|
Tile
on the Stairs and more Kitchen Cabinets |
||
 |
The
treads of the stairs are getting Saltillo tiles. The risers have
been painted a matching color. Most of them will require more
paint to cover the oozing thinsett. |
 |
 |
Ruben is in charge of cutting the tiles and fitting them in the odd spaces. Cutting Saltillo tile is not like cutting regular ceramic tile. It requires an electric cutter/grinder and a fair amount of skill and patience. It also makes an awful lot of fine dust. |
 |
 |
Jesus
has arrived with the kitchen cabinets for Rosa. Carrying them up
the stairs was a bit tricky. Coco and his 4-year old son Armando, our littlest helper, are carrying the drawers. |
 |
 |
But all is not well...Jesus is aghast at a serious mistake. He built the island cabinet 4 inches longer than the space available. Since there was no way to cut 4" out the cabinet without destroying it, we decided to trim 2" off the brickwork on each side of the cabinet opening. Since the mistake was Jesus', he gallantly volunteered to do the work. What a mess as he grinds away at the brick wall! |
 |
 |
While
Jesus is grinding away in Rosa's kitchen, Enrique is installing the
hardware for her front door. |
 |
|
Several times in past couple of months, I have mentioned that the ladies have been pressing us to hurry up because they need to move in. Well, now push has come to shove. Martha and Gabriel and their two kids are being forced out of their rental house. Tomorrow (Sunday) they will move in here -- still very unfinished -- no power, no water, no gas. They plan only to sleep here. They will eat, bathe and otherwise hang out at her mother's house -- which they do most of the time anyway. I hate that it has come to this. But, on the other hand, it is her fault because she jumped the gun and gave notice to her landlord three months ago. He has been patient and let them stay two extra months, but he has another renter who is chomping at the bit, so they will move tomorrow. Ruben and I will be working tomorrow to complete the electrical hookup for them. Maybe before the end of next week, they'll have lights and fans. We still don't have a firm time for the water and sewer hookup. We did get a resolution to the cost issue. It turns out that Enrique's mother is an old friend of the head of the water department. She went to see him and got a 33% 'discount' on the hookup fee; but she did not get a promise for an expedited hookup; so are still looking at four to six weeks before we have water. |
||