Category — General Stuff

Spring has definitely arrived in Kamloops. The ornamental crab-apple tree on our front boulevard is in full bloom. Actually the tree belongs to the City and was put in years ago…. probably 55+ years ago when the neighbors would get together and canvass the City to plant trees on each property owners boulevard. At one time the City would send over an arborist to prune them each spring, but we haven’t seen anyone for years. The trees are getting nearer to the end of their life cycle and are slowly dying off. We are now down to about twenty or so remaining on the street; from what would have been 40+ trees. The blooms last for about a week and it’s at this time that the trees and the street are at their colorful best. The remainder of the year they provide good shade.

Well…………. it’s finally done. Today the electrician showed up to wire the bathroom light fixture, connect the floor heating/thermostat and wire the cable for the wall mount wide screen t.v. Everything has worked out great. We have a walk-in closet off the master bedroom and a new main bathroom with granite counter-top, maple cabinets and heated travertine flooring. Pictures are attached.

This week has seen a lot of progress on the project. The travertine flooring was completed and finished with a couple coats of sealer, which really brings out the beauty of the natural stone. A side note is that we also used this sealer on the slate hearth we had laid on the fireplace and it too brought out some natural characteristics that you couldn’t see before. The plumbers were back to install all the fixtures and connect everything up, so it’s great to have a working washroom again. Other project work included mouldings, touch up painting, hanging of towel bars, curtain rod, installation of the mirror and a bunch of other minor fix up stuff. The only thing we are waiting for now is the electrician to hook up the floor heating system, bathroom fixture and plug-in and cable for the wide screen T.V. in the master bedroom. Pictures are attached.

Today was another big day in the ongoing renovation. This morning the cabinet install guys arrived to put the vanity in place. It looks great and the stain color we selected for the maple cabinets fits well with the travertine flooring. This afternoon the counter-top guys installed the granite vanity top which is Cashmere White granite. You could tell the owner loves the granites and natural stones. He took the time to point out the dark specks are actually embedded agates in the natural cashmere granite that comes from India; he also mentioned they used the agates to make rings and jewelery. Later in the day our contractor dropped off the faucets, toilet and other fixtures for installation later this week. Not too much left……… pictures are attached.

Renovation work continued this morning. The carpenter arrived to complete installation of the hanging system in the walk-in closet. This may not be that exciting to most people, but to us it is a big step forward and more importantly we now have a place to hang a few of our clothes. So far we can only use the upper rack as (see pictures attached) they still need to install the baseboards. This will get completed once the closet door arrives and they install all the mouldings and other baseboards. Tomorrow should be installation of the vanity and then after that the granite counter top, fictures, etc. so project completion is getting closer.

Today the flooring was installed in the main bathroom. Our contractor had some beautiful Walnut Travertine stone remaining from a high end spec house that he has been building. Earlier this month we got to see what the flooring looks like installed and it is amazing. Today the stones were cut and laid and tomorrow they get grouted into place. Following that it’s on to the vanity and then the fixtures. So we are not too many days from completion. The attached pictures show the travetine and also the wiring for the floor heat……… it’s going to be great.

Well, the renovation is progressing. Our main contractor has returned from his two week vacation and he is well rested and ready to go. The time he was on vacation gave us the chance to get a lot of other painting completed. This included the guest bedroom, computer room and our master bedroom; so overall a very productive time while he was away. This week they got started on the flooring in the main bathroom; putting down a sub-floor and on Friday laying the heating element and self-leveling concrete base in preparation for laying the travertine tile which is to start early next week.  On Wednesday and  Thursday we painted the main bathroom and walk-in closet; so we are getting closer to project completion. Next week should be very interesting. I have attached a few pictures.

We were in Princeton for a few days and so work on the renovation slowed until Wednesday. Actually the guys applying the drywall mud were both sick on Tuesday so they didn’t show up. Anyway they were back at it on Wednesday and Thursday (Day #10 & #11). I have attached a couple pictures, but it doesn’t look much different that prior photos. However, they said tomorrow is sand out and finishing day so it will be good to have the really dusty work completed and ready for priming and painting. Our main contractor HRK Builders is on vacation until Nov 16/09 so next week gives us a chance to paint some other areas on the main living level. Work continues………