Comments (0) Updated photos are posted. We have recently worked on the master bathroom (shower door, mirror, basins) and just ordered lights for the mirror wall, installed sconces in the master bedroom (oops – I need to add photos of that!), and definitely check out the pumpkin we are saving for Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.
I know everyone has been waiting to see what the house looks like after all the work, so enjoy the fruits of our labor. 
Many of you have asked for updates, photos, etc. While we were under construction, we posted much more frequently, and have not shown a lot of the “finished” product. Our plan in the next weeks/months is to do just that. Wonder if we should change the title of the blog now from “Home Under Construction” or keep it?
Some of the topics we want to cover are: our master bathroom shower, the backyard and garden, and our future plans for every area of the house, inside and out.
It has been over 2 years since we started this undertaking, and both of us love living in the house. We chose a neighborhood that really works for us, and the fact that all around us is development and growth makes us even happier to be here. We are constantly pointing out the renovations on our street, and the new restaurants opening nearby.
You can expect to see some more photos (need to find the camera!) and detailed posts soon, from both of us.
In the last little bit, we have started making more improvements on the house, and purchasing more accessories! For example, last weekend we bought a beautiful gas grill at The Home Depot and got it connected to our gas two days later. We have already had several meals cooked on the barbecue and expect many more. It is a really nice grill, with side burners, a temperature gauge and a rotisserie. As it is nearing the end of summer, all the grills were on sale so we were able to get a nicer one than we’d planned. Sometimes waiting has advantages! We took some photos of our grill, so we’ll link soon!
In addition to getting the grill hooked up, we finally got our stove hooked up too last weekend. What a change to be able to bake and use the stove top! It cooks so fast! I cannot believe we lived for 8 months without a proper stove or oven. The things you get used to…
We have also had some fixes to our kitchen. The Calders came this week and retreated the butcher block so it looks even better now. They also replaced the glass in the cabinets to the ribbed glass which we love. We will take more pictures and post. It isn’t easy because we destoyed our digital camera on our canoeing trip and are using the video camera to take stills. We’ll get there.
Anyway, my parents are coming today and they will see our house for the first time. It sure looks different from when we bought it!
We are very excited because yesterday we saw our kitchen and learned it will be installed on Thursday. It looks really good so far, and it hasn’t been stained yet, so we are very eager to see the finished result IN OUR HOUSE!! Finally! We will have a kitchen! Although after the cabinets are installed, we still need a sink, dishwasher, hood vent for the gas stove, and gas line hook-up. Not to dwell on all that has to be done before we can USE our kitchen, but that’s the list.  Now we know what we’re doing next weekend. Unpacking our kitchen boxes, and we have lots of them!
We took some photos yesterday of the cabinetry in its raw form, and Brian will post a link soon.
Yesterday was a good day to stay home and work on the house. It was pouring rain outside, so we took on a few projects indoors, including painting the 2nd floor hallway, which we almost finished except we ran out of paint. It looks good, though, especially the area that has hardwood in it! We also painted the trim around the doors in the bathroom, so that looks more finished. Probably the biggest project of the day was installing the washer and dryer. We only had to make 2 trips to the hardware store for all the parts we needed, and Brian and I (mostly Brian, like you even need me to say that!) got the job done. We did a few loads of laundry and it was lovely. The washer and dryer are stacked nicely and working well. They are from Frigidaire and we are happy with them. We even had some time yesterday to have lunch at If Lounge (awesome cheap breakfast and full bar), watch some football (exciting ending to the Seattle/Dallas game. So glad Dallas lost) and try out our huge bathtub. Very cool day.
This morning we wait for Rogers cable. They were supposed to come yesterday, but they called our home phone, which wasn’t set up, and the call forwarding was on wrong, so we missed them. Our cable is working somewhat, but many of the channels, especially the High Def ones, aren’t coming in at all, so they need to fix it. Frank came over so he and Brian are fixing some of the plumbing, putting cold water into the main floor washroom and drilling in the kitchen where the dishwasher and sink will go.
