Really? Is water supposed to do that?

Tonight while making dinner, I was peeling some potatoes and throwing the peels in the sink... I flushed them with the garbage disposal and went about my merry way... The dishwasher was on, and soon the water was backing up into the sink. We flipped the disposal switch again, and water started coming out from under the dishwasher. *sigh*

I got down on my hands and knees and pulled the front of the dishwasher off, called my dad to ask if I was missing anything obvious, mopped out from under there, cleaned up under the sink, pulled the curved piece off of the sink to make sure that there wasn't anything clogging it (there wasn't) and promptly poured the water from the little elbow piece right back into the sink. Cause I'm smooth like that. The water that flowed from the sink to the open pipe where I was under the sink confirmed that the first three inches of pipe were, indeed, clean as a whistle.

Jeez.

After I put the elbow back on (what *is* that piece called, anyways? a J tube? a P tube? a CURVY tube? well, whatever the hell it is, I got it back on and then) I thought that everything was peachy. Not true.

I thought for good measure that I'd better run the hot water - just to make sure that if there *was* anything stuck in there, that it would flush it right out. Cause you know, hot water fixes anything. So I'm running the hot as heck water, when it BACKS UP AGAIN!

Dammit!

Once again I flipped the switch for the garbage disposal to clear it (cause for some reason, in the wondrous world of all that is the kitchen sink, a disposal switch seems to be like the man behind the curtain in Oz. Mysterious, but masterful) when I hear (coming from Jim, who was in the basement) "TURNITOFFTURNITOFFTURNITOFF!!!!!"

James was bellowing from below. Aieeeee! I stepped over the displaced cleaners and dishwashing detergent, careful not to tip the space heater that was drying the damp space beneath the sink (shush. it wasn't that much electricity next to the water) and flipped the disposal off.

Turns out that the water was running down the interior of the wall... An interesting phenomenon indeed, when one considers that it resulted in one stream on the inside of the laundry room window, and one on the outside. As in one stream of water. Forking at the window in the basement. Hmmm. Curious. And not really all that *good* when measuring positives and negatives of free flowing water in one's walls.

We called the contractor. She came over and was equally perplexed. So....... tomorrow the plumber will come, they *might* need to remove the siding from the exterior of the house in order to see what's going on, and in the mean time, I'm staying away from the sink. There's no telling what might happen.

Happy Valentine's Day, James... Love Katie and Nyk...

Things I've learned...

I'm pondering the remodel today. Not pondering like, "Oh, man, should we have done this?" because truly, I think that the basement remodel was one of the wisest decisions I've ever been a part of... No, Pondering with a capital P, thinking about the timeline, the decisions for space and materials, and just generally, how the project has been going (oh! you thought we were done? no... not yet!).

To begin, I will recount the various "rules" that I have become intimately familiar with in remodeling:

1) It will cost way more than you think it will. I read a suggestion once to build in 10% more to your budget than you think you'll need. I think it should be 20%. If you end up spending that 20% in an emergent change order, like, say, oh, your foundation is crumbling and that's why your basement had a river running through it, then yay! You planned for it... But if you get to the end of your project and you didn't have to spend it, then you have money to roll back into the loan, or you can buy some new furniture or treat yourself to a super cleaning crew and movers to help you get your house put back together!

2) In stock and off the shelf for main design components like tile, lights, and carpeting is the way to go. You can make something look custom with wise choices and carefully placed custom or special order items, but there's really no need for the whole project to require special or custom order. It costs more, takes longer, and in the end, no one will care or notice other than you.

3) Green decisions do not have to be expensive. Scour your local rebuilder's store for recycled materials, check to see if recycled paint is available, build an old dresser into the wall for chic storage, buy overstocked tiles and fixtures from clearance stores, and be on the lookout for things that fit into your design scheme. Also be sure to ask showrooms and suppliers if they have a 'seconds' store. I purchased all of our specialty tile for the backsplashes, fireplace faces and mantels, and laundry counters for under $300 at the Pratt & Larson seconds store. I can't even conceptualize how much it would have been at full retail.

4) Change orders are expensive, so try to clarify *explicitly* with your contractor what is expected, and which finish you want where. We set our project back a week because James and I assumed that our shelving would be wood. Our contractor uses melamine particle board for shelving because of its velvety finish. While we agreed to leave the melamine in the other parts of the remodel, the den was redone with walnut-stained mahogany wood shelves. Once you make a plan, try to stick with it, because the more you move things around, change ideas, or generally muck about with the plan, the more expensive it becomes. Be flexible. Don't be difficult.

