Day 131 - And the Saga continues..

Okay so I long for the day when I can write about all of the exciting perfect, gorgeous finish work being done on my job!!!! Let's see where do I start....cabinet install last week - they sent the wrong cabinets - 6 weeks of waiting....now we are on call to receive the FAST made replacements - 1 week delay added to my total. 

Next, tile was installed last week in the master shower and when I walked up in the afternoon to check on the last wall I saw a HUGE mistake in the layout.  I struggled with being able to "aceept it", the "grout will hide the cuts"..I let it go on friday.  The visual stewed in my brain over the weekend and soooo YES I had him rip out that wall again.  Bottom line is I have to live in the this house (WAY longer NOW than I thougth because YES we are over budget!!) and I will see these mistakes.  You have to pick and choose your battle as a homeowner - some I DO let go but the crazy cuts in my ultra modern Master shower I can not.  So it has gone up only to be torn back down.  Now the question is when can he (or possibly someone more talented) re do it???  DELAY once again....check out the cuts and see if you could live with it...

There is a one inch sliver on the back wall that is hard in this pic to see, and then another 2 inch sliver on the side wall right next to it.  he just needed to start with a full tile on teh right wall and i would have been okay!!

Anyway, the left wall got torn back out today and we will start over.  Not until next week though. Delay 5 days added to my total.

Let's see what else could become an issue? Oh yeah, my custom Sherwin williams color for the exterior that took Tilo and I WEEKS to decide upon and create was painted by my guy Onsongo and we realized that it was not the right color - it was MINT green!!  YIPES.  So back to the paint store for onsonogo - that was another 2 day delay to cover it back up and get the colors worked out!!  Now we are back on the right track...here is a sneak peak...

Stain color for the cedar and porch ceiling....

Board and batten custom colors - gray with a tint of green...

And meet Onsongo - an accoutant from a distant land - been painting in our neighborhood for 10+ years.  Very funny guy!!

Hopefully we are on the upswing and only good things will happen now.  So far I have had about 7 weeks of TOTAL delay, about $2500 in upcharges for "unforseens" and another $500 in tile material replacement!  Urgh...we have to be on the home stretch now...

Day 128 - It's raining contractors.....

We are back in full swing trying to get our interior finishes together.  Tile has gone in - will be grouted Monday, but it is looking great..a few hiccups here and there..things that could have been laid with a bit more thought but I couldn't be there every second and as a result will have to live with the tile cuts as they are.  If this was my only project, I could have sat down and engineered the entire tile layout so no "cuts" were necessary by increasing the width of the glass stripes, etc.  BUT I also have to make money so there isn't much I can do.  I think once it is grouted, the cuts will fade away...at least I hope they will or I will be KICKING myself for not taking the time to handle the layout.  Who knew I would have to become a tile, paint, and exterior trim expert???

JUST some tips, the red stuff you see on my walls and floors is red guard and is a waterproofing seal that you paint on top of your Durock before installing tile.  It adds a layer of waterproofing behind the tile and on top of your wood framing.  Many guys use it on the seams, I had him paint 2 layers on the entire walls, floors and seams for added protection.   A small additional expense for loads more water protection!

Our Master Bath:
My limestone bench...

 The first glass strip at my shower head...the niche is also visible.

 The second glass stripe at Tilo's shower head.  You can see the cut in the corner..Urgh...

 A close up.  These glass tiles are TINY and very difficult to work with but the look beautiful!! They are a zinc color and will be grouted with the same....it just shimmers and looks really Luxurious. Look them up SICIS tiles.

 Looking from the entrance, towards the bench and 2nd niche for me.

 My limestone subway floor tile....and my SQUARE drain.  I recommend to every to get an EBBE drain - the square form is much easier to tile around and it gives you a modern touch to any shower floor.  Most tile stores sell them or you can get them on line.  Make sure you get the complete construction kit and cover.

Viola's shower got grouted so it is now complete and looks ultra modern, young and hip.  It is hard to see the straight vertical lines of the 4x12 tile because the grout matches so perfectly but it looks cool close up!  And most important, She loves it!!  I am using the gray limestone for her countertop.

We are starting exterior painting on Monday, grouting our shower then and finishing up interior door work during the week.  Interior painting will be the following week along with countertop installs and then it is plumbing & lighting fixtures.  FINALLY we are on the home stretch!!

GREEN with Envy??

Who knew there were 72 colors called "white". And did you know that there are at least 3 times that many colors of gray??  And "beige", forget it!!

Tilo and I set out to find a simple easy light color for our exterior and have since gone through 2 bottles of vodka and had 3 fights!!  Our house looks like a quilt with all the test spots....

The only thing we agree upon is that we cant do a true gray and we dont really like the plain jane beige scheme.  Our "dream home" with the same granite has a greenish tinted gray stain on cedar shake siding.  I CANT change the siding now (or can I? - no seriously I CANT) so we need to make due with our board and batten.  Looking at our dream home..

 Tilo and I decided we would find that greenish/gray and make it "ours".  I have been to sherwin williams 4 times in the last 4 days and have spent $75 on paint samples - BUT we are getting close!! 

My mother's day will be spent painting and deciding, not necessarily in that order!!  I will post pictures of the green results tomorrow....We have basically one day to pick out trim colors, siding colors and wood stain colors!  I leave for Washington DC with Viola and her school Monday! Could the timing be any better??

Lots of catching up to do...Day 120....

It has been a whirlwind of ups and downs with our renovation.  We were moving into interior trim and then had interior door issues.  What we ordered - very special flush solid core doors - did not come as ordered.  All interior trim is finished except for the 2 doors that were incorrect AND the fact that there is an inch gap between the bottom of our new doors and the hardwood floors!  Our old doors were to the floor. So now we have to order new doors and install these new doors downstairs.  All too complicated at this point to explain....Just have  a look at our new trim and doors with chrome hinges - VERY modern :) ...

                             Vs Closet door and new window trim....

                           V's New bathroom door and trim....

 We even switched out the windows in the guest room to match the rest - a bit bigger and nicer than the old pair of windows..

 We now have a large linen closet in the landing at the top of the stairs.  Storage, storage and more storage!!

 Because of our countless delays (brick, tile delivery, ceiling crashing, etc.) my subcontractors are all tied up on my regular jobs so they only work for me "when they can squeeze me in".  At this point I have to just take what I can get!!

We not only got the interior trim finished (mostly) but we also made some headway on the tile. We are almost finished with her shower and my shower starts Monday!  Take a look at Viola's tile...
This is the decorative band she created.  She picked out all of the glass colors and decided on a pattern she liked.  I LOVE it as does she!!

 This is her tub surround....I opted to go ultra modern with extra large subway tile 4"x12" and set them in a geometric pattern verses the usual "running bond".  I think it turned out great.  Note the red paint - this is actually the latest and greatest for tile install.  It is called "red Guard" and you paint it on to the concrete board underneath the tile to create a waterproof seal.  Expensive but worth it - gives me peace of mind when I worry about leaks, mold, etc.

Also this week, we were to have our cabinets installed. Viola's cabinet got installed but my cabinets were made WRONG.  yes I said WRONG.  I waited 6 weeks and they came in wrong.  Can this really be happening?  Another delay?? The president of the company called to apologize....I am just waiting to see what I get out of this deal - maybe the countertop little cabinet piece i want?? Hmmmmm....

They light colored square mosaic glass tiles will be Viola's backsplash.  At least we have made some design decisions!! It has been a VERY painful process.

So Monday is Master Shower Tile, Wednesday we will finish the interior trim and on Thursday they will start exterior paint...that DRAMA will be a second post!!  More to come....