Inner Workings
Sal’s pièce de résistance, the straightening and strengthening of the house, have done wonders for the structure — the mild earthquakes we’ve had lately weren’t felt when standing near the steel beam. Unfortunately, it’s also cause a slew of alignment problems in the doors and windows, which had all slooped and slumped with the gradual...
Catching Up
It’s been some months since we moved in, and since we last posted. In that time, there haven’t been many dramatic changes other than the slow migration of construction tools and supplies from scattered around the house, to the future kitchen, then the basement. We’ve had countless little things done (or started) here and there,...
A Look Back , Vol. 1: The Media Room
As the interior of the house slowly starts to come together, we thought we would start on a few retrospectives. First up, the media room. You can check out the entire Flickr set here.
Fixing Pipes and Taking Names
“I have never, in all my years…” seems to be the running comment on all the seemingly simple remodel tasks at hand. It may not be so bad, but considering the man who keeps saying it, one with decades of construction experience, who’s done everything from fabricating doors and windows, casting concrete, building breweries and...
A Month In
It’s been a little over a month since we officially moved into the house and, though we’re settling in, things have yet to settle down. Shu cleaned up the tiles and grout lines with his trusty Dremel, started putting up lights, and has been steadily unpacking the boxes that filled the living room (much to...
A Clutterful, Flutterful Week
Shu and I spent the first few days of last week packing things up, shoving them into the car, and stacking them in the living room. Luckily, our trusty Audi Quattro Coupe holds an impressive amount; we only had to do a handful of trips before we were down to furniture and essentials. Bright and...
Corks Away!
The end of last week saw the return of Sal, and the start of the cork tiling for the tub bed. It’s turning out as tricky as Sal had feared, unwilling to lay placidly on the thinset, but he gamely pushed on. While he sounds frustrated and displeased with the outcome, to our inexperienced eyes,...
Race to the (Not Quite) Finish
As the finishing work continues toward completion, working on the remaining parts is becoming more and more of an eggshell dance. Last Sunday, after the last coats of finish had dried on the floors, Shu and I donned shoe covers and daintily tip-toed around the house, exploring the newly refurbished floors. While the subfloor up...
Finally, the Floors
We got our first peek at the stairs this weekend, as Juan and Jaime have begun the sanding and repairs. While they haven’t been able to get the house completely to themselves as they had wished, they’re gamely working around the chaos. They have yet to finish sanding (as of Sunday, they’ve done most of...
Tile & Tile
We met Juan and Jaime, of Bay Area Hardwood Floors, Tuesday morning, the half-dozenth time since we first contacted them last spring. Though we hoped they’d finally begin this week, they’d like to have Bill wrap up the tiling before they start. They’re slated to start Monday instead and, if all goes smoothly, should be...
Beam Town
Much work, busy busy, Mary says, pointing towards us and the house before turning to her door and heading inside. Even she seems to have tired of our repairs; it’s been months since she’s dropped by to inspect our progress and wax on to whoever she finds working there. We’re at the dramatic finish, though,...
Coming to a Head
It’s been quite a hectic past few weeks without too much to show for it all. Dennis has continued painting the rooms, Bill’s been working on matching the trim for the doorways that are without, Sal’s been working with him and Dustin to figure out logistics and installation of the redwood ceiling, and Shu’s been...
