Week 28

Some final details are going in this week before floor sanding starts on Friday. The most obvious is the garage door. As you can see from the image, it is made of cedar that matches what was used on the rest of the house. It is in four panels and after 3 coats of sealer, went up in one day. I am very happy with the way it looks and am eager to use the garage again. The previous door didn't work for the past two years and we chose not to replace it until the renovation was under way. During that time, we didn't park cars inside and had to pull everything out (including the lawn mower) through the old sun room.

The electrician has been at the house all week installing the many electric fixtures. I think he's had quite a workout since many are low-voltage and/or specialty pendants. The most challenging ones are probably the beam fixtures that are mounted high. These can be adjusted once powered up so we can control the way the light is thrown. These can be directed at the ceiling to bounce a general light to the room or to a wall where the light will splash across the wall with a little more drama. I imagine we'll do a mixture of both.

I am told that Costen will start the sanding of the old and new floors on Friday. Our last finish decision is the floor stain. Anyone making a finish selection like this should always have a sample area done to see it in the actual location. A small sample "color chip" cannot reproduce these conditions and a computer image is also unreliable.

The contractor put samples of our three best-guesses by the front door to help us make that choice. I was pushing for a reddish tint so the cabinets would contrast and appear more blond (and) to keep the color palette from being too brown. You can probably guess which of the three samples below is my favorite.

With this floor work going on next week, the house will probably be less accessible for casual viewing. There can be little-to-no traffic in the house once the sanding and finishing begins. There is wood floor in nearly every room of the house so it will take several days to complete.

With one month to go, the obvious missing parts are the landscape and hardscape. We got the price back from the masonry contractor on the bluestone sidewalks, retaining wall, and pavers at the street. I think we'll go ahead and get that done now but wait until fall to put in the grass and most other plant material. Richmond weather is usually too hot and dry after April to try to grow grass without a lot of babying. The best time to plant is always in the fall when we start getting regular rains and it cools down. Plants will then have all winter to develop their root system.

To view additional images go to my Flickr page at the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uklars/sets/72157624002110420/