Hi everyone,
Who leaves a blog hanging for two years in cyberspace? People who have had to do a lot of re-prioritizing over the last two years, I suppose. You'll forgive us, we hope.
Since we last posted, we finished staining the miles of baseboard in our house, completed (and rented!) the bachelor apartment in the basement, built a beautiful raised vegetable garden in the backyard, and yes, even managed to park the car in the garage. When I say we, I mostly mean John.
This video, produced by our builder, shows the final product. What can we say? We love the place.
We hope you'll help us enjoy our home, and visit often.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Almost there
Here are some very recent photos of the exterior and interior, to give you an idea of where we are now (none of the furniture in the right-hand photo is in the right spot, but will be soon). 96A Crichton is now a habitable location, and we love it more every day.
Stay tuned!
Roof with a view
While we were tiling a couple of months ago (still ongoing, if you can believe it), we had a little snack on the rooftop patio. It wasn't finished yet, but we still enjoyed getting some fresh air on the roof. The photo on the right shows the rooftop patio as it is now. From there we will be able to see the fireworks over Parliament Hill on Canada Day, and the international fireworks competition in Hull. We can't wait!Time to cook
Our kitchen is almost complete; only a single cabinet and our countertops remain. It's hard to get a photo of the whole kitchen from any angle, but here's an attempt. We love everything about this kitchen; it turned out even better than we had hoped. We especially love the stacked cabinets to the ceiling (no place for dust!) and the pull-out pot drawer in the peninsula. Oh, and the 36-inch cooktop, too. And the dishwasher. Okay, all of it.
Stairs — the triumphant return!
Less than a week after they were removed, our stairs were safely returned to us. They now meet code, and are as beautiful as they were when they left. We are now only waiting for the maple handrail; once those are on, the stairs will be 100% complete. (The handrail in the photo is temporary.)Copper sink installed!
When the copper sink we bought on our honeymoon in Montreal was put in, it felt like things really started taking shape. We kept that sink in a bag in our apartment for about five months, waiting for the time to come when it would be installed. The powder room is now almost ready for visitors — the box of cleaning materials in the photo has been removed, and all the regular bathroom accessories have been installed, including a great round mirror, a toilet paper holder, a hand towel rack and lights. It's amazing how much a toilet paper holder makes a room look like a real room.
Indoor camping
While our stairs leading to our bedroom were gone, we spent a few nights camped out in our house, moving from spot to spot as work progressed on the second floor. We still managed to have some good meals, though. (If you look closely in the right-hand photo, you can see a real sign of the wilderness: Tammo, our pet bunny!) That photo still makes me laugh. More floor pics
Here are a couple more photos of the floors before they were refinished. On the left is a photo of the first floor, which was really terrible. The photo on the right shows marks in the second-floor bathroom. I still find it truly unbelievable that a company that did work this shoddy would not be embarassed and offer to refinish them as soon as possible. Instead, we had to chase after them until they finally relented. It's infuriating. But it's Sunday evening, so I'm letting it go. Bye, bye stairs
Here are a couple of photos of our stairs being removed. It was quite an operation -- not a scratch anywhere! Look at Ethan's legs dangling in the second photo where our stairs used to be. Yikes!Our floors: Before and after
After some serious digging, I managed to find my camera software and download some photos. Here are the first of many to come.As we mentioned in previous posts, we had an absolutely awful experience with our two flooring companies. The photo on the left shows the state in which they first left our floors. Remember, these were to be our finished floors, with no other covering on them. Truly, they were unbelievably bad. The white streaking shows where the varnish was rubbed off of the floors before it was dry. It looks like you could just mop it up, but you can't. The guys finishing our floors did try their best, but they had no training and no support. It was a disaster. The photo on the right shows the refinished floors. They are dusty in the photo, but you can still see how much better they are. Unfortunately, they are far from perfect. We will live with them for the forseeable future, though.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Four football fields
Between moving furniture, finding places to sleep, and generally fretting, we have spent the last four weekends sanding, staining and varnishing 800 feet of two-inch window and door trim and 400 feet of four-inch baseboards. Stretched out end to end, that's four football fields worth of poplar.