5) Get as many bids as you can, then negotiate with the best contractor (NOT THE LOWEST BID) to come close to the best price you can for your project. If you have the time and the inclination, you can act as your own project manager and get the sub-contractors in to further your hand in negotiations for price and scope. We were lucky in that our contractor also did much of the hands on labor herself. This kept our costs down, as she wasn't paying herself to go out and find people to do the labor for her for every parcel of the project.

6) Keep an open mind. At the beginning of this project, we wanted to keep the laundry shute and move the laundry facility from the corner of the basement to the center, with a half bath. We ended up losing the shute, but gaining a utility room in the existing laundry area with room for our exra freezer, a nice counter and extra storage, and a half bath. We saved money by leaving the plumbing where it was, and we gained room (and a wet bar) by giving up the laundry shute.

7) Find a contractor who believes in your lifestyle. When KBH and I first started negotiating, she said, "Don't discount me because I'm a mom. I know how families live, and I think that I can do a better job for you than the other guys can." And she was right. We hit some snags along the way, but ultimately, the manner in which she approached the final design, adding storage and shelving cubbies in wherever she could, and making the basement family friendly was a million times better than what the group of burly contractor-guys were offering.

8) Decide on your "must haves" and your "flexibles" ahead of time, and be willing to negotiate within those categories. James really wanted a big shower. He's a big guy. The fiberglass and shower pans were less than pleasing to his personal aesthetic, but we didn't think that we would be able to have a fully tiled shower because of the cost. The vanity that we wanted originally went by the wayside in favor of a pre-cut granite counter and some stock cabinets that we found at a discount granite store in our city's industrial area. Even after that, we negotiated the price to include assembly, delivery, and installation of the countertop for $300 less than the original vanity. The savings on the vanity didn't make up the cost of the shower (we like to joke about the $3000 shower) but the savings in other places helped to ease the disparity in cost.

9) Don't be afraid to ask questions and inspect the work as it goes along. Remember to visualize how you'll be using the space to try and prevent oversights in cable installation, phone jacks, lighting placement, and traffic patterns. We forgot that we needed two cable jacks in the den (one for tv and one for computers) on opposite sides of the room until we moved in. KBH had to break open the wall, fish a new cable jack, and then retexture and repaint the area. Time and money that could have been saved with some additional thinking. Do try, however, to stay out of the way and not annoy the hell out of your contractor. There's nothing worse (and I can say this from experience) than a nosy homeowner who wants to hire a contractor to do the work, but then snoop around and try to work alongside the contractor as they're trying to complete a task. We were lucky in that KBH is a generous woman, and was excited to tell us about some aspects of what she was doing. But there were a few times I knew that we just needed to let her do her job, and get out of the way. It's like going to the salon for a perm, but then wanting to do your own hair as the stylist explains the process. Not good.

10) Prepare for the inevitable. Things will go wrong. Unpleasant discoveries will be made. You will spend more money than you wanted to. You will grump and grouse at your partner. You will curse the day you ever thought it was a good idea to tear your walls down and make things better. But if you *know* that these things are coming, and that you can work through them with patience and humor, you'll be able to get to the end intact. And if nothing goes wrong and you get along famously with your family as you undergo home renovation, I salute you (even though you and I both know you're lying if you tell me everything went smoothly).

The tub is supposed to be finished this week. The POD disappears from our driveway tomorrow. Things are slowly getting cleaned up and put in a good order. But there's no way that we ever could have done this without KBH. We wouldnt have had the quality, the fun, or the results without her. And it was all worth it. Every last bit.

Almost at the Finish Line...

There are just a few things to finish up at the house. The bath tub is purchased and should go in tomorrow, then I get to finish the tile layout for tub surround and fireplace on bathroom side. Other than that, it's switch plates and touch up, grout and handles... There's been quite a transformation from when we first began this project in September to now... You can see the one remaining post in the 'before' picture - it is now just to the right of the wet bar.

The shower is complete in our master bathroom, as is the vanity space. I think we have a nice balance of modern with the traditional feel of our home. Typically I would describe our house as a modest Craftsman Bungalow-ish one, and the trim and materials we've chosen for the basement are complementary to the aesthetic of the house. I like to think that we were kind to the house and kept it feeling appropriate for a home that was built in 1928.

It's really mind boggling to me to think about all the work that's been done to the house in the last 9 years. I bet the former owners would flip if they could see what we did with the space.

Mom knew from the minute she told me about the house - she'd remembered it from when she was younger and in the neighborhood... "It has great bones," she used to tell me. And she was right. All this time has been well spent to bring out the best of this house.

