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.

Holiday Stress and Disappointment

Week 27:Well it was another week of progress. It seems to be slowing down, but we know that the end is near. The holidays are playing havoc with the scheduling and Mike is not sure if we will be ready to move in before Christmas. We were hoping that we would be able to spend the first days in the house before Christmas. The world will not end if this does not happen. I trust Mike will not rush things just to get it done. The floors will take roughly 4-5 days to sand and stain. While this is happening, no other interior work can be done so that puts a damper on the schedule. The doors will also be coming the third week of December. Between the floors and painting, the schedule is tight. This week we saw the near end result of the siding. We had mostly dry weather, so the guys concentrated on getting the siding and trim up. We only have a small area that is yet to be done since we are awaiting more supplies and they should be delivered the first week of December. Joe then started the interior trim work. He has finished the master suite and will be working his way downstairs. The special order tile for the girls bathroom arrived and Ralph was back to finish up the girls bathroom shower. He is almost done with the master shower as well. We received the new lights for the foyer and John will be installing those this next week so Ralph can then tile the foyer. The bathroom vanity for the girls bathroom was also installed this week. Joe also started the ceiling over the balcony, but ran out of supplies there as well, so we should see some more boards soon. Mike is out of town this week and he worked hard to get everyone scheduled this week. We have the landscapers starting Monday on the final grading, but we are still waiting for the fence company to come remove their fence. We will have John working on the electrical, Joe continuing on the trim and Ralph tiling. There may be more but I will have to wait and see. The painters are starting the week after Thanksgiving and we will have the final measurements for the shower doors as well. We are getting a good push to the finish line.

Trim work around the windows. It will mimic the style on the exterior trim around the windows.







Another angle of the window trim.








Baseboard trim.








Tiling in the girls shower.








The girls new vanity.








Here is one of the sinks for the girls bathroom. Just dry fitting to see where to center it.







Here is Ralph installing the subway tiles in the girls shower.








Here is a close up of the decorative tile in the girls bathroom.








Siding on the west side gable. The round vent was also installed.








Here is Joe working on the back of the house. The only issue we had was that the spray foam insulation squeezed through several spots and he had to cut the house wrap and then remove the dried insulation to make the wall flush.





Here is one of the cuts he had to make to remove the insulation. He then taped it back up and installed the siding.







Almost done in the back of the house.








Final touches to the back.








The back is finished.








Here Joe is working on the front of the house. It was a very chilly and windy day.








Here is the completed front of the house.








Another shot of the front siding. Looks like a nearly completed house.







Here you can see some of what is left to do on the siding.








Here is one of our covered exterior outlets. It is right next to the front door and will be perfect for hooking up the snowman for Christmas.






Here is the start of the balcony ceiling. He is about three quarters done.







The electrical has been run to the garage, but still needs to be hooked up to the outlets and lights.







This is the water stack. It was a little too low and Mike was afraid the landscapers wouldn't see it so he had it raised a bit.

A Bathtub Fit for a Queen

Week 25:This week brought some more bad weather that created more issues with us being able to get the exterior siding finished. We are hoping for better weather this week, but it doesn't look too promising. In the meantime, we have the kitchen cabinets being installed and the master bath tub was installed. They will finish the master bath vanity early this upcoming week. They also swapped out the kids tub due to damage. Some of the lights we ordered are coming in and we have the exterior porch railing ordered. This next week, we are hoping to finish the siding and getting the rest of the hardwood floors installed. If the last pieces of the tile come in tomorrow and the floor lights on Tuesday, as they are scheduled, then the tilers will be in to finish up their work. We met with the shower door and mirror company and are having them come out to measure. The countertops will also be measured this week.

The top of the siding installed.








Joe measuring for the boards in the gable.








More siding to replace the boards that were the wrong size.










The finished front.









Working on the new addition side.








Here is the new master bath floor.








Here is the niche for the tub.








Closeup of the tile with the dark grout.








The tub built for a queen. It is now installed and ready for use.








Close up of the soaking tub.









Here they are starting to unpack the kitchen cabinets. This is the double oven cabinet.









Here they are dry fitting all the cabinets to their locations.








Cabinet being leveled and installed.








Another angle of the cabinets.








Completed installation of the cabinets on the south and west walls.








Here is the location of the dishwasher.








Upper cabinet with soft close doors.












Starting the build out for the refrigerator and pantry.







Cabinets installed with the opening for the refrigerator and coffee station on the left.







Here is where the island will be.








Here is the girls bathtub that was damaged.








Here is the cutout of the tub.








The replacement tub.








Lumber for the framing of under the stairs.