Weeks #29-30 - Moving In...

(August 13-22, 2010)

We're in! We've moved into Casa Roa, effective Friday, August 20th. Eight months and 2 days from demolition day and we are starting to settle into our beautiful new home. The final couple of weeks leading up to this milestone were busy - packing boxes, checking over the house, moving boxes, etc. There's lots to share about the last couple of weeks and still more to blog about as work continues on finishing up the exterior work. Yes, still more to do. This blog has the potential to go on for a long time. But we've begun to enjoy Casa Roa, dust and all!

Week #28 - Finishing Details - Part...I Can't Remember

(July 26 - August 2, 2010)

It's all in the details. Five simple words but boy are they loaded with meaning. Yes, we are in week 7 or 8 (I've lost track and am too lazy to go back through the posts to count) of the finishing details. I'm keeping this post short and photo-free so that I can get back to working on moving details.

The highlights of this week:

• Lights, lights and more lights. A small crew of electricians arrived to hook-up the lights, the dishwasher (more on that below) and all other things related to electricity. I'm pleased with the light selections. I'm also pleased with the service at Cartwright Lighting - from selection to delivery. Highly recommend them.
• Painting, painting and more painting. The upstairs is done with the exception of the ensuite which needed some wall patchwork. Painting is well underway on the main floor (coat #2 of wall colour).
• Tile - waiting on the tile installation for the fireplace.
• Dust, dust and more dust. The roar of the vaccuum can be heard at regular intervals in an attempt to clean up the dust. Cleaners are scheduled to give the house a good once-over next week. Apparently they're good at what they do but I can't help but think that the dust will continue to settle for a while.
• Dishwasher - Ugh! It is hooked-up but one small problem...it can't be moved underneath the cabinet due to DAMAGE. It appears as though the frame is bent. Badly. As in, they suspect its been dropped off the back of a truck. Door doesn't open freely. Not much you can do about it at 4:30pm on Friday of a long weekend. Double Ugh! I'll let you know how I make out when I contact customer service next week. Sheesh!
• Furnace cleaning - done.
• Moving has commenced! We emptied the storage container in the backyard as well as the garage. Most everything, save a few pieces of furniture, ended up in the basement while we await the housecleaning and another round of purging (I hope) while we still have the commercial garbage bin out back.

Here's hoping that next week's post will tell about how we officially moved in over the weekend. This is contingent on getting our hot water tank vented and the remainder of the trades finished up inside. While we had some workers at the house on holiday Monday, there seems to be plenty left to be done. Or perhaps I'm not getting my hopes up for being in sooner than we actually will be. Managing expectations. I'm so excited.

Week #27 - Concrete at Last!

(July 19 - 25, 2010)

It was a week chalked full of progress at Casa Roa.

The plumber arrived late in the week to install all of the toilets, sinks, taps, and anything else related to water. I'm so happy with the sinks in the kitchen that I took some pictures to share. Awesome! The bathroom fixtures look pretty good too. No water flowing just yet but it looks pretty in any event. Water hook-up will happen next week.

Your Tour Guide was busy inspecting the new fixtures (and trying out all the drawers to make sure they haven't seized up from lack of use). She is particularly enamoured with the pebble tile in the ensuite shower. The tilers finished up the grouting in the bathrooms this week. Tile work will be finished once the two fireplace fronts are done. Hopefully this will be done early next week.

So you may be wondering what the excitement on Joey's face is all about. I wish it was because the decorating fairy is granting my wish to have someone plan and pay for all the furnishings and decor to make the house ready to move into. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It isn't even excitement over a new bike (I failed to capture that moment earlier this spring). No, no, its excitement over finally having our concrete poured so that the exterior work can resume.

Phew!

The stars aligned (a.k.a. the concrete guys were available and the rain had stopped) and then we had a new sidewalk from the house to the garage. More importantly, the concrete pads were poured outside of the entry ways. In true Italian-style, the trio of Joe, Joe and Michael got the the job done but not without a slight rain delay.

We were on standby for over a week awaiting our opportunity to leave our mark in the freshly poured concrete. We each put our handprint in the step outside the backdoor as well as 'ROA 2010'. We also added our name and year in the concrete pad for the front stairs. As you can see, Kieran needed a little help. She insisted on standing on the wet sidewalk below to put her handprint in. So, we made a second attempt - Joey held her and I pushed her hand into the cement. It was a fun way to make our mark.

Not only can we now walk around the yard without rolling an ankle on our yard full of oversized gravel, the front steps can be installed (they were templated on Friday) and the remainder of the work on the porch can be finished.

Its looking like we be able to start moving in next weekend. There is a lot of work to be done inside yet but I remain cautiously optimistic! Stay tuned...

Week #26 - Finishing Details Part 6

(July 12 - 18, 2010)

Casa Roa is still in the thick of the finishing details.