The wetbar in the tv lounge is done, furniture is moved, and art is hung on the walls (though I have been scoping out some new abstract artists that I like, and I think I may do some abstract pieces for the spaces in the basement. I'd like to infuse some modern and abstract pieces with the traditional feel we have).

The bedroom is done, the fireplace is used all the time... Jim's den is complete (and relatively organized...I think we're just waiting for some last minute wood filler/putty for a few nail holes).

It feels good in this space. Kids come down and watch tv, we hang out, they all go back to their own rooms, and I feel like I'm living in a hotel when I'm in our master suite. It's quiet, and cozy, and organized. It's good. I'm so happy with the way that the space turned out!

The Finish Line is near...

We're getting close. Trim is all up, the painter was here putting putty in nail holes and getting the trim painted... The wet bar and the master bath vanity were installed yesterday (during the marathon that lasted until 10:30 pm) and the vanity tops and backsplashes are in.

We still have the tub to finish out, with the bath side fireplace to be tiled as well. It's really looking lovely. Last night the carpet layer was here to lay carpet in the final area - our glorified hallway, and they also laid carpet on the stairs. I look at pictures of the basement before, and I look at it now, and I just can't believe that it has come this far. KBH has done a really lovely job.

Nyk, the tile man, is here finishing up the "mantle" for the master side fireplace. He is grouting the floor in the master bath, after finishing all the shower tile... getting ready to finalize all the tile work. I'm excited at how the vision has come together, and I love the feel of the space. It's clean and modern, but it feels authentic to the house - nothing too crazy or fancy, just nice, quality materials and a smooth palette.

The snow days have been torturous this week, trying to get the children rounded up and in line to stay out of Katie's way hasn't been easy. Monday, Wednesday and Friday there was no school, and the combination of added stress plus not being able to go to work has just wiped me out physically and emotionally. I know that I need to prepare for out of town guests, but all I can do is wander about, glazed over. We did get the living room furniture rearranged, and by we I mean I, since James grew frustrated with my arranging protocol (shove this over here, look at it, shove it this way, move this...) and ended up going to Costco.

On Sunday last week we kidnapped James's Grandma from Vancouver and brought her down, his sister and her husband came over, and we just puttered around the house and the boys decorated the tree. It was fun to have people over, to just relax and hang out.

This evening it was a full house, and we made good progress on several projects. Katie and James worked on the shower valve, which made Katie's socks wet... It's a long story! Kathy and I worked on building/trimming out the one post that Katie couldn't bury in any wall, and I played with tiles, including laying out the patterns for the fireplace in the bathroom, the laundry counter and backsplash, and tub surround. I find it meditative to swap tiles around until I come up with a pattern that I like. The fireplace was the last section to complete, and I was literally down to the last tile - the last of the 6 x 6 tiles, and it worked out perfectly. Each of the tiled areas has a common theme, with main colors and materials same throughout. I did add a different twist to the backsplash pattern on the wetbar and the tub surround, however.

The drink of the evening was a twist on the one from last Sunday, and different further from last night's cinnamon vodka in Hot Apple Cider. Tonight I added a tablespoon of Grand Marnier in addition to the cinnamon and cider, and it was delicious.

I'm beat. I have to turn off my brain and gear up for tomorrow - cookie and cardamom bread making with my Dad and sissy... I'm so excited, and I am hoping that the winter storm (part 513.5) doesn't descend too rapidly - that I make it out SE and back before the bad stuff rolls in... Guess the recipes for cardamom bread and cookies will have to be posted tomorrow evening then!

Hell yes.

I am a Craigslist genius. Yesterday I purchased a beautiful (read that Bee-Yoo-Tee-Full) solid mahogany Henredon desk for $300. It's gorgeous. It was knocked down from $435 (even at that price, it would have been cool), because I emailed the guy and sent him a picture of my matching Highboy dresser.

Where can you get a solid wood desk for $300 these days? No where, that's where. Unless you're me. In which case, after you bust it down to Milwaukie, get the desk, work half a day more, drop the boy off at home, and corral the neighbor boys to unload the desk into the basement, you head back out to 242nd and Stark to pick up the three vanity cabinets that you scored for $150 for the wet bar.

Schweeeeeeet.

I was rockin' and rollin' on the Craigslist front. I got a gang of work done yesterday, and I'm ready ready ready to get the house in order.

If only that were a possibility.

