April 10

The place is a-buzz once again, after a little lull. Steve was sick for 4 days. He is back, but only at about 50% wellness.
On Monday, Andrew and Jonathan, the electricians, got busy with roughing out the wiring in Phase II, and also finished off some switches and outlets in Phase I. They were back on Tuesday.
Tuesday night, Bruce started ripping up particle board in the master bedroom. On Wednesday, the two of us spent the day getting all but a 20 sq. ft. area cleared. Whew! Sore backs, arms, legs, and elbows. No need to go to the fitness center that day!

My favorite craftsman at work!

The particle board doesn't come up easily. We borrowed Steve's big "wrecking bar" to make it go just a little faster. 

All but a small area is now clear of particle board.

Thursday, Jed worked on the framing, since Steve was still sick. 

Where there once was a closet, we now have a small hall closet and a space for a dresser.

This is where we'll have a clothes closet with sliding doors.

Andrew came back in the evening and finished up the plumbing for now. 

Master bath with framing and electrical wiring in.

Today, we have Steve back to finish up framing, then hang some hardware in the hall bath. The county inspector is due at some time, too.

April 3

It's Friday!! And Good Friday at that. Steve asked me this morning if it was "B Day", for Bathroom.

Steve continues to frame the walls in the master suite.

The plumbers came to get the hall bathroom flowing - in all respects.

 The filter on the pressure tank now connected.

 Shower & tub

 Ain't that purty!?

Rough plumbing for master bath.

We have 2 new windows. The bathroom window is twice the size of the old one. In the study, two windows were given a new header and it's one bigger window.

The walls for the master bath are framed.

This weekend, Bruce and I will take time away for a few Easter events, otherwise we'll be sanding and varnishing trim and doors in order to be ready for next steps. With outside temps in the 40's and 50's, we are setting up shop in the master suite. This will take getting 2 more sawhorses and various supplies. We're rolling up our sleeves!

April 1

No jokes today. Just lots of people working really hard.
The demo continues.

Andrew the electrician and his son, Jonathan, worked in the bathroom to put in outlets and switches, hook up the floor heating and install the toe kick heater, and prepare for the vanity lights. They will add a can light in the shower.

Crispin came back to work on the bathroom tiling. He probably has one more day to go. He had to share the bathroom space with the two electricians and that slowed him down.

 Tile with grouting

Most dramatic, probably, were the new doors. Five are in, and we have four more to go.

 Pocket doors on south bedroom

 From inside the south bedroom

 Door from hallway into foyer.

March 30 &31

Two busy days! Steve started the demolition in our master suite.

He started by removing doors, trim, and shelving.

 

Next he removed the knotty pine paneling in the bathroom.

Next came the shower stall. It didn't fit through the doorways, so Steve had to saw it in half.

 Can you see through all the dust?

Having filled the first, we got a new dumpster on Monday.

 The full one is loaded onto truck.

After all the water drained out, the cover goes on.

Here's the not-so-new one.

Tuesday the granite counter was installed in the hall bathroom. Angel and his assistant made quick work of it. I don't think I want to know what's in that blue can. The smell was strong. Angel says he's been doing this so long he doesn't even smell it. That's worrisome!

The plumber will arrive Friday to hook up the fixtures.

By the end of Tuesday, there were almost no interior walls, no vanity, no shower, no panelling, and no closet. Just a lonely toilet, some pipes, and a few dangling lights and switches.

Renovation Phase II

There has been a bit of a lull for a few weeks. We weren't standing still, but there just wasn't much worth sharing. After our meeting with the contractor on Thursday, March 26, we found out that things are going to move quickly now.
I am calling the work on the two guest rooms and the hall bathroom Phase I. The work on the master suite (bedroom, den, and bathroom) Phase II.
What still needs to be done in Phase I is install the bathroom countertop, finish the tiling, then complete the electrical in those 3 rooms and the plumbing in the bathroom. The doors need to be installed as well. There is a little bit of lighting in those 3 rooms that needs to be selected and installed. Then we will wait until the end of Phase II to put in the new flooring. AND most of that will happen this week!
At the same time, we will kick off the beginning of Phase II. Of course that starts with demolition.
In preparation for this, we had to pack up and move out of our "master suite", which has been mostly untouched so far. Here are some before and after photos.

Our master bedroom before 

The den/study 

The master bedroom ready for demo  

The southern guest bedroom when it was our cozy t.v. room

The southern bedroom doubles as our cozy t.v. room and den/study

 The desk props up a futon mattress.

The northern bedroom during Phase I work.

The northern bedroom transformed into our bedroom - temporarily.

Yes, renovation work is chaotic, dusty, and fraught with the unexpected. The good news? My housekeeping is almost non-existent. I haven't dusted in 2 months! Bruce will not hear me say, "Honey, wipe your feet. I JUST vacuumed that plywood!"

Stay tuned. Tomorrow we will take pictures of more demo, and maybe you'll even get a glimpse of our garage and workshop. 

Week of March 9 - 15

In spite of our contract/design team having the Eugene Home and Garden Show to get ready for this weekend, a lot has been done.

Crispin put the wiring system in for the under-floor heating system and got as far as he could with tiling.

Our new bathroom cabinets were installed

 natural cherry wood

Steve replaced the siding where the water heater shed used to be

A concrete guy came out and created a hole where the new crawl space access will be

And of course, we continued to shop for the many things we'll need to make our guest spaces comfortable and attractive!