November 11-26

Mooney & Moses has just finished the blown-in attic insulation

The hose ran from the truck, through the garage, through a den window, through the den, into the storage closet and up into the new attic access.

The remote water meter has been relocated to the south side of the family room. No more big blue spot in the middle of the east wall!

Bill's old shop stool keeps being "borrowed" and popping up in new places. It's now found its way upstairs to the second bathroom.

Master bath samples: shower wall tile (rectangle) and cultured marble countertop (disk)

Master bath samples: floor tile (large square), shower floor tile (four small squares) and decorative border (small strips)

Laundry floor tile sample

Today Jeremy and Joe are cleaning up prior to hardwood floor install. There's major drywall dust to pick up.

Jeremy rolling up the last of the old under-floor material

RKB patched and reinforced the subfloor to eliminate weak areas and squeaks

Jim Witt, the painting contractor, spent much of a day touching up little inconsistencies on the exterior

Existing hardwood in the office and adjacent hallway can be used with some patching and repair. Jon Blackburn, the hardwood contractor, sanded a patch to find out if it's red or white oak. It's red, and here he wets it to show how it will look when sealed.

Big stack of wood #1

Big stack of wood #2, tools and folded-down saw

End-on view

Hardwood materials

Hardwood staples

Hardwood staples

Hardwood glue

Hardwood underfloor felt

Hardwood nails

The office floor before patching in new hardwood. The bare area at left is the subfloor under the old bathtub.

Starting to remove some old pieces

The almost-finished "toothing-in". Old and new areas will blend smoothly after sanding.

Another area patched with new wood

Before patch

After patch

Wood vents used with hardwood floors. They're flush with the floor level.

Installed wood vent

Hardwood stapler

Soft hammer

Old and new

New and old

The neat transition between new and existing hardwood areas. This is looking from the former dining room across the hallway into the new laundry.

Former dining room into kitchen

Don Shoemaker is wiring switches so that workers can have light in early morning and late evening

Plain toggle switches are the order of the day. Eventually some will be upgraded to dimming and/or sleeker types.

...and now the auxiliary furnace is online!

Hardwood install, day two

Hallway to den

Jon's assistant Jeff, who did the patching work

At end of day two, hardwood is complete everywhere except about 2/3 of the family room

Wow -- lights! The bulbs are temporary and a hodgepodge of CFs and tungsten, but right now it seems a luxury to have light from something other than a flashlight.