Thursday, May 29, 2014

We Have Walls!

…Well kind of, and only upstairs. Still, it definitely feels like progress! The sheetrock has started going up in the bedrooms and the upstairs hallway. You can see here on the right the master bedroom has a new wall on the north side. It's so great to really get a sense of the room sizes and layout.  Unsurprisingly, the hallway upstairs feels much smaller, but the nursery and especially the spare bedroom with it's two windows feel lovely and light.

Also in the last week, I got some great deals with the memorial day sales to save on tile. I have now ordered all the subway tiles for the two upstairs bathrooms so as soon as they finish sheet rocking they can begin tiling the shower stalls and walls. Our brand spanking new windows have also finally arrived and are at the workshop being painted so they are also going to be installed over the next couple of weeks. 

The only thing holding up the finishing of the sheetrock is the HVAC installation that is currently ongoing. Finally, it feels like things are moving in the right direction!


Spare bedroom and closet
Nursery looking more like a room


Friday, May 23, 2014

Recessed Ceiling Lights

A quick follow up on my last lights post. Our contractor was suggesting using this type of 4" recessed ceiling light and we had planned to have 9 in the living room, 4 in the kitchen and 4 in the dining space. However, after seeing a sample of one of these this week I realised  that this wasn't at all what I had in mind.


The type that I'd been picturing are smaller - 3", and more streamline as they don't have a space between the bulb and the casing.  They can also be angled if you want to aim them at something specific like a painting:


However, what I have learnt is the this type does not give off as much light as the bulbs are much smaller and we will therefore need more. A a quick visit to some of the Chinatown lighting shops confirmed that we definitely prefer the smaller design so we have reconfigured our lighting plan to include 12 in the living room, 5 in the kitchen and 6 in the dining area. We have also had to educate ourselves on the pros and cons of LED vs halogen which I really knew nothing about.  Luckily, the lights we have managed to find  (thanks to our GC) are actually cheaper than the original ones spec'd out so it's not going to cost any more, phew!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

And the Pot Gets Smaller


We had thought that all of the unknowns were uncovered with the completion of the demolition but unfortunately more rotten or should I say eaten floor joists have been uncovered under the last remaining bit of subfloor to be stripped. The joists have been pretty much decimated by termites at some time or other so the builders have been busy cutting out the damage and replacing them where necessary. Also, and much more concerning is an area of damp which we realised after recent heavy rain is much more extensive than first thought. In the past, the exterior of the buildings brickwork has been sealed and painted over like many other buildings in the area. Over the years with the extreme weather we experience in New York this has weakened in a few places and especially in one spot on our lower floor. You can see from the photos that the brick is crumbling in places and so we are awaiting yet another quote to have this fixed... and the money pot just gets smaller and smaller!

Friday, May 9, 2014

Lights

Temporary light switches
Our handy electrician

This week I have found myself walking through the space trying to imagine walking into a room and switching the lights on as we have been finalising the placement of all the switches. It's amazing how many we have moved or added by doing this compared with the original electrical plans. Lack of ceiling lights is one of my biggest gripes about living in New York. Rarely do you rent an apartment where there are any fixed lights other than in the bathroom and kitchen so I am very excited about the prospect of having good lighting throughout. I also need to get a move on with selecting lights as I had been thinking that this was more of a finishing item that wouldn't be required yet but the GC wants to know things like how heavy they are so he can ensure they will be supported correctly - better get myself to a lighting store! 


Saturday, May 3, 2014

Rough Plumbing


Master shower
New tub in the upstairs bathroom

This week most of the rough plumbing has been completed throughout the upstairs. We have been finalising placement of electric sockets, switches, tv, phone and data outlets as well as revising some of the built in light fixtures. There's also been a lot of discussion over the HVAC system. We are installing a ductless mini-split system (hurrah, no more ugly window units) with a single concealed unit downstairs and another in the master bedroom and wall mounted units in each of the smaller bedrooms. I'm not thrilled about having a condenser in the garden but it's too long of a run to the roof and a small price to pay to have fully functioning windows again and a much more efficient AC system. However, working out the route for the small amount of duct work we do have, and locations for the vents on the lower level is proving tricky and is going to involve dropping the ceilings in the entryway and powder room which isn't ideal. This week I've also been thinking about how to outfit the closets in the bedrooms and I've been giving a little thought to the spaces either side of the fireplace in the living room. We originally thought we would wait and install book shelves at a later date but we have asked our contractor to price it up as it would be great to just have it done when we move in if we can find money in the budget. The cabinets below the shelves will contain storage space as well as housing a radiator on the right and I can't decide whether to have all the doors vented so they match or just those on the right where the radiator is. You can see my little sketch of what we are thinking below. Decisions decisions!

Living room cabinets and shelves