Power Up

The first new light fixture.

Remodel Exhaustion

A tired owner takes a thirty second breather. We're nine days from move-in and getting tantalizingly close to the end of the project. The siding is nearly all on. Only the living room remains for painting. Trim out electrical and tiling both start tomorrow.

Urban Panda

Very rare. Spotted on our garage roof this evening, angling to get at the bowl of cat food sitting in the back yard.

Porch Progress

The rafters and sheathing are on the front porch.

Porchsign

At last, the ghost of a front porch appears. The structural timbers are 4x4 Ipe, which is the same material we're using for the handrail posts on the rest of the deck.

Rear Deck Prep

The concrete footings for the back deck, poured yesterday, are hard to see in this photo. The pressure treated ledger went on today. The inside corners created by the stair tower have slowed things down from time to time, mostly because of runoff water management. We don't want water getting in the cracks and causing damage inside the structure or behind the siding, so getting the flashing cut right and in place correctly is somewhat tedious work.

Construction on the rear deck should begin on Friday or early next week.

The 90 Degree Shot

It reached (or got very close to) 90 degrees F today. Rachael brought in lemonade for the crew at 10:30 this morning to help cool things down. Despite the heat, more of the Tyvek wrap disappeared under the steadily growing field of cedar siding.

• 5/31 :: Daniel adds : That cedar siding is so good looking, are you going to paint it?

• 5/31 :: We add : It's paint-grade cedar, so because of the glue that helps keep it together, we're obligated to put some kind of protective coating on it. We were initially thinking we'd stain and seal it, but we think the UV will still pass through whatever clear sealer we use and compromise the glue. We've also been cutting and mounting it with gaps along trim to allow room for caulk, which we wouldn't do if we were hanging stain-grade cedar. This bare cedar does look good, but we're pretty confident we'll have an equally good look once the paint is on.
  

Kitchen Paint

The Jackson Tan is creeping into the kitchen from the hallway (at left behind ladders). Those are paint spots on the walls, not a dirty lens. Rachael and I did some finger painting this evening to color code the walls for the painters.

Red Room Reborn

Now that the carpet is in (thanks Dave!), the second floor bedroom is starting to look a lot like our bedroom at the Liebe Street house.

Salsa Dancing

Leo and Chano finished painting the second floor bedroom and the entire basement on Sunday. We're using Low-VOC Aura paints by Benjamin Moore. Powell Paint, our supplier, has been helpful and super friendly. The upstairs bedroom is Salsa Dancing red. The basement is done in Jackson Tan and Valley Forge Brown.

• 5/31 :: Denise adds : Great color!

Paint Grade Cedar Siding

On Saturday Peter and Justin hung siding on two sides of the first floor. Peter spent over 12 hours with us to help us move the project along. Thanks Peter!

2nd Floor Bedroom Texture

The second floor bedrom windows and closet doors were covered to protect from texture overspray. The texture is drying overnight. Tomorrow, this bedroom goes from white to Salsa Dancing Red, which is the color of the test swatch on the wall in the corner.

Orange Peel

You can't really see it in this photo, but the basement rooms got a texture coating today that looks like orange peel once it's been applied. Texture helps hide imperfections in sheet rock installations. Smooth finishes take a lot more work whereas textured finish jobs wrap up fairly quickly. The basement and second floor bedrooms got texture. The first floor and stair well are done smooth.

First Floor, First Coat of Paint

The smooth walls took on a coat of primer today. Compare to what this room looked like yesterday.

First Floor, Last Coat of Mud

This photo was taken yesterday evening. This is the last coat of mud. Tomorrow the drywall company will prime the walls so that imperfections are more readily visible. The mudders will return Tuesday to do any necessary touch ups.