As we slept in this morning, the workmen came and removed the scaffolding. While I thought this was a little weird, since we hadn’t been asked if we’d approved it yet, but at least it means that most of the work is done. The workers will have to come back at least once more …
Tag Archive: Renovations
Feb 18
Exterior – Day 12
I popped upstairs to check a hunch when I got home today, and low and be-friggin’ hold, the roof was done! BEFORE AFTER Ooo! Shiny!
Feb 16
Exterior – Day Ten
Massive snow on the evening of Day Eight, so no one came yesterday. Today, however, they were back. Mostly, it seemed, putting finishing touches on the paintwork: Hard to see, but they’ve painted the drainpipe and eaves pipes running down the side of the house with the same brown as the metal deck/fence. …
Feb 14
Exterior – Day 8
I get home later on Mondays, so by the time I snapped these, it was raining and the light wasn’t so good. They’ve restained our front door so that the outside doesn’t look faded anymore. For reference, this is how it looked until today: You can see in this final …
Feb 13
Exterior – Day Seven
Day five and day six were no-gos. The weather was rainy and snowy, so no work got done. But on the morning of the the seventh day, I answered the door in my red bathrobe and walked around the building consulting with Tsukide-san about the work. A few hours later, the carpenters arrived to …
Feb 11
Exterior – Day Four
Painting started yesterday in earnest. Yay! Blue! And red! They did more work after I took these, but by the time I got back home last night it was dark, and today it is snow. I expect them to be back at work tomorrow, weather permitting.
Feb 09
Exterior – Day Three
Well, the men are hard at work. Today I came home to a fume-filled house, since they’ve started doing the primer coats on the wall and the wood. You can see that the coating is making the wall panels look really yellow. They seem to be leaving the metal alone for the time …
Feb 08
Exterior – Day Two
Today, the tarpaulins went on the scaffolding, and they started pressure washing the exterior of the house. It was weird being inside while they did that. I like this photo; it looks like something from a different planet.
Feb 04
The Next Phase
I haven’t written about the Kamiooka Tea House in a while. We finished unpacking most of the boxes by mid-October, after which I got buried in the rehearsals for Tartuffe. Despite being crazy busy, and the house remaining messy for several months as we slowly started getting ride of things we didn’t need any …
Sep 18
Builders are worse than Actors
Holy crap, the renovators are really superstitious. I think I wrote earlier about how they chose the day to make the contract and start work based on good luck days of the religious calendar (I think it’s the Buddhist calendar that chooses them, but I could be wrong). Well, apparently the conclusion of the …
Sep 18
Good God
Okay, we didn’t end up sleeping at the house last night, but we did pop over to take another look. And we found more crap wrong… almost all the new crap the fault of the idiot electrician. The outlets in the kitchen have visible cut marks! They weren’t puttied before they were painted! …
Sep 17
House Update – Paint and Damn Drains
I’ve been posting a lot about the show recently, and not much about the house because I was in Canada and relatively removed from the process. The good news: it’s almost done. Everything is installed (the air conditioners went in today), put up, and painted. The bad news: the electrician is obviously either …
Aug 06
Update… Of DOOM!
I’m writing this on the bus to the airport … I’m about to head off to do the second leg of my summer Theatre tour. I was at the house almost every day since the weekend, puttering around, finishing things up. Of course, I’m not nearly close to finishing, but my friend Dave has …
Aug 03
I Hate DIY
Dust in my clothes, dust in my hair, dust in my eyes.. I spent a good chunk of Sunday working on the rustwork holding up our deck, particularly the decayed side piece. I was using some kind of catalytic putty (think BONDO) to fill in gaping holes, and then grinding it down with a …
Jul 27
GARG!
Yesterday was very productive. My friend Dave, a man wise in the way of home repairs, drove me to HOMES, the home center, and helped me pick up the items I needed to do my home improvements (the ones I’m saving money on by doing myself). Including: Paint & brushes for the exterior …
Jul 22
Another Week Slips By
Another week slips by, and with it another chance to sign our renovation contract. I’m pulling some real yuppie shit here right now and I’m writing this in a Starbucks in central Tokyo where I’ve taken refuge from a stinking hot day. I haven’t kept up with this blog at all, but here are …
Jul 16
Kitchens & Bathrooms 2
Last weekend we went to the TOTO showroom to look at their bathrooms and kitchens. More of the same. Our renovator explained to us that while he was happy to let us buy Ikea and then have him install it, the Ikea 25 year warranty applied to precious few pieces of the kitchen …
Jul 10
Kitchens and Bathrooms 1
So last week we popped down to Yokohama station to the CLEANUP showroom to look at kitchens. Apparently, this is the only place that our renovator can get discounts (40%). I was flabbergasted. The kitchen units look great and have all kinds of amazing options, but cost an arm and a leg (a basic …
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