More of the same

Tuesday was more painting. And mudding. Vic and Maddie have created Pog's Painting Commandments:

1) Thou shall paint no brick
2) Thou shall paint no skylight windows
3) Thou shall paint no bathroom tile

I have new highlights in my hair courtesy of Behr Ultra Bright White Eggshell Latex.

Looking Good

The last two days have involved a massive learning curve on painting. And brush cleaning. Gregg was adamant about teaching us the proper patented brush cleaning technique. So now we know. Don’t let paint dry in your brush. Like he did.

The homeowners (that’s what “Trading Spaces” would call Vic and Maddie, although we have far exceeded our two day timeline and $1000 budget) have decided on paint colors for the two bedrooms.

I got one coat on the guest bedroom walls.


We have used up gallons of the bright white eggshell enamel on the ceilings and kitchen walls. Like I said, massive learning curve. And lots of mud. Then more paint. And one additional trip to the Depot. Gotta love those 5 gallon pails of interior eggshell.

Maddie and Vic got some white paint on the ceiling and skylight in the bathroom. It is really coming together! Gregg and I listen to classic rock on the radio because my iPod isn’t quite loud enough without an amplifier. We are waiting to win our Stones tickets and working hard because we are taking Wednesday OFF from the jobsite!!! Yes, a field trip to Concord is in store.

Mud and Paint
Wowee! Today we finally got to put some paint on the walls! We still have lots to do, but that felt like good progress. Gregg has been very busy applying mud and more mud to the skylights and walls in the kitchen and bathroom. First thing in the morning, Maddie and Vic hit the Depot again for supplies. We prepped the second bedroom for painting… washing walls, taping, dropcloths, etc. Also washed the kitchen walls to prep them for painting. Vic busied himself with finishing work on the electrical outlets in the kitchen. Gregg flies from room to room mudding and sanding.

We tested the water lines today. After a minor cleanup, everything seems to be working. Except maybe the new shower fixture. It doesn’t seem to want to dispense cold water. We’ll get that straightened out.

In the afternoon, after a primer from Gregg on the rudimentary theory of painting, Maddie and I began cutting and rolling with the bright white paint. At this point it looks like we will begin installing kitchen cabinets tomorrow! There is a bit of a question right now on the current placement of the gas line for the stove and the electrical for the range hood. But things are looking good.

Will Maddie and Vic pick any color for any of their walls? Or will it all be bright white for now? Stay tuned to find out. And for some new photos. Maddie is experiencing a few technical difficulties uploading photos to Blogger. We have them for you and will get them up as soon as we can. Thanks for reading. You are reading, aren’t you?

Phase II Begins?

I shared a wonderful weekend with my women’s group in California. (Thanks to everyone!) After a 3-hour delay in Houston, my flight arrived in Boston on Tuesday evening. Gregg arrived a few hours earlier from Vancouver, so we shared a cab to Maddie and Vic’s apartment in Cambridge. Over a late dinner, we heard about Vic’s trip to Chicago on a private jet. It’s a rock star life for Vic.

On Wednesday morning, Gregg and I headed over to the condo to check out the situation. The tile in the bathroom looked good. Gregg got right to work on the plumbing in the kitchen. I prepped the bathroom for the painting and mudding work ahead protecting all of our tile artistry with cardboard and masking tape. Then I lined the bathroom skylight framing with fiberglass insulation (yuck, not my favorite task). I ran out of masking tape and Gregg ran out of solder for the plumbing work… a quick call to Maddie saved the day (evening) with a supply run from Lowe’s on her way home from work.

Vic and Maddie arrived at the condo after work with burritos and supplies. Maddie and I decided to do some grocery shopping. We left Gregg to finish sweating the copper plumbing joints and roughing some more of the electrical work in the kitchen, while Vic stayed and cut some drywall for the bathroom skylight. I did forget the camera today, so no new photos. As we drifted off to sleep, visions of flushing toilets and sinks with running water in the condo danced in our heads.

Greetings from California...

Well, I'm checking in from California where I'm spending a long weekend with my women's group in the Bay Area. Maddie and Vic are also in the Bay Area this weekend for a wedding. So work on the condo is at a standstill while we are on the west coast.

I will be returning to Cambridge on Tuesday evening. The plan is to meet Gregg at the airport as he will be arriving from Vancouver at about the same time I do. Then it will be back to work on the condo until the end of the month.

I promise to keep more regular and short updates over the next phase of the project. Remember, we always have lots of photos for your viewing pleasure by clicking on the "Pog Photos" link to the right...

