So far, most of 2014 at Truckee can be summed up with woodworking, trimming, staining and finish work!  Bob has finished the flooring on the 2nd floor and 1st floor and is just short one box of flooring for the 3rd floor loft. As you know we put in tile in the entry ways and Quick Step Laminate flooring in the 2nd floor living space and loft office area. It looks beautiful!

Quick Step Hickory Laminate flooring with Redwood 2″ baseboard and 1/4 round redwood trim

All the baseboard and trim in the house has been replaced with redwood trim which we purchased from Redwood Lumber Company in San Carlos, CA .  Bob has stained and cut all trim  on site.  We choose redwood to blend with the existing wood ceilings in the house and stair railings which are redwood and we are very happy with how the woods are blending.

The living room, almost completely furnished!

While we love the look, we are not recommending Quick Step laminate.  We usually use Commercial grade Pergo laminate flooring but this time could not find the floor coloring we wanted.  Consumer Reports rated this flooring higher than the best Pergo; however, we are already seeing some damage to the floor with much less wear and tear than our other Pergo floors have had after many years.  So check your flooring out from more sources!

After completing most of the floors. Bob started on the deck railings.  The deck and wood railings are also redwood.  The center of the railings will be metal and the metal is being ordered.

April 23, 2014 fabricating the deck rails. Then snow that night!

With the weather change, Bob went back to window trim and has now completed all the windows trim.

Kitchen window completed just after Valentine’s Day

Living Room window

Small windows completed-just do this 5 times!

Five Loft windows completed, both the plate glass & opening part!

There were a few more windows, but you get the idea of how many cuts and trips up and down the stairs were taken to do all the cuts in the ground floor garage since we now have furniture in the house and had cleaned up all the sheet rock dust!  One day, Bob counted that he had climber over 1,000 steps!

After many pickup loads of boxes and one large load with the pickup and rented trailer our furniture was moved here from storage and my parents house.  The dining table and hutch fit perfectly in the new kitchen/dining space.  I cannot tell you how nice it is to see my dining set again-we only had it for 1 year before it went into storage in 2010 when we moved into my parents house to take care of them!

Dining hutch in its own alcove

On June 12th we took a bike ride on the Truckee River trail to Tahoe City, CA.  It was a great day.  Lake Tahoe water is being released early to keep the Truckee River flowing to Reno and for the fishery.  Rafting is up and running at least for now!

Bob at Fanny Bridge in Tahoe City

Lake Tahoe water being released into the Truckee River

Lake Tahoe is already very low for June due to the needed water release and the drought

We ordered Bali Blinds from Home Depot in Reno and they arrived in about 10 days.  We put the blinds on the 2nd floor windows and in the 3rd floor loft.  They are dual honeycomb shades with black out backing.  They should give us privacy and increased insulation from the cold nights.

Loft Blinds-up, down & the clear glass door from our bedroom that leads to the loft

As you can see by the door from our bedroom-blinds will certainly improve privacy.  We have had a sheet over the door since the remodel started!

The ground floor workshop is coming together.  Bob put a sealer and epoxy coating on both the workshop and storage room garage floor.  Then he went to work re-purposing our old kitchen cabinets into workshop storage space.

Garage staging area for cutting, staining and painting!

Front side of the workshop with the window facing the street

The rest of the workshop area. Counters are next!

Lastly, Bob upgraded the porch ski lift swing.  It had the old broken blue plastic slats that came with it.  He had some oak slats which he cut, stained, & installed.  To finish it off, he used his dremel tool to personalize the swing.

New seat on swing

Personalized swing

Well that brings us up to date.  We will be posting again soon and are now on the lookout for native, drought tolerant plants to update the street view of the house.

Drought tolerant and colorful plants needed!

The following are a couple of plants that have caught our eye in the neighborhood.

Yellow blooms and low growing

Small purple flowers on a green ground cover

Thanks for checking in!

We haven’t run off to Timbuktu, it is just that progress is slower and we do not have as many interesting pictures to post.  But fear not, Bob continues to work everyday to get this house finished!  I was able to be in Truckee on November 2nd and 3rd.  It was so nice to see all the progress.

