Forward

Engineer's Observation Check... passed. Framing Inspection... passed. On to drywall!

Beams!

These two little ( 14 ft. 2x10 ) lvl beams have cost us a couple of
thousand dollars and a week of effort, but are now in place to better
support the kitchen and second floor. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes
it just isn't!

The new, new plan.

The structural engineer made his recommendations, which will mean sistering the existing joist under the wall with two new lvl beams. A bunch of plumbing and electrical work must be moved to get the new beams in place... sigh.

Sometimes it all works out smoothly, but not usually in remodeling older houses. :)

A little engineering.

We had the structural engineer come in today to take a look at this project and how we are going to transfer the load down to the foundation. We will have his recommendations tomorrow and then will proceed with the framing.

New Project

Yesterday we had the final inspection on the Witt powder room and kitchen. It has been a long process, but it is now finished. Today we pulled the permit for the Paul kitchen. We will start demolition tomorrow. We also have been working on tiling a couple of entryways, and will be finishing the trim on those today.

A working bathroom.

We still have more trim and touch up work, but our client now has a fully functional downstairs bathroom. The plumber and electricians finished up yesterday. We were also fortunate enough to get a same-day inspection for the plumbing! The other final inspections are next week. Hopefully we will be starting a new project on Wednesday.

Window!

The thing we have all been waiting for... A nice big window! I am so
happy to have it installed and be moving on to drywall and trim.
Tomorrow we have the plumber and electrician finish up.

Drywall!

I don't think I have ever been so excited to install drywall. After
lots of delays we are on the fast track to finish this project.
Tomorrow... windows and exterior trim.

Finally an inspection...

Just like every other business out there, the City of Minneapolis has cut back and it took 6 days to get a framing inspection (OK, only 4 business days). We passed and are now on to insulation tomorrow. We are using closed cell spray foam insulation on this project. Perfect for older houses, and in my opinion the best product by far out there as far as insulation goes. They will show up at 8AM and be done by 10AM. We will then install the EPDM roof and start re-installing siding and trim.

More plumbing work.

We ended up having to do a bit more plumbing work than was expected (which always seems to be the case with older houses). Hopefully we will move on to insulation next week.

Plumbing

Yesterday was rough-in electrical, and today was rough-in plumbing. On
older houses you sometimes have to get creative when running new
plumbing in an old house. Here we are running the vent through the
existing false beam.

Rip off the roof

A layer of carpet, and two roof pans covered the flat roof over the Witt powder room and entryway. We pulled almost everything off yesterday. Today we will finish demolition and start reframing the roof without the parapet wall.

Witt Powder Room

We are still carefully deconstructing the Witt powder room and entry. The roof was poorly built and has leaked for years causing plenty of rot. Monday we hope to rip off the roof and start reframing the top.

Deconstruction

Also known as demolition (or the opposite of construction). Messy, dirty, and sometimes a bit scary, but always necessary. We are deconstructing the Witt powder room and pantry in order to replace the rotten roof and walls.

Fence Pictures

We finished up a couple of odds and ends today in preparation for a well deserved vacation.

We posted pictures of the Mellblom fence on our website.

Done!

We'll post some pics tomorrow, but we finished the Mellblom fence today. Quite a project and one of my favorites!

Gates and such...

Today was all about the fussy carpentry. The inside corner was notched to make the horizontal rails look seamless from outside of the fence. We also finished one of the gates.

Wow!

Paul's design set the stage for an amazing fence. I knew it was going to look good, but Wow! It perfectly compliments the modern horizontal lines of the house. Tomorrow we'll keep putting up the horizontal members.

Power Outage

Today's work was cut short by a neighborhood power outage. You never realize how dependent you are upon electricity until you don't have any. Hopefully everything will be back to normal tomorrow.

Posts!

The remaining lumber finally arrived yesterday, so today we set the last of the posts for the pergola. We will start attaching the horizontal fence members on Monday.

Finally!

It may not look like much to those of you who don't appreciate quality lumber, but this was almost enough to bring me to tears (of joy!). 275 pieces of clear vertical grain cedar 1x4. Beautiful doesn't even come close to describing this lumber. You truly do get what you pay for (that's about $4000 of lumber!).

With all the lumber finally here, we will proceed with setting the remaining posts tomorrow.

Mellblom Fence

With lumber delivery issues galore, we haven't been able to move forward as fast as we would like on this project. We sent back over half of the original lumber order to be replaced (it wasn't high enough quality to be used on one of our projects). We now have all the fence posts set and are waiting on the delivery of the posts for the pergola.

Holes

Sometimes it seems like there is not a whole lot to show for a backbreaking day's work. Today... 42 holes later, we are ready for the lumber delivery (but it doesn't really look much different than it did yesterday).

