Another busy day

Today was a little slow, relatively, because we only had the countertop installers in to measure, Luca painting hallways, and the carpenters to install the bookcase.

"Bookcase" is rather an understatement, since it is an entire wall of the house. As is usual with an installation of this size, the first obstacle was to get the components to the house. The van was big enough that they didn't want to bring it into the alley. Instead, they parked in Piazza Jacopone and used an ape (pronounced AH-peh, meaning "bee" because of the sound the motor makes) from there.

The board in the middle is a ramp
for the front wheel because otherwise
the ape wouldn't make it up the step

Here comes the ape!

Making sure everything's loaded. Roberto is in black (he's the carver)
and Enrico is in the background (mostly works with windows,
but came along to have a look)

A push to get it over the threshold and make sure nothing falls off
(Alessandro is to the left)

And up the ramp!

Toting big boards around tight stairs

 

There were pieces everywhere for a while!

Luca painting in the background

Bonus shot of the view out of our bathroom window

The wood is mounting up!

Preparing the layout

Just a few workers' cars blocking the courtyard.
I forgot to mention that the plumbers were also working on
the water softener.

Florence waiting in her reserved ringside seat

Starting the assembly without Ikea's instruction sheet

First block done! The door is
in just to give the effect that we'll have later

Paolo is to the left, helping Alessandro

Second layer going up!

The detail is just exquisite.

Roberto carved these capitals, as well

Love,

Alexandra

p.s. The blacksmith has sent a few photos of his work on the fall-protection railing outside our living room window which I include here

A hive of activity

Today was a busy day. Consider that we had:

1. Electricians doing final installations of the light fixtures we already own, as well as connecting the internet.

Jeremy's room

Measuring for placement holes;
these will be installed later, once the
walls have been painted

Girls' room

Library

Library in progress

Modem installation

Guest room

2. Plumbers doing final installations (water softener hookup is tomorrow, as is the check on all the bathroom plumbing)

3. Painter preparing the walls in the remaining few spaces (stairways/hallways)

4. Carpenters installing the kitchen!

The van is too large to go in our alley well, so it was better
to unload in Piazza Jacopone

An entire kitchen!

Maurizio with the handtruck;
second load of many

Michael couldn't resist
joining the procession

Luckily, we had plenty of room to work

Installation of feet

The cabinet under the stove

Nearly finished!

I love the dovetailing on the panels

This is the rear of a door panel

Love,

Alexandra

Floorboards

The big push this week is to get down the floorboards in the upper floors because no other workmen can finish until they have access to the upstairs areas. Gianni, a lovely parquetista, has been working hard on getting everything in place. As of late this morning, he had completed all of the upper floor except for the boys' room (he started at the hallway at the top of the stairs to have the only portion that actually lined up with the boards, so crooked are the old walls). He'll finish there tomorrow and then will start with baseboards, during which process, other workers will be able to access the space.

Starting late last week, it was time for the top step

First board...this took a lot of fiddling
due to slight unevenness in the concrete subfloor

In order to get it completely level,
 Gianni did some strategic weighting

Hallway done

Bedroom done

Tinello and half of bathroom corridor done

Girls' bedroom done

Apart from Gianni's efforts, the plumbers have also been in to do bits and bobs. It's delightful to see the progress there, too!

Toilet and bidet in guest bath...a few attachments yet to complete

Toilet installed in powder room

Love,

Alexandra