The Beginning of the End

Week 29: We can feel the end is near. This week we had good progress in getting the trim done. Joe has completed all but the trim in the kitchen area. He also got the guest bathroom vanity installed. The painters have arrived and are finishing up the trim work upstairs and should begin on the walls this upcoming week. The HVAC guys came in and installed the AC and Humidifier with the thermostat. The big change was the arrival of the landscapers. We were worried we would not get in the sod before the end of the season due to the rain and cold. We did have more rain which put us behind a few days, but they did get the sod down and it looks great. Anne will have the rest of the winter to start planning the new landscaping for next year. They also added a small retaining wall to help direct the path of the waters. Ralph was back and has just about finished the foyer tiling. We are awaiting the last piece of the floor lights and then he can finish the floor. He finished up the master bath so it is now ready for the shower doors, which were re-measured on Monday and are on order. So next week it is more painting, the kitchen vent hood will be installed and hopefully the rest of the kitchen will come together. The gutters and downspouts will also be installed.


Painters prepping the floors.







The painted baseboards.








Master bedroom baseboards painted.








Ralph installing the tile in the foyer.








The finished floor except for the floor lights.








The final master bath tiling and grouting.








Here is the vent hood awaiting installation.








The guest bath vanity.








The new humidifier.








The new AC unit.








The landscapers have arrived and are finishing the final grading. With the rain it became a big mud pit for a few days.







The final grading smoothed out and awaiting sod. The before shot.








The front ready to go.








More sod. Looks endless.








The front yard after. There are a couple spots that have the old Maple tree trunks so they will have to remove the stumps and finish the sod on Monday.






The final front view.








Here one of the crew was moving sod in a wheel barrow.








The new sod in the back yard.








Continuing in the back yard.








Getting closer to finishing.








Closeup of the retaining wall.








Here is the after shot of the area next to the garage.

Finishing Touches

Week 23:This was a week of visual changes. The tile was delivered and Ralph has started the installation. He first put down a layer of compound and nailed down the backerboard to create a level floor. Then he installed and grouted the tile in the laundry room and installed tile in the mudroom. The mudroom is going to be the temporary location of the appliances once they are delivered this upcoming week. He also has gotten the NuHeat underlayment installed int he bathrooms. This will keep our feet nice and toasty in the winter months. He has put down a coat of the Mapei AquaDefense liquid waterproofing in the master bath. The furnace was fired up to dry out the house and get it up to temperature for the delivery of the hardwood. The wood was delivered and is getting ready for install. It has to sit for a few days to acclimate to the temperature. The exterior siding started on Monday, but...once again we lost two days of install due to RAIN. They picked back up later in the week and have been concentrating on the trim around the windows and the edges. Once that has been completed, then they will start the horizontal and vertical boards. They also have installed the flashing at the bottom of the house to partially cover the pink foam insulation. The header boards are also installed for the future installation of the deck. It will be ready to go. We also have the final asphalt layer on the hole in the street where the water was tapped into the village system. Travis the plumber was back out to install the Navien tankless hot water heater and prep for the installation of the humidifier. Jeff of DigRightIn, our landscaper, finished the drainage project. Anne's bathtub is officially in the house in our bedroom. It is slowly inching it's way to it's final resting place. Next week they continue on the siding, which looks like the weather may cooperate for the most part with rain on Wednesday possibly. It does look like the later half of the week is going to be very cold though. The tile will be continued and hopefully the start of the wood floors. The appliances are set for delivery on Thursday.

Here is the final layer on the street where the water was tapped into the village system.







Here is the after picture of the garden area. Pretty flat at this point.







Here is the middle drainage inlet.








The new Navien tankless hot water heater. It still needs a few a couple adjustments to be completed.







The furnace with the copper tubing for the humidifier. The furnace is a two stage one. The fan will run slower when the house is at a constant temperature. It is very quite when it is running at the lower speed.










This is the cement board siding from James Hardie. It is fire and insect resistant since it is made of cement. We went with a nice gray color with white trim.





Here is the gray siding.









These are the white trim pieces.







Here is the aluminum trim work under the staircase bump out.








Here is Joe starting the install on Monday. It was overcast and they got a couple windows done and then the rain came for two days.






Here is the ledger board for the future deck install.








Here is the trim around the windows on the south side of the house.







Here is the ledger board and the flashing that is covering the pink foam insulation. It is nicely taped at the top to the tyvek wrap.







Close up shot of the trim around the window.








Trim on the front of the house around the windows and corners/bottom.







Here is the foyer topped with the Hardie Backerboard.








The mudroom with the backerboard.








The trowels of the trade.








Here is the Hardie Backerboard that is installed.








This is the cutout for the tub drain.








These are the NuHeat mats that will heat up the floor tiles in the bathrooms.







The mat installation in the guest bathroom.








Here is the mat in the girls bathroom.








This is one of the niches in the bathroom shower. We decided to put these in all the bathrooms to hold shampoos etc.. They are made out of a Styrofoam like substance. Very light, but waterproof.





The delivery of the tile.








Here is the tile in the laundry room hallway and area. No grout as of yet.







Another shot of the tile. It is a white tile with grey marble like veins. This is the tile that will also be in the girl's bathroom.







Here is the tile grouted with a white grout. It is a little hard to see clearly.







Here is the mudroom that Ralph did on Saturday morning.








The mudroom not grouted yet.








This is the build up for the tub drain. The bottom of the tub is up off the floor, so this will be flush with the tub drain.







Here is the Mapei AquaDefense waterproofing. It is liquid-rubber quick-drying waterproofing and crack-isolation membrane.







Anne's soaking tub.








The guest bathroom floor tile.








The guest bathroom shower accent glass tile.








Here is the oak flooring for the master bedroom.








This is the Hickory flooring that is going to be installed throughout the house.







Hickory.








Hickory. Beautiful shades throughout the wood. Can't wait to see it installed.