Kitchen counters, steps, and more!

Enrico came late this morning to install the paper on the stairs so that workers could access the upper floors: poor thing has the dreaded "febbre" (fever), so we directed him sternly not to breathe on us and to go home.

The day was spent in much activity. Electricians hung light fixtures and completed various bits and bobs around the place. The plumber came, fiddled a bit, and left. Umberto and Bogdan finished pouring the new steps to access our storage/utility room. Alessandro and Roberto spent time working on Florence's bed. And in the afternoon, the counters were installed!

This is the easy piece

Stove installed!

Out of the truck...

...Up the stairs...

...Through the dining room...

Nearly there!

We were happy with how the ceramic top echoes the travertine
elements in the house

The sink is a flush-mount

Maurizio working on the dishwasher

Florence being Rapunzel

There's a story on these light fixtures: they're actually wrought iron candle-holders from the 1800s (1700s? I have to look it up) that were electrified with the addition of surface-mounted wires. However, they're too narrow to cover any kind of traditional electric box. There was much consternation when Roberto and co looked at the situation because they did not want visible wires or junctions. They ended up carving out a little cranny in the plaster to hold the wire. Roberto wasn't thrilled with the first fixture because it came out a little from the wall; his diagnosis was that the fixture was curved. I could see from the side that actually, there was a little nut on the bottom edge. I mentioned to him that the NEXT trough (for the second fixture) should include a gouge to accommodate the nut. Once he saw and accepted the issue, nothing would do but that he should take down the first fixture to gouge it similarly. It now lies flat against the wall.

Roberto (electrician) being lovely

Florence, Jeremy, and I also worked on cleaning the main floor's spaces and the master bedroom, since we have a helper + truck arriving tomorrow morning bright and early to help us schlep the big stuff to the house. So exciting!

It's extraordinary how much fine dust an irregular wood floor will trap. We ended up using the driest possible mop and working in tandem to dry the floor right away with a rag. It is slow, but had pretty good results. It took over an hour to clean one bedroom, but it looks fantastic! We did preparatory sweeping for the rest of the floor, having pulled up all the protective cardboard carpets.

And afterwards, a well-earned gelato in the piazza.

Love,

Alexandra

One step at a time...

We're in crunch time here (next week, everything stops in Italy for the annual holidays), and there's a lot of competition for space and work access in the house. Fortunately, we saw Umberto while enjoying our morning coffee outside, and had the chance to go over the work flow with him to help him tell everyone where he could/should be at what time.

We had present at various times:

1. Plumbers, finishing out the water softening system
2. Carpenters, working on Florence's bed-under-the-stairs
3. Electrician, removing the temporary power feed and going over the remaining light fixtures and details to be addressed
4. Carpenters (group 2), preparing the old stairs for refinishing and removing all the yucky hardware from the front doors to allow them to open all the way. Sadly, I don't have a "before" picture.
5. Muratori ("wall-builders"), preparing to pour the steps down to the utility room and general cleanup
6. Floor layer, fixing gaps in the front hall floor so he can do the final polishing

The room's too small to get a full perspective,
but the dark triangle is the top of Florence's bed

Another view!

Installing the ladder rail for the bookcase

Partitions on the stairs

Both sides open!

Looking back into the courtyard!

Notice the holes and dents in the plaster

Hinge damage in the plaster

The hook will stay, as will the bolts

The wall looks like it always did!

Love,

Alexandra

 

At the blacksmith's

I got a call yesterday from the blacksmith, Marcello, who is working on a few fall-protection window grates for us. Rather than utilitarian blech (which is pretty common here, but feels like jail to us), we've commissioned a real artist to do the more important and visible pieces.

He's made some progress, and wanted to show it off; he also wanted to give us a live demonstration (which was completely fun, especially since the end product will be for us!). Florence and I spent about an hour there, and left completely impressed with his artistry.

Making the curve in a longer leaf

Part of the template for one of the grates

Curlicues and little wigglies in the back (branches)

A flower, next to the sketch for his template

These flowers already have the longer leaves attached

This is how a longer leaf begins

Adding the undulations to a longer leaf

This leaf started out as a rod; he used
the hydraulic hammer to do the rough shaping

Hand-hammering creates texture
and refines the shape

Voilà! Complete with lifelike curvature and movement

Love,

Alexandra

p.s. Enrico and Alviero have been working on installing the new steps today:

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