All moved out

Moved all my stuff from my apartment to the house this weekend. I wish I could sleep for a few days now. There are still a handful of things that need to be taken care of before I can get the final inspections. In the meantime, I'm crashing at my sister Kara's place.

In between moving, I laid some tile in the basement level and the laundry closet, because the washer and dryer are scheduled to arrive Thursday. I wanted to get the tile down in that section at least. It was tricky to lay out, because I had to work backwards in order to be able to leave the room. There are a couple of too-wide spaces between tiles. Luckily I chose a grout the same color as the tile, so it's pretty forgiving.

And my sectional couch just fits. I wasn't so sure it would, and I thought that even if it did, it would overwhelm the living room. It doesn't.

And finally, here's the empty apartment. Nearly four years spent here:

More pix

Kitchen with counter top installed

Kitchen

Upstairs bathroom

Upstairs bathroom

Front bedroom

Back bedroom

Living room looking toward kitchen

Living room stairs

Outside view of new railings

Rainstorm

I was at the house this morning for the counter top installation and it turns out I had had a couple of inches in the basement from last night's storm. Demoralizing as hell. It turns out that one pump was unplugged (!) and the other one had failed at some point -- it just made a constant whirring sound like it was cycling, though no water was being pumped out. Plus I suspect that some of the water came from the empty house next door.

My paper coffee cup is leaking

Which is fitting, because the pipes in my upstairs bathroom are leaking, from somewhere behind the wall. So we have to cut the wall open and determine where the leak is coming from. Luckily it just started, so there should be minimal damage inside the walls.

In better news, the kitchen and living room are totally painted, and the downstairs bathroom should be ready for the toilet and sink by this weekend. So that means I'm on schedule to at least move all my stuff in by next Friday, though not my body.

Upstairs bathroom

Is 80% finished. I tiled and grouted last week, and this weekend I put in the toilet and worked on the fixtures, and installed the door (helped by my friend Jesse and cousins John and Benny, and Benny's girlfriend Isa who painted).
Here are some pix, though because the bathroom is so small it was impossible for me to get a good, full shot:

Shower: small subway tile pattern - easy to put up but hard to grout

Floor/toilet - small but enough room to sit comfortably

Another view of the bath/shower

Railings in

All welded, bolted, and painted. The railings are uniform throughout the house, from the top floor down through the basement. cost a lot of cash, but it makes a strong impression:

main staircase

stairs from LR to kitchen

railing in LR overlooking kitchen

Pics

Over the weekend we (me, my father, my uncle Andrew, and my bro-in-law Dave) finished the wood flooring throughout the house and installed the kitchen cabinets. The front part of the living room was a porch that had been enclosed, and that floor was concrete, vs plywood in the rest of the room. The concrete had to be raised in some parts and then ground down in other parts for the floor to be laid correctly.

Next up: I start tiling the bathrooms Wednesday and Thursday, and hopefully grout them this weekend. The appliances arrive Thursday AM.

Living room floor: the boxes are weighing down the glued section

View from the kitchen to the front of the house; railing to come

View from the LR into the kitchen and out back;
the kitchen is about 13.5 feet high, though it looks bigger

Another LR to kitchen view

Front bedroom - all done except the window trim

More progress

I'm pretty stressed out, but I'm getting closer. Here's where I'm at now:
-- The upstairs bedrooms are completely painted, the light fixtures, outlets, and smoke alarms are installed. All that's left is the trim, which is no big deal
-- The new electric line has finally been approved by the city. In a few business days PSE&G will have the approval and they will disconnect the old line
-- In the living room, the floors are being worked on as I write this (I say worked on because the front 4 feet is a concrete floor from an enclosed porch. It needs some finessing before it is ready for the wood flooring). I really really hope it can be finished by EOD Friday
-- Light fixtures and outlets are up in the living room, but it still needs priming and painting
-- In the kitchen, the outlets are in, as well as the flooring. The cabinets will arrive today, and I will assemble and install them tomorrow. The kitchen, as well as the lower level, still needs priming and painting

On Saturday I plan to apply the underlayment for the bathroom floors. It will need 24 hours to set before I can actually apply the tile, which I intend to start on Wednesday. The appliances come Thursday, and I'll do more tile work on Friday, with the goal of finishing at least one bathroom. Managing the work helps me manage the stress.

Progressing

This weekend the upstairs was primed (thanks Laura and Erin), and the kitchen floor was laid down, ready for the cabinets to be installed on Friday. A cop came by on an anonymous noise complaint Sunday afternoon while we were working on the floor. We halted work while he checked with the precinct to see if it was ok for me to work, since I'm the owner. When he gave me the all clear, we started up again and finished in 4 hours. So now I know for sure that I CAN work weekends.

This week my father and uncle will be at the house doing work, as the contractor finishes up with his tasks. Getting closer to the end...