And that's a Wrap!

Why is it that the final phase of the project seems to drag on forever? It just does.

I think it's because the end is in sight and you just want it to be done. It's easy to feel that it should be finished as of yesterday but there are still several loose ends to tie up. As Joe was telling me, you've got to keep the intensity level up at this stage and not let down.

It's been busy around here since my last update. Joe installed some hardwood flooring in the area leading into the sun-porch and had Above All Hardwood Floors come in and do the final sanding and sealing of the floor. There was no way it was going to match because of the fading in the flooring that takes place. It will take time but eventually the surfaces will look much more similar than they do now. First world problem.

Joe also installed the gate for the deck so we can now leave the pups out there to bark their little heads off and upset the neighbors. Haha...no, I actually plan to buy two shock collars if necessary; Toby won't need one. We'll see how it goes.

Marvin Windows came through as they said they would and brought us our replacement door frame with attached transom window last Thursday. I was so happy to see it arrive. Joe took some time to make certain this one didn't leak before installing it.

When we had our driveway replaced 5 years ago I redid some of the landscaping in front and replaced all of our low voltage landscape lights. I bought about a dozen extra knowing that I would at some future point be adding a sun-porch and deck off the back of the house and wouldn't it be nice to have some matching lights? But I didn't get enough. Fortunately I was able to find the same lights online packaged under a different name and ordered enough to do the job. I spent some time this past week putting them to use. They add a nice touch.

Eric was here yesterday working on gutters for the project. He's got them engineered so all of the water coming off the roof is being directed away from the foundation either off to the side of the house or in front. Nothing gets dumped out in back and allowed to flow back toward the foundation the way it used to.

There are still a few small things that need to be done but the city inspector came through this afternoon and did his final inspection. He said Joe did a "super job!" We couldn't agree more! I never would've imagined a year ago that we'd be blessed with an addition such as this.

We can't say enough good things about Joe. We'd hire him to do our addition again in an instant if we had it to do all over again. We do have several other projects around our home that will need attention in the next few months and I've already told Joe that he's our guy. I have no intention of bidding them out.

If you're in the metro area and are looking for a carpenter please consider giving Joe a shot at your project. I can guarantee you that you won't regret it.

Joe can be reached at 612-597-3606

Cabinetry and Brickwork

A lot was accomplished this week inside the sun-porch. Keith was here Tuesday morning and began the installation of his shelving and cabinets. I was a little concerned when I first saw the finished cabinets inside his shop a few weeks ago. The yellowish-beige color of the back of the cabinets was more yellow than I remembered it from the sample we used but I decided not to get too concerned because I knew that all of the colors we'd chosen worked well together and I had to trust in that. But still my curiosity got the best of me so I took off from work a couple hours early on Tuesday to go and have a look for myself.

I was relieved to see that in the light of the room the color is perfect! It was just the color I was hoping for and not too yellow at all.

Keith also made the mantel for the fireplace and he could not have done a better job. I had given him a photo of a mantel I'd found online and he did a great job of duplicating it with just the right amount of distressing. It's a simple design with just enough 'rustic' thrown in. We couldn't be happier!

Joe came by the next day to see Keith's work and I could tell that he was impressed. He figured that Keith must have made the crown molding in the shop and fit it into place once he got it here because it was so well done. I told him that he constructed it all on site.

Dan and Scott arrived Thursday morning to hook up the ceiling fan, the outdoor lights and the rest of the electrical.

I got a call from Dean at Condor Fireplace Thursday morning to see if it would be alright if he sent a guy out on Friday to do the brickwork for our fireplace. That would work perfectly I told him. So much was falling into place now and both Tammy and I were feeling relieved about the progress considering the delays we've had to deal with because of Marvin Windows. I'm sure Joe was feeling it too.

A driver from Condor Fireplace dropped off the stone for our project Thursday afternoon. He said that Paul would be doing the work for us and that he was the best. That was so nice to hear.

Paul arrived early Friday morning and got set up. I asked if he would mind if I set up my video camera on a tripod to film his work for a time-lapse video that I'd like to do. He didn't mind at all.

Week 14 and We Shall See

Monday morning found me in a not so happy mood. It had been at least 10 days since I was told by a woman at Marvin Windows that I'd be contacted in the next day or two by Gabe who would be making arrangements with me to come out and look at our leaking door. Gabe nor anyone else at Marvin Windows had contacted me since that call 10 days earlier and I was beginning to wonder if they ever would. I left a message for Joe to tell him of my frustration and then followed that up with a call to Marvin Windows where I eventually reached Gabe's voicemail. I left a not so kind message for him detailing my frustration in having two defective products delivered to our home on the same day with little to no follow up to rectify the most recent problem.

Joe returned my message as soon as he got it and shared in my frustration. He was on the road returning from Florida but was going to do what he could to elevate the issue to someone at Marvin Windows headquarters.

His efforts paid off.

I got a call within an hour from a Marvin Windows rep who was working in Burnsville and said he could be by in the next couple hours to look at the door. It was perfect timing because Joe would be arriving in town in time to meet with him.

It turns out that the problem with the door is a cracked sill which is preventing the drains within the base of the door from working as they should. The rep told Joe that we'd hear from him within 48 hours about when we might expect delivery of a new door.

48 hours later and we'd heard nothing. I asked Joe to give them a call once more. I haven't been this frustrated with piss-poor customer service since dealing with BestBuy a few years ago. I no longer do business with them.

Joe was told that our door will ship out of their Warroad, Minnesota factory on the 12th and that we should receive it later in the week. We shall see.

That wasn't the only glitch this past week. I called Perry at Condor Fireplace to see about when we might expect to have the brickwork done for our fireplace. Perry was on vacation so Ryan took my call. They knew nothing of me. I wasn't on their horizon or radar for installation even though I'd sent Perry our credit-card information two months earlier. Ryan said he'd do what he could to get us scheduled as soon as possible. Again...we shall see.

Last week wasn't all bad though. Bryan was here steadily working away on the tile floor. It looks really nice! The idea of covering most of it with a large rug doesn't really appeal to either Tammy or me but it's what we'll probably do because of how echoey it is in the house now. We'll need to do something to dampen the sound. Echoey actually is a word by the way...I looked it up.

We're expecting Bryan to come by tomorrow and apply grout sealer to his work. Keith is planning to install the cabinets and shelving on Tuesday. I hope I'm here to get some video of the install but that may not work out because I work a day shift. Y'all don't want Tammy filming...trust me.