HFM

Ok, the bathroom got no closer to being finished this week after all. But in the one day they had to work this week (again, scheduling problems), they did get the decking outside the French doors done: And they made progress with the overhang over the back stairs: Slowly but surely, we are getting closer to finished! There are really only three must-haves left on the list for Mr. Bunkport's crew: bathroom, replace the flue for the upstairs heater, & finish the overhang. The rest we can either postpone, handle ourselves, or skip entirely. The guys have one day to work here next week, as well -- getting all three things done in one day, plus general cleanup, is a tall order, but keep your fingers crossed!

As hoped, lots more got done this week, and we are indeed very close to being done! Thursday Doorknob on the door between the garage and new room: Front of tub sealed and installed: Hole cut into wall for recessed medicine cabinet: Bathroom door hung: The beginning of a replacement overhang that keeps the back steps dry in the rain: Like a lot of the houses in this neighborhood, the house is two stories tall, but has no interior staircase. So when you want to go from the main living space on the second floor down to the garage to do some laundry, you actually have to go outdoors to do it. I think most people here (and our insurance company) consider this a one-story house, because the street-level story is not officially living space. Any way you cut it, having that overhang there sheltering the stairs is nice. Instead of keeping the solid one that was there, we are replacing it with a translucent material, to let light through. Friday They started putting in decking outside the French...

Not much happened this week due to scheduling difficulties, but one big fun thing happened: the bathroom door arrived: This represents essentially the last of the reusable wood from the old parts of the house: two floor joists and some kind of old headboard left behind when the previous owner's nephew had it cleaned out after she died. Mr. Bunkport also brought a house warming gift: This is a photo of a cabinet, shaving mirror, & out of control jasmine vine that were in the back downstairs room (where the giant French doors are now) before this renovation project began. So thoughtful! Thank you, Mr. Bunkport! Next up: I think we'll be able to get the guys two full days next week to work, so if all goes well, we may actually be able to get very close to done. Cross your fingers for us!

Not too much visible work this week. Mr. Bunkport has been hard at work on the bathroom door at his house -- the reclaimed wood is dry and brittle, and in one case had years of animal urine stains (& smell) secretly lurking under the old varnish, so it's taken him a while to complete the work. Sounds like it's now ready to hang, though, so get ready for those pictures next week! In the meantime, here's what was done on Mars this week: Trim on the outside (garage side) of the door to the new room: Trim on the inside: The wall above and next to the re-done bathroom tile has been repaired: Ready for repainting! Mr. Bunkport put the flange on the toilet drain: And they started to install the rail for the door: (The blue tape is marking which bolts are anchored in studs.) Next up: installing the door, toilet, sink and cabinet, and tub faucets.

The steady march towards completion continued this week, with several things getting finished. Monday & Tuesday were quiet. A lot of looking at things & measuring things. Mr. Bunkport also taught me how to apply tung oil to the new counter to seal it. I put on three layers this week, with another two or three to go. It's a nice honey color now (sorry, it's hard to see the difference in pictures, so I left them out). After that's done, I am going to see if tung oil will stain the interior of the windows a similar color; if not, I'll get a honey colored stain & use that instead. Wednesday The plumber made his final trip to Mars on Wednesday. He vented the water heater and washing machine drain: If you click on this photo to make it bigger, you can see that the red house has a large statue of the RCA-Victor dog on the roof: Pickles noticed it one time going out on a walk, & got very, very concerned. Who is that & how did he get up there?! She has since ...

More big milestones this week. Getting closer to finishing! But first, a picture from photojournalist AJ, of Amanda & me painting one of the kitchen walls last week: Thank you for your contribution, AJ! After painting all day Sunday last week, Amanda stayed overnight for slumber party fun times (which consisted of us all nodding off at 9:30) and to help with the painting happening on Labor Day. Unbeknownst to us, Pickles also brought home overnight guests that day: fleas. Then, on top of all of us getting chewed up the night before, the salad we ordered in with pizza for lunch on Monday wasn't...quite...right, & we all got belly aches. What a way to thank Amanda for giving up two days of her long weekend!!! Anyway, back to Week 26. Two big things happened on Friday. First, the countertop was installed: From another angle: Inspector Pickles approves: The counter is made from wood that was previously holding up the house. It makes for a very beautiful surface, with a lot of c...