Progress on the project has slowed considerably. Our initial end date of November 15 came and went. Then Matt suggested we'd be in by Christmas - didn't happen. And now, even though there is lots going on here almost every day, we are not realistically looking at completion until February. The progress is slow because we are into the details phase of the project and there are many things that are dependent on many other things. The tiler can't do his job until the dry waller is finished and the drywaller can't do his job until the plumber is done and the plumber can't do his job until the electricians are done...and so on. This is a complicated dance to choreograph when everything goes right but as soon as there is a mistake...that mistake can have repercussions that can set us back for weeks. And we've had more than one mistake.
But, I'm not going to complain because, as soon as I do, I realize that I sound exactly like every other person I've ever talked to who went through a renovation. So, onward and upward. Here are some images that should help bring you up to date to where we are now.
Here are some shots of the new driveway being installed.
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| In this image you get a real sense of just how much of a grade there is in the back yard. |
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| Here's a before picture of the kitchen (as posted earlier) |
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| And this is where we are now. It doesn't look that different except the floor tiling has been completed and all of the electrical is done. Now we're just waiting for cabinets and the island. Then the electricians will be back to finish up and the plumbers will come back to do their thing. |
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| This photo represents two and a half hours of my life that I'll never get back. You wouldn't think that 7 pieces of ceramic logs would be so difficult to assemble - it was. There were no instructions with it - only a stern warning to make sure the logs were assembled properly or else the fireplace could malfunction. Great. Luckily I found a video on YouTube of this model of fireplace and between printing screen shots and running back and for to the computer was eventually able to assemble them properly. |
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| This is looking a lot better. Matt installed new trim and Jonathan reshingled along the bottom. Harry will be along when the weather allows and will paint the top of the window and have this section looking good again. |
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| This isn't part of the renovation but it represents a whole Saturday shared by me and Angus and Mitchel (Jill's boys) who helped me stack the two cords of firewood that we'd bought. |
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| This is just a shot of the completed barn and carriage house in the snow. As soon as the shingles start to turn grey (it'll take a year or two) this section will really start to come together. |
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| This is our new bathroom vanity and our Turkish style tiles. We wanted to a pseudo Mediterranean theme so we went for the Greek keys on the vanity and some tiles that reminded us of a Turkish Hamam. If you look closely you can see the light fixture electrical boxes that will go on either side of the mirror. The faucet fixtures are in but we're still waiting for the faucets. They arrived once but in the wrong colour so had to be returned. |
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| Here are all the pieces of our mantel uncrated. They arrived from Tararuga Designs in Toronto. Matt hired a brick layer/stone mason (Wayne) to help with the installation. |
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| Matt applying some of the adhesive to the first column. |
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| Making sure everything is level - first with a laser and then, old school, with a level. |
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| The second column going in. |
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| Wayne applying some grout after the large top piece of the mantel has been installed. |
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| The finished installation (please note the expertly assembled ceramic logs in the fireplace). Unfortunately the grout became mixed with the mortar and dried darker than we wanted. We're going to have the grout removed and reapplied to achieve a better colour match. Given the scale of this particular part of the renovation - that is a relatively small snafu. |
