Reno - Day 6-9

Days 6, 7, and 8 -- nothing going on. With so many trades coming in they seem to have built in several days with nothing going on. Was nice to be quiet but also very impatient to have things being done and therefore gettig closer to be finished. Terrible idea so early in the process I know but getting late at night.

Day 9 we had Carpenters. Two of them -- the husband and wife leading the team -- could speak English but not sure where the others were from as stayed in my office and they did not do much chatting. Two wooden squares were put on each door, a frame of moulding was put around each door to create a real presence to the door, and some moulding was also put over top of each elevator door. Certainly much, much nicer than the tacky old boxes that had been there.

Next week we get the Painters again but not exactly sure what they were are going to be done but maybe we'll know in advance.

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Reno - Day 5

Another day of the painters.

Walked into a fog to start off the day. Not a fog in my own head! A fog created from the sanding that had been done. Lucky for me they had done most of it in the morning and were doing more patching and painting in the afternoon.

Some of the "regulars" for Friday Social Hour met in one of the units and then dropped in for their visit to me and to get their mail. Since the workers had just left it was a nice break for me and didn't interrupt anyone.

Got to my knitting at Little Red Mitten and started Clue 4 on a shawl. It is the reverse of clues 2 and 3 so took some figuring out. I had a nice rhythm going by the end of clue 3. Needless to say the work came out a few times until I finally got going on it Saturday. Must really get my camera and cord out!

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Reno - Day 4

Day 3 actually consisted of no workers being present but the Hydro inspection has been held and work is ready to proceed. The new lights are down beside the door instead of in a rough box across the top of the door. That meant inspection after chipping out the wall which must now be filled in and smoothed over.

Day 4 we had the painters here for the first of their work days. Nice group of fellows who certainlly work hard and steadilly. Lost our "rock climbing wall" were there was 1/2 spots of glue that had been behind the mirrors. The walls appeared to be filled in and walls repaired. Still some areas to be worked on, of course, as they are due to be here tomorrow. Must admit the paint wasn't as bad as I expected though it is probably because this was just the prep day.

Oh well, tomorrow IS Friday.

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Day 2 - Reno

Very, very quiet day. Apparently the electricians worked as late as allowed (8 p.m.) and got the work done they had been allowed 2 days to do. Not sure if that is a good thing -- only one trip from Toronto instead of 2 -- or a bad thing because they are charging overtime.

Oh well, the work got done and the hallway got cleaned within an inch of its life. Yes, there were some paint marks and such but nothing major. It is being replaced as the last item of work. The place looked presentable for it being the 2nd day of a reno. Such fun!

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Day 1 - Reno

I work at a 224 unit highrise Condominium building. Started life as a rental before they went to Condo's about 18 years ago. They did some remodelling then to help sell the units but that is about it. Have since changed the carpet on the main floor to one that looks horrid, is very dark, you can only vacuum one way and stains are very hard to get out. It is at least 8 years old so time for it to go in any event.

Must try to get some pictures but will try to describe it. Picture the lobby as a rectangle that you enter at the lower left corner of the long wall. On the short wall to your left is a large window that is NOT centered on the wall. The long wall across from you had a marble topped table designed I think for a patio with the aged green metal design for the base. Two armchairs flanked it, huge miror above with a 6 in. gold frame, 2 small pictures, 2 circular mirrors with iron work around the mirror and wall sconces. The long wall facing it was covered with smokey mirrors, gold border, and hugh prints of Monet and Georgia O'Keefe (don't you just love the harmony!). The other short wall is the elevators that are not centered to the lobby as you only see the one when you first come in.

The halls are long, dark goldie wallpaper, lights over the doors that don't provide enough light for the full floor, and narrow metal X in a rectangle as a design on the door. Sounds really stylish, doesn't it?

By 11:30 today the wallpaper, chair rails, light boxes, mirrors, pictures and most of the ceiling tiles were all gone. It was very surprising to see exactly how much could be achieved in such a short time. Only problem was that the alarms had to be turned of meaning that the 1.5 kilometers of hallways had to be walked every hour.

With the chipping of the walls to prepare for the new lights, I must admit it got very noisy and dusty this afternoon. It had started snowing and the roads were very slippery so I must admit to coming home early. Even shovelled some snow and didn't fall! (Son did fall off a high deck in B.C. where he is working this week. But at least they had much more snow.

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