Drywall, Tile, Windows and Paint

Everything has been going along really well!  The windows are all in (except for one that we forgot to order up in the attic).  The exterior paint is really coming along well.  We love the color we picked.  They completed one whole side and the white windows really pop.  On the front of the house, we're adding another even darker gray trim color.  Here's the side that's recently done:

They're moving full steam ahead with all the drywall repair.  There are so many holes to be filled in both units!  The rental drywall should be done by mid-week, and then they'll move up to our unit.  While the drywall guys are working, our contractor has been working on the beams.  It's too dark for photos, but the holes they had to dig in the basement and yard for the poles are massive (this is to support the weight of making our unit open concept). 

The big accomplishment of the weekend was picking out all our tile for the 4 bathrooms.  We're doing both rentals the same, with a modern gray floor, white subway tile and a nice mosiac accent. 

For our two bathrooms, Jimmy and I couldn't decide between two options.  Both options look really good together, so we decided to do both!  We'll see which option looks better when it's done! :)

Here's a quick shot of our tile:

We're doing the marble in one bath with the tub, the streaky gray on both floors, the flat grey on the walk in shower with a blue strip through the grey.  Pretty exciting!

You can really see a lot of movement every day, which has been fun.  I thought we had some breathing room since we got the tile figured out.  Now they're looking for the backsplash and countertops....  Is there such a thing as decision making overload? 

Great Update

We've had a really great week.  The contractor passed the building inspection on Wednesday.  This was needed before they could start insulation.  We were happy to see the load of insulation delivered Wednesday afternoon and they're well under way.  Also, our windows came in yesterday (they were supposed to be delivered Monday), and the guys were all there this morning to start installation.  39 windows total, which is crazy!  Even more crazy is that they're estimating they'll all be installed within 7-10 days.  Sheet rock comes after the insulation.  Weird that we need another 'insulation' inspection before they can start sheet rocking though.  Then after sheet rock is in, they do a 'sheet rock nail' inspection.  No wonder the city is broke!  I joked with our contractor that he doesn't even have the sheet rock nailing clearance yet!  I guess that give us assurance that everything is being done correctly.  We also have some paint samples up on the exterior.  The painting guys are really moving.  They've got most of the outside sanded and primed.  They used a filler type substance on the window trim and a lot of cracks that we thought we'd have to replace.  Also, there's some decorative trim on the front of the house along the roof line.  We thought we'd have to replace that, but they're really sanding it down and bringing the beauty back!  Here's the gray house again.. now picture some door and trim colors! 

Maroon is the obvious choice, which looks great, but I'd love to get a little more creative.  Our windows are white and we're going to do a dark gray trim, but the decorative trim and door can be different.  I really like the idea of a mustard color, which is a classic color combo with gray, but I haven't seen it on houses very much.  Guess I need to get some samples!  I really like these combos, although Jimmy hates yellow.  Thankfully this is mustard!






















Or gray and green?

or orange?

Remember, this is SF and we can be a little crazy!  I'm thankful for that!  

Goal of the weekend: buy tubs and tile. 

Mental note: I should have been looking at tile this whole time.  Oops.  Not paint colors!

TGIF!  xoxo

Post Vacation Update

Hi Everyone - after a great long weekend in Wisconsin, we feel ready to focus on construction again!  I realize we've been a little silent, but things are still moving along.  We've been in inspection mode lately.  The big news is that the plumbing and electric have both passed inspection.  Now we're ready to insulate and wall up those holes!   There are wires and pipes running everywhere, which is cool to see.  Here's a quick walk-thru:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIPQ6RA-PdM

It took us awhile to figure out where all the lighting should go.  We had to ask them to move around some fixture spots (since we framed out several closets, the fixture was no longer centered in the room).

The scaffolding has also gone up outside and they're hard at work scraping away.  We had a meeting with the painter today and it was nice to hear that they haven't found any wood rot yet.  The paint was peeling so badly in places that we thought we could be hit with some replacement costs.  Apparently redwood really lasts forever, even when exposed to our salty foggy air! 

They've got one side primed already and paint samples go up tomorrow.  We're looking for something modern, simple and handsome.  Kinda like this gray house, but we're thinking of a more charcoal trim color versus black:

It's awesome to see how the painters work.  They are using ropes and platforms similar to what a window washer would use for a high rise.  They've got the ropes coming in through the ceiling and are anchoring them to our new beam and the bathroom

Looking down on to the painting platform.

So things are still going really well. We're getting there!

So things are still going really well. We're getting there!

Megan