Work's slowed to a trickle as KBH coordinates flooring installation (tile and carpet) with the subs. I really hope that the rug guy can put the carpet in on Sunday (pleeeease!) so that we can start to move some of our furniture around. Let's not forget that James and I are hosting Thanksgiving this year. Our house is a mess. Right now, we can barely get our own family aound the dinner table, let alone extra members! I really need the house to get organized so I can at least make the living and dining and kitchen areas look pretty.

Panic is setting in.

In the mean time, it's been brought to my attention that I may have to go back to Wife School before the impending nuptials. I did a bad bad job of laundry (in my defense I was a bit harried, having been told we would be laundry-free this last weekend), and turned a bunch of Jim's white stuff an Eeyore blue-gray. I thought it was kind of funny, but he didn't see the humor at all. I told him (again) that if he was that excited about laundry, then he could have it as a project. He said he would, barring any decision to send all of his laundry to the drycleaners. He said, "Do you know why I send my clothes there?" and through my fits of giggles I said, "So I don't ruin your clothes?" and he nodded.

*sigh*

There's a definite feeling of unrest in the house. The dogs are nervous, the kids are wooly, and James and I are both edgy. I have to keep reminding myself that very soon it will be better. But it's difficult to remember that in the midst of grit on the counters and half-crammed rooms.

There's not much I can do to prepare, either. Until the rooms are done, I have to just wait and be patient. Maybe I'll putter around and see if there's anything I can get rid of. Like bins of laundry and piles of paper.

I don't want to end up a candidate for Clean House.

tile! tile! tile!

We found the remainder of the tiles that we needed today. After I rolled out of bed (at 9:30 am!!!) we headed down to Pratt & Larson to see what they had in store. The place was hoppin' and people were all milling, searching, hunting. I think there were about 7 different sets of people in there, one lady and her (?) husband were looking at similar colors to us, so we passed some boxes over to them when we found things we didn't need but that they might want. I didn't find any of the little end caps that I needed for the ogee molding above the sink splash. Harumph. We did find two full boxes of 4 x 4 tiles, however, and one half box in pewter, green, and gold. We found some 6 x 6 tiles in the same pewter, and a couple more 4 x 6 tiles (that later turned out to be 4 x 8) in brown.

We never found as many 4 x 6 tiles as we needed, so (after a sad pass at DalTile *closed at noon* and a wild detour through Crackland, i.e. City Liquidators, on a quest for James' new desk) we headed over to the ReBuilding Center on Mississippi Ave, where we did (eventually) find a batch of sage green tiles that are the EXACT color of our walls in the bathroom. Serendipity. It was on the last round, also, just when James had had enough and I said on the last row, "Ok, just - you don't see ANY 4 x 6?" and then he peeked up on the top shelf and VOILA there were about 30 of them! Hooray! And, we think they're also Pratt & Larson, from the finish and the thickness and the glaze color. Woot!

When I got home and started to lay the tiles out, I discovered (through geometry) that the 4 x 6 tiles were actually 4 x 8 - a fact I could have seen, given the fitting of two 4 x 4 tiles along the length of the supposed 4 x 6. Ah.... Back to the planning.

It took me about 2 hours to count the tiles, after sorting them by color and size. Then I drew out a few patterns on graph paper until I got a basic pattern. After that, I counted out how many we'd need for each pass (based on a 2' run) and came up with two patterns each in two color layouts to accomodate the amounts of each tile we have. I'm stoked. I layed them out on the basement floor between some of the main 12 x 12 tile, and I think they look really great. At first I was worried about the rust color, but with the addition of the sage, pewter, and gold, I am super pleased and I think that it is just perfect. I tried to create a layout that would echo some of the Prairie Style patterns of Arts & Crafts/Mission, so that when we put the Craftsman Vanity in, it will be so harmonious and beautiful. Woo hoo! I'll have some left over for the fireplace, too - so it's going to look like lovely little jewels of happiness.

I can't wait to get them on the wall. It was a busy, busy day. KBH never did show up to tile the laundry floor - we got a mysterious text, so I hope things are ok!

Paint is on the walls...

The first coat of paint is up in the basement - we're using Metro Paint for most of it, except for the bathroom. We did find a lovely Behr color for the master bath called Garden Wall (sort of a taupe/khaki with green undertones), however, which will also replace the island blue in the main floor bathroom that James hates. Apparently the Vivace Asian Tiger orange Marmoleum is a little much for him with light blue. This should tone it down considerably. We chose Fawn by Metro for the master bedroom and office, and Desert for the basement "hallway" which is our unofficial sitting room. Our laundry/half bath, the stairway, and the rooms upstairs will be Desert. Two of the other bedrooms will be Desert, and the two bedrooms upstairs will be Fawn. Check that count out again... We're going from 3 bedroom/1 bath to 6 bedroom/2.5 bath!!! Can I get an AMEN?

I'm happy with the colors - I was lamenting the yellow cast of Desert against the pinkish hue of the Cookie Dough carpet, but it will be fine with the furniture and the cabinetry once all is said and done. I really love the way that the carpeting goes against the Fawn walls of the office and bedroom, and I'm so pleased with the space, the way it feels down there. It's cozy and sweet, and modern, but I think that the touches we're adding with the wet bar and the finish choices will really be nice.

Today KBH and I ran to Home Depot to finalize bathroom tile choices. The laundry room was easy, a ceramic tile called Hacienda in beige. It's less than a dollar per square foot - and in a utility room, I just want something light and bright and easy to clean. It'll look nice, and I can save some of the budget for the master bath so we can add some specialty tiles. The master bath will have a tile called Travata Chocolate Mousse. It's not really Chocolate colored, and the picture online makes it appear to have a much greener cast than it really does, but it's lovely - we're trying to decide which accent tile to use with it, because the two glass tiles I found aren't really spot on.

Tomorrow I need to check for more glass or metal tiles for the master bath. There are some cool tiles at Pratt and Larson, so I'll see if I can go and get some from the seconds store that will look neat in the half bath and the master shower, as back splash and accents. I am going to still get the tree tile that I was originally in love with for the bedroom side of the fireplace. Which, by the way is totally awesome and the coolest thing EVER. KBH has put all these neat little cubbies in, including one for our tv in the master, with spaces for the dvd and Tivo. In the wall. Did I mention the shoe cubby and my new 6' closet? Seriously. It's nuts. She rocks it hard as a contractor, and rocks being a friend equally. I love how she goes around the space and thinks about how we'd use it and how we can save space by putting niches in, taking advantage of the natural quirks of the space, and planning for how we live. We never would have had this level of customization by anyone else.

KBH told me I needed to be a designer (I think when I grow up) because I was talking about secret hidey-holes and little clever spots that I wanted, and said "Remember that show Webster? How he had that little hidey-hole behind the grandfather clock?" I've always wanted to put little spots like that in a house, and she said every designer she's ever known has put Clue-like tunnels or rotating bookcases or hidden rooms in their houses.

With the new French Drain system in place, despite the torrential downpours, the space has remained dry. I'm really happy that we were able to refinance the house and get the funds to finish out the basement - it's going to be so quiet and much more spacious.

James was pleased with the colors and the finish tiles, but I can tell he's growing weary of the mess, the chaos, and the space limitations of this project. If we can make it through this remodel, there may be reason to celebrate, and we might be able to get married after all!

sheetrock is up!

So much progress! The sheetrockers were here today to start hanging the drywall, and in just a few hours the space went from being a general skeleton to having some real structure! I'm really pleased with the rooms and their end sizes - I was worried that the bedroom would be too small, but the bedroom is a nice size, our bathroom is large, and our shower is going to be HUGE! I think the rough end size is 6' X 4'.

The bedrooms are coming together with some neat tuck ins of space, some pocketed in nooks and crannies and shelves that are going to add a lot of functionality and storage to the basement. We still need to order the vanity for our master bath, and revisit some of the materials because the foundation work ate up a lot of our finish costs, but we're still very excited about the results and how things are looking.

KBH is really amazing. Her workers always show up and show up on time, something I've seen not to be 100% on target for the general population of construction work. I tried to keep sleeping past 9 am since we have no children today, but the drywall screws whine as they go into the wood. When I finally woke up, James said that KBH's truck had been stolen just then off of the street! I hopped up and went outside to find her looking very shell-shocked. She'd run in to get the crew to start rounding up all the drywall scraps that they were producing, and when she came back out the truck (and her tools, her checkbook, her computer) was gone. James and I drove around the neighborhood, trying to think like criminals, but none of the forest green Ford F150s were our mark.

That really sucks. She has to get a whole lot of replacement stuff, plus she needs the truck for work. What a pain in the ass to have to go and sort through all the details of closing accounts, etc., just because some deviant jacked your truck!

cabinet installation, one electrical project at a time...

You know what's really fun? When your adult daughter calls you over to the house to help install cabinets, and Surprise! There's an electrical outlet to move, and pendant lights to replace first! Woo hoo! I bet my dad just loved that this weekend...