More Fencing!

We are starting on another fence. This one will also have horizontal members which will match the modern style of the house. Much of the lumber is special order, so we are hoping it comes in soon.

McQuade Fence

Before

After


The McQuades have a beautiful 50's rambler that has great classic 50's style. This horizontal member fence fits perfectly with the horizontal privacy screen we built for them a couple of years ago.

Fences

This next couple of weeks it is all about fencing. This week we are working two smaller projects. We have the posts set, so tomorrow is when the rest of it goes up.

Silver Front Steps

Before


After

Yesterday we finally were able to install all the plant material for the redo of the front of the Silver's house. I really like how the steps turned out. This client wanted to update the front of her home so it more matched her style and had more curb appeal. Today we are hanging some cabinetry in the same house for a mild laundry room remodel.

Paperwork...

Sometimes there is not much exciting to show for a day's worth of work. Estimates, paying the bills, design work are all part of the job. Lots of paperwork, etc. today, but tomorrow is a fun springtime treat - planting shrubs and perennials!

Almost there!

The plumbing and appliances were connected today. Although there is a tiny bit of caulking left to do, the Gorden kitchen is pretty much done. She will be happy to at least use the dishwasher rather than washing all the baby bottles in the bathtub!

Gorden Kitchen Tile and T-shirts!

We finished the tile in the Gorden kitchen. I love how clean and crisp the lines are in her design!



Not that it matters to anyone other than us, but we have new T-shirts... finally we can have good work shirts with our logo!

Gorden kitchen tile

We installed the tile backsplash in the Gorden kitchen today. Notice
the modern straight stacked tile pattern which the homeowner picked to
compliment the clean modern design.

Witt Kitchen and Gorden Kitchen

We finished the Witt project to a stopping point. There is some pretty serious rot that needs to be dealt with and the homeowner is now deciding what to do.

We then went to the Gorden kitchen and put all the doors, drawers, and toekicks on the cabinets.

Finished!

We completed the Jungwirth kitchen today. Although the homeowner still has a bit of painting and touch up work to do, she will be able to move into her new kitchen today. On this project we just provided the labor and expertise to execute her design.

Witt Kitchen

Yesterday and today we worked on getting the Witt kitchen ready for cabinetry. Todd made an Ikea run and now all the cabinets are assembled. We should be able to have a functional kitchen for her by Friday!

Jungwirth Kitchen

We continued to work on the trim in the Jungwirth kitchen today.

Jungwirth Kitchen

The last two days Todd and I installed new hardwood flooring and are installing Ikea cabinetry in the Jungwirth kitchen. We'll post some pics tomorrow.

Gorden Kitchen Cabinets and Trim

We installed the filler pieces, end panels, some trim, and the microwave in the Gorden kitchen.

Gorden Kitchen Cabinets

After assembling the cabinets yesterday, we hung all the cabinets in the Gorden kitchen.

Cabinets

We assembled the Ikea cabinetry for the Gorden kitchen today. Tomorrow we will level and install all the cabinets and try to clear out their dining room, which has been used as a staging area.

Flooring and Trim

Today we kept working on the Witt kitchen flooring and walls. We started installing trim along the floor and beadboard on the walls (which will become the kitchen counter backsplash).

Pergo!

Today we installed Pergo in the Witt kitchen. It felt great to cover
up the nasty vinyl tiles. :)

Drywall and finish work.

Lots of sanding and another coat of drywall compound at the Gorden kitchen. Finish work and fussy trim at the Moore kitchen. It looks like we will be finished with the Moore kitchen tomorrow.

Plumbing!

John's kitchen finally has a working stove, sink, and dishwasher! It
is amazing when everything finally comes together.

Here, there, and everywhere

Today was one of those days where we needed to be everywhere at once. Granite counter-tops were installed at the Moore kitchen, followed by some trim work and an electrical inspection. Then it was off to paint some radiator covers and then on to apply another layer of drywall compound at the Gorden kitchen. That's pretty much going to be the routine for the rest of the week as we wrap things up at the Moore kitchen.

Partition wall

We built the partition wall and added the first coat of drywall
compound today.

Drywall!

After an uneventful inspection this morning, we made some pretty good
progress on the drywall.

Insulation

Electrical inspection and insulation today.

We lucked out and were able to get an insulation inspection scheduled for tomorrow.

Gorden Kitchen Electrical

All the rough-in electrical work was done today. The new outlets and under-cabinet lighting will be great. We were able to remove the soffit over the sink to make the kitchen much more open.

Gorden Kitchen Demolition

It is amazing how long it takes to construct a kitchen and how quickly it is demolished!