Oct 29, 2021
It was a long time coming but it is done….
…well almost.
Vi is a finishing carpenter and he finished our kitchen and bathroom cupboards and created the posts and beam ( as per Colin’s vision ) and all the other wood work. Such as the wood work under the kitchen bar, built our custom wine cabinet, the TV stand, our wine trolly topped with sila stone to match our kitchen top counter, the frame around the heron stained glass window on both sides and the custom back splash in the kitchen as well as installing my special tiles behind the stove top ( they were custom created to look like an Italian vineyard ) as well as install the companion Durango ( Mexican ) tile. He listened to my wish and came up with the extra tall medicine cabinets ( covered in mirror so they blended with all the mirrors ) in the bathroom, one for each of us, the custom ( every thing he did was custom ) door for the furnace and best of all he took my roll top desk ( which Colin had had built for me years ago ( as a surprise birthday gift ) by another fellow ) which was oak and Vi stained it to look like cherry wood. I am likely missing some things but Vi has had a huge part in this home.
We wanted to cover the bare aluminum spaces between the window frames to keep the heat in. Very very detailed work. See that sconce light on the left, I have four and his helper Raj ( from India who speaks little English ) was bending down removing the dimmers and switches and lights off the posts when he came up quickly and knocked the shade to the ground with his head. Broken.
So we asked Vi last May as in 2020 to do this new project. He kept promising but was too busy to fit us in. So we spent last winter in our rather coolish home. Colin started this past 2021 spring nagging Vi to please get this project done. He actually gave us a date but did not show up. This happened two more times. We were frustrated as we really wanted this completed before the winter. There was much back and forth. Colin even drove to his home twice.
A special thin insulation was the first thing to put up. Colin previously had worked out that we had a combined six foot by six foot section of bare aluminum inside the house which was freezing to touch in the winter. Which is why we are so cold inside as the temperatures decline.
So finally Vi showed up on October 16th 😆 We were waiting for his 9:00AM arrival and began to wonder if he was even going to show or leave us hanging as before. He finally arrived at 12:30pm 😀
Here Vi is installing a precisely cut piece of cherry wood over the insulation.
Glued in and held with clamps for 4 -5 days.
It started to get dark and things were being dropped everywhere on the floor. So I secured myself into the kitchen with a stool and water!!! And work to do for Mexico planning.
Of course the girls were in there with me to keep them safe from eating bits of electrical wiring, pieces of shaved wood, etc.
We had to shut the power off so Colin got some photography lights up for the guys. My desk was in the middle of the room as was my computer. Oh, Vi had to cut a bit off here and there – so he set his saw up outside on our driveway in the dark. He was not going to leave until he got it done.
They worked till 9:30PM. His poor wife wanted him home on a Saturday night. You can see two of the posts and part of the beam here, the new wood work looks great. Colin went out to pick up some food and coffee for the fellows to give them the energy to keep going.
We had to wait for the glue to dry and had a date and time for Vi to come finish. Of course it took two more cancelled appointments before he was able to come. He said that this job was taking so much more time to complete than he thought, too much detail. Yikes we still don’t have our invoice 🙁 No we did not get a quote, we just trusted Vi to do the right thing. Sadly Vi had to cancel other projects, he is over extended and booked for the next two years. Yes he is that good, great actually. He is an artist at what he does.
So just before Vi left that first night I was looking at all that had been done and we were ever so pleased with the work. Unfortunately Vi had run out of the cherry wood, he still needed two more tall narrow pieces to complete the job. But there was just a wee ( well to him it was a big deal ) area that I discovered that I could not live without them also being covered.
The bay window in front of our teal recliners needed just a bit of wood to compete the look. Vi had to come back to remove the clamps and to caulk all the edges of the wood installation next to the posts. So he was agreeable to add these two very narrow pieces. This was for aesthetics as these were wooden frames. He totally agreed with my request.
I think this is so very posh. We did hire an electrician to install new bronze coloured dimmers and plugs and re install the lights.
It all blends together perfectly. Well worth the 17 month wait.
Don’t those two small strips in the bay window complete the effect.
We can’t thank Vi enough for creating our vision of the perfect home. He did mention that we should have the same cherry wood baseboards. He wants to do them and may get to them before we leave but not likely until next year or ????
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Looks great!
Thank you.
Good morning read your post and your new work looks great! Glad it finally got done!
We really like it. You will have to come see it soon.
Your home looks great! All those windows for the views, amazing 🙂
So it must might be your turn to head out here next summer. But we will come at least twice over the summer.
Oh, how exciting something to look forward too!