Sunday

Sundays are for grouting. I had a big crew for grouting. I floated the grout in everywhere, Jessica and my Mom sponged and cleaned behind me. My friend Chris did the final pass and emptied and refilled all of the buckets of water. My dad had relief duty. We got the whole floor done in about 3 hours and I was satisfied. It wasn't to bad, but crawling on your hands and knees for three hours on tile gets old really quick. I didn't get any pictures because we were all working to hard. That's Chris and I installing the toilet in the guest bath. After a few errors we got it installed, the next one will be much easier. Dave the electrician also worked this weekend and got the majority of the switches and plugs wired up. Hopefully the rest of my tile will come in before this weekend and the bathroom will be tackled.

Keeping everyone up to speed

Here are some pictures showing the current state of the house. I've got all of the framing done, the plumbing is hooked up and all of the electrical wiring is run. I've removed the two small doors that led from the bedroom to the balcony and replaced them with one large door. The last picture shows one area were I have yet to figure out the proper lighting fixture. I need a fixture on the exterior to light my entryway and a fixture on the interior to light the stairway. I've received an offer for two matching wall sconces that fit the time period. I'm still debating on what I want to do, the fixtures I've been offered are the best solution I've come across but since they are a gift I want to make sure I will use them. If anyone has any more suggestions send me an email.

I've Turned the Corner

I've gotten a lot of work done in the lower level. I've reframed the wall that stretches behind the kitchen cabinets and into the dining room. I've managed to squeeze in a half bath behind the kitchen. As you can see the plumbing is in, we removed the existing cast iron drain stack and are putting in pvc drain piping. The water and drain lines were all run in the slab and many of them were leaking. The furnace is half way in, I switched the orientation of the furnace and its location so all of the ductwork had to be moved. I've been removing the linoleum all week and I'm about half-way done, and I'm beginning to think linoleum stands for a thin layer of an ugly steel like substance.