Lessons learned from finishing four football fields of wood:
1. Sanding large amounts of wood is back-breaking, dusty work.
2. Working in a confined area (garage) and trying to carefully move awkwardly long pieces of wet varnished wood around furniture that shouldn't be in the garage except you had to put it there because you hired an incompetent flooring company is extremely frustrating.
3. Staining is toxic and tedious, but instantly gratifying.
4. Bugs are indeed dumb enough to fly into wet varnish and die there.
5. At about foot #1,150 of 1,200 feet, absolutely any task looks more appealing than varnishing wood. Scrub the toilet? No problem! Clean out the bunny's cage and litter box? Fun! Run in bare feet across a bed of unsterilized needles and hot garbage? Whee!
Still, we made it. Our carpenter installed some of the baseboards and trim last weekend, and we can't believe what a difference it has made. The house is taking on a distinct house-like look, and it is wonderful. The baseboards around the curved walls are made of two thin layers of 1/4-inch maple, which were cut to the same height as the poplar boards, bent around the curves and nailed in place. Unfortunately, we have to stain it to match the rest of the baseboards. More sanding, staining and varnishing! Ohhhh.
The rest of the baseboards and trim and due to be installed this weekend. Once they are in, we can move furniture agains the walls and unpack!
Actual unpacking! We can't wait.
Lessons learned from finishing four football fields of wood:
1. Sanding large amounts of wood is back-breaking, dusty work.
2. Working in a confined area (garage) and trying to carefully move awkwardly long pieces of wet varnished wood around furniture that shouldn't be in the garage except you had to put it there because you hired an incompetent flooring company is extremely frustrating.
3. Staining is toxic and tedious, but instantly gratifying.
4. Bugs are indeed dumb enough to fly into wet varnish and die there.
5. At about foot #1,150 of 1,200 feet, absolutely any task looks more appealing than varnishing wood. Scrub the toilet? No problem! Clean out the bunny's cage and litter box? Fun! Run in bare feet across a bed of unsterilized needles and hot garbage? Whee!
Still, we made it. Our carpenter installed some of the baseboards and trim last weekend, and we can't believe what a difference it has made. The house is taking on a distinct house-like look, and it is wonderful. The baseboards around the curved walls are made of two thin layers of 1/4-inch maple, which were cut to the same height as the poplar boards, bent around the curves and nailed in place. Unfortunately, we have to stain it to match the rest of the baseboards. More sanding, staining and varnishing! Ohhhh.
The rest of the baseboards and trim and due to be installed this weekend. Once they are in, we can move furniture agains the walls and unpack!
Actual unpacking! We can't wait.
Floors refinished!
Last we left you, we were anxiously awaiting the refinishing of our awful floors. The second floor was refinished first. This floor is where we have our kitchen, living room and dining room, and the most wide open space. The floors look much better, although given the state they were in before, that wasn't too difficult (to come: before and after pics). The surface is mostly one colour — a fairly dark brown — but the holes in the DaroTopp cement flooring are still very visible in places. There are also strange swirly marks in the floor in the kitchen. Not swirly-stylish, but swirly-whoops-I-made-a-mistake-ish. Still, it is markedly better, and we were extremely relieved to finally have it done, a month after we moved in. Once the second floor was refinished, we needed to clear the first floor to have it redone. We moved all of our furniture from the first floor up to the second floor, and all of the boxes from the first floor down to the basement. Who needs a gym membership when you can just carry furniture up and down stairs every night? Thanks, flooring company! We're in great shape!
