McHugh/Gant Hangar House

Day 441 - Soapstone

Tuesday , August 15 -- Larry, Troy, Juan, Moses, and Julio delivered the soapstone counter slabs and tile from Vermont Soapstone today. The soapstone has traveled from Brazil to Vermont to Trinity Center. We used the lift to move the crates up onto the deck...

Installation...

Next are shots of the slabs and sinks set in place. Larry and Tony are very pleased with the workmanship of Vermont Soapstone. I am amazed that the plastic templates were made here, rolled up and put into a tube, shipped to Vermont, and then used to cut pieces that are a 95% perfect fit. The guys had to do some stone sanding and one new cut. Credit has to be given to Mandina Cabinets also for building almost perfectly level cabinets and making the sink openings exact. Our breakfast bar steel plate is doing a perfect job supporting the slab.

One great surprise is that some of the slab pieces that we thought would have to be two pieces came as one piece, and the breakfast bar that we thought would be three pieces is just two. When the installation is done, we will oil the stone, turning it a dark gray and highlighting the veining.

The guys "customizing" the window edge of the soapstone slab that goes in the bay window...

The crew also installed the guest bath counter. This stone is Chinon, as is the shower tile. We also used Chinon in the master bath water closet...

The laundry room will have soapstone tile. Here are three tiles and the edge pieces...

Dave talks to the boss - Mike :-)...

Dave got the railing posts set on the master bedroom deck..

Yesterday Dave installed the rail cap on the deck and put together one cable section...

Sean and Bob came up to do the final HVAC installation work (mechanical room exhaust fan, hooked up the heat exchanger, and several other tasks) and to install the hangar door flashing...

Pete finished the stonework on the front stairs and move back to the south wall after Sean and Bob finished...

Rick dug more ditches and helped Dave put together the water lines...

The tractor parked onsite for more work tomorrow...

Our neighbor did some "scorched earth" landscaping over the weekend. We now have a more open feeling on the north side of the house...

Kelli left the Bay Area this morning at 4:00 a.m. in order to get onsite before the counters arrived. We spent the weekend sailing and going house hardware shopping. Saturday evening we watched tug boats move two World War II Victory ships from the Richmond port down the channel in front of our condo...

On Monday, Kelli was skipper for Ladies' Sail Day...