I was amazed to walk into the main floor and feel like the kitchen looked even larger with the cabinets and island in place.  I had expected it to feel much smaller with all the cabinets.  It should be a great party place! My daughter, Tricia, and I had been out shopping for flooring options.  Of course, you cannot choose until the samples are in the room-so I brought all the samples we liked and laid them out next to the cabinets.

Maybe I have too many floor samples??

The three top choices. We choose the lighter one which looked much darker after installation.

On Saturday, 11/2, the replacement slab was poured.  Not as smooth as the first, but so far no cracks!

Replacement slab in the new garage/workshop area.

Bob had to wait until the Thursday, 11/7, to rebuild the wall between the workshop and storage room and put back all the insulation.  He also built a double wall in the storage room to moderate the extreme temperatures better.  Now, we are waiting for the sheet rockers to fit us into their schedule to finish up these rooms.

The following week Bob cut, stained and installed the wood trim on the new skylights.  I think they look great!

Our new dining room light arrived and Bob also installed it.  We need to get the table out of storage soon to stop accidentally backing into the light!

New dining room light.

He also primed all the walls on the main floor and then painted everything off-white.  Since he had the scaffold up to paint, he also hung his sled and the old snow shoes.  He says every cabin needs these!

Painting also includes the stairwell from the first to third floor, the sleeping loft and the office loft at the front of the house.  Bob has taken off all the railings, sanded them, re-stained them and put them back up after primer and paint.  Notice the board against the brick wall.  He is also refinishing those trim pieces and installing them on each side of the bricks.  As I said, lots of work but not very interesting for pictures.

Bob and Stevo, the electrician, have been working on finish electric.  Connecting all the wires and making the new switches and outlets work.  I am really enjoying our new porch lights.

Porch lights work!

Bob came down to Hayward the weekend of 11/9 and picked up the flooring.  He started installing it on Friday, 11/15.  Tricia and Jim and I came up for the weekend.  Jim helped Bob to lay the rest of the floor on Saturday and Sunday and do more electrical work.  Tricia and I went to Reno to pick out tile samples for the entry way and then came back and did touch-up paint on all the metal fasteners on the deck and stairs.  Jim and Tricia have been a huge help with this remodel.

New floor in living room, dining room and kitchen.

You can see the main entry way floor is not done.  We picked out tile for this floor, the 1st floor entry/laundry room and the garage entry during this weekend and Bob will pick it up tomorrow, 12/6, in Reno.  Then he will figure out the best way to install it himself (new skill for him).

The following week  Bob continued on various projects in the house and put up more of the deck railing timbers when the weather cooperated.  The other big event was the trim granite was being installed on the front of the house starting on 11/22.  We purchased our stone through Sierra Stone Supply and the installation was done by Johansen Masonry.

Starting the granite corner.

They sent 6 men out to work on the project.  First they dug down into the ground and poured a footing for the granite rocks.  Then they laid out the granite and hand stacked and mortared them into place.  They did a beautiful job.

Granite installed around the 1st floor entry door.

 Bob asked them what they recommended for under the door.  They said they would find the thin pieces and cut to fit.  It came out beautiful!  They also had to find thin pieces to fit behind the gas meter.  Again, they did a wonderful job.

Door threshold finish work.

Finished granite behind the gas meter.

I cannot wait to get a picture of the front of the house with the granite finished and all the protective plastic and painters tape removed to post.

Bob came to Hayward and took a week off from Truckee during the Thanksgiving holiday.  I really enjoyed having him here and of course, the poor guy had more ‘honey do’s’ for things at my parents Hayward house.  But he says he did feel like he got a rest and is back at it in Truckee as I type.

On Thursday, 12/5, the microwave, stovetop, oven and refrigerator all arrived from three different delivery companies!

Refrigerator is connected and working!

Microwave is working; oven & stovetop are awaiting connection.

Happy Late Thanksgiving to all of you who check in on our progress.  We are thankful for our friends and family and look forward to spending more time with you!

I don’t think Bob liked my title of ‘Snail’s Pace’ for the last post and he is doing everything he can to be sure the house is completed as soon as possible.  Can anyone say, ‘ski season is coming’ and you know he doesn’t want to be tied to the house!  Major accomplishments during the 2nd half of October:

New exterior lightning installed on deck (4 new lights and motion sensor).  Motion light reconnected at ground floor entry and 1st floor entry lights reconnected.

New entry lights on Oct. 18.

Deck stairs and decking is completed.  Still need to locate and purchase the deck railings that we want.

