Posted by K
Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:16:00 GMT
The thermostat (which, by the way, didn’t work anyway) is being moved to the other side of the wall. Jorge and the AC guy (who wants to make us happy with things, it seems) are brainstorming about what to do about the ginormo-mess in the living room floor and I am trying to not think about what that means for the actual floor that was cut out for ginormo duct. I also told Jorge about the bad duct in the back bedroom (and I think Matt told the AC guy too, or is going to) and I also asked Jorge to hang the DR windows as low as possible in the frame so that we can fit molding in.
Basically, I emphasized that I don’t want any messing with door and window molding for ductwork. I am not sure how it will work out, but I guess we will find out more tomorrow.
We were about 15 tile pieces short, which would have been a travesty, but it turns out Morris Tile in Tuxedo MD (hooray for Tuxedo and the Friendly Inn if it is still there) has the pieces we need so Jorge can pick them up there.
On the west coast, packing continues. Other than some clothes, bedding, dishes, appliances, and the back porch/plants (which I started dealing with and would deal with more but have some awful illness or sinus thing, and have had it for two days and am tired and headachy), most things are packed. I did manage to get everything else done this weekend, so I guess the rest of plant-sorting can wait (this is all very stressful, since what do I do with the plants I can’t take?).
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Posted by K
Thu, 08 Jun 2006 05:08:00 GMT
Well, today was a day of highs and lows. Actually, it started out good and ended up bad. So, not really highs and lows, but more of a slippery slope into misery.
The good: THE DAMN TILE IS HERE. Thanks to our friend S and her trusty Golf, (and under the disbelieving eyes of the tile guys who thought it was impossible to put all that tile in a Golf and drive it into DC and, uh, I guess we should have sent Jorge to get it in his truck), the tile is now safely in the house. She even carried some in. We sent grout (yes, we shipped 16 pounds of grout across the country because the alternative was too tiring to consider) on Monday so grout will be there very soon.
Also, I have a ticket on a plane that will get me into DC at 10.33 PM on the 29th of June (and supposedly the house will actually be mostly done at that point). I am usually happy about this, although right now the thought makes me want to cry.
The reason I want to cry: the AC ductwork. Right now I think the AC guy is crazy and I have no idea what the hell he was doing when he put in some of the ducting. I understand that not all of it could be put in the walls the way he wanted. That is fine. What is not fine is the enormous and crooked double duct in our living room, that, when framed in, will obscure some of the doorway trim behind drywall. Also, an upstairs bedroom has that problem with some trim at the top of a door. Beyond that, there appears to be a (crooked) thermostat installed where there are going to be cabinets on the kitchen/dining room wall. Check out the horribleness here.
Sigh. I sent Jorge a What The Hell (I said it all as nicely as I could) email and I guess now I will go sleep fret.
Posted in Modern amenities, Remodeling: General, Remodeling: Bathroom | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by K
Fri, 02 Jun 2006 05:38:00 GMT
The hipster and fancier version of the tire planters we have in our neighborhood is <a href=http://shop.theurbangarden.co.uk/product_info.asp?prdID=1589&n=recycled+tyre+planter&usrID=73EBBBE7-8741-4479-894C-76F79BEE5D83
>these and I don’t know how much shipping is but I think I need two or three of them for the porch.
Also: I think I fly out with the cat in four weeks, we have a million things to do, still, and our tile still appears to be missing.
I am right now obsessing over sinks (I went from thinking single bowl to double bowl and back to single bowl again) and countertops, even though there isn’t much we can do about any of that right now. I really wish we had some damn tile for the bathroom. I think that at this point maybe we SHOULD cancel the order and take our chances with a tile place that has half an idea as to what is going on. Matt doesn’t think Ramon (at Evil Nash Tile) even knows he sells tile.
Posted in Remodeling: Landscape | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by K
Sat, 27 May 2006 04:30:00 GMT
After three calls to IKEA today, leaving three messages, one involving me begging them to please call me back, I was sent through to Dan Zook, IKEA kitchen manager! And he was there, in person, and able to talk to me! I was seriously rendered speechless for a minute and wasn’t sure how to talk to him. Anyway, long story short, he got it all sorted out. And it turns out everything we want is in stock, and now reserved, and it can all be picked up on Tuesday. Dan Zook was very nice and called me back TWICE and let me know exactly what was going on.
So I am happy. I am still annoyed at IKEA since this could have been done days ago and without nearly this much drama, but thank god for Dan Zook, who is awesome. Thank you again!
I also sent an email to Luke Works about concrete countertops and our options and costs and whether it would be a job for him/them. He went to school with a friend and seems to be a good guy. So maybe concrete will be back in the running, we will see.
Posted in Remodeling: Kitchen | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by K
Fri, 26 May 2006 03:11:00 GMT
IKEA informed me today that they suck possibly more than Nash Floors. They didn’t really tell me this in person, because talking to a real person at IKEA is not possible, I have determined. But they told me anyway, in so few words.
Here is the series of unfortunate events:
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Posted in Remodeling: General, Miscellaneous | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by K
Tue, 23 May 2006 05:09:00 GMT
After pining and lusting after it for, lo, seven months now, I finally pulled the trigger and bought The Faucet. For less than that, of course.
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Posted in Remodeling: Kitchen | 2 comments | no trackbacks
Posted by K
Sun, 21 May 2006 21:39:00 GMT
The excitement in these parts lately is packing. Also, buying dishwashers and, as featured on the To Do List, agonizing over countertops.
Earlier this week, when the nice people at Squak told me that shipping the slabs from Washington state to DC would cost me almost a thousand dollars (which, combined with the actual cost of the slabs would have brought the cost of raw materials to over $2500), I realized that Squak was going to be a no go. If we were moving to Seattle, just maybe, but not in this case.
So countertop-wise I guess we are now between:
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Posted in Remodeling: General, Moving cross-country | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by K
Wed, 17 May 2006 03:48:00 GMT
...is my new favorite designer. I’ve seen his lamps, like the garland lamp and the midsummer light (which I am going to get for the office room) but he also makes some awesome curtainy things and even dishes.
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Posted by K
Tue, 16 May 2006 06:17:00 GMT
Squak is my new favorite word, and Squak Mountain Stone can be tabletops or countertops or whatever, take your pick. I wrote to them to see what shipping would be like, and if we do get it we would have to find a fabricator or someone who could install it, but it isn’t stupidly expensive, maybe, especially if we get the seconds. And it is nice looking and kind of industrial and eco-friendly. Basically, it is like Richlite/paperstone and is concrete and some other stuff mixed with paper in a very nice-to-the-earth way.
Plus, you could point at the counters and yell “Sk-wack!” all the time.
Today I ordered the cabinets and it was pretty stress-free, now that I am one with the whole faxing/credit card authorization thing. Some of the pieces have to be backordered and god only knows when they will come in, but they are peripherals so shouldn’t be an issue. Or I think now. My song might change in a few weeks when everything ends up messed up.
Next: make a million dollars to pay for the heat pump we are getting. Find out how much grout we need and make sure that it can be obtained or obtain some and send it out there.
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Posted by K
Sun, 14 May 2006 03:09:00 GMT
This is the thrilling weekend that belongs to the homeowner: a trip to the tile store, an aborted trip to look at soapstone, and a trip to IKEA wherein cabinets were not ordered (as planned) since it seems that an IKEA in California is unable to fax an order for me to an IKEA in Maryland.
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Posted in Remodeling: Bathroom, Remodeling: Kitchen | no comments | no trackbacks