Late this week, the concrete company arrived to place the forms for the cement pads (at the entry ways) and the new sidewalk from the house to garage. The actual cement pour has been delayed until Monday afternoon. Once the concrete is set and dry, the remainder of the work on the front porch (stairs, exposed aggregate coating, railings, finish stonework, etc.) can be done. The Casa Roa tour guide was busy inspecting the forms for the new sidewalk. She approves, particularly of all the new gravel that was brought in.

The highlight of this week's work was the installation of the cabinet doors and hardware. I've included some photos below. As you can see, we went with a traditional shaker door with a v-groove in the middle panels. The plumbing fixtures and lighting (not yet installed) as well as the appliances should give the kitchen a contemporary edge to finish it off. I've never had so much storage space in a kitchen. It's awesome!! There are still a few drawer fronts to install but its still looking great!

Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen Mudroom Lockers

The painters are back in full force now that the finishing carpenter is done installing the shoe moulding. I believe the house is getting a good cleaning this upcoming week to get rid of the dust from all the woodwork. That means that we're almost ready for lighting. The tile installer will continue as well and may be finished up this week. Here's hoping that its a progress-filled week at Casa Roa!!

Week #25 - Finishing Details Part #5

(July 5 - 11, 2010)

Casa Roa - end of Week #25

Happy Stampede!

As you can see from this week's photo, the stone installation on the front of the house was started and nearly completed. It looks fantastic!! The stone mason will finish up once the stairs are built on the front of the house.

The Casa Roa tour guide has returned this week. She was busy testing out the new hardwood floors and kitchen drawers during our most recent visit (see below). The hardwood installation is nearly complete. A small section in the dining room will be finished once more hardwood material is delivered.

I came across an incredible deal on wood (composite) blinds for the windows. Too good to pass up! The window measurements were taken and an order was placed. The blinds should be ready for installation in a couple of weeks. Another detail off the checklist.

There isn't much more to report this week. The concrete pads for the entry ways and the sidewalk from the house to the garage were not poured this week. Hopefully this will be done next week. Next week's post should include some pictures of the cabinets with the doors installed. What's left to do? Installing lighting fixtures, hooking up the plumbing fixtures and appliances, painting, shoe moulding on the baseboards and completion of the front porch and deck. I'm sure there are other things to be done that I'm missing. In any event, we're in the home stretch. I'm closing out this post with some more photos of the house this week. Kieran found a roll of tuck tape used to tape down some temporary floor coverings over the hardwood. I think she liked the red colour but wasn't at all keen on the stick factor.

Week #24 - Finishing Details...Part 4

(June 28 - July 4, 2010)

Casa Roa end of Week #24

The last phase of the water/sewer line upgrade was started this week. We hired a private contractor (certified by the city to complete this type of work) to replace the lines from our property line out to the City's main lines. It is worth noting that the private contractors all quoted below the City's own estimate for this work - and the work is presumably completed in a more timely fashion.

The road, sidewalk, and boulevard were dug up and the new lines were install all in the same day. The road was repaved and a new sidewalk and curb were poured a day later. As mentioned in an earlier posting, this was all completed at our expense despite it being the City's property. Sigh. I will this expenditure with the City after the building inspector completes his final inspection and we are moved into the house. This story to be continued... In the meantime, we finally have the last of our services reconnected. Looking forward to seeing what our water pressure will be like when we flush a toilet while the shower is running!!

Inside Casa Roa, the finishing work continues. The highlight of the week was that the hardwood floors were started. The upstairs floors were completed in one day. It looks gorgeous! Tiling continues in the bathrooms.

Photo of hardwood floors in Master Bedroom

Until next week...

Week #23 - The Finishing Details - Part Three

(June 21-27, 2010)

Before I start on rehashing the week's developments at Casa Roa, I'd like to point out the new 'look' of the blog. When I should've been busy writing my post, I became distracted by the new design options for the blog layout. This is a vast improvement over previous design and layout options (very limited) and I spent some time exploring this new tool. I hope you like it. I thought the paint cans were appropriate for the finishing phase.

The weekly (or near weekly) curbside view of Casa Roa hasn't changed much in the past few weeks. We still have a piece of plywood up acting as the retaining wall. This stays in place while we wait for the contracted company to finish replacing the water and sewer lines and reconnect our water. I haven't explored the reason why this didn't happen this week but if I was to bet on a reason, it would have something do with delays in getting permits (from the City) to dig up the road. I will reveal this reason when I find out.

Tile and paint continued to be the predominant trades in the house this week. I've included shots of various rooms in the house to show their progress. I don't think the my photography skills adequately capture the colours but you get a general sense of what's going on. Included in these photos are are fireplace mantels that were installed this week. Paint and tile are still needed to finish them off but I think they look great in their raw appearance. Also of note is that the Casa Roa Tour Guide did not make an appearance this week. She's feeling under the weather so she didn't feel she could perform her duties with the same flourish and flare as in previous weeks. :)

(pics: front entry; Kitchen; Great Room fireplace)

(pics: Master bedroom fireplace; Master Ensuite)

Move-in update...isn't going to happen on July 9th. It'll be a week or two after that date.