Inspection news and first look at master bath vanity and owner's kitchen cabinetry

We are rushing, rushing, rushing to get enough of the red brick building finished to get our certificate of occupancy so that we can get a bank loan (our old one expired).  To get the C of O, we need final inspections of plumbing, electrical, life safety (fire prevention), and lastly an overall building inspection.  We passed our plumbing inspection late last week so that's one down.  We flunked the electrical because we were missing too many fixtures and our electrician thought the wired areas would be okay temporarily without blank plates.  Wrong: we needed the plates.  The electrical inspector is scheduled to be back at the RBB today (the blank plates are in) and hopefully we will pass the electrical.  Next up: life safety.

Meanwhile, the custom cabinetmaker sent his installers to the building yesterday to put in the master bathroom vanity and frames for the base cabinets in the owner's kitchen.  They started in the kitchen and were still in the middle of that when I arrived.  I took a couple of quick photos while they were having lunch.  First reaction: I love them!  I love the way they preserved the patina of the ceiling joists we salvaged from the RBB, which at the same time getting rid of the worst of the dirt and making them flat and splinter free.  Everyone has been giving me a really hard time when I asked for that look to our wood, explaining why it was a bad idea and couldn't be done, and here our awesome cabinet guy just got on with it (after quadruple-checking with me that it's what I really wanted) and it looks even better than I'd imagined.  Look at the tongue-and-groove of the planks lining the *inside* of the cabinets (click on the photo to enlarge it):

This is the inside of one of the base cabinets, another top-down shot:

The part of the counter top that dips down is where the enormous salvaged cast iron double sink is going to be.  As you can see, still a work in progress, but at least it's looking awesome and at least it's moving.

They also brought the master bathroom vanity to install.  It's basically just a shelf, cantilevered into the wall.  Here it is, propped up in the shower:

I absolutely love detail of the mitered corners.  And look at the lovely patina they preserved on the wood!  We are going to have a piece of glass cut to protect the wood (and keep the dropped toothpaste out of the grain) and then our antique punch bowl will sit on the glass and serve as the sink.  (Fingers crossed that cutting the hole in the base for the drain goes okay.  Everyone has been too afraid to do it and risk shattering the bowl.  Finally our glass cutter agreed to take on the challenge yesterday.)  With regards the vanity itself, my biggest concern is that they make it "float" as much as possible, with the support brackets set invisibly high up and far back into the wall.  I know it's a structural challenge for them so I'm a bit worried about the final look of the thing.