The first floor was refinished later than planned (no warning, no phone call), and at the last possible minute. It too looks a lot better than it did, although there are some shiny patches were the matte finish wasn't applied, and the holes in the DaroTopp are still visible. But, we're thrilled that our business with the flooring company is now over, and we can finally start moving things into the rooms where they're supposed to go.
The first floor was refinished later than planned (no warning, no phone call), and at the last possible minute. It too looks a lot better than it did, although there are some shiny patches were the matte finish wasn't applied, and the holes in the DaroTopp are still visible. But, we're thrilled that our business with the flooring company is now over, and we can finally start moving things into the rooms where they're supposed to go.
Remember us?
Hello, everyone! It's been a long couple of weeks, but we've finally turned a corner. Things are on the upswing. Slowly, slowly, things have improved. I found my laptop, but because it was recently resurrected from the dead (huge virus), it no longer includes the software for my camera or my Internet connection. I could reinstall it, if only I could find the box with the installation CDs in it. I'm aiming for Christmas (seriously). Until then, I'm typing away on John's machine; the pics will have to wait, though.
Instead of writing one novel-long post, I thought I'd break it up and start with the stairs.
Our stairs from the second to the third floor were removed and replaced without any problems. Our stair guys took great care in removing them -- it's truly amazing what can be achieved by smart guys and a block and tackle. Our 1,000 lbs stairs were lowered and eased out of the building without a scratch on them or the walls. It was a real feat. Before the stairs were removed, John and I had a little bit of time to run up to the third floor and pack a few clothes for the week. We spent our first night on our camping mats in the living room, then upgraded to a single mattress on the floor the next night. We spent the next few nights alternating between my lovely sister's house and our kitchen floor. The stairs were reinstalled within the week, and we were thrilled to be reunited with our bed. The stairs are as gorgeous as they were when they first went in, no worse for the wear. The ceiling height is now corrected. The only thing left to do is install the maple railing cap, clean up the railings, and repair the drywall where it had to be cut out.
We now also have railings everywhere we need them — all around every outside structure, on the garage stairs leading to the house, and on the stairs leading to the basement. The stair rails leading to the rooftop patio now have a much nicer railing. It almost makes you forget that if you fell from up there, you'd be toast. Almost.
Having the stairs corrected has been a huge challenge, and we are thrilled that it's over. The stairs are beautiful -- photos to come!
Instead of writing one novel-long post, I thought I'd break it up and start with the stairs.
Our stairs from the second to the third floor were removed and replaced without any problems. Our stair guys took great care in removing them -- it's truly amazing what can be achieved by smart guys and a block and tackle. Our 1,000 lbs stairs were lowered and eased out of the building without a scratch on them or the walls. It was a real feat. Before the stairs were removed, John and I had a little bit of time to run up to the third floor and pack a few clothes for the week. We spent our first night on our camping mats in the living room, then upgraded to a single mattress on the floor the next night. We spent the next few nights alternating between my lovely sister's house and our kitchen floor. The stairs were reinstalled within the week, and we were thrilled to be reunited with our bed. The stairs are as gorgeous as they were when they first went in, no worse for the wear. The ceiling height is now corrected. The only thing left to do is install the maple railing cap, clean up the railings, and repair the drywall where it had to be cut out.
We now also have railings everywhere we need them — all around every outside structure, on the garage stairs leading to the house, and on the stairs leading to the basement. The stair rails leading to the rooftop patio now have a much nicer railing. It almost makes you forget that if you fell from up there, you'd be toast. Almost.
Having the stairs corrected has been a huge challenge, and we are thrilled that it's over. The stairs are beautiful -- photos to come!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
De-construction update
Just while I have a few minutes as I wait for John to pick me up, I wanted to mention the latest bit of craziness that I forgot to report. Our drunken electricians didn't leave enough wire hanging out of the various outlets in the house in a few places, so they can't actually connect them. To fix this problem — which somehow passed inspection — they had to rip out parts of the wall today in three of our rooms to pull out more of the wire. That means they had to tear out the drywall and break through our foam insulation to try and find the wires they're looking for.
