tiling madness

another very productive weekend... err... 4 day weekend? its amazing how much you can get done when you can dedicate the time to it. ian was lucky enough to have thursday and friday off work, so we took that time to get as much done as we could on the kitchen.

thursday was mostly spent picking up lots of supplies and getting the tileboard installed in the kitchen:





next step was deciding which floor tile to use. after seeing that home depot dropped their price on real slate, we were very tempted to go that route. but after doing a few tests on it, and knowing how high the maintenance is on it... we opted out. [tests being how badly sydney would scratch the floor with her nails, etc; the high maintenance would involve repeated sealing of the tile every few months...]. hopefully we'll get a chance to use it somewhere down the road. luckily, we found a porcelain slate-look-a-like tile at lowes and ended up using that on the floor.




we also made a last minute decision to use the faux-concrete tile to cover the duct-wall between the living/dining/kitchen area. i wasn't sure how it was going to look, but it turned out great. it has really opened up the rooms:




working on the wall gave me enough practice with tiling and using the wet saw that i'm hoping to get the 2nd bathroom tiled in the next few weeks. during some downtime this weekend, i finished up framing the room where some old wood had rotted from water damage, and got the rest of the insulation installed in the room. next step is hanging the greenboard and finishing that. can't wait to have that finished.

needless to say, i'm very happy with the progress we've made and how great everything is looking. i was also lucky enough to find the grout we need at construction junction [saving money anywhere i can ;) ], *plus* i picked up 8 glass shelves that were 4'x1', with predrilled holes that we're going to use to make a hanging/floating glass shelf unit in the dining room.


suprisingly, we actually had time to enjoy ourselves this weekend too. friday night we went to the harris grill in shadyside where i had a wonderful pomegranate martini; saturday night we hit il pizzaola in mt lebanon before visiting ian's sister and brother in law. last night we made the usual stop at mad mex :) once we grout the kitchen floor [or at least where the fridge + stove go], we can move the appliances back into the kitchen and be able to cook again.

cookin' time

i can't believe i'm saying it, but the kitchen is almost done. we've accomplished alot over the past 2 weeks, and the end is near. here are some of the latest photos...

ian built a "wall" around the ductwork that was installed for the heat and AC. here's how it's looking, as viewed from living room looking towards kitchen:




not the *exact* same view, but what it looked like after the ductwork was installed [the kitchen island is now where that wall used to be, coming out of the "closet"]:




and a view of the other side of the wall, looking from the kitchen:




we *finally* got those darn handles installed in the kitchen, just need to even out the doors so everything looks level. also put up the shelf behind the stove for fancy cooking stuff:






picked up 2 samples of potential floor tile for the kitchen. a texturey black/grey look, or a faux concrete-ish look:






i think we're leaning towards the darker tile and considering tiling the duct wall with the concrete tile. hoping to decide soon so we can get that installed this weekend, and hopefully the laminate wood in the living and dining room.

also trying to decide on the color for repainting the actual house. there is some icky tan-ish siding around the dormers and on the sides of the roof; trying to find something to match that. photos of that will be coming soon...

phew.

my aching back...

realizing that i haven't posted since mid july, and it is now august, i think i'm falling a little bit behind. we've managed to get alot more work in on the house, and i've had a busy month with the freelance work. so lets get to the photos :)

since the last update we've installed the kitchen island, plus its countertop. ian needs to put the trim around the counter, and we still need to install all those handles in the kitchen. here are a few pics.

looking into kitchen from dining room:



view of island w/countertop on:



this is what the room used to look like, during the wall-tearing-down phase:



on top of that, we finally finished up that retaining wall. well, almost. here's how its looking:



we picked up the 18 remaining blocks we needed, 480 lbs of gravel and 800 lbs of dirt, but it looks like we'll be needed another 100 lbs of dirt. now you understand the title of the post :) once we pick up that, i can start planting so the front will look a little better. next step is to repaint the front porch and rip off that hideous lattice work. we're hoping to get the house itself painted this fall too,... still debating the colors on that one.

some good news is that on one of our many trips to lowes, we scored a GREAT deal on some wood laminate flooring for the living and dining rooms. just happened to come across a clearance display of some high-end discontinued flooring from armstrong. we got it at almost 1/3 of the original price, spending only 89 cents a square foot. you can't beat that! look how pretty it is:



other good shopping deals [this one from ebay], that will hopefully keep me from spending so much money at starbucks.



i think thats it. time to get back to some real work.