Deck flooring and stairs completed on Oct. 26th.

Kitchen cabinets were moved from the 1st floor garage to the 2nd floor main living area and installed by Bob alone!  He also installed the LED can lights and dimmer switches for the lighting. Below the pictures tell the story…so not much need for my comments.

First cabinet installed was the upper corner. Then the other upper cabinets, then the lower cabinets. Oct. 25th.

Cabinets on the new window side installed on Oct. 27th.

Started the opposite corner cabinets on Oct. 27th.

Oct. 28th installed the cabinets to along the back of the kitchen and turned the corner.

All the wall cabinets installed by Oct. 29th as well as the new stove vent.

By Oct. 31st, all the cabinets including the island; LED ceiling lights, vent and pot rack were installed.

On Oct. 26th Bob opened the garage door and noticed movement by his truck.  A rather large bear came walking by.

Oct. 26th morning visitor just outside the garage door.

On the night of Oct. 27th Truckee had its first large snowfall of 2013-2014 winter.  Bob woke up on the 28th  to about seven inches and snow and it continued to snow most of the day and into the evening.

Beautiful snow!

In between all of this work.  Bob had to take up the sub-floor in two places. Both the living room and kitchen had a noticeable ‘bump’ in the floor.  He fixed the problem and reinstalled the sub-floor.

New electrical, water & waste lines in place for the new island.

Another problem also had to be solved.  I mentioned in the last post that we had a problem with the cement in the new garage.  Not wanting to bore you with details, but it was a major problem with severe cracks throughout the new garage/workshop.  After various discussions, on Oct. 28th, Neft Construction came back and jack hammered out the garage slab that was put in in June.  Before they could do that, Bob had to remove the wall and all the insulation between the workshop and storage part of the garage.  On Oct. 31, they removed some of the base material under the slab area and put in new sand to be ready for the new garage floor pour.

New garage floor after being jack-hammered out. There was a pile outside as well as inside!

The new cement was poured on Saturday, Nov. 2nd.  So far, so good.  Bob has to rebuild the wall in the garage and put in the insulation again.  Then we can have the drywall contractor come back and finish the two rooms in the new garage.  So another delay…but we are still moving forward!

Thanks for checking in on our progress.  We look forward to being done and enjoying the house with friends and family!

Well, now it’s just Bob working away at Truckee.  Larry and Elder have moved on to new jobs for the winter.  I am staying in Hayward to take care of my parents.  So Bob is working to progress things but tells me it will be much slower from now on.  That’s OK-we have already accomplished so much and limited help was planned!  So updates will be fewer and less pictures of major changes.  But, never fear the work continues.

Tuesday, 10/1, they started the skylight side of the house.  Here is a picture with the holes through the ceiling & roof sheeting..

Skylight holes open to the outside.

Here is a picture with the skylights from the roof side. Sierra Sage Roofing has done a wonderful job with our roof and the skylights look great!

Skylight holes from the outside. Due to the angle they look smaller.

Skylights being installed.

Here is a picture of the living room with all that wonderful light!

Let there be light!

Bob continues to work on the new deck.  Here is the first set of stairs completed on Wednesday, 10/3.  Notice the extra piece of wood on each step.  New regulations require that a 4inch diameter ball cannot fit thru the treads.  But of course, the standard stair height must be kept, hence the additional wood.  A nice detail to slow snow removal in winter and add time to getting the stairs done!

First set of stairs.

Bob continues this week (10/14-10/18) completing the deck.  He has to take each board, some of which are 20 ft long by 2 inches by 6 inches, to the back yard and stain them on four sides.  Then after they dry he brings them up to the deck to install.  Usually, I would be painting while he works so this is slowing the progress along with the weather.  He is limited to the time he can stain and work on the deck because of frost on the deck joists in the morning and if the day heats up enough to dry the stain.

October 9th snow

October 9th snow

Meanwhile, the sheetrock and texture has been finished in the house (not in the new garage which is another story) so when Bob is not working on the deck he is priming all the sheetrock and starting to paint all the new walls the wall that were patched.

Bob came to Hayward this past weekend for a short stay.  Then he loaded up another truckload of firewood and headed back to Truckee.  He is hoping that by November 1st he can start getting the cabinets installed in the new kitchen.  More pictures soon!