Yep, it's as bad as it sounds.
Yep, it's as bad as it sounds.
Refugees from 96A Crichton
John just went to the house around 7:00 p.m. tonight to see how the floors were coming along (they were supposed to be ready to walk on in socks at 9:00 p.m.) and found out that we actually can't sleep there tonight because the epoxy takes eight to 12 hours to dry. No one seems to have had any intention of telling us that. If John hadn't had the foresight to check on things, we would have been pretty upset to find out that we couldn't walk on the floor to get any clothes from our bedroom, and that we would have to find a place to sleep in a hurry. John hurriedly packed a few things for us, and my sister said she would take us in.
We are refugees from our new home.
We are refugees from our new home.
Post-move stress disorder (PMSD)
After a year and a half of planning, working, sweating and worrying, we expected to be celebrating one of the biggest accomplishments of our lives after we moved in. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out this way. We're still hanging on to the hope that one day soon we will get some joy out of our new home.
Our plumbers and electricians have proven themselves to be incompetent. Two weeks after we moved in, we still have an unconnected sink and another sink that leaks. The electricians, after admitting that the first crew who installed our wiring were drunk on the job (yep, for real), don't seem to feel any sort of urgency to finish their work. On top of it all, they leave a path of destruction wherever they go (a broken light here, broken lightbulbs there, etc.). They flick our breakers and boiler on and off at will, leaving us with systems that don't work when we want them to and no hot water this morning. The minute they finish their work, we will be complaining to the Better Business Bureau.
We've hinted at our flooring troubles, and I wish I could post our recent photos (I can't find my laptop at the moment, unfortunately). As we mentioned in our previous post, our flooring company left us with completely deficient floors before we moved in. They avoided our builder's calls for almost two weeks before finally responding after he escalated the issue to the company's president. They are scheduled to refinish the second floor today; we'll see what actually happens. Once the second floor is complete, we will have to move everything off of the first floor to the second floor so that that floor can also be redone. We've decided to just skip the third floor; it's not as bad up there, and we'll just do whatever we can to clean them up ourselves. Again, we will be contacting the BBB to lodge a complaint.
Our lovely stairs have, unfortunately, failed inspection. It's a very long story, but the stairs from the second to the third floor must be removed (!), corrected, and re-installed. We don't know yet whether we will just move some clothes downstairs and sleep among the boxes, or whether we'll stay elsewhere for the week. We have a bunny to consider, too.
In the midst of this, we've been sanding, staining and varnishing what feels like a million feet of baseboards and window and door frames. We're pleased with the results, but wonder whether our backs will ever forgive us.
On a happier note, we have continued to unpack as much as possible in our kitchen, which we truly love. We have many photos to share as soon as my laptop turns up. Stay tuned!
Our plumbers and electricians have proven themselves to be incompetent. Two weeks after we moved in, we still have an unconnected sink and another sink that leaks. The electricians, after admitting that the first crew who installed our wiring were drunk on the job (yep, for real), don't seem to feel any sort of urgency to finish their work. On top of it all, they leave a path of destruction wherever they go (a broken light here, broken lightbulbs there, etc.). They flick our breakers and boiler on and off at will, leaving us with systems that don't work when we want them to and no hot water this morning. The minute they finish their work, we will be complaining to the Better Business Bureau.
We've hinted at our flooring troubles, and I wish I could post our recent photos (I can't find my laptop at the moment, unfortunately). As we mentioned in our previous post, our flooring company left us with completely deficient floors before we moved in. They avoided our builder's calls for almost two weeks before finally responding after he escalated the issue to the company's president. They are scheduled to refinish the second floor today; we'll see what actually happens. Once the second floor is complete, we will have to move everything off of the first floor to the second floor so that that floor can also be redone. We've decided to just skip the third floor; it's not as bad up there, and we'll just do whatever we can to clean them up ourselves. Again, we will be contacting the BBB to lodge a complaint.
