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!

Week 21: Where has the time gone?

Time flies!

It has been busy, no lie. Between the constant progress at our Boulder Home 285 Martin Drive project, the busy real estate selling season and the “change over week” madness that comes with property management at the end of every July, I’ve dropped the ball on updating you. So bear with me…. there will be a lot of pictures in this post!

Since we last chatted, they finished the wood floor removal and installed new plywood subfloor on top of the old subfloor with lots of screws and glue – essentially curing it of those 60 year old squeaks that, at best, were my burglar alarm.  Three inch wide red oak was installed on top of that throughout the main level, up the stairs and along the hallway on the second floor. 

On the outside, they finished the roof. The black metal porch roof and little roofs over the upstairs windows.  True to the modern farmhouse look and I love it.

Two minutes before the first thunderstorm in a month, the gutters were completed!  (And tested well.)

The garage door is on the way, but in the meantime, we needed a placeholder, so it could be framed in, trimmed out and the garage door opener installed. Check it out!  LOL.  Gotta love the fake wood detail that is painted to look 3D.  I can only imagine what is going through the neighbors minds right now. 🙂  It’s temporary!  Despite what it looks like, I haven’t run out of money (yet).

Then it was time for the tile guy to arrive…  He has 3 bathrooms, the mud room and ‘pet peeve’ of mine to work on.  Ok, since you asked, let me tell you what has been bothering me for 7 years since the kitchen was renovated; One tile was installed with a square cut out of the end of it in the kitchen, close to the base of the island. It took me a couple of weeks to discover it after the workmen had left, but once I saw it, it could never be unseen. The truth is that someone cut the tile wrong. Maybe they had a plan or something… but it clearly went awry and rather than replace that tile, they must have just hoped I’d never notice and saved themselves some effort. Perhaps I could understand if there hadn’t been plenty of extra tiles left over that could have be used to replace this “oops” – but there were!

The master bathroom shower has it’s pan in place and ready to tile. The hold up? I chose a hexagon marble for the floor and subway marble for the walls. After a bit of deliberation (weeks!!!) I also opted to have a border with subway tile put around the hexagon floor. Here is where the issues began. Home Depot sells both these products but the hexagons are like 1/8″ thinner than the subway tile… meaning my boarder would be slightly raised – noticeably so! Since you cannot build up the floor under the hexagons without high risk of setting them unevenly (and it would be visible), the search began for subway tile that was a tad thinner. No joy. A spot of unsolicited advice for the tile folks; Try selling coordinating tile that is the same thickness rather than using millimeters for one, inches for another and not even giving it a decent go at getting those similar enough to use together. <sigh>  

Back I went to the website I found in June that sells all their coordinating tile in 3/8″ thickness. Hallelujah! I expect delivery from New Jersey next Friday.  Thank you www.marblesavings.com 

Aaron worked on trimming around the windows and installing baseboard inside last week. And the load bearing post was disguised as stair-rail beginnings… Which I’m very impressed with.

Earlier this week Ken and I went on my favorite kind of shopping spree – the free kind! Well… truth be told, I own all the stuff already and it came from 285 Martin Drive in March. Trust me, it was never free, but at this stage in the journey, going and picking out existing things from storage to re-use in the house is a beautiful thing.  I hit the storage hangar bright and early with my role of plastic wrap and set about getting the list of things we needed, ready to go. 

The list included:

• Finish kits for the solar tubes
• Pantry and kitchen cabinets
• Range hood 
• Spare tile

And while I was there, I wrapped the washer, dryer and refrigerator in preparation for their trip home in the coming weeks. There is a growing list of things that will not be able to be reused so if you know someone looking for a jetted tub, pedestal sink, single vanity with curved wood front, gas fireplace insert (designed for existing chimney), 6 panel doors in frames or vanity lighting, please reach out and I can take pics for you.

Naturally, it’s cabinet installation time. I was kinda thrilled to see the kitchen coming back together and just as excited to see the makings of vanities in the bathrooms too. 🙂

What’s on the agenda for next week?

Some tiling? Wood floor finishing? Garage door installation and paint? The rest of the trim work inside? More bathroom cabinet progress? I’m not sure. There is no shortage of projects and we are <1 month from moving in, so one thing is for certain; there are no idle hands around here! All I know is that I’m supposed to have picked paint and carpet by next week… And my brain is exhausted.

On the bright side, I found house numbers at Home Depot last night  🙂