Week 32: 4th Down on the One-Yard LIne



This photo shows the cured concrete apron and drain grate installed in front of the garage.  We anticipate this making a huge difference in keeping water out of the garage during the occasional rains we have here in Bellingham.



This photo of the new laundry room shows the elevator door on the left, newly installed cabinets on the walls, and the washer and dryer in place, although not yet fully installed.  We have taken pleasure in recycling wherever we can.  The base and upper cabinets on the right wall and the upper cabinet on the far wall were all in the mud room of the pre-remodel house.  We are using them again here in the laundry room.  The base cabinet on the far wall is one of the base cabinets that used to be in the kitchen of the pre-remodel house.  The freestanding cabinet in the front of the photo is a base cabinet that Susan and Chris built and gave to us when they remodeled their house.  At the end of the project, this cabinet will move upstairs to the pantry, where we will use it  to store pots and pans.



This is the basement room adjacent to the laundry.  This photo shows some of the Berkeley possessions we're storing here pending our ability to occupy the entire house.



This photo shows the rehabilitated crawl space in the old furnace room.  Bellingham Bay Builders installed several new footings in this space to help support the second stories of the house.  When they were done, they raked and graded the earth and covered it with thick vinyl.  It's nicer space than it's ever been before and will make it much easier for the BP when he makes his biannual crawl through this space to open or close the foundation vents.



This photo shows the fully wired media panel.  The panel contains coaxial cables and ethernet cables for television and internet service to a total of ten locations in eight different rooms.  At any particular time, we will only be using two or three locations, but if and when the need arises to change any locations, we have plenty of choices.  The panel also contains cabling for landline telephone service to the elevator and four other locations in the house.



It's hard to believe, but we really are very close to being finished, and we find ourselves shifting gears from big picture issues to checking minute details to make sure everything is complete and working correctly.  In this photo, the BP is checking off items on our nine-page punchlist.



Every time we think most of the debris is gone from the yard, Dylan brings in another trailer and manages to fill it.  This is the beginning of the eighth month of construction, and during that time, a whole lot of debris accumulates!



Shelves and clothes-hanging poles have been installed in the closets.  This photo shows the poles on three walls in the master closet.  This is the largest closet that the BP and the BB have ever enjoyed in their entire married life.



This not very good photograph shows other details going on--in this case, a 48" grab bar has been installed inside the shower; on the left outside wall, a double towel rack has been installed; and in the upper right of the photo, you can see a robe hook that's been installed.



This photo shows one of two 36" grab bars that are being installed in the toilet area, and also the tissue holder that's been installed.  The BB and the BP purchased all of the bathroom accessories online; the good news was, they found exactly what they wanted; the surprising news has been that it's taken eight weeks for most of them to arrive, and there are two towel racks that haven't turned up yet.



The work table in the BB's office has now been fully completed.  Our granddaughter, Maya, has advised us that the cubbyhole is not a good place to store things; it's a much better place to rest your head when you're tired and even crawl into if you feel like hiding.



Sue and her family are visiting the BB's office.  The BB, Sue, and Chris pose for a photo taken by Maya with her very own camera.  Zoe elected not to be in the photo and preferred to study the recessed light in the ceiling.



Late last week, the state elevator inspector gave his final approval for the elevator, and all elevator finishes were completed except the oak floor, which was the task of Matthew, who has handled the new and refinished oak floors throughout the house.  This week Matthew installed the oak floor in the elevator cab, and this photo shows the now fully finished cab.



Sue and her family were the first official guests to ride in the elevator.  In this photo, Zoe pushed the elevator call button.



Here, Sue and her family enter the elevator for their first ride.  Zoe's inclination was to push all of the buttons, but fortunately she was only tall enough to ring the alarm and push "1", which took all of us to the basement. 
After viewing the basement, Maya pushed the higher buttons to take us to the second floor.



One of the delightful surprises when we engaged Eric Fulbright to build our kitchen cabinets was his idea of adding wainscoting on the north kitchen wall where fireplace brick used to be.  The wainscoting was Eric's design and included Craftsman touches that you can see in this photo at the top of the wainscoting.  We had planned from the beginning of the project to remodel the mantel in the living room but had initially planned a simple painted mantel.  Eric suggested that he could make us a nicer mantel out of the same quarter sawn oak he'd used for the kitchen cabinets, and he could build into it similar Craftsman touches borrowed from the wainscoting design.  The next photo will show you the result.



This is the new living room mantel designed and built by Eric Fulbright.



It is a big thrill to see a staircase that the BP and the BB designed from the LJ Smith catalog actually take shape in the house.  In this photo you see Tom, who, with his partner, Derek, are stair building experts and have been brought in by Bellingham Bay Builders to construct our staircase. 



This is another view of the staircase.  The upper part of the photo also provides glimpses of the ceiling grids and the new wall sconce at the stairway landing.  This blog will be taking a holiday hiatus while we return to California for Christmas.  We anticipate one or two more blog installments in early January.  Stay tuned.  In the meantime, we hope you enjoy wonderful holidays.