649 6th

doing the two step

forward, one step back. Sing it again.

You take one step forward. Detailed the design for chimney-side shelving on 1st and 2nd floor, so the metal fabrication can go to same guy that'll be doing the dining table frame. Will speak to several other elements in the house: vertical supports will be same guage, shape, material and finish as the dining table; shelves will be 5/4" oak just as the stair treads will be. Simple clean design.

You take another step forward: got the finished and unfinished cost estimate from wood cabinet manufacturer.

You take one step back: and we'll be seeking another estimate. Nearly double our target. Probably has to do with street front location and neighborhood shop. Toby remembered we had a different outfit make the kitchen cabinet drawers. Let's see what they have to say.

dining blue

Love the color. Really enjoy the pleasure of painting new construction. Absence of molding is such a relief. Remarklably clean experience.

Looking forward through the stairs at split view of 1st and 2nd floors is going to be so hot when we're done. Very exciting.

Toby found a metal manufacture and is discussing specs and cost estimate for the dining table frame.

Ideas are popping. Toby has a great design for shelving that integrates the chimney-sides both upstairs and downstairs: floor-to-ceiling poles that will likely be ordered from same shop that makes the table. Assuming that order goes well.

beam me up

Cabinetry order has been submitted. Up to a week before we'll have an estimate. This is where we'll feel the pain of not doing it ourselves. Though I may have just set us on the course for saving $3000 on shelving in the dining room. Save here, spend there.

Tomorrow I start cleaning the ceiling. Hope my back is up for it. Time to bring on my yoga-awareness, move smart, take breaks, and stay fluid. Scheduled as a one day job -- though I'm expecting gritty, wet, hot working condition. Blegh. 

admission 2

excellent point about the unseen cost of cheap labor, ms. peasy. everything has a price, even the things we don't pay for. no idea why our sheetrock guy came so cheap, and other than quality, don't know else wasn't getting paid for. can't remember if we mentioned that he called us once to thank us for the referrals and good references (we took calls from at least two people asking our opinion of him -- had all good things to say about him, and don't be afraid to tell him the jobs not yet done), then offered us a job for free. what? we didn't have any work for him at the time, but it still makes me wonder if we didn't dodge a bullet.

there's another anything you pay for: a sense of well-being as you let uncounted strangers in and out of your home for unsupervised hours. how much does trust cost? can it be bought? is it like paying for quality? we assume the more expensive product, whether person, place or thing, is better. this guy costs so little there must be something wrong. somehow damaged. perhaps he's desperate. reformed ex-con? recovered addict?   bad businessman?

what are we charging ourselves by not investing in each other?

admission

of guilt, not entry: we skimped on the walls. out of sight, out of mind, i suppose. so focused on the future appearance that we didn't really consider what we weren't paying for. attention to detail for one thing, the labor that goes into crafting a smooth finish.

or the personal investment in a job well-done? how much longer would we have taken doing it ourselves? how much more willing would i have been to smooth all those walls myself? was ready never to work joint compound again before i was done with third coat in kitchen.

almost makes me yearn for days of primer white. lighter colors seem to hide many of the imperfections. i think that's why we're now so struck by the rough finish wherever we painted richer colors. places on 2nd floor almost look unsanded, whereas few spots catch my eye on 3rd floor. could be the eggshell finish too. i've heard flat paint is much more forgiving in that respect, though no mercy at all when touched.

but if it weren't for the blips i'd probably be harping on the humps and bumps wherever old meets new. or the challenging, irregular angles. if not this, that. pick your layer. soon enough the paint will be a little scuffed, a little scraped, and i'll be dissappointed in that too. or am i standing on my head? in a year or so when the fresh paint's faded how much more mellowed and integrated will i see these walls? how much will be walls and how much me?

in search of the sweet spot where job's done right, neither obsessive nor ignored. ticket, please.

day 30: thanks for tuning in

It's been thirty days already? Actually 31, we got so busy yesterday that we ran out of time. When we returned from dinner posting was the last thing on my mind. Suffice it to say we had a very productive weekend. It was a great to close out the month with a flurry of activity.

We finally got ALL of the tile installed in the bathroom. However, not without our first noise complaint. The woman that lives behind us in the building that abuts our property asked us to stop just as Michael was making the last cut. Seems she's been living there for over a year and would like some peace and quiet "just for once on a Sunday." The complaint was the first interaction we've ever had with this "neighbor". That combined with the fact that she was speaking from illegal window (which on its own works my last nerve) didn't make me have a ton sympathy for her. It is true, we make a lot of noise-- I would hate us.

Lily finished the painting on the second floor, and it looks terrific. She heads back to New Hampshire tomorrow. She's been racking in the hours so she should have a pretty nice chunk of change to take with her.

