A New House-Update #44 Long-With Pix

[Karl Laustrup]

Wednesday April 12th, 2006

This week has been hectic so far and it's just going to get more so through the rest of the week.

Kitchen counter top was installed Monday. It's a Corian clone called Staron. There are a bunch of different ones now that DuPont has lost the exclusive patent on the material. Staron is full thickness, like Corion though, unlike some that are about 1/8" and use a MDF backer board for strength.

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A couple of shots of the top. It's called "Sanded White Pepper". We opted for the single built in sink. In the pic to the right you can see the solar tube that was installed on Saturday. WOW! Does that brighten things up.

Terry from Schluters started on the deck on Monday also. They sent the skid steer over with a hole digger. The last three holes nearest the garage he hit rock about 3' down. Those posts will be on solid footing.
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LOML kept thinking the deck was too small. She couldn't visualize it. Last night she got to see how big it is [14'x24'] and figured she could live with it. :confused: :)

Everything is still on track for final inspection either late Thursday or early Friday.

Continued.................................

[Karl Laustrup]

Here's the rest of the story.

Tuesday April 11th, 2006

Big day. Plumbers showed up and got everything hooked up. We now have toilets, faucets, dishwasher and all other things related to water. We also have hot water. The tankless seems to be working fine. It's taking a little longer than I thought for the water to reach the bathroom, but it is HOT!
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Master shower

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Main bath

Everything went pretty good with the plumber. We were going to use our old kitchen faucet, but when the plumber mounted it, it had hairline cracks in the removable handle. Had to go get another faucet. The handle is available, but by order only. About two weeks. Don't have two weeks. The only thing we could come up with was there was some water left in it while it was stored in the blue container over the cold winter. Oh, well.

Mark showed up to do the window wells around the basement windows. Could have gone with standard metal or fibreglass but opted for block. Really turned out nice. Of course while he was digging around the east window he discovered water bubbling up. Examination found that my original sump line had been cut some where along the process of digging and filling. Just one more thing in a day filled with little surprises.
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Norm, the electrician, was there also and got concentrated on getting the power to the garage and the septic pump wiring completed. Also got more of the wiring hooked up to the breaker box. Norm's still got a few things to finish up. He'll be back Thursday to help hook up the vent hood.

Today, Rob and Sean will be back to do the remainder of the finish work. Railing for stairs, toe kick in kitchen, align cabinet drawers and what ever else they do. It's also the day the stove and vent hood are delivered.

Well, it's getting late. I need to get going and get up there as there is a lot for me to do also before we can move in on Friday.

Thanks and stay tuned.

Karl

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Karl.........I can't believe how well this entire project has gone! Congrats to you, your family and your GC and subs!

[Jim Becker]

Thanks for the update, Karl. Looking good! You'll soon be moving in, even... ;)

[Jerry Olexa]

Karl: Continues to look good in all regards...Like the way the ground slopes away from your foundation out back so your deck is elevated nicely. Are you going to have stairs?? You're on schedule. Coming together great!!! You must live right!!:)

[Art Mulder]

Looks good, Karl.

My folks have a "Sola-tube" in their house in the main washroom. It is an interior room, with no windows. That sola-tube is like having a 60-watt incandescent turned on all the time. When they first had it installed, people were regularly trying to find the light switch to "turn off the light".

...art

[John Miliunas]

And here I thought a shop with a full kitchen was over the edge! Now you come up with a full, huge outside deck, too!!! :eek: Well, I suppose you can probably justify that for doing some fair weather functions out there, like staining or giving your Cherry a bit of a tan! :D Lookin' good, dude!!! :) :cool: