building inspector

jc landry inspects site

kitchen view to backyard

a few of the boards covering the airwell have been removed and you can glimpse the lower level.

last week the trim work began. "susan's room" has one window trimmed out.

the office trim is almost finished.

office

the doors are being hung

view of the front garden from the new office window

the new blue boiler that will keep us warm

My father loves building things almost as much as he loves talking to people. Construction sites offer the perfect marriage of both. Anything under construction is fair game and he casually drops into building sites and chats with anyone who will answer his questions. Folks are surprisingly free with information and he usually comes away from each visit with a wealth of technical advice and a full background report on personalities involved. We joke that he is the local building inspector and I think some people might think he really is official. Needless to say, our renovation is of great interest to him and he's been keeping tabs on everything through the blog (hi dad!) and with his site visits. He signed off on the trim work last week and got some good tips on mud application from the tapers.

wide angle

new kitchen window installation

trying out a wide angle lens on the windows

foyer view to kitchen

void over foyer

stairwell

upper level library shelves

upper level hall - view to TV room

TV room

upper level view to TV room

upper level bedroom view to hall

upper level bedroom

bathroom

The last of the windows went in today. Two windows for the kitchen were held back until the cabinets could be installed underneath the openings. When the countertop comes it will extend into the sill so the windows had to hung at just the right height. The drywallers continue to tape, sand and fill the gyroc and the plumber has been busy installing the boiler for the heating system.

I'm trying out a new lens on my camera. The Lumix GF1 came with a 20mm lens which takes great images but was not giving me much scope for the wide angles needed for these interiors. I wish I had been using this from the beginning of the reno. Everything looks spacious and grand. This must be how real estate agents make one room shoe boxes look palatial...it's all smoke and mirrors.

the big one

the sun coming through the scaffold

the scaffold was used to get this big guy...

...up to the upper level to replace the 4 paned window above the door

the builder told me that I probably shouldn't watch when they installed this one. They snapped it in pretty quickly and without a trip to the emergency ward

it looks like this on the inside

view toward tv room

view toward opening

the corner bead has been added to bookcase openings

scaffold in stairwell

office view to foyer

tv room view toward northwest arm

crow flypast. the top of dingle tower is just visible through the trees

just in case this is all getting too romantic...the worksite looks like this

They drywall tapers are quietly moving from corner to corner as they install corner beading and mesh. At this phase of the job, women have made their first appearance on the job site. There is a woman hanging drywall and another woman has joined the team of tapers. Otherwise, it has been an all-boy crew doing the work. One of the tapers wears metal stilts which make him seem like a creature from starwars. The stilts are so cool. I wish I had a pair. Think of what you could do with them on halloween!

stone harbour

While the builders and drywallers clip along, I am grinding out the decisions on finishes and fittings. The stone counter top was going to be easily matched up with warm grey cabinets. It was going to be a cinch. The stone is rich and boasts an array of grey tones. Thinking of something as in the bag is usually a prelude to difficulty and this has been the case. Finding the right grey hasn't been so simple. I've bought test pots for a couple of choices and still think I have to go deeper. Today I needed a break from my poetically named paint colours and took a walk along the barrens of Nova Scotia's most famous stone harbour – Peggy's Cove. At -10 c the temperatures were brisk but the sunshine and the happy dogs warmed it up.

the incredible whiteness of being

closets in the susan/english visitor suite

the skylights are almost boxed in. the drywallers removed the safety rails around the opening and planked it over to use as a staging for the higher walls.

look beyond the piles of tools and imagine built-in bookshelves filling these slots.

view toward upper level bedroom

view into tv room through opening

TV wall in media room. the TV will hang on the wall and electronics will be in a cabinet that will fit into the opening below.

doors in upper level bedroom

upper level bedroom

view from upper level bedroom to hall

upper level bathroom

the process of hanging the drywall creates hundreds of off-cut bits which are being tossed through the floor opening...

...into a big pile on the kitchen floor.

the tub has been delivered. the protective plastic covering makes it look like a salad bowl covered in saran wrap.

Just as the sun was going down tonight, I snapped a few shots of the changing colours of Dingle Road. Like a winter storm changing fall to winter, the 3 person team of drywallers has been gradually turning the house white. Gone are the yellows and golds of the timber framing. Wood elements will return when the flooring is laid and the bookcases are in but for now it is a dusty white world. The mud arrives tomorrow and with that stage comes another blanket of gypsum snow.