There are lots more constructions details to  discuss, but will have to wait for another post. Thanks to everyone for the the encouragement to keep working and posting this month. Here's to keeping the momentum for the rest of the summer (without the neighbors calling the cops).

day 29: southfield green

day 28: paint and prep

With the additional hands (thanks Lily) we got a big leg up today. The second floor has two coats on the ceiling and one on the walls, all thanks to our hired help. Because the computer, camera, and all of those tings that make the blog more than words are somewhat packed away tonight, I am going to wait til tomorrow morning to give the blow by blow. I promised 30 days in a row and I'm just making good on my word ;-)

Suffice it to say, the living room is now really green.

make that one thing

The plumber finally came, and went, and if you keep your fingers crossed, he may come again. Seriously, plumbers have a REALLY bad reputation much to my delight ours broke that mold. I was all set to do battle but there was none to be had, reasonable, punctual, a really nice guy.  Plumbing was one of two things that's on the list of things we don't do ourselves.

He roughed in the new kitchen feeds and drain where it needed to go. The only down side to it was he had to take away the old plumbing. Meaning the 2x4-hillbilly-beer-bong that I had rigged up in the kitchen as a sink is now sadly gone <cough>.  Meaning, we have no kitchen sink... again. The good news is the only thing that we are waiting for is ourselves. The plumber was the only hurdle to get over and then the rest was us.

Of course that hadn't always been the case. After the plumber came we were then going to bring in the drywall finish guy we've used a couple of times immediately ther after. Thus bringing us to the other item on the list of things we don't do ourselves. Turns out we couldn't get in touch with him and we needed to get this done to stay on schedule.

I say "on schedule" like there's some sort of client deadline I have to meet. The truth of the matter is Michael's family is coming to visit the second weekend in February and we know where we'd like the kitchen to be (not that it would be a hassle for them either way). We've used the little deadlines in the past to get a big flurry of stuff done why should this time be any different.

<non sequitur>Lately I've begun to pretend that I am a project manager on a design/build job when I talk to anbody about supplies or fixtures. Somehow if I pretend there's some vague "other" out there I'm trying to please they give me a lot less hassle and a lot better advice. Or, it allows me yet another fantasy diversion to play around in for a moment. </non sequitur>

To stay on schedule we needed the work to get done this week so we can tile next weekend. Mark another one off the list of things we don't do. We're taping and sealing the walls. The photo you see is after the base "tape" coat. There will be two more, fill and feather, after that it will be primed. I'm always amazed at how shockingly bad it looks after the first coat. So far I think our work is on par with the the guy we normally use. We'll see when we get a little later in the week if I'm singing the same tune.

Both of us have done finish drywall work before but, as it is one of those things that is a touch skill thing, something neither of us particularly wanted to whet back into shape. After a few hours of installing and filling corner bead, I gotta say, it's not that bad. I kinda like it. Micahel on the other hand is the master of the seam, has technique is so strong that he earn's the right to do the two remaining coats as a solo performance... ok that was blatantly Tom Sawyer'y of me.

The plan is to do a step a night this week so that by the weekend we can begin to paint and tile. I have a little time lapse sequence I'm planning in my head. Here's hoping it will make it to the animated gif I want it to be.

static charge

we're currently (pun slightly intended) shopping for an electrician to rewire the first floor. tempting to take on the job ourselves, but as several people have said "you guys know just enough to be dangerous." good thing about this round of service selection is we actually took the time to get bids from several people. so far we've met with four electricians, and the estimates couldn't be more varied:

#1 = $3500 for 4 days
#2 = $800 for 2 days
#3 = $1100 for less than one day
#4 = $3500 for 4 days

hands down we'd get the best result from first guy. he spent about an hour with us and corrected labeling of the circuit panel. i would fully expect his work to be so good i'd have regrets about covering it up.

second guy was almost exact opposite. took no notes and implied he was simply going to build off the dangerously shoddy wiring that's already here.

after first two we were seriously hoping either of the other two would show up just to help contextualize the estimates. third guy hit just the right mark: took good notes, listened to what we were saying and asked smart questions, probed a bit for details, and then provided a surprisingly low estimate in both cost and time.

last guy had stiff competition, and i'll admit i was just going through the motions with him as a post work-out cool-down. here's a tip: don't hire the guy who asks how much the other guys bid, especially not after you set him up with the high bid and he responds "for you, yeah, i can do that." favors like that i don't need.

the job, you ask? disconnect the old hot wires to 2nd floor so circuits can be re-used, then install a three-switch panel to control various ceiling lights in hall and dining room, the ceiling lights themselves, four receptacles around the room, a two-way switch and wall lights for the stairway, and a light and switch for the front door and entryway.

if all goes well, we'll be fully wired by end of week.