Uba Tuba

Lots of projects have been underway during the past month.

The bi fold pantry door just had to go. The women would sit at the kitchen table and bemoan the appearance and condemn the builder for such an unsatisfactory solution to the limited kitchen space. Taking out the old door was easy, but the doorway was covered with sheet rock which had to be removed before the new pre-hung door could be installed. Thanks to all of the Saturday morning home improvement shows for teaching me how to do it. Tasks yet to be done: reinstall the shoe moldings and paint. (I found out the builder used a custom color on the doors and got the formula for a quart of Behr.)

How about a new deck? This has taken some time to research, much more then the old days when you had one option for building material. There are over five brands with various price points, features, and styles as well as the new pressure treated lumber. I'm staying with my theme of low/no maintenance for the house and am only looking at one of the composite materials. One of the inhibitors now is the cost of the railing system. Manufactures must be really proud of what they have because they are not shy about charging top dollar for it. I still need to do more study. ( A neighbor installed a trex deck with a beautiful stamped concrete patio underneith.)

I finally got the kitchen cabinets up. The hole left by the elimination of the passthru/window has been plugged by two thirty inch cabinets. I found that a thirty inch cabinet is really 30 1/8 inches, so I had to decide how to make them fit in a sixty inch space. (Shift the end cabinet or trim the new units. With my jointer available in the garage the choice was simple.) I'm pleased with the results.

This means we can proceed with the next step for the kitchen; lighting. The current situation is, well, weird. The chandelier isn't over the table. The work light over the sink is now blocked by the new cabinets, and the fluorescent fixture looks like a big 'chiclet'. Lots of room for improvement and I need to decide if I want to venture in and do the work myself or hire someone who actually does this stuff for a living.

The vanity project changed a bit. Having made the template for the MDF counter top (which does fit very well), I decided take it to a stone place and find out about an upgrade. I bought a small piece of Uba Tuba granite and installed it last week (and surprised my wife with it). Tasks still to be completed: storage above the vanity ( and according to my wife, a new bench, cushion, curtains, etc, etc).

Other then hang a bracket for the American flag, I've done nothing to the outside of the house. The builder came by and finished the driveway with a sealed top coat. The erosion problem has been resolved with a mesh and over seed, and the grass continues to try and grow in the very stony rocky soil. Some donated plants remain in their original containers waiting for me to get some motivation.

We did have a problem with water in the basement. The condensate tube got clogged and had to be repaired. The builder took care of it by removing the bad pipe and adding a condensate pump. I like the solution.

We still have low water pressure in the hall bath. The builder brought his plumber in to check it, and even though I had installed the new hand held shower sprayer he did some trouble shooting. It looks like a different hand held sprayer is needed.

So, what is on tap for this weekend? My wife bought herself a new desk. Assembly required.