Substantial Completion!!!

I have officially reached Substantial Completion. This weekend there was not a lot of work, but some small tasks. My roommate is moving down there this week. I did sand and oil my deck which has nothing to do with the basement project. Here is a half way shot. The oil makes the IPE look awesome.

Here are a few shot of the finished basement. Hopefully I can get better quality photos taken soon. Bonnie... if you are reading this I'm looking your way!

Shower

The shower is officially complete! Last night I took the inaugural shower. It was freakin sweet.

The Home Stretch

This week I made Home Depot / Lowes trips 50 and 51. My friend Jessica suggested I purchase something awesome on my 50th trip. If a new filter for my shop vac and some more trim is considered awesome then mission accomplished.

I did purchase some planter boxes for my deck this past week.

Saturday I started with the last of the grout. All of the tile around the mirror and sink needed grout. Unfortunately I also had to cut out some grout that got a lot of paint on it when the ceiling was being painted. The mirror worked out real well. Here are a few shots.

After the grout I moved onto the last of the trim. As expected there are a lot of weird conditions around some of the doors. I had to rip down several pieces of trim because there are several spots where a full piece will not fit. Trim is pretty easy... but filling and sanding all of the nail holes is a pain in the ass. Then you have to wipe all the dust off and vacuum before you can paint. The bedroom and all of its trim is done. The last thing I had to do was put the access panels in.

All of the trim has been installed and filled in the rest of the space. I need to let the wood filler dry before I can sand and paint. Next I painted the wall adjacent to the stairs. This is the one wall that is not white. It is a light gray. I guess gray is the color theme of the project. I like to think I'm a good painter... which I'm not. So I usually don't tape. I didn't tape any of the walls in the living room and looking back I'm not sure how I got them so straight. I was off to a bad start with this wall so I decided to tape this one intersection. I painted the wall and all the edges. Mostly without tape. It came out pretty well. I go to pull off the tape and it pulls up the paint below it. This paint has been on the wall for 3 days. I'm not sure how or why this happened. Here are a few shots.

I guess I'll have to sand this paint off so that I get a clean transition when I try to repaint.

Lastly I started to install some of the cover plates. You would think that would be easy... but when you are close to the end, nothing is easy.

I'm not sure if the boxes were installed too far into the wall or the drywall was set too far out... or both. About 1/3 of the cover plates will not fit. I have to pull the receptacle out about 1/4". I tried to do this and got a nice shock... I decided I was done for the day. Next time I will be sure to turn the power off before I touch the receptacles.

Substantial completion.





Primer, millwork and LEAKS!

My roommate Dave was able to prime the entire hallway today. That was a big bonus. The craft paper I purchased the other day is coming in handy. This way the floor can stay covered until all the painting is done. 

I tried to fix the leak in the trap today. Jason even came over to help out. Unfortunately this expensive vanity and fixture came with a crappy trap. It looks great, but one of the connections at the top of the trap is not holding. I went to purchase a new decorative box trap at Lowes (trip number 49) and that is much better quality, but is now too big. Since the drain was set too low and I had to add two street 90's it is now too tight for the Lowes box trap. Not sure what I can do about this... I'm going to see if Jason can do something about it. If not I may have to call the plumber back. This could turn into an expensive pain in the butt.

Yesterday when I said the shower would be ready for use today, I was wrong. The shower control is also leaking... It has a very slow leak. Jason thinks the part is just bad. I have to call Moen tomorrow and ask them to replace the part. Not sure how long it will take for them to send, but HOPEFULLY it will be easy to swap out and will do the trick.

Unfortunately all I was able to do today was trim the bedroom and closet. I still have a few more pieces to add to the closet. I have half of the bathroom left and and then I will be done with the trim. 

Shelf and rod in the closet.

The built in shelves in the bathroom are painted.

Carpet, Toilet, Shower & Skin

Last night I did some painting in the bathroom. The goal was to get enough done that I could finish the tile, and install the toilet today.

I started out installing the last of the tile.

While I was finishing the tile, the carpet got installed. I hired Lowes to do the carpet. It ended up working out perfectly. The tile and carpet meet up real well and the colors go well together.

Here are two before shots.

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One shot with the pad down and the carpet is about to go in.

Here are some after shots.

I'm real excited how well the carpet and tile met up.

After carpet and tile, I did a little trim work so that I could install the toilet. Jason was going to come over to help a little. Before he got there I started to install the shower controls and head. You should probably turn the water off before you do this. My roommate took a photo of my trying to shut off the shower while I was screwing in the control. That was the first official shower.

Unfortunately the valve was set too far out. The tile was not built out as much as expected so the control is sticking out a little too far. There is not much I can do about it at this point. I'll have to get over it.

Right after I finished the shower Jason came over to help walk me through the toilet and sink install. He broke his thumb yesterday! Not on my project but cutting a piece of wood at one of my coworkers houses. He was only able to help a little and talked me through the rest. It was all pretty easy. 

I am pretty dam excited that the toilet went in and was working.

The trap is European and the standard American hoses would not fit so we had to rig a special connection. Also the drain was set about 6" too low. I had to cut the back of the cabinet and add a few 90 degree fittings. Its almost there... the trap is leaking and I cant figure out why. Jason was not here for this part so I'll have to have him back to help.

Lots of progress today!



PAINT

The week started out with the 48th trip to Lowes. I went and purchased what I thought was all the paint. After painting on Tuesday I quickly realized I need a lot more paint. Tuesday my roommate and I put the first coat of paint in the bedroom. Tonight we put the second coat on. The goal was to get the room painted before Saturday morning when the carpet is supposed to be installed. The bedroom is just about complete and we started on the bathroom. I Also went and filled all the nail holes on the trim work that has been completed.

The goal for the weekend is to finish all the tile around the fixtures and mirror, install the bedroom trim after the carpet goes in, trim and paint the bathroom and start painting the hallway and laundry area.

If I can get all that done the end will be in sight.

No photos... white paint... isn't the most exciting to photograph.

Valves, euscheon plates & paint

This past Thursday night after happy hour I primed the bedroom. After 4 beers and a shot of Tequilla (to celebrate Cinco de Mayo of course) it was pretty easy to prime the walls. There is no carpet down yet and no trim on the walls... I was able to go as fast as I could.

Last Wednesday I tried to install the 3 valves for the sink and toilet. I was watching a hockey game so I tried to run downstairs during commercials and in between periods. Of course it ended up not being as easy as it should have been. After turning the water back on, one of the valves was leaking. I had to vacuumed out as much water as I could and try to resoldier. After some struggle it is now a very slow leak. I have to shut the water off again, cut out the valve, and try to install a new one.

Regardless, Jason pointed out that I forgot to install the Euscheon plates prior to install the valves... I guess I now have to cut out all three and try again. I purchased a few more today... Thats HD trip 47.

The valve on the left has a very slow leak.

Here is the toilet valve but I forgot to install the euscheon plate.

Last week Jason came by an installed the silicone on the glass. The shower is just about complete. I just have to put a few tiles around the valves and controls. 

This weekend I was in Philadelphia for a wedding. I had a great time, but that is now two weekends of little progress. I was able to install some more trim. Dave helped again and he primed the bathroom while I was working on the trim.

I am hoping to have at least the bedroom all painted by next weekend. Saturday morning the carpet is being installed. Once that goes in I can complete the trim work.