Lights

Most of the lights in the house have been installed and it's really great to be see the house at night

We also have one functioning toilet (hooray!) and the fridge is plumbed in so the water and ice dispenser works.

With the counter top in on Thursday and the cooktop and kitchen sink installed/plumbed on Friday, we only have the wood flooring to go until we can get the C.O. (Certificate of Occupancy) and move in!

All trimmed out

The trim work was finished last week, meaning that we can install the track lighting on the beams without the wires showing.

I also managed to tile both bathrooms - our neighbour Larry having given me a crash course in tiling. It turned out suprisingly well, with Vanessa commenting 'wow, it doesn't look like you did it yourself' - I'll take that as a compliment!

 Larry also helped me hang the master bath sink cabinet and install the double oven and microwave/extractor fan. The counter top will be delivered and installed on Thursday.

We also changed the door and it fits in more with the modern look. Its also trimmed out in Cedar not spruce like everything else

Siding complete

We finally got round to completing the siding on most of the house (there's a tiny bit above the back wall left) after ordering another half lift. We're very happy to see it done and to not have to look at the green sheathing anymore!

We also had the area around the house graded and the big pile of topsoil spread around the front (we found a large nest of snapping turtle eggs while doing so. The house has been hooked up to the grid and we've got the aircon running so it's a lot nicer to be working inside. We hope to move in by the 15th of August...

Kitchen mission slightly impossible

The IKEA delivery came on Tuesday and my good friend Paddy and I have been attempting what maybe our biggest ever IKEA puzzle - assembling our kitchen cabinets. Paddy obviously made the journey from England for this purpose...

We began with the wall cabinets (as it says to in the instructions):

and today we got the base cabinets in:

More appliance installing and shelving/door fun to come!

A fresh coat of paint

The walls have all been finished and the first coat of paint was sprayed on today and the effect was really impressive - once the drywall joints disappeared, the full scale of the walls emerged and we're really happy with the result. Once things are touched up, we'll get on with the trim and the flooring, before getting stuck into the IKEA kitchen installation.

Here are some photos:

Drywall hung - a real house!

Here are some shots of the drywalled walls:

kitchen

kitchen

2nd Bedroom / Gym 

3rd Bedroom / Studio

Guest bathroom

Master bedroom

Master bathroom shower

The siding on the front of the main living area is now complete:

Spray. Trim. Hang. Tape.

So it's been a while since the last posting on this blog but lots has been done. First off, the electric wiring and plumbing was completed and signed off on by the building inspector.

Thankfully, we also had our last exchange with Kokoon homes when they came to spray the insulation in the upper areas of the house and over the wiring. Arriving 9 hours late and staying till 3am, they then refused to trim the insulation, meaning that Vanessa and I had to do it over the next 3 days, delaying our drywall crew.

The foam needed to be cut flush so that the drywall could be hung.

Though our relationship started off well enough, once the pressure was on them to produce, deliver and install they became very flaky in their execution, were awful at communicating and rarely met a deadline. Dave Rades hired unskilled college kids, blamed his equipment (that he didn't maintain properly), people he couldn't rely on (pot meet kettle) and refused to pass on bad news, preferring to avoid our phone calls. Every subsequent subcontractor has complained about having to fix his mistakes and said they'd like to box his ears in!  Needless to say we are happy our dealings have finished and we can enjoy the house. If you are interested, check out my mid century modern furniture business Trystcraft . I find, restore, refinish (no chalk paint!) and repair mid century modern furniture and ship it worldwide.

www.trystcraft.com