week 22: more finish carpentry & interior trim painting

Dana of Guillory Construction custom-made a couple of louvered grilles that will help ventilate the AV Room. As the equipment will make the room rather warm, the vents along with a ceiling fan will help keep things cool. Dana also refabricated the open shelving for the AV Room. Now all the woodwork is done and ready for paint.





Pablo and Pancho of Aspen Painting, LLC finished the final caulking and paint prep on the last of the woodwork. They primed then sanded all the woodwork in the basement and on the stairs. They finished the interior painting, but will return for touch ups.
























With all the fumes, it’s been a little stinky this week. We went with oil paint for the cabinets and trim because it has a more durable finish that is longer lasting and easier to maintain. Although low VOC products are more environmental, they require to be redone sooner (think sanding, masking, painting, gasoline for travel). Neither option is necessarily more eco-friendly than the other in my opinion.

Pablo and Pancho also painted the front porch and stairs, as well as the backside of our garage. The exterior painting is also now complete. We will have them return to paint the backside of the neighbor’s garage as it faces our yard.




We could not have asked for a harder working crew. And their work is excellent to boot. Prior to the new exterior paint job six weeks ago, our house had looked a little worse for wear. After Vitaly’s team finished, the house seems almost happier and looks a lot newer. Wow, what a difference!

Ron Cowan of Stellar Cellars stopped by to measure the cellar for the wine racks. We cannot wait to see the Brazilian Cherry racks installed and are very excited! Everything is starting to come together.

Tune in next time for plumbing & electrical installations!

week 21: finish carpentry & interior trim prep

Dana of Guillory Construction spent a full day resetting the sills on the casements so that the cranks would better clear the sills. He also recased the medicine cabinet and detailed electrical panel. Awesome!






Pablo and Pancho of Aspen Painting, LLC put two coats of clear sealer on the interior doors and handrail. They sanded and caulked the porch, front steps and guardrails. Painting the porch floor and front steps will go quickly next week.

Pablo and Pancho also spent a couple days masking the entire basement and stairs in preparation for painting the woodwork. The whole basement--walls, ceiling, floors, doors and windows--is covered and wrapped and ready for trim paint.















Tune in next time for even more finish carpentry & interior trim painting!

week 20: tile & exterior painting

Yuri of Art Touch Construction completed the tile work in the bath. Having laid the wall tile last week, he set the ceiling tile, placed the borders on the walls and ceiling and tiled the soap nook. He then tediously worked on the floor tile, making sure the accent borders and interior pattern were perfect. Yuri also installed both marble thresholds. He will return to do the backsplash at the wet bar when the cabs and shelving are installed. He has truly impressed us with his handiwork.




And a special thank you to Hilary of Dal-Tile for all her help in procuring the tiling materials.

Alex of Crestwood Inc. installed the last of the wood cabs. We can’t wait to have it trimmed out like the others. It’ll be fabulous.

Chuck of ecohaus floated the floor for the Marmoleum. He'll do one last finish coat, then install the flooring material. It’ll be exciting to watch him do the tricky border pattern. Stay tuned!

Dana and Darren of Guillory Construction spent a second week on the finish carpentry. They put the finishing touches on the stairs, added the handrail, installed the open shelving in the AV Room, cased and trimmed the doors and windows, installed jamb extensions with extra-deep stools, installed the closet shelves and rods and installed the picture rails. With all the beautiful work they’ve done, the interior rooms look more complete.

During the brief rain, Vitaly’s paint crew from Aspen Painting LLC moved indoors and started the millwork paint prep. Pablo and Pancho caulked and masked most of the interior before the sun returned. With the better weather, they were able to finish the majority of the exterior painting.


Tune in next time for more finish carpentry & interior trim prep!

week 19: cabs, doors, tile prep, millwork & exterior painting

It was a very busy week! Many tradesmen were working hard: cabinet installer, finish carpenters, tile setter and painters.

Alex of Crestwood Inc. installed most of the wood cabinets. He’ll get to the last wood cabinet in the kitchen next week.




Dana and Darren of Guillory Construction started the finish carpentry. They installed and cased all the interior doors, installed jamb extensions at the windows, installed and trimmed the medicine cabinet, trimmed the stair cabs, and started finish work on the stairs. And, they hid the water shut off behind a nice cabinet door. Dana used marine-grade plywood to conceal the rough finish of the existing concrete foundation wall at the stairs. Ingenious!










Yuri the tilesetter of Art Touch Construction executed the prep work this week. He mudset the shower pan, installed wonderboard at the shower and floated the bath floor. Yuri even laid the wall tile.









The painters from Aspen Painting LLC continued their work on the exterior. Vitaly, Pablo and Pancho prepped the porch, spackled the house in a few areas where the siding was a bit worn, painted the eaves, porch ceiling, upper shingles and lower siding. They are now hand rolling and brushing the trim and window casings. We can’t wait to see the finished product!















Another triumph was the relocation of our phone service connection. The original service came in off an alley, crossed over three neighbors' properties and attached to a neighbor's garage before entering our house at the back. I contacted Qwest and explained the situation. They came out, surveyed the conditions and decided that the service connection was indeed not ideal. Qwest then relocated the phone service connection off of the main street at the front of the house. It was a very smooth, quick and easy process. We were without phone and internet for only a few hours during the transition. A big 'thank you' to Linda Dodge at Qwest for all her assistance. Wow! We also appreciate Seth of Integrated Technologies for stopping by on short notice to connect and activate the phone lines within the house.






I was very excited to get our washer and dryer back in action this week. They had been sequestered to the storage room during the construction for the past month. Our neighbors had graciously allowed us to wash our clothes at their place. With our washer and dryer moved back to the laundry room, I now can do laundry in our own house. Yay!

Tune in next time for the tile install and accent paint!

week 18: painting

Pete and Dave from Classic Sash & Door fixed the old wood casements and double hung windows on the main floor. After a hundred years, they needed a little TLC to become fully operational. Pete did a wonderful job. Like Pete said, “The windows are now a thing of beauty!”

Shiloh from Classic Sash & Door installed one last screen and replaced some window hardware.

Nick and his team from Diamond Drywall came out and laboriously sanded, sponged, sanded again and did touch-up work. They then masked, prepped for priming and primed the interior walls and ceiling. It was a very long and hot day for Nick and his family, and we are very thankful for all their hard work!

Alex from Custom Side, Inc. finished installing the exterior light blocks and apron trim and replacing the ragged siding.

Vitaly and his team from Aspen Painting, LLC finished the prep work. Pablo, Pancho and Juan caulked the seams and taped the windows and roof during record temperatures. They continued the prep work on the house and garage as it was too hot to paint. They finished painting the screens, storms and interior walls and ceilings. With color on the walls, the spaces have really come alive! Fabulous!

Tune in next time for the installation of cabinets and interior doors, tile prep, finish carpentry and exterior painting!