Moving Along

We are moving along.  Yesterday Kyle continued to run oak boards through the planer, shaving off a little more wood with each pass.  Boards which were quite rough a couple days ago are starting to look like smooth, richly grained oak suitable for shelving.  The shavings — a bit heavier than sawdust — won't go to a landfill.  Kyle found that the Fireside Inn will take this material to use as dressing for foot trails.

Dave has finished the door casings in the master bath.  The pocket doors have not yet been installed, and as noted there is a small amount of drywall yet to be put up around the bathtub.  This area may be tiled later, as a follow-on project.  Most curious is the heater Yogi installed yesterday.  His gadget sits on the floor under the sink cabinet, behind the toe kick.  When it detects hot water circulating through the system, a small circular fan turns on and blows hot air through a vent in the toe kick, washing the floor.  I've never seen anything quite like it.

The master bath, with doors cased.

The tub awaits drywall, and in a year or two, tile.

This heating unit will blow hot air across the bathroom floor.

Yesterday afternoon Dave was laying engineered flooring for the office.  The flooring sits on black plastic sheeting which is intended to muffle sound and provide cushioning.  The engineered floor itself "snaps" together — but only with a considerable amount of hammering.  The end result will be attractive, and it will make a much better surface than carpet for an office chair on casters.

Dave puts an end piece in place.  Then he will hammer it
together so that the "grout" lines match up.

With this hard surface, I can scoot back and forth in my chair.

I may have mentioned this before, but the one-story roofs come up almost to the windowsills on the second floor.  Although this wasn't part of the original plan, the windows and roof would allow a person quickly and safely to evacuate the second floor in the event of a house fire.  Getting off the roof might be difficult — a ten foot drop to grade — but at least one would be outside the house.

The side window in the guest bedroom.

The roof (seen from the master bedroom) would make a
quick and safe exit route in case of fire.

Dave pointed out that our nocturnal visitors returned Wednesday to again help themselves to the seed supply.  The bird feeder was on the ground, the weld on the bracket had snapped, and the arm had been bent.  My money is on a raccoon.  Dave will consider other ways of mounting the feeder to keep it out of raccoon reach.  That's not easy.  These critters are inventive and very, very persistent.

A raccoon either sat on the arm or hung on the feeder.
In the process he/she did in the bracket.

I finished my day at Home Depot, buying dimmer switches and towel bars for the bathrooms.  It's clear that a lot will be happening over the next couple weeks as we draw toward a close of the construction process.  For example, the electrician is scheduled to return next Wednesday.  I wish I could be on-site to record it all.  However, early next week I have to head back to Grand Haven to check my mail and continue packing up the apartment.  Perhaps Attila could step in to provide some photos while I'm gone. •••