So, lots of progress. The rain has stopped so we plan to get out of the house today too.
Time to vent.
1. The downstairs powder room is only connected to hot water. That’s right. Basic skills people. The cold water tap is connected to hot water, and so is the hot water tap, and so is the toilet. I am talking BASIC PLUMBING. We have our laundry tub connected to these taps, and it is not easy washing dishes in scalding hot water.
2. The upstairs shower shrieks when we turn the tap to warm. Apparently, Mike Holmes always suggests padding the pipes FOR A GOOD REASON. Our plumber is an idiot.
3. Brian and Frank already had to replace the pipe connected to the hot water heater because the plumber cheaped out and only used 1/4 inch pipe. Thanks, buddy. Anyone want to know his name, I’ll tell you offline, or Brian already mentioned him in an earlier post about his:
4. price gouging. This guy charged us exorbitant sums when we asked him to come back to fix stuff he had screwed up. Needless to say we will not call him again.
Rant over. He is not worth mentioning again.
Who we do like: Fred!!!!! Hi Fred! Hope you won your hockey game tonight. If you see Ricardo the roofer again, tell him we said hi.
Brian and Fred did a lot more flooring today – the master closet, and the second floor hall, which is a new flooring. I am sure Brian will post about it soon, and we still have more photos to show too.
Brian and I got to the house by 9am and immediately applied the second coat of paint to the baseboards. Fred was in soon after ready to install the baseboards.
What else did we do today? We primed and painted the door casings also; we moved the laundry sink to the main floor so it would be out of our living space, cleaned the windows on the 2nd floor, primed the windowsills, painted the bedroom closet, went to the Pho place for lunch with Wayne and Alec, and went on a drive to try to buy hanging coat racks.
On the way to the place I had my first experience with 911, and it wasn’t positive. Driving up Spadina we passed a car, in the left lane, with the driver stopped, but not parked, and he was sitting in the driver’s seat with his head back, eyes closed, mouth wide open. I got worried and decided to call 911 about him. You know how you always hear the stories about the lovely 911 operator who talks the child through saving his mom’s life, or the 911 operator who stays on the phone with the injured person so they stay awake? I didn’t get that 911 operator. I got the snotty one. I told her the story about the guy in the car, and she interrupted me in this rude voice and said, “Hold On, I’m switching you to ambulance”. I was so surprised by her tone that I commented to Brian, “She was just so rude, she interrupted me,” and imitated her. She then told me “I can hear you!” and I said “that’s fine. It doesn’t change the fact that you were rude!” LOL! Then, everytime I repeated what she said to Brian she’d say, “I can still hear you!” I told her I was trying to help someone and she had no reason to be a bitch. LOL. It was funny, but it makes me less inclined to call 911 to help a stranger with that attitude coming from the operators. Thank God I wasn’t suffering, because this chick would not have cared.
Anyway, it has been a busy week, busy day, we move tomorrow and are still packing. We did take photos, but I don’t know when we’ll post them.
Yes, it’s true. We have to be out of our apartment by Sunday. So this means we must move into the house this weekend. Lots still to do.
Yesterday we had more help from Alex. Wish she lived here cause she is a big help! We primed the first floor and the remainder of the second, stained the bedroom doors, and did some ceiling paint. We had to stop because we used up the ceiling paint and went to Home Depot. Home Depot was having a sale on appliances (BOXING DAY SALE!!!!!) but they were all the really low end ones, the type that was in our place when we bought it, only from 20 years ago.
Brian arranged for us to rent a cargo van for Saturday so the clock is ticking!
More work to do today, including finishing painting the 2nd floor, staining the other side of the doors, getting some trim, and unloading all the boxes that are in our car. So much to do, so little time!
We have one week to go before we move in, so Brian and I are still going. Today we focused on priming the main floor. It really makes a difference in cutting down the dust. Priming made us realize how big the space is, because it took a long time to do – all the walls and the ceiling took about 3.5 hours. We even had a visit from Aman, who pitched in with the roller and primed some walls. As tomorrow is Christmas, we may take the entire day off! Merry Christmas!
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