WEEK 5: Window to the world

It's been just over a month now and progress slogs on. The lack of power has delayed our contractor from doing much more than installing a few windows. Given that several windows were previously just a tacked-up piece of plywood, we are actually quite excited about the availability of natural light! This was the last weekend that I had to help with the house for a while. Next weekend, I'll be in Vermont and M. will be on his own with the renovations. I made a big push to purchase materials so that M. can keep the momentum of projects going in my absence. The week ended with the excitement and detriment of the flood experience. Amazingly, there was no permanent damage except our damaged ego...we hope that things will go more smoothly from now on.

• DECISIONS: Selected interior door style for bedrooms, closets and bathrooms and agreed to look into glass pane inserts for the bathroom doors to allow light to pass through. We are stalking some at the Habitat re-store. Conducted price comparision on green countertops and have narrowed options to Paperstone and Avonite with 40% recycled content.
• LABOR: M. completed the installation of the stove-side cabinetry; he has moved on to the sink-side cabinetry...yay! As soon as all the base cabinets are in, we can be measured for countertops! Woo-hoo! Our contractor has started installing our new windows. Hooray! Our electrician came back to the house to finish the last tasks necessary to request an electrical inspection. Our electrical engineer came out to the house, inspected the electrical work and signed off on a "rough inspection"...Yippee!
• MAJOR PURCHASES: Energy Star Windows (with Low-E glass) and exterior doors from Home Depot; master bath and guest bath light fixtures; guest bath hardware; kitchen faucet