649 6th

rack'em (in the name of cosmogonism!)

Here you see the drying rows of polyurethaned oak treads that perhaps as early as tomorrow will be installed as:

1. shiny new and 100% DIY stairs!!!

2. or the completion of a project that started long, long ago in a far away place...

3. or was it way over there that other time ago?

4. or will it be at last the conclusion to the VERY FIRST act of destruction-in-the-name-of-construction (that this property ever saw (under our watchful gaze))!?

(((stay tuned)))

fall 2008

Screen shot of the plan you saw me working on yesterday. Feeling defeated by technology: couldn't work out how to post/capture the full length of table, so this is a somewhat abbreviated snapshot of the master plan.

Stay tuned for the blow by blow. I'd like to say there will be a work completed every day and post to go with it, but by now we all know how likely that is. Self-defeating much? Hell no. Already knocked one task off the list and puttered at others.

Actually we had a great brainstorming session yesterday about the shelving/storage units in kitchen and on 2nd floor. Putting it all on paper (so we can have the carcasses constructed) shouldn't be a problem to complete by week's end. I'm guessing tomorrow's post will be a scan of same.

we have a goal

As with every other time we've truly gained some momentum on the house, we set a deadline today. The remaining finish tasks having been hanging around since December 1st. They must be done. Thanksgiving is the new day. As most of you who read this blog know Thanksgiving is they day that I co-opted as three meal foodie day several years ago. This year I'm hosting it in my finished dining room. The next eights weeks have a lot of "assignments" to get through. We still have many open seats, please let me know if you are interested.

As always first things first; make a list (put "make list" at top of check list for maximum "getting things done" satisfaction). In our last big flurry of work we finally destroyed the white board. Today we got a new one at Staples (little did I know it was back to school shopping day in Park Slope) to officially confirm we are on our way.

The list is made, the priorities are noted, the dependencies are linked. Ladies and gentlemen we have a goal.

hidey ho, everybody

Got a question about the Kohler Greek Tub t'other day, and since the response was sooooo long and sooooo informative, I thought to myself "share the wealth." Plus I took a couple pix, and nothing goes together better than pix and posts.

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Glad to share more info regarding our experience with Kohler's Greek tub. For us, the dimensions are great. As you already know, it's short; when sitting bolt upright I can just barely extend my legs full length. Some people have questioned the comfort of a short tub -- but when's the last time anyone sat so rigidly while soaking in the tub? If I want to extend my legs, I prefer slouching down and propping my heels on the edge.

And the depth more than compensates for length. In fact, its depth is the more important factor for installation considerations because it results in more volume than standard tubs, so there's more water weight. We considered consulting a structural engineer to calculate the load, but since bathroom was a gut reno we just sistered the floor joists before putting in new subfloor.

Water weight was also a factor when I caulked between wall and tub. I'd read a trick about filling tub with water before caulking and draining it only after caulk has cured, but for whatever reason I ignored that advice -- and had to rip out the caulk a few days later when gaps formed at both of the surrounding walls. For the re-caulk, I filled tub and seal held, though after several months I noticed a small gap and will need to pull the caulk on that edge again. I'm guessing the new gap has to do with structural settling, ie not much I can do but monitor the situation. Small price for a great tub.

Our decision to side-mount the fixtures was based on rain-type shower head. In my experience, shower heads are end-mounted because of the angled spray and the accommodation of tub length to adjust location of spray on the body; with rain-type shower head that's not a factor. I also feel like the end-mount orientation is contrary to the body's orientation while showering. By that I mean my wider dimension (side-to-side) spends most of the time while showering in the tub's narrower dimension (also side-to-side). Placing the rain shower head on side wall means I can stand "sideways" in the tub, which gives me more sense of room.

And it made a lot more sense to run the supply lines on same wall as shower fixture, rather than running at least one line around the corner. Could have end-mounted the shower and run a longer arm, perhaps with a ceiling support -- but I didn't. And I really am happy with the side mount. We've made several unorthodox decisions in the design/renovation of our house; some people questioned the wisdom, but I've been happy with outcome in every case.

