Evans

Evans Heating and AC showed up today.  These guys are badass!  They made the 40-foot trip up to the roof (in the sweltering heat!) and totally acted like it was no big deal.

The problem turned out to be low coolant levels. They recharged my system and all is well and cool again!  They also pointed out that the heat pump was filthy and offered to clean it as a preventative measure. 

This is a father-son duo who were really nice guys, and they didn't charge an arm and a leg.  Overall I'm really happy with the service and would definitely use Evans again if needed.    

Almost done!

The granite guy was here today to measure for the kitchen countertops.   He saw the kitchen and declared it "almost done!"   For the granite fabrication, I'm going with Richstone Granite and Marble in Springfield, Virginia.

The turnaround on the granite is apparently three to five days, so by next week we should have countertops sitting on these cabinets.

See the fireplace on the left? Since it's so close, I'm having the fireplace surround replaced with the same granite as in the kitchen. 

Here's a better shot of the fireplace.  The surround now is marble, which is nice but totally '80s.   

The plan is to build a new mantle and panels all around the new granite in white - to match the kitchen cabinetry. 

So are we almost done? 

Not quite, but we're getting closer!

Maple Cappuccino

Justin from Arlandria Floors was here today to measure the apartment. He'll send over his estimate next week.

I showed him my top two flooring choices. He is the third person this week to pick the maple cappuccino.  So that's what I'll go with. 

And besides, maple cappuccino sounds like a delicious kind of ice cream coffee drink and who wouldn't want that?

Here is how it looks with the granite and a cabinet door.

Once the flooring is ordered, it takes about two weeks to come in and then the installation will take two days.

Can't wait!

Size matters

Vito showed up today to look at my AC.

When he saw that he had to climb up three stories to the roof to get to the heat pump, he declined the job. Apparently OSHA standards say you can't put a ladder on the stairwell landing in the back.  The ladder has to be firmly placed on the ground, but his shorter 28-foot ladder wouldn't reach the roof from the ground. He needed a bigger, 40-foot ladder.  

The warranty company started looking for another hvac company that has a 40-foot ladder AND is willing to go up to the roof to make an official diagnosis of the problem for the warranty company.  At the end of the day, I found out they could not find an hvac outfit in their network to do the job.  So they agreed to let me find a company and then be reimbursed after the work is done. 

So all I need to do is find an hvac company with a 40-foot ladder.

How hard can that be?

Rain delay

Remember me telling you that my AC is out? 

And did I tell you that it's been 90+ degrees every day for the last ten days in DC?

It's true.  Visit weather.com and they'll tell you all about our historic heat wave.

Anyway, I took the afternoon off from work today to be home for the 12-4 appointment window with Vito's heating and air conditioning.  Fifteen minutes before the end of said four-hour window, they called to say they are not coming as scheduled.   

It turns out they were on the way over when it started raining hard and they can't go up on the roof during or after rain for safety reasons, which I totally get. I've fallen off a ladder and it's not that fun.

The good news is that we're rescheduled for Friday.  

The better news:  we're in for a cooler temps in the 80s for the rest of the week!

Some advice

If you want help making some renovation choices, call your friend who also happens to be a real estate agent.  Who else comes over to see how you're doing, offers great renovation advice and feedback, and then takes you out for brunch at Birch and Barley?

Shahab is the best. 

Here is what he had to say: 

(1) go with a more subtle pendant lights instead of the ones from restoration hardware. I was thinking the same thing so I bought two of these during  my weekly trip to Lowe's this morning.

(2) He recommended going with the Bianco Antico granite. True, I toyed with the idea of going with marble countertops but he's right. Marble on top of the white cabinets is too much white.

(3)  He liked my flooring options and suggested going with the maple over the oak. 

Overall he said renovations are looking great!

Narrowing down the options

I have two finalists for the countertops. 

One is Bianco Antico. It's a white brazilian granite with espresso chunks, mica chips and sprinkles of cinnamon here and there. It has taupe-y areas too.



The second is carrera marble. 

Here are a couple samples I picked up pictured with a base cabinet and flooring options.

Bianco antico on the left; carrera marble on right with Oak Provincial flooring:

And here they are with maple cappucino floors:

So by sometime next week I will have to make a decision on which combination to go with.