Since Gregg left on August 2, Maddie and Vic and I have been busy. We tiled and grouted the bathroom walls and floor - they turned out to be quite the labor intensive projects, but rewarding. The bathroom is shaping up quite nicely and we are getting excited to pull it all together. (It will be wicked exciting to have a working toilet.) Vic sheetrocked the skylight in the kitchen.

Once Gregg arrives, we look forward to getting the plumbing in the kitchen done so we can install the Ikea cabinets and appliances. And getting the sink and toilet installed in the bathroom! Plus lots of painting to do... Maddie and Vic need to move in by the end of August so there is a lot to do over the next two weeks. We are happy Gregg is returning to help. Thanks for reading!

Whew... catching up (Weekend of July 30-31)

(Finally, it's Pog here... props to Maddie for the guest blogging.) The last week or so has been quite busy. My absence cannot be attributed to a nasty powertool accident or sibling squabble involving electric staplers and tyvek tape. As Maddie has mentioned, it has been a bit of a challenge for me to stay awake in the evenings! Let's go back in time and review the last week or so....

The bathroom has been the center of progress. (Like at the state fair? Where are the fried oreos and wine slushies?) Last Friday and Saturday (July 29-30) we worked hard to finish applying the backerboard -- Hardibacker, a cement board applied over the drywall that creates a waterproof base for the tile. It takes a lot of strength to screw in the board with the screwgun and well, I wasn't able to help much there. Gregg (strong like ox) had to do most of that work, although with Vic's measuring expertise, Vic and I were able to help cut some of the backerboard pieces to size. It was fun cutting out openings for the plumbing and other things sticking out of the walls.

Around mid-day last Saturday, Gregg finished framing the skylight in the bathroom and exited to the kitchen to finish framing the skylight there. This freed up the casa de peepee for Maddie and Vic to do their thing... TILING!

Uh... as Barbie might say, tiling's hard... let's bake cookies. Seriously, there was a LOT of planning involved. Add the fact that none of the tiling surfaces are square or level or plumb, and we were very happy to have architect Victor involved in planning the layout. This was definitely a learning process. The tile selected for the walls was a glass mosaic tile, each tile 3/4" square, supplied in sheets 12-3/4" square. We had to cut individual tiles in half or even third to fit into the corners of the bathroom. But, glass tiles crack and snap and shatter when you try to size them with nippers. We did our best.... For perspective, the tiles are close to the size of Scrabble tiles, perhaps a little smaller. (Yes, Sully it is an aquagrid, good observation. See, it is a real word!)

Mixing the mortar was a treat. (Well, I like it. It's messy.) Gregg rigged up a mixer tool using my wimpy electric drill and two wire coat hangers. Maddie decided to mix 50 pounds of mortar all at once (not paying heed to Gregg's advice) and we all agreed this would not be a good idea for the future. Maddie, Vic and I got a system down... Maddie applied the mortar to the wall, I prepared the correct number of tiles and delivered them to Vic, who affixed them to the wall and lined them up properly. Unfortunately, the big batch of mortar started to set (solidfy) in the bucket before we could use it all. We retired for the evening, with plans to head to Lowe's in the early morning to buy more mortar and secret liquid solution.

We had high hopes for Sunday (July 31). Gregg had a ticket to Minnesota leaving early Tuesday morning, so we were feeling the crunch to get as much as possible done Sunday and Monday. Maddie made a roadtrip to Lowe's in Woburn for more mortar. Upon her return, Maddie, Vic and I continued with tiling the walls and finished in the early evening. Ever the optimists, we wanted to get the floor tile done too, but realized that was too much. Gregg finished framing the kitchen skylight and made substantial progress on wiring in the kitchen. And he did some framing on the brick wall for the kitchen cabinets.

Wow this entry is getting very long, so I'll end it here. Please take a look at our photo album by clicking on the "Pog's Pictures" link to the right. Stay tuned for the update on the rest of last week. We are off to the condo to work! Thanks for reading.

PS: Oh, for those of you wondering, Gregg was unable to retrieve his Leatherman with the magnet and string fishing pole he rigged up. But I did get him a new one as a gift, because he deserved one.

Quick Note (from Maddie)

Ok, so we're a little behind. Pog is working on recovering from all of the hard work to blog, but in the mean time, you can check out a few of the new photos. Just click on the "Pog Photos" link over to the right....

It was a tiling weekend, and Vic calculated that our walls now contain over 23,000 small glass mosaic tiles. Eeek.


Oh, and we saw a mouse.