It occurred to me early on Saturday morning, as KBH was dropping off the cabinets from Parr, and I looked to the wall where the cabinets were about to go... There was an outlet placed center in the wall at the ground level upon completion of Lorentz Bruun's kitchen re-do (which was only part way because of the insurance coverage)... But the cabinets we were installing in the nook were about to cover that up! Where would I plug in the KitchenAid Mixer? Where would the Cuisinart processor go? What would I do without plugs in my soon to be baking center???

Dad was pretty tricky at moving the outlet away from the original spot and up to above the counter top. He even changed it from a single plug to a double plug. After that fiasco (which included cutting a chunk of drywall out and replacing it) he came back today to install cabinets. But I'd gone to Home Depot to buy replacement pendant lights, and asked if we should do those before we got the cabinets in and they were in the way.

The lighting project involved a lot of running up and down the stairs to flip breaker switches. Secretly I hope that my Dad was enjoying sending me up and down as a moderate form of "get-backness" for the sucky lighting project. It'd be funny to make someone run up and down the stairs a few extra times just for giggles.

The lights are beautiful. Dad reiterated that he hates electrical. I'll be sure to remember that... He did a lovely job, however, and working with him on projects makes me realize that there are a lot of little teeny aspects of projects like this that make him good at it, and me, well... like I said, I forgot to mention ahead of the cabinet project undertaking that there might be some outlet issues... The devil is in the details...

Cabinets are in, all put together and mostly level. There is one spot that he will attend to another day because by the time we went down the line and got each one shimmed up, the first one went a little wonky. (I say we, but what I really mean is he... I stand at the ready with the wood screws and the little washer thingies. I also got tricky at waxing the screws so they went into the cherry wood easier. I take pride in my tasks.)

At any rate, I'm stoked to have the cabinets this far. We have to figure out what to put as the counter top - we either have to order some more travertine tiles, or I have to find a different countertop - we don't have enough of the tiles as it is. Work resumes tomorrow on the basement - electrical gets pulled this week, and KBH thinks we can start sheetrocking next weekend.

I'm so happy. The little projects are coming together, and it looks like it may be visitor-worthy this holiday season after all!

the good news and the bad news...

So KBH in her ever expanding and all encompassing role just brought milk over (cause remember the last post, about how I don't like Costco? Well, she does, and she went). And it's never a good thing when your contractor (walking up driveway in said milk-bringing friend role) hollers "What the hell is going on in the basement?"

And... cue quick change from excited milkless friend to clueless homeowner...

"Uh... I don't know?" Crap, I thought, was someone having a party or something down there and being super stealthy quiet about it? Was the dog down there barfing again?

The light was on from when I did laundry earlier - and she looked in the basement window to see a pool of water across the basement floor. (This is the bad news). For all intents and purposes, we think it came from a loose hose in the washing machine (This is still part of the bad news). The good news is that the area that we always had trouble with on the North side of the house is BONE DRY. So the anti-rain device that Bill from that one company installed (what is it? Zod a Rod? Zoo Rod? Dotzenrod!) is working!

That's the good news.

Isn't home improvement fun?

Walls! Fireplace! Plumbing!

The framing is going up, slowly but surely. Apparently our basement foundation isn't completely straight, which meant that KBH had to measure several times (her framing was level, but the wall was flush at the bottom and about 8 inches off at the top) before she came to the conclusion that our walls were wonky, not her eyes.

KBH has good tricks for adding little shelves into the walls - things that won't be noticeable from the finished product, but "hat tricks" like installing shelves on the back side of the shower wall in the new bedroom to mask the space we're stealing in order to gain an extra 18 inches in the master shower... Shelves on the opposite walls for the wet bar (mugs and cups) and our bedroom (shoes) that are being built into the 2 X 12 wall where she's masking the foundation support beam... Our house has some minor issues, but KBH is steadily planning around those.

The shower and master bathroom are getting framed in. Today we have to go look for the remainder of our faucets so that the plumber can install the valves in the walls on Monday. We chose Delta Lockwood in Aged Pewter (of course we did! because pewter is twice the cost as other finishes!) and we have the shower set coming in, have a couple of towel bars and a robe hook that I found discounted at Home Goods. So after the soccer game today, and after the children go on their various other routes, James and I are headed back out to George Morlan (tub, vanity faucets, tub faucet, vanity faucet for the half bath) to make a list.

Meanwhile, KBH and boys brought my new fireplace today. Originally, the plan called for a fireplace in the corner by the den, but the size of the room was being compromised, and KBH came up with the BRILLIANT plan to put a see through fireplace in the wall between the master bathroom and the bedroom. I'll be able to lounge in the bath tub and watch the fireplace! Decadent! Under the fireplace on the master bedroom side there will be a storage drawer. Clever clever use of space.

