Thumb and Hammer Blog

This may be a little confusing because I have only been counting the days that the contractors have worked on this project.  However, with the kitchen renovation, there has also been a cabinet maker toiling away in his shop for a couple of weeks.  I did not count the days he spent installing the lower [...]

Friday was the contractors’ 44th day working on our house.  The second floor bedrooms, except for a bit of trim in one closet, are finished.  It is finally possible to start moving things upstairs, and we will be calling a mover to get some of the large items out of storage. On Saturday, my wife, [...]

A lot has been accomplished in a short amount of time on the second floor.  On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the three contractors fixed up the drywall (mud and primer), laid the bamboo floor, hung doors, installed trim and finished painting one of the rooms.  Was all of this work within my abilities as a [...]

A lot was happening on Monday.  The contractors brought in a helper as they began working upstairs.  The helper busied himself patching the holes in the floor while the contractors fixed the wall in the guest room that had been damaged when they erected the supporting walls in the basement their first week here.  They [...]

Only one contractor was on the job from Monday to Wednesday, but the kitchen renovation progressed at a steady pace.  The other contractor, refreshed from his week’s vacation, returned on Thursday, and by the end of the day Friday, we were ready for the base cabinets to be delivered. The drywall was hung on Monday [...]

On Wednesday, the rest of the kitchen was gutted and the rough in for the wiring was started.  Half of the work crew has headed to warmer climes for a week, leaving one contractor on the job (although he did bring in a helper on Wednesday). The contractor was unable to work on Thursday.  My [...]

Hammers and prybars (not to mention the contractors) were given a workout on Monday and Tuesday as the old cabinets were ripped out of the kitchen and the ceiling and walls were stripped back to the joists and studs.  There were no real surprises– no major structural defects or bad wiring to discover.  Therefore, the [...]

On Thursday and Friday, the contractors took care of the final touch-ups in the bedroom and bathroom. We are still waiting on a custom made linen cabinet in the bathroom, and I still have to take care of some closet organizers in the walk-in closet, but for all intents and purposes. that phase of construction [...]

Six weeks since the massive renovation started and we are now in the final stages of the first phase.  The toilet base has been installed, the baseboard trim has all been nailed up, and the tile has been grouted.  There are just a few finishing touches left before we can move into the new bedroom.  [...]