Counter Culture

A busy couple of days. Doty Stucco spent yesterday applying the brown coat to the basement walls, and one week from now they'll return for the last time, to coat the same walls with an acrylic coating in a color called Wrought Iron from Benjamin Moore Paints, a dark gray that will contrast well with the shiny silver shell of The Minnie House. 

Bob the Gas Man arrived on cue yesterday as well, tapping into the gas main, setting the meter and running yellow plastic pipe down the trench to the side of the house. We're ready to switch on our gas service, but still awaiting the arrival of the 95% efficient Munchkin boiler, which may or may not be en route to the Bay Area from the East Coast, presumably hitchhiking slowly via the scenic route whilst enjoying the sights and sounds of rural America.

I kept myself busy, as usual, hanging the doors to the wall cabinets. They still need adjusting, and they're not really blue, they're high gloss white, as will be revealed when I peel the plastic covers off after the house is painted next week.

Today was the turn of Craig the Door Guy, who spent most of the day hanging the four flush, primed doors in the basement, and nailing on the casings. These doors will be painted white next week, with the exception of the garage-to-basement fire-rated door, which will be painted bright fire engine red.

While Craig was keeping himself busy downstairs, Gabe the Counter Guy and his helper were upstairs installing the beautiful black but very green Paperstone counter tops, and later on making precision cuts for the Hans Grohe Allegro E kitchen faucet, the Kraus stainless steel undermount sink, the black IKEA electric cooktop and the Broan downdraft ventilator. I had to leave before the installation was complete, so when I visit the house early tomorrow morning to meet with Joe the Garage Door Guy I'll see the counter tops in all their polished glory for the first time. I can hardly wait.

The Comcast cable guy also showed up some time before I did and set his conduit in the open PG&E trench, so we're ready for the final steps to complete my high-speed cable internet installation, and my friend Jovanny generously took BART all the way from the East Bay to help me this afternoon, laying 40 feet of 1 1/2" plastic conduit alongside the cable for telephone service. I don't technically need this as I won't be getting a land line, but I figured it's something I should do while the trench is open. I wasn't prepared for how difficult it would be to pull a steel wire through 40 feet of plastic pipe, but after around two increasingly embarrassing and frustrating hours we got the job done. The trench is finally - finally! - ready to be backfilled on Monday, and then we can start digging the final trench, for water service.