January | 2016 | IT STARTED ON SAWYER

I have a big photo update to share with everyone. To start the week, our drywall contractors finished mudding the walls and they came through with a white primer and primed all of the walls and ceilings. This has allowed us to start working on the interior finishes!

Our flooring guy has evaluated the condition of the existing (what remains) floor and removed the floor boards that can’t be saved. Starting with the 2nd floor, he laid out and installed the floor boards on top of a water proof membrane. He then matched up the new floor boards with the old, integrating and staggering the boards, so that there won’t be an obvious transition between the new and the old. Any height difference in the floor boards (and there is one) will be sanded down at a later stage.

Our tile guys finished sloping and waterproofing the showers and they have begun to lay tile in the second floor mater bath. This is a smaller bathroom, therefore we are trying to keep the style light while also bringing back some of the original building charm. So to start, we are laying down a white and black mosaic floor tile. Later, we will match that up with a white subway tile. Hopefully, the light colors will keep this bathroom feeling open and functional.

Our tile guys also laid a simple tile in the HVAC and laundry closets to add a water proof flooring for which to install the equipment / appliance on.

Once the flooring contractor finished installing the second floor apartment’s floor boards, we scheduled for Studio 41 to deliver the second floor kitchen cabinets. For both units, we decided to purchase cabinets that were certified through the KCMA Environmental Stewardship Program. This certification evaluates cabinet manufactures and their products based on five categories: indoor air quality, product resource management, process resource management, environmental stewardship, and community relations. To learn more about the certification, see the following link: http://www.greencabinetsource.org/Learn_about_ESP/Certification_Requirements

Along with installing the cabinets, our carpenter has begun to work on some of the second floor finish millwork. Our contractor started with installing the wood beams in the dining room and framing out the living room windows.

Meanwhile in the basement, our concrete contractor came back to level out the back stairwell landing. We also brought out our concrete finish contractor to start grinding down the basement concrete floor. This will be a multi-day process, starting with a small grit sander to remove and level the concrete floor, moving towards a larger grit to eventually finish and polish the concrete floor.

Bsmt hallway finished mudding

1st floor living room has been primed

1st floor kitchen has been primed

Removing the damaged 2nd unit floor boards

New floor boards installed to blend in seamlessly with the old

New floor boards going in on the 2nd floor, on top of a water proof membrane

2nd floor base cabinets have come in!

2nd floor master bath mosaic tile

Concrete dust vacuum part of the concrete floor finishing equipment

Back stairwell landing to the bsmt gets re-poured and leveled

Master bath floor is complete

2nd floor hall bath shower is water proofed and read for tile

2nd floor HVAC closet tile

2nd floor dining room wood beams going in

2nd floor living room window framing coming along

Happy New Years! As one can see from the photos and dates of our blog entries, we’re a little behind with our construction updates. We’ll try to catch up with more updates and pictures over the next few weeks!

Week 46 was another busy week at the house. The drywall contractors finished hanging all of the drywall and started mudding and sanding the walls. This is a multi-day process to get the walls nice and smooth. They apply the rough pass of joint compound, let it dry, sand it down, repeat. Joints and corners require multiple passes to have a final finished feel to them.

In the mean time, our tiling contractor has stopped by to create our pre-slopes for our future showers. The shower curbs were previously built by our carpenter, and the durock cement board was placed around the curbs by our drywall contractor. Our tile contractor uses a thinned out concrete mix to create a slope from all four corners towards the drain. Done correctly, this will ensure there won’t be any standing water and everything will drain properly.

Finally, as mentioned in the Wk 43 blog post, our front roof contractor built out the structure for the roof over hang. Early this week he came back to install the roof shingles. Andrea and I went with a reddish brown shingle to mute the contrast between the red-brick, shingle roof, and an eventual patinated copper roof. Over the past two months, our roofing contractor has replicated the details from the old roof and in the middle of the week he brought them on site to install! It took him two days to install and finish the front roof. Its great to see the front of the building really coming together!