Wowie. The amount of work you can get done with four weekend warriors instead of two is nothing short of amazing. It was so great to have Eric and Tatyana come see the house and spend the weekend with us. After a quick tour, somewhat limited by plastic sheeting still up for kitchen demo (no access to the stairs), we got down to business.
With Eric and Tatyana’s help, we washed, sanded, and painted – two coats – all upper and lower kitchen cabinets. All that’s left is what’s built in, which we will do at the very end when dust is no longer flying. We did the cabinets in the same colors (a celadon green with teal interior) in a semi-gloss finish. They look so great and fresh and shiny and new. And yes, I genuinely derive that much pleasure from freshly-painted kitchen cabinets.
Before E&T showed up, Ryan pulled down the remaining kitchen ceiling and we got started on debris removal. In between painting stints, Eric helped out with the “man’s work” of debris removal. By noon on Sunday, we were pulling down plastic sheeting and shop vac’ing.
The plastic came down just in time for Rick, Denise, and Meghan to visit. Not only did E&T get to see the rest of the house, so did the visiting McSheras. I was clearly not on my blogging A-Game, as I failed to snap a pic of the crew from Southboro. However, Denise did bring a gorgeous clematis that we planted and trained on the pergola, and I did get a picture of that.
With the kitchen cleared out and the full peak of the roof exposed, Ryan (with some consultation from his rather demanding client yours truly) figured out where we will set the height of the new ceiling. Despite my initial protests, we are not leaving the ceiling fully open to the peak for a variety of reasons. This includes the need for insulation, electrical considerations (recessed lights with a dimmer are going back in, as well as a tasteful fan much to the architect’s chagrin), and plans for an eventual master bedroom addition over the kitchen. To squeeze out as much as possible for ceiling height in the kitchen, the future addition will be four steps up from the floor height of the two current bedrooms. We decided that was the maximum step up we could do that wouldn’t be totally wonky. In the end, we’ve increased our ceiling height from 6’-10” to 8’-9”. It doesn’t sound that high, but it feels so different and in our petite house and itwill make a huge difference.
With that all hashed out, Ryan determined our lumber needs and made a Home Depot run. It was a small miracle that we made it until Sunday afternoon before visiting our friends in orange at the local Home Depot. When he returned, I was happy to have Eric assist with hauling said lumber. The Smith Clan kids were running out of steam, so Ryan entertained us with his handyman skills and made a few saw horses. We finally christened the compressor we purchased for the roof project and never used. In other news, Tela dislikes the nail gun and compressor immensely. We’ve decided to add a dog house to our project list. Tela-girl needs a home base up at the house – she’s a bit lost amid all this renovation and noise.
We then had what can only be described as a small hurricane event at 84 High Street. Cait’s parents arrived with E&T’s boys (ages 3 and 5). After we explained the rules of a job site, the boys took a whirlwind tour of the house. They love the attic, but were a little skeptical when I suggested Ryan was like Bob the Builder. Cait’s mom arrived with more plantings, identified a slug situation in the kitchen garden, set up a beer lagoon trap, and deadheaded the window boxes all in the space of 90 seconds. Cait’s dad got debriefed by Ryan on progress in the kitchen and our choice to vent the furnace through the foundation. And just like that, a child exchange was made, Cait’s parents were back in the car, and E&T were off.
After the hurricane, I got my first taste of framing under Ryan’s very patient tutelage. Ryan measured out the span for our new ceiling joists, cut them at the same pitch as the roof, and after we snapped a chalk line across both sides, we started hanging joists! At 6:30, we decided our neighbors had probably had enough of the nail gun and compressor and called it a day. We hope to have the ceiling rough framed over the course of a few upcoming weeknights so that we can meet with an electrician and get to hanging drywall. We are very good at taking things apart, but with a month out from D-Day (move-in), we need to start putting things back together.
Runs to Home Depot: 2 (1 mid-week)
Next project: Framing the new kitchen ceiling, reassembling kitchen cabinetry, painting bathroom cabinets
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