Our lovely stairs have, unfortunately, failed inspection. It's a very long story, but the stairs from the second to the third floor must be removed (!), corrected, and re-installed. We don't know yet whether we will just move some clothes downstairs and sleep among the boxes, or whether we'll stay elsewhere for the week. We have a bunny to consider, too.
In the midst of this, we've been sanding, staining and varnishing what feels like a million feet of baseboards and window and door frames. We're pleased with the results, but wonder whether our backs will ever forgive us.
On a happier note, we have continued to unpack as much as possible in our kitchen, which we truly love. We have many photos to share as soon as my laptop turns up. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
We're in
Apologies for posting so late, but things have been incredibly hectic for us lately. We moved on Saturday, October 4, and it was definitely the most difficult move either of us has ever experienced. To all those who participated, we are very grateful for your help. I shudder to think what we would have done without you.
We moved into what is still very much a construction zone, and are trying to settle into it a little bit more every day. The greatest challenge remains the floors, which are truly a disaster. We will have to figure out a way to fix them, which will not be an easy task now that our furniture and 8,000 boxes are in the house. Various workers are trying to finalize the electrical and plumbing, put in the phone line, and install the living room ceiling, baseboards and trim around all of the windows and doors. The list is really a lot longer, but we're taking it one day at a time.
In happier news, we have started to unpack a few things for our kitchen. As of this morning, our fridge is our only functional appliance, but never underestimate the power of a mug in the cupboard to put a smile on our faces.
Cheerier updates to follow, we hope. Thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement; they mean a lot to us.
We moved into what is still very much a construction zone, and are trying to settle into it a little bit more every day. The greatest challenge remains the floors, which are truly a disaster. We will have to figure out a way to fix them, which will not be an easy task now that our furniture and 8,000 boxes are in the house. Various workers are trying to finalize the electrical and plumbing, put in the phone line, and install the living room ceiling, baseboards and trim around all of the windows and doors. The list is really a lot longer, but we're taking it one day at a time.
In happier news, we have started to unpack a few things for our kitchen. As of this morning, our fridge is our only functional appliance, but never underestimate the power of a mug in the cupboard to put a smile on our faces.
Cheerier updates to follow, we hope. Thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement; they mean a lot to us.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Where have we been?
Our deepest apologies to those of you who have been following our blog and wondering where we've been. We've been so tied up with all of our activities in the past few weeks that we've not been able to get here to provide an update. That, and one of our computers has been on the fritz for a week or so, and the other one was occupied with work.
In getting back to our chronicle, I realize how much has happened at our site--let's call it our home--since the last entry, even though for us it seems like we've been slogging through molasses. So much has happened, in fact, that tonight we started packing for our move! It's only being delayed by a week from the last anticipated date. We are planning to move on Saturday, October 4, 2008 (yes, this year), and have been granted a reprieve by our landlady to stay until that weekend, although not a day more.
If I recall, for our last update we were talking about tiling and drywalling. We're still doing those things, but both are almost done. The drywalling has progressed far enough that painting will begin this weekend. More on that later. The tiling, after 10 sessions of an average of four hours a piece, is also close to being finished. We have probably eight or so more hours to finish it off. More on that later, too.
Doors have gone in, locks have gone in, stairs have been constructed, the roof-top deck has been constructed, the siding has been finished, the basement has been wired and drywalled, and, just in the past few days, the floors have been finished--almost. All of these things are crucial, of course, and some of them have caused us great anxiety. The floor, in particular, has given us grief, and if you want our honest opinion on DaroTopp, please ask and we will reply.
About the drywall: our contractor has taken over some of it, but has also left some to the subcontractor that we asked to have fired. Apparently, there are enough bits and pieces left to finish that it will take a few days of work, by someone. It has progressed far enough, howeverm that the primer coat can be applied to most of the house. We're counting on this because one of our tasks for the coming weekend is to paint the bathrooms. Without going into the details, anywhere there is a colour other than the standard one we will be applying it. Our main priority will be the bathrooms. We'll be painting the study, living room and dining room after we move in.
About the tiling: it's been a lot of fun, but we're really looking forward to finishing it, which we're also planning to do this coming weekend. We're aware of all of the flaws that we've left behind, but when you look at it overall, we think it looks pretty good. Some will say that this kind of task should be left to the experts, who can do it quickly and are getting paid. We like the satisfaction of doing something for ourselves, when we can.
We have also been buying things like crazy--counter top, vanities, wardrobes, washer and dryer, lights, mirrors, door handles--all those things we spent hours window-and-internet shopping for months ago, and that finally we had to spend money on.
It's been a hectic few weeks, dear readers, and that's where we've been. In eight days we will be where we've been working to be for over a year. It seems like a short time for such a big move, unless you're us.
In getting back to our chronicle, I realize how much has happened at our site--let's call it our home--since the last entry, even though for us it seems like we've been slogging through molasses. So much has happened, in fact, that tonight we started packing for our move! It's only being delayed by a week from the last anticipated date. We are planning to move on Saturday, October 4, 2008 (yes, this year), and have been granted a reprieve by our landlady to stay until that weekend, although not a day more.
If I recall, for our last update we were talking about tiling and drywalling. We're still doing those things, but both are almost done. The drywalling has progressed far enough that painting will begin this weekend. More on that later. The tiling, after 10 sessions of an average of four hours a piece, is also close to being finished. We have probably eight or so more hours to finish it off. More on that later, too.
Doors have gone in, locks have gone in, stairs have been constructed, the roof-top deck has been constructed, the siding has been finished, the basement has been wired and drywalled, and, just in the past few days, the floors have been finished--almost. All of these things are crucial, of course, and some of them have caused us great anxiety. The floor, in particular, has given us grief, and if you want our honest opinion on DaroTopp, please ask and we will reply.
About the drywall: our contractor has taken over some of it, but has also left some to the subcontractor that we asked to have fired. Apparently, there are enough bits and pieces left to finish that it will take a few days of work, by someone. It has progressed far enough, howeverm that the primer coat can be applied to most of the house. We're counting on this because one of our tasks for the coming weekend is to paint the bathrooms. Without going into the details, anywhere there is a colour other than the standard one we will be applying it. Our main priority will be the bathrooms. We'll be painting the study, living room and dining room after we move in.
About the tiling: it's been a lot of fun, but we're really looking forward to finishing it, which we're also planning to do this coming weekend. We're aware of all of the flaws that we've left behind, but when you look at it overall, we think it looks pretty good. Some will say that this kind of task should be left to the experts, who can do it quickly and are getting paid. We like the satisfaction of doing something for ourselves, when we can.
We have also been buying things like crazy--counter top, vanities, wardrobes, washer and dryer, lights, mirrors, door handles--all those things we spent hours window-and-internet shopping for months ago, and that finally we had to spend money on.
It's been a hectic few weeks, dear readers, and that's where we've been. In eight days we will be where we've been working to be for over a year. It seems like a short time for such a big move, unless you're us.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Updated facade
Here is the front of the house with the garage door installed. We're really looking forward to the porch being completed and seeing the final facade.It doesn't look like it will be entirely finished this year, though. We are considering a couple of different options for our driveway, which won't likely be implemented before the snow flies. It also looks like landscaping won't be happening until next spring, either. We'll see; there may be something we can do before the frost hits. To be continued...
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Garage door installed!
Our garage door was installed today. The colour isn't a perfect match to the front door or windows, but it's the closest that we could get, and it looks alright. It was very exciting to see it finally in place. (I tried to take another shot of the whole house with the garage door installed, but the batteries in my camera died. Ah, well. I'm sure you can imagine it.)
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