The plumbing issue has been resolved (Lorentz Bruun had replaced some of the pumbing after the fire, but left some old, including mixed sizes of pipe, and generally made a mess of the basement plumbing). KBH has been working diligently to pull the old plumbing and replace it all, especially now that we have our new water main. We went from a 1/2 inch pipe water main to a full inch - our water pressure will improve significantly. This also meant that they removed half a wall in the office closet to access the existing bathroom plumbing for the toilet and the shower, and Monday KBH is replacing the vanity plumbing.

The HVAC has had a similar overhaul, since ducts were installed incorrectly, led nowhere, and were propped up with 2 X 4s that had long since fallen away (that one was in our den, where they'd propped up the vent with a board, but didn't bother nailing it in place). The new plan for heating and cooling takes the needs of the spaces into account, naturally, but also provides better reasoning for air returns - before, the air returned via the hallway duct - and it drew all the dust in with it. This didn't really do a good job of providing clean air quality. The furnace was really disgusting.

We're also looking at a change in the plan for water heating. The foundation issue made our dream of on demand water for the bathrooms obsolete ($2700 that could be funneled back into the foundation costs), so now we're just replacing the water heater that exists (50 gal natural gas direct vent) with a 75 gal natural gas direct vent. There have been several things that have required reconsideration, but all of it is stuff that will really make the house work better for us, increase safety, and quality of living.

I'm looking on Craigslist for white tiles (for the half bath) and I know that we won't get to use all of the dream materials that we wanted for the project, but I know that we also won't be stuck with really bad workmanship. I liken it to the difference between buying a stock Toyota or Honda, that looks simple, but is solidly built, and will last a really long time, and getting a super fancy car with a crappy engine (the Jaguar we used to have comes to mind)... I'd rather have quality guts with simple finishes, and have it done right, than poor innerworkings with a glossy finish.

Talk show hosts, big holes & big rocks...

The last week has been a whirlwind of activity on the house - they've dug out the foundation along the north side... We've encountered some "issues." Namely, the issues encountered encompass the fact that the original foundation was poured with the old portland cement - the historically crumbly, pebble-laden foundation which is prevalent in the old neighborhoods in Portland.

About 4 feet from the top of our foundation wall there is a stop - along the way in the history of this house there was a "re-pour" where they dug a little ways down, about halfway, and poured some stronger concrete/cement mix along the foundation. this was a fantastic idea. I only wish they'd done a more thorough job and gone all the way to the bottom of the foundation wall... At any rate, the original plan for waterproofing the basement has been altered, and we're looking at sort of a hybrid solution for dry walls and floors at this time.

KBH went ahead and cut the two egress windows (we had three planned and are losing only the one in the office space, due to a different, although altogether as obnoxious, foundation issue) and when she did, the two types of foundation wall became apparent. We're leaving the four bottom feet intact, and sloping the water away from the house with a new french drain system (and a sump pump that will empty into a dry well about 8 feet away from the corner of the house). Apparently, for every inch of rain that falls, for every 1000 sq feet of roof, something like 643 gallons of water comes off your roof. Go figure. Equally as astounding is the thought of what happens to that water when it comes off of your roof system into a common space between two houses - a space between those houses that is 20 feet wide... It's like our own little Venice, creating a soggy canal of goodness that doesn't fully drain away from the foundation, and lets the moisture fester until you have (drumroll, please) even crumblier foundation!

So the original plan to dig all the way down and seal, etc., has been changed - we're leaving the dirt where it is so that we don't end up with a house that's crumpled on the less than perfect foundation - with the french drain, the sump pump, and the interior walls that KBH is doing (2 x 6 instead of 2 X 4 on the north wall) we ought to be able to create a strong enough base, divert water away from doing any further damage, and be able to equalize some of the weight off of the foundation wall to just inside the existing wall.

In other lovely news, the HVAC boys who have been working on most of the stuff in the basement continue to marvel at the shoddy patch job that Lorentz Bruun did in the basement after the fire. I think that in order to save money for the upstairs floors, they did the quickest and dirtiest job to get it done. KBH has them re-routing old plumbing, pulling the existing duct work and rerouting it so that the cold air returns quit drawing from the hallway vents (and all the dust that comes with it into the joist spaces) and returning our basement ceiling to a more harmonious state of being. On the plus side, we get a new water main and new pipes in the existing bathroom... On the down side, it means that half of the wall in our existing den closet on the main floor is getting ripped out tomorrow so that they can access it.

