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So we had the front door reframed. Our contractor rebuilt things, ensuring us that the wood we thought was rotted was, in fact, ok. As the painters got to the top of the doorway, the underlying rot in the frame caught fire and began crumbling.
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As it turned out, at least half of the door frame was completely rotted through, turned to dust. If we had left it the way it was rebuilt, the doorway would have collapsed within a very short time. Needless to say, we are very upset for having work done unnecessarily by our painters and the contractor who was responsible. We are also very irritated at having someone literally lie to us when it was obvious he knew the wood was rotten. (He anchored the new wood to rotted wood with glue)
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Here's a closer shot of the doorway. The plywood board over the door covers a hole through both rows of the double brick wall. The lentil over the doorway is also rotten. We have several support beams inside the wall right now to keep it from collapsing. The plywood is there to keep anything from falling out on people as they walk by. We plan on having the masonry redone by another contractor.
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One of the rotten boards we removed from over the doorway. This board is actually in decent shape. Most of the wood had just turned to dust.
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The painters are doing a wonderful job. The back of the house is mostly completed. Just the back door remains. It will be green.
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Inside, we've installed all the kitchen cabinets along with the embedded appliances.
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A good shot of the wall we built to back the kitchen cabinets and serve as a divider for the walkway to the back door. Our handyman, Tom, is a top notch drywaller.
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The crown jewel of the kitchen is the Jennair downdraft stove. A bit overkill, perhaps, but I'll never need to eat out again with this baby installed.
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As with good Feng Shui practice, the stove faces out into the room, so that when you cook, your back is not to the major entrances.
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The new dishwasher. On the floor to the left is the garbage disposal, still in it's box. I was tempted to get the monster unit for crushing bones that may get thrown down there. Then Michelle reminded me I'm a vegetarian. So I settled on the stock 1/2 horsepower unit. It should chop lettuce scraps with no problem.
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Can you really improve on the standard 7" stainless steel sink? I think not. So that's what we've chosen for the kitchen.
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Halogen cabinet lamps, still in the box. Lighting makes the room.
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We installed a new water heater on Sunday. The electric isn't hooked up yet, but water runs through it and doesn't leak. Specs: 50 gallon electric with a 9 year warranty. Should be plenty for this house.
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The bathroom sinks are both installed and fully functional. All that's left now in the bathroom is cleanup, put up the shower walls, and eventually, refinish the tub.
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A close-up of the plumbing beneath the sinks, for those interested in that sorta thing. We had to use flexi-hose to connect the drain to the pedastal sink.
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The attic ceiling is drywalled. A lot of work, but it looks really nice. One more coat of spackle, a bit of sanding, and it'll be ready to take primer.
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As always, contractors bring messes with them. The painters have taken over much of the living room as the storage and staging area for their paints.
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Next week, we get to use the new nailer and compressor as we install new door trim and baseboards. I can hardly wait.
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