Kitchen progress

Just got granite countertops in today. I spent over 2 days installing the farmhouse sink. Half the time making a template, and the rest of the time gingerly cutting the front of the sink cabinet, wrestling the 120lb sink into position, and repeating... . I don't know how the pros do it, but it took me about 10 tries. Came out almost perfect. Also got the range hood in last weekend. Starting to look like a real kitchen. Our baby is due next week, so now I am getting pretty regular reminders that she has been living without a kitchen sink since April '08.

We were lucky to hook up with friend of a friend who is an underemployed stair rail specialist. He was able to get all the hardware at cost from his company, so we got a pretty cool stair rail at a better price then I could do it on my own. Interesting though, this guy has done hundreds of stair rails but never one with an iron newel post like this. So was a learning experience for both of us. Came out alright, even though we used a lot of 2 part epoxy (I mean like a quart) to hold it in place in the bottom step. Wrapping the curved first step was interesting.... I had never heard of Italian bending poplar before, until I set out to actually buy some in the Sacramento area. Finally found it at a specialty hardwood supply place, it worked great. I have the rest of a 4x8 sheet if anybody needs some wood that you can wrap into a circle...

As a special bonus, here is a picture of making some 3/8" hidden steel brackets to hold up the bar granite. I hate it when you hit your knees on the brackets under most bars.

Finally I am proud to say that for the first time in my life I have emptied a bottle of wood glue. Usually it dries up, or you lose it. Minor accomplishments. Also its interesting to note that I have had to move outlets or switches in almost every room of the house at this point. Interfering with a cabinet, a chair rail, light fixtures not quite right, or as in the picture above the handrail and switch needed to be at the same place. No fault of the electrician, he place boxes per plan or where we told him to. But with all the planning in the world, it still seems like I am having to move boxes and patch drywall every weekend.

We have been super busy trying to finish what feels like the never-ending project. Since the last update, all the hardwood floors were sanded, sealed, and urathaned upstairs, as were the stairs. We figured out a solution to the stair issue, John and Ron ended up tearing off all the plywood on the treads and adding some strips to the back of each tread. We also reached a milestone in that we now have a stove hooked up in the kitchen! John just cut out the cabinet for the apron sink this weekend and laid out the plywood for prepartion for counters! Soon we will have a kitchen. Susan and I painted the kitchen knook in this weekend. Susan has been helping paint all the upstairs baseboards. The baby room and master bedroom are completely painted now. We are waiting for some vanites to arrive for the bath and a shower door. John connected the upstairs shower with the rainshower and have tested it out. It is so cool! We also moved into the master bedroom upstairs in mid-Jan. Another milestone. We are getting there. The laundry room is completed now as well. We will have railings for both sets of stairs in by next weekend. Also, I have a dishwasher and range hood on the way for installation. Fun, Fun! Over and out. LL and John