I have to say, for the most part, KBH and crew have been really on top of everything that has happened. She has a wonderful ability to roll with the punches and develop new plans on the fly, and manages to get them passed by the permits office on her first run through. So far we've had the intial and plumbing permits and safety permits all pass on the first attempt.

Tomorrow the boys take the wall out, run new plumbing to the main floor bathroom, pour concrete into the trench in the basement floor to set the plumbing, start framing, finish framing out the egress windows, and continue work on rearranging the furnace and the ducting.

Tuesday we get a new water main. Our water pressure is going up from a 1/2 line to a full inch line. It should be fabulous.

I'm excited. This has been a crazy weekend - with all the work on the house, the Ed Schultz Show at the Bagdad Theater on Friday night, the Oktoberfest party on Saturday night (which was really quite fabulous, including another proposal from James, this one a bit more "official" than the last time, where he tossed a ring at me and said, "Hey, you wanna get hitched?") and the Pirate Festival today. Whew. It's been a whirlwind... More posts after family movie night!

Aaaah-aaah-ahh-FLUE!

The basement is kind of yucky. The chimney flue is gone from the space between the furnace and the stairs. KBH and her men removed it yesterday (while I was out of the house, shopping for fall sweaters!) and it looks as if the process was as terrible as she described it would be. When the other two floors worth were removed before (before the fire, and when we first moved in, ex-husband removed the top and main floor sections of the chimney, and we switched from a vented furnace and water heater to the direct-outside vent type). Yesterday's progress clearly included this being a horrible event, as our basement floor is covered with a fine black soot. The workers were wearing masks (yay, OSHA compliance!) and we left the door open to settle the dust but I can only imagine what it must have been like working down there with the collection of 80 years of soot.

It looks like we have enough room in that space to put the water heater when we replace it. KBH mentioned that we might not even need to get a replacement 50 gal water heater, so I'm looking into getting a 40 gal. We never ran out of water as it was, with the 50, and with the new and improved plan (split electric with the tankless and gas with the new replacement tank) we're looking at a similar setup. I'd originally proposed that we route the north side of the house on the tankless, since it will be all three bathrooms - tankless water heaters seem to do pretty well in bathrooms. On the south side, I thought it would make sense to put the kitchen, laundry, and bar on the regular water heater. James and KBH then further perfected the plan by pulling the master shower off of the tankless so that in the event of a power outage, we would still have a shower that ran hot water! Brilliance!

On the sad side, there is some concern about our foundation - not that it's bad, per se, but that there are some water seepage issues. Now, as long as we've kept the downspouts connected to the tube system, our basement has stayed dry. But there have been times when it has not been connected, and we awake to find that a river runs through our basement. It's never more than a wide trickle, but any water in the basement at all makes the purpose of a finished space null and void. Why spend all that money if it will just get ruined? So KBH has called in some experts to come and review the basement foundation - it gets the proverbial poke and prod, and then we'll see what goes from there. Our house was built in 1928, so the foundation is Portland cement with lots and lots of rocks (which turns crumbly).

I'm pleased that we built a cushion into the finance for the house, so in the event that we have to repair the foundation, we won't end up losing a considerable amount of our remodel plan. At any rate, things seem to be perking along. There was a lot of progress made this weekend, and I'm excited to see what the drawings will include now that we have the basic layout done.

Yesterday I got two magazines - one is Cottages & Bungalows, the other is called Dwell. The Cottages magazine has a great piece on some gorgeous furniture by Gary Keener (photos pictured here are Gary Keener's Carlisle collection). He uses some of the same quilted maple that is on the Joinery table at the beach - it's so amazing that I just want to eat the wood. The finish brings out the roller coaster/taffy surface, which is completely deceiving, because the wood itself is perfectly smooth. Some day I'd like to own a piece of furniture that has the quilted maple - but at $300 for an end table up to $8000 for larger pieces, I don't think that will be any day soon.

Dwell is more modern design, which includes some bamboo "wallpaper," a wall treatment that is also similar to the wood exterior treatments that I have seen on some new architecture lately. The new condos down on the corner of 7th and Knott have some of the horizontally laid wood slats for a finish, and the house that was featured on Renovation Nation had a similar look. I would love to be able to put some variation of the bamboo or redwood wall finish downstairs, but I think it would end up looking like something that I just liked and wanted to put in there than something that was an integral part of the overall design. Part of the frustration of being both of eclectic design taste and of doing a design plan that incorporates green materials and applications while maintaining some semblance of historical authenticity and feel is the constant need for editing materials and design. (Maybe I can just put it behind the bar.)