One more tip: insulate the tub! We wrapped some spare fiberglass insulation around as much of the tub as we could reach after it was installed but before we closed up the deck. I can only compare to all the other tubs I've used that seemed to lose heat faster than I wanted; definitely not a problem with this tub. Insulating tub body is probably a good idea no matter what tub you get. I think I got the idea while reading about building a deck for a hot tub installation and made sense to apply same wisdom to standard tub.

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'K, that's all for now. Oh, and I quit my job a month AND didn't do a lick of work on the house besides wash dishes, do laundry, tidy, and make meals. What WILL it take to kick this project back into gear? I'm thinking warmer weather.

well hello

There's only been one month since starting this blog that have been totally undocumented-- or shall I say, without substance to document. While oh so close we've not been completely fallow, Michael installed this nifty little fluorescent as a central work light in the kitchen. It's not exactly what we had planned, but from the recess in the soffit it works great and given it was about $40 from the depot it was an extra sweet uncomplicated treat.

I hadn't realized how dim it had been until there was a bench line for comparison.

Michael's last day at work is this Friday, and Sunday is a round numbered birthday. I'm hoping February brings a bounty of progress in its short span of days.

triage

It had to come sooner or later, the big list was triaged.  With the holiday, we really only have so much time before December 1st.  It was ambitious to start and really only meant to drive productivity (sounds like a fair rationalization). We prioritized  and came up with what we think is manageable over the next few days so we can do the actual party prep in tandem.

We would have killed ourselves (or each other) if we attempted the big list. Sometimes you just gotta let go.

not much of one thing

Big weekend of lots of miscellany. We cleaned out the boiler and got some heat up in here. I fixed the refrigerator, and am enjoying a cold beer for the first time in months. But most important, we just about finished(!) the second floor (including the picture lights; more on that later).

The piece of eye candy below is (as you've probably noticed) the new way of keeping myself glued to the finish jobs. Let us know if we've played them out.

wheat and chaff

I gotta say the details and the materials were starting to get the better of me. It's Tuesday night and that means schedule check-in, but tonight I wanted to give it a kick. We did a cleaning reset on the last unfinished room (dining) and made it less of a materials storage area and the beginnings of another finished space.

On the plan we're doing ok at best. Last week I mentioned that it sometimes takes longer to set-up and strike a job than it takes to do it. This week I am finding the plus side of that equation is that there are limitless jobs to choose from. Nothing really has priority over another at this point; if you're tired of painting trim, miter and nail up some cedar for a while. Not working for you? How bout a bit of electrical fixture installation?

We've got a couple of big jobs queued up for each of the next three weekends (kitchen cabinets and trim, stairs installation, and sliding bathroom barn door respectively), if successful by December 1 you will see a blue sheet of perfection (at least I'm allowed to dream).

drywall taping

Tuesday night means two things; garbage and recycling, and updating the fall project plan. As I had predicted last night, by finishing the silicone caulk in the bathroom and priming and painting the stairs we got a few more task in the blue realm (blue means done in the excel sheet; yellow in progress, purple on deck).

I did the wet sand of the drywall in the entryway and attempted to roll on to priming, but was stop by quality assurance. A couple of the mud seams just weren't ready. They need at least one more layer and another round of sanding. On the plus side, the stairway to the second floor is ready for its finish coat. Meaning we were three for two on the evening for things that could have possibly gone blue.

When I updated the plan I was beginning to feel like our December 1 deadline was rapidly approaching and we were hardly making a dent. Then (and this is where the true geek nature comes out) I sorted by priority and realized that we had knocked all of the high priority items off of the list or they were at least in progress.

That made it a bit more palatable. If nothing else, at least the important things are getting done first.

task list review

We've been at the autumn task list for a few weeks now. If I tell you how slow finish work goes one more time I think it could be the most often cited observation in the entire blog. Though, I did get to a new favorite this weekend, the task that takes longer to prep for and clean up after than it takes to accomplish... priceless.

You'll note in the task list that things complete are blue, things started are yellow, and to add just a bit of motivation, things in purple will be accomplished weeknights this week. Who knows perhaps the refrigerator part will show up too and we can mark it as a banner week. Hey, a guys allowed to dream.