Day Four

Today's goal was to wrap up everything in the kitchen.  This way the tile guys can come in next week and get the floor done.  Once the floor is done, the cabinets can come in, and then I can schedule the granite guy to make the template for the counter-tops, and after that, I have to wait for the granite to be installed.  Once that is done, the tile guys have to come back out and tile the backsplash.  That could mean more waiting.  Waiting is not something at which I excel.

The crew moved my tub drain line (there were some expletives, I heard them), pulled up yet more hardwood floor (because my contractor made a change), and put up a wall on the end of the kitchen, where the chimney had been.  It's been quite the productive day.  I have had the crew in the basement, on the first floor, and up in the master.  I know those stairs, they've had their cardio for today and earned their happy hour.

Tip #4:  There will be dust on all the things.  

The crew put down this protective cardboard stuff down on the floors to protect them.  Apparently, it's waterproof and puncture resistant, so my hardwood floors, the ones that are as old as the house (and look it), don't get damaged.

Those are covered in dust.  See the plastic in the doorway at the top of the photo?  That's to keep the dust in.  It's a nice concept, but in order to keep it in, the plastic has to stay taped.  If the plastic is taped, then we have to walk out the front door, around the house, in the back door, and through the gutted kitchen to get to the dining room and all that it contains (specifically, the fridge).  Ain't nobody got time for that.  So the plastic is untaped and we dip under it to get to the kitchen station--which is also covered in a layer of dust.  This means that the dust isn't contained to just that area.  Though it is mostly in the dining room and kitchen space, dust has this otherworldly ability of getting everywhere.  There is a fine layer of dust in the entry way, and an even finer layer of dust in the living room.

What's better, is the dust that is upstairs.  Though the furniture is covered in plastic in the bedroom, the doorway was not given a dust barrier, so the upstairs is gathering dust from the chimney project as well.

Here's something that you may not know about me--I'm allergic to a variety of things.  Dust is high up on the list.  I have been allergic to everything, with the exception of the elm tree (and those were wiped out in this area because of Dutch Elm Disease), and have been getting allergy injections for 10 years.  Thank goodness for this.  Because if I hadn't been doing that, this already uncomfortable experience would be unbearable.

Here's the photos from today's progress:

This is the space that will be my amazing new kitchen from the dining room door.  The contractor pulled up another foot and a half of hardwood because the cabinets will go to the end of the wall, and it would look strange to have a cabinet half on tile and half on wood.  The tile is going to come out to the edge of the cardboardy stuff.  (That's a technical term.)

The old pipe that connected to the bathtub.  I was told that the pipes for the drain ran uphill.  No wonder why the bathtub didn't drain properly.  A joint in the plumbing near the floor joist was leaking, and there was some damage, but nothing too terrible (thank goodness!).  

Here's my new drain plumbing.  The crew brought it down into the new wall, and made the pipe that goes to the stack a larger pipe.  This means the water will drain better.  The husband will be super happy, as he's been battling drain issues for awhile.  The drain was uphill...so it wasn't my fault after all! 

Just a different view of the above photo.  This looks up at the bottom of the tub.  The red and blue lines are Pex waterlines.

These are shut off valves.  This just happens to be in the wall that they had to demolish to get the chimney our of my master bedroom.  What's the phrase?  "Everything happens for a reason."

The basement view of my new plumbing.  It hadn't even crossed my mind that the crew would need to be in my basement.  I didn't tidy up down there.  Oops.

I thought this was cool.  There were holes in the floor all over from the old plumbing.  They patched in the basement and then put concrete in there.  Now the tile guys will have a smooth surface to work with.  

It's the Friday before a holiday weekend, so no crews will be here until Tuesday.  But that doesn't mean no work is getting done.  Remember my bathroom photo from Day Two?

My plan is to finish getting the wallpaper down and patch the walls.  I may even get to painting it this weekend!