Cuckoo

We acquired this fabulous Black Forest cuckoo clock last summer from Chris' parents. After a little TLC from a cuckoo shop in Chicago (thanks Sue and Hans) we've managed to get it working! It is now hung proudly above the pellet stove, ticking and cuckooing away! I love it! So winter cabin chic!

Flooring

Our engineered hardwood flooring had acclimated for a week - so this weekend we had no excuses - we were going to lay the flooring in the kitchen, living room and hallway. There would be no fishing, snowboarding or relaxing until it was done. As it turned out our weekend was extremely dull. There were none of the above activities - we laid the last piece at about 5 pm Sunday. Thank goodness for the Masters. It was on all weekend and provided a slight distraction from all the bending, kneeling, glueing, sawing and splinters. The house now looks like a house, and not a construction site. Its awesome!

We started at the end of the hallway  - it ended up being the hardest area as there were a lot of cuts needed.

We lay the underlay first.

It took all day to lay this much. We ended friday somewhat deflated by how time consuming it was, but we were happy with how it was starting to look!

Day 2 - the kitchen and entrance way.

Once we didn't have to make many cuts, and we could just glue and click - progress was quicker

Url was exhausted

and then had a second wind, and wanted to help!!

The workshop in the basement

Almost finished with the kitchen

The KITCHEN!!

Hallway

We started the living room on Sunday

Only a few pieces left to lay

Happy to be almost finished!

Living room

KITCHEN

LIVING ROOM

Progress.

February 5th - this is how the house is coming along thus far.

• The whole of the upstairs has been drywall, primed and painted. There are a few touch ups we need to do in the kitchen but yesterday we finished the living area and corridor - colour True North - another off white!!
• The kitchen is here - most of the cabinets installed correctly (we need to move two cabinets down an inch - doesn't sound much but its a process!). All the appliances are here and in place - but not installed. 
• The template for the granite counter-top has been taken and is in production! 
• Washer and dryer here - again, in place - but not installed. 
• The lack of installation is due to the lack of gas and water. All pipes are in and heating system/hot water tank are in, but gas and water meters are not - therefore we continue to wait! 
• Carpets are installed in both bedrooms. 
• Home-made bathroom vanity is almost finished - just a little tiling left to do and the trim!
• Garage has been drywalled. Just need the fire door - and then its all enclosed!
• Banister around stairs is in. Whether it would withstand 200lb of force - as the 'code' requires, is another question!! Handrails cut to length -just need to screw in place!

The wonderful apron sink caused a few problems during installation into the sink base cabinet - but after a little stress and some resourceful DIY skills from Chris - we saved the sink base - and also got the sink level, sturdy and in place!!

Kohler sink - a wonderful retrieveful of Christian from a posh house in Vail!!

Banisters and guard rail up- the gaps have now been filled and it looks great.

The stairs were enclosed with dry wall

Mechanical room to the right - everywhere else storage right now!

Home-made vanity getting closer to being finished  - I glued all the small tiles to tile sheets - it only took about 15 hours!

Painting the corridor

Corridor painted

Living room painted - the blue tape is now off the window frames!!

 
The biggest thing that is holding us back is the gas meter - after three weeks of waiting - a lady from Excel came to the house yesterday. Apparently the meter is in an unsafe place -snow could fall off the roof and injure the gas-man who reads the meter - or ice could build up around the meter and cause a gas blockage - therefore even though for 40 plus years this wasn't a problem - we can't put the meter back. Our options were to build a 5ft by 3 ft roof over the meter - or remove all the snow that has built up against the house (probably 5 ft high and 3 ft wide) from the meter to the back of the house (approx. 30 ft). Then pay the gas company to dig a trench (into frozen ground, which would therefore need to be heated); and extend the gas pipes to the back of the house. We would also need to then pipe the pipes inside the house which are currently to the original meter, to the back of the house - an estimated cost of $4,000!!!!!! Therefore my wonderful husband busily got to work building an ovesized birdhouse roof to cover said meter!! With over 8 inches of snow last night, and its still coming down - erection of the roof is on hold. Hoping it will be completed by the end of the weekend - and we can then get the gas-man to come out and install the meter - without risk of getting hit in the head with a slab of icy snow off the roof!!

Once we get gas - we get water and heat!!!!!  That day cannot get here quick enough.

Pellet Stove

In Eagle County, unless you have an existing fireplace, chimney or wood burning stove - you are not allowed to install one, due to concerns with smog and polluting the atmosphere. Understandable - but not great for Chris and Helen, who enjoy a good fire and who would like a cheaper heating option. Fortunately, we discovered one option. A pellet stove. Very efficient, they use old bettle kill wood, which has been reduced to saw dust and re-formed into pellets. Cheaper than gas, and looks cool!!

So on wednesday - our new pellet stove from New Earth Pellets was installed. Last weekend, I had made a fire-resistant base for it to sit on, and had my first tiling experience. Successful to a point. It was too cold to grout the tile - so at present the tiles remain fixed with just mortar !! Pretty pleased with the outcome.

Awaiting grout - we tried to warm the tiles up with space heaters - but when its -10F outside, and probably inside too - it was difficult to bring them up to 45F - which was needed for grouting!!

Pellet stove (needs a dust !!)

The pellets drop out of the little latch on the back wall - and are lighted by a spark. Depending on the air temp, and desired temp on the thermostat - more or less pellets are plopped into the stove!! Super cool !!

Lit and heating away!

Location of pellet stove - corner of living room - kitchen is going to be straight ahead - and you can see new kitchen window in place!

 

Elbow Grease

The previous owners of 332 Taylor Street had a unique sense of style - a fine example of this was how the living room was decorated. Firstly there is the Alpine Lake/Mountain mural, wallpapered to the wall- interesting to say the least (see picture in previous blog). Then there is the cemented stone work on the opposite wall, which was potentially used for a gas fireplace. We didn't like it - so yesterday and today (24-25th Sept) we got to work with a crow bar and mallet and removed it. Some serious manual labour required.

Cemented Stone Wall

Chris, face mask, crow bar, elbow grease

The stones were attached with cement onto wire- which was nailed into the wall - it took a lot of time to remove

Finished - a few holes were made in the drywall but that will all be redone - and a fake brick wall was uncovered - random