ideal than to strive 

to create this feeling for my own clients