July 2006



Jul
29
2006
 3

Please Stand By




Jul
28
2006
 1

Balustered!


IMG_8646 Originally uploaded by daviderwin. People always talk about what a nightmare remodeling is. When I first started telling people about our plans, long before we had even hired a contractor, people would tell me their stories. "Our master bath addition took seven years!" "Our kitchen contractor practically...


Jul
28
2006
 3

Crunch Time Part IV


Thursday, two items crossed off. Hallway fire alarm Stairs pendant light The railing in the stairs is not done yet. Maybe today. We got the release for moving the electrical meter to the house. City of Austin cheerfully told me it would be done in 1 - 3 business days. The floor in the master bath is done. Walls today. Everything...


Jul
26
2006
 1

Crunch Time Part III


13 items checked off of the punch list today. Deck - Railings Downstairs Bath - install lights Downstairs Bath - Fix pipes under sink Downstairs Bedroom - Install or replace fan Exterior - cut bolts out of concrete pad Exterior - remove 2x4 from concrete pad Hallway - window latch Kids Bath - Shower trim Kitchen - outlets...


Jul
26
2006
 0

Conversations


We've got a big crew at the house, it's hot, they are working hard, and everybody is getting punchy. Plumber: Hey, Sparky! Electrician: Aww, I was just thinkin' about you. Plumber: Pervert! Electrician: I was just thinkin' I wish I'd got here before you put in this goddamn gas line. Later, in front of the house. Me: It's...


Jul
26
2006
 0

Crunch Time Part II


Yea for the punch list. The guys knocked out about a third of the list today. We got door knobs, lights, AC, a pocket door and about 35 other things. There was a snag installing the stove. The City of Austin requires that gas valves be available without moving the appliance. This means the gas line had to come up through...


Jul
25
2006
 4

Crunch Time


We. Are. Moving. I'm not sure where. I hope it's that cool house on Grover. This morning I handed the Super a punch list with 108 items on it. Tonight, I scratched 1 item off that list. AC Condensers were installed. Two more items were almost done. Deck Railing - needs handrail. Laundry Floor - needs threshold.     I...


Jul
24
2006
 0

Week 23, 24, 25: Catchup.


Week 23: Trimmy-trim-trim. Monday. Trim. Tuesday (July 4th). Trim. Wednesday. Trim. Pocket door frame. Thursday. Trim. Pocket door drywall. Friday. Dumpster is gone. Saturday. Cabinet guy quits. Sunday. Re-install most of the cabinets. Week 24: Hold the baby, I'm opening a can of woop-ass and I need both hands! Monday....


Jul
23
2006
 3

Peter’s House


Peter's House, Our Temporary Home Originally uploaded by daviderwin. Have I mentioned how awesome our rental experience has been? A million times, I have wanted to blog about our rental. This place rocks. Hardwoods, ceramic tile in the kitchen, and a HUGE covered back porch that was a lifesaver for the kids on hot or rainy...


Jul
21
2006
 4

Did someone say “countertops”?


IMG_8420 Originally uploaded by daviderwin. That's right, baby! Countertops!!! This day has been anticipated almost as much as the day the dumpster arrived. A kitchen just doesn't look like a kitchen without countertops. We chose Wilsonart Laminate in Slate Gray. I chose it a few months ago based on a walkthrough...


Jul
20
2006
 8

A Sad Day


Yesterday we lost our dear lissi. She was 14 years old, not as tough as she let on, and sicker than we new. She was my cat since college. She was the boys' first pet. She moved 6 times. She had 14 roommates (11 human, 4 cat). She was bit by a dog and endured several horrible surgeries. She was hit by a car and had to have...


Jul
18
2006
 3

Ikea Kitchen Day 41


Super big thanks and a fresh basket of good karma to my farther-in-law who spent the best 10 hours of his Sunday helping me put up the rest of the kitchen cabinets. The cabinet guy had hung the glass cabinets about .75 inches lower than the other wall cabinets, and he had put the base cabinet underneath about a half inch...


Jul
18
2006
 1

End of an Era


The dumpster is gone. We were so excited when it arrived. When they took it away last week, I almost didn't notice.


Jul
15
2006
 7

Flip, Flop


Flipping is so common in our neighborhood that people regularly pester our contractor and subs about when our house will go on the market. Our 6yo says we should put a Not For Sale sign in the yard. The house across the street from our rental is a flip. In the past 6 months they bought it, added 400 sqft, and put it back...


Jul
13
2006
 5

Railing


The issue of the day is railing for the upstairs deck. Since the deck is built and they are ready to put up the railing like, yesterday, this is a heckuva time to tell us the railing we speced out in January won't work. The issue is horizontalness. We want cables running horizontally. There is a rumor that the city won't...


Jul
10
2006
 6

Ikea Kitchen Day 35


Well, the cabinet guy postponed and postponed, then he worked a half day on Saturday and decided he had had enough. Ikea 2, me and cabinet guy zero. Two thirds of the kids were out of town so I watched a 15 min Ikea video on-line and headed over to the house to take a swing at it. I took down all but three of the cabinets...


Jul
4
2006
 1

Trim Before and After


I learned the terms for the interior window trim last week. The board at the bottom of the window is a stool (not a "sill" that is a exterior term) and the trim underneath that is the apron. There are some small differences in the new window trim. The stool is less chunky and sticks out less on the sides, which is not great...


Jul
1
2006
 7

Week 22: Wood Good, Tile Bad


Your weekly update, new and improved with a cute baby in every post! We are in the final stretch. The time left before we move in can be measured in weeks not months. And I can almost count what's left to do on my fingers (ok ... and toes) (ok ... might need my wife's fingers and toes too). This week was: Trim We had new trim...