week 26: cork tile install & plumbing

There were a few ups and downs this week.

Cliff of NW Glass Specialties came by to measure for the shower door and medicine cabinet mirror. In just a couple of weeks the bath will be finished.

Jeff of Anctil Heating and Cooling installed the vent covers for the new heat vents in the basement and outfitted the laundry dryer with a form-fitting cap. He’ll come back to adjust that cap a bit as it does not fit the dryer well and look at our chimney cap, which has been leaking.






The toilet and laundry faucet finally arrived and Daniil of Anctil Plumbing installed them. He’ll return to install the wet bar sink and faucet once the counter is here. He’ll also attend to the adjustable bar for the shower then, as the wrong part was shipped.




Chuck of ecohaus installed the cork tiles in the cellar. We were eagerly awaiting the cellar racks from Stellar Cellars, but will have to wait a bit longer. Unfortunately, Ron got his truck broken into and his tools stolen. How awful!




The custom flooring transitions that Dana of Guillory Construction fabricated did the trick. Shown below, is the one between the linoleum and hardwood at the laundry room. The second transition he made between the hardwood and carpet will be installed later. He also made beautiful access panels and trim for the return grille, water filter and water shut off in the laundry.







Aaron of Portland Metro Electric moved the refrigerator outlet to a more convenient location so that the undercounter fridge could be installed properly. He'll return to install the rest of the lighting.




Erik our contractor of Ostmo Construction changed out ALL the receptacles, switch and plate covers to the correct finish color. The photo on left is the before and the one of the right is the after. He also installed the under counter refrigerator at the wet bar in preparation for the counter installation.




Peter of Classico Marmo stopped by and templated the granite for the wet bar counter. Sadly, he was not able to cut the stone this week, as a valve in his compressor gave out. He was able fix it quickly, and shall return next week with our counter.

Johnny of the Laurelhurst Fan Company dropped by the exhaust cover. It is a thing of beauty! I am so glad I splurged on it. Because of existing constraints, the exhaust fan for the bath was placed on an interior wall. The fan was then vented through an exterior wall and under the back deck to obscure the exterior vent cover from view. But on the inside, I could not bear the idea of staring at a 14" white plastic square vent cover every time I entered the bathroom, so I searched for something more vintage-looking and discovered the Laurelhurst Fan Company located right here in Portland, Oregon. Who thought something so mundane could be so gorgeous? I thoroughly enjoyed working with Johnny and Nicole and can’t wait to have the grille put up. Below is a photo of it, but tune in later for better pictures when it is installed. This really does not do their work justice.




Tune in next time for tile, hardwood flooring, cellar rack & installations as well as final plumbing!

week 25: wet bar installation

Daniil of Anctil Plumbing stopped by to reinstall our water heater. After 3.5 days, we are very glad to have our hot water back. Yay!

Dana of Guillory Construction installed the stainless steel wet bar cabinets and trimmed out the new kitchen cabinet. The trick with the kitchen cabinets was aligning the top bead, header and crown to that of the adjoining doorway. He fabricated and installed two door thresholds, vent covers for the AV room, as well as custom equipment shelves for AV room and wine cellar. He also started installing the base moulding. Today he’s milling in his shop the access door panels for the laundry room water turn off and water filter, a return grille, and a couple of flooring transition strips. The profile provided by the manufacturer was a couple inches too short, so Dana is making them. Thanks so much, Dana. We don’t know what we would do without you.













Brian of Custom Metal Fabrication installed the stainless steel open shelves above the wet bar. He also installed stainless steel sidesplash panels at our existing range. The simple clean lines and stainless steel cabinets and shelving of the wet bar in the basement mimic the kitchen aesthetic on the main floor. The wet bar thus becomes an extension of the kitchen.




Erik our contractor of Ostmo Construction picked up the rest of the light fixtures, removed some of the excess dirt near the egress window wells, dug out a stray metal pole in the side yard and cleaned up the jobsite. Thanks, Erik!

Last, but not least, Peter of Classico Marmo stopped by to scope out the project. He will be installing our granite countertops at the wet bar and wine cellar. He measured the area and took into account all the plumbing, cabinet and shelving constraints, and will produce a template. He’ll stop by again next week to verify the template.

Tune in next time for the cork tile install, cellar rack install, final mechanical, final plumbing and final electrical. We’re on the home-stretch now. Heehaw!

week 24: flooring

Alex of Crestwood Inc. installed the last of the wood cabinets in the kitchen, and it looks fabulous! The full-height cabinet will provide much-needed storage for our tiny kitchen. It will house the microwave, cookbooks and stereo in the open shelves above, and pantry items in the drawers below. It will look more finished when it gets trimmed out next week.


Daniil of Anctil Plumbing made another appearance to remove the laundry sink and water heater so that the flooring could be installed correctly. He’ll return immediately to reinstall the sink and water heater, then come back later in a week or two to install the rest of the plumbing fixtures.

Chuck of ecohaus spent a good deal of time preparing the floors for the finish flooring. To make the existing concrete floor smoother and flatter, he applied primer then self-levelling concrete in one area of the basement, and grounded, patched, filled and skim-coated other sections. He installed the Marmoleum sheet flooring in the laundry room, AV room, mudroom and closets and floated the hardwoods at the wet bar. We reviewed the mudroom floor design and layout very carefully as we wanted to avoid unsightly seams. Chuck masterfully mitered the corners in the framed border pattern of the mudroom. All the designing and planning paid off as there are almost no seams in his work. Next week he'll float the cork tiles in the cellar and install the thresholds.






















Tune in next time for more finish flooring, wet bar install & more finish carpentry!

week 23: plumbing & electrical installations

This week, most of the plumbing and lighting fixtures were installed. It’s incredible how close we are to being done. We still have the flooring and base moulding, wet bar, cellar racks, AV set up, window treatments and furniture to go, but the end is in sight.

Aaron of Portland Metro Electric installed all the recessed lighting, receptacles, switches and most of the cover plates. He also installed the ceiling-mounted fixtures in the majority of the rooms. We’ll have to pinpoint the exact location of the wall sconces before he can put them up. I also can’t wait for the cellar light to arrive so he can install it. Aaron still has the exterior lights and outlets, fans, door-activated closet lights and a few recessed can trims to go, but those will all go pretty fast.













The most precious fixture is the little one in the laundry room. It’s an antique fixture from Rejuvenation. The light is low-profile at a mere 2”, which leaves plenty of headroom. It puts out a lot of light for a tiny fixture, making sure that the room is cheery and bright. It also matches the Marmoleum flooring and wall color. Nothing could have been more perfect. Thanks to Amy of the Restored Lighting & Hardware Department at Rejuvenation for all her assistance! I'll have to get a better photo when the flooring goes in; this one just does not do it justice!




Daniil of Anctil Plumbing spent a day installing the shower valves, console sink and laundry sink. He’ll return later to install the toilet, laundry faucet, and wet bar sink and faucet. So far, everything looks fabulous!









The Rebuilding Center stopped by for the last of our donations. They were able to take the old doors, jambs, APA sheathing, electrical panel, an old work bench, lumber, millwork, siding and other building material scraps. They are helping us minimize landfill. We love that place!





Erik our contractor of Ostmo Construction has been by everyday this week keeping an eye on things. He hauled everything to the dumpster, helped install some of the lighting, and leveled the top of the footings as they had stuck up above the floor’s surface. Such personalized service! Now the floor is all ready for the finish flooring.











Tune in next time for flooring installation!