July 28, 2009: Drainfield begins

On Tuesday, we dropped by during lunch to meet with a paving cotnractor and to look at progress where work on teh drainfield was ongoing. Earlier we had dropped by on Saturday to mark out where the sidewalk would go. Of perhaps greatest interest to us, W.D. told us he thought the house would be done by the end of August or the first week in September.

A view of the dirt dug up for the septic tank. I found it hard to get a good picture of the drainfield and this is included mostly because I liked the view of the tree.

Looking up one of the trenches into the hole for the septic tank.

A trench for chambers.

Chalk lines to guide subsequent trenches.

A different view of the house (from the south) with one of the trenches dug.

If you look closely you can see the flags we laid out for the sidewalk. Mostly, it's intended to be in two sections - one section parallel to the garage, and another parallel to the front porch - with a S joint in between.

A different view of the sidewalk flags. The colors have no significance.

The frame for the master bathroom tub. It's bulging out a little because the framers screwed up and made the a couple inches too small, but actually in terms of width instead of depth. The

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July 24, 2009: Tile and Railings

After some travel earlier in the week, we got out to the house on Friday and snapped some pics. Work is going a little slower, but it is still progressing with the master bath tiled in and most of the balusters for the stairs installed.

The stairwell. I originally thought that I wouldn't like the balusters, but I think they look pretty good. The bottom covers won't be dropped until after the wood is stained.

View of the stairwell from the top. As you can see, there's still a bit of work to be done on it, but it's taking shape.

The shower was tiled off. A view of the shower. The band around the shower is from the same 2x2 tiles that we used on the floor. We think it ties the whole thing together and will be reusing those tiles on the floor and around the whirlpool. You can also see an inset piece to hold soap and shampoo. I didn't know that these existed before this project.

View of the shower corner seat. Useful when a certain someone needs to shave their legs.

View of the shower from across the master bathroom. One of the things we realized on Friday is that the shower is just big enough that we can walk the dogs into the shower when we need to give them a bath in the winter.

The tiles in kitchen are covered, presumably in preparation for painting.

I'm not entirely certain, but I believe these are for putting together chambers for the drain field.

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July17, 2009: More Stairs and Tile

On Friday, we went out to the house briefly before going out to Rustburg to meet the granite company. Tiles were laid in the kitchen and the stairs were completed. On Monday the stair railings will start going in.

Tiles in the Kitchen. They're 2'x2' Ivory tiles from the Marazzi Stone Collection layed out in the brickwork pattern.

Closer view of the kitchen tiles.

Preethi ascending the completed stairs.

Ballustrades and posts for the stair railings.

Trim in around the front door. I hadn't seen it before, but Preethi said it had been in for a while. The curved trim on the top is a bit more challenging than normal.

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July 16, 2009: Grading, Stairs, and Tiles

We got back out to the house on the 16th where the front yard had been graded and the last of the backfill on the front of the house was complete. Work also continued on steps and tile.

Grading on the front yard viewed from the driveway. All of the gutter drains on the front are now covered.

The bottom portion of the steps were completed (still have to be painted and sanded). You can see how the bottom step opens out into the great room.

The tiles were laid in the Jack-and-Jill bathroom.

Another view of the tiles in the Jack-and-Jill bathroom. The white things are spacers.

The little divot in the corner (white line in in the corner) and the tile will hold up a corner seat in the shower.

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July 15th, 2009:Stairs, Trim and Tile

On Wednesday, I finally got out to the lot (thought I think I really ought to be calling it "the house" now) where work on trim, the stairs and tile.

Work was progressing on the stairs. The stringers are in (on the side supporting the steps) with most of the risers in and a few of the treads. The riser on the bottom step isn't done yet as it's going to stick out and a little bit for the bottom post with a slight curve in the handrail into the great room. There's a discussion of stair construction terms in this DIY article.

While we're not putting in crown molding anywhere (the vaulted great room would screw it up) we are installing chair rails in the dining room.

More chair rails in the dining room.

The baseboard trim was finished in the great room.

Tiles were delivered. These are for the master bathroom.

Close up of the master bathroom tiles.

A rubber mat is down in the shower as a vapor barrier on the floor. (How to tile a shower)

Tiles for the Jack-and-Jill bathroom: "Moss" colored.

It felt like I hadn't posted an outside picture in forever, so here's a view from the woods' edge. You can just make out the front covered entry on the left.

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July 11, 2009: Drains and Electrical Work

We visited the house on Saturday with some friends. The gutter drains had been mostly installed and some

From left to right. Soham, Ashwini, Deept, Preethi, Malik, and Rekha. Also if you look closely the electrical box on the outside has been mounted.

At the front corner of garage, drain on the downspout, not yet attached.

Drain pipes flowing out from the house.

Exterior electrical outlets are in. I think I'll get the cover changed as I don't think the plastic looks good. The hole on the right is for a water faucet.

Other outlets on the outside.

Light switches in the great room.

The electrical boxes are in.

The copper tubing for the heat exchanger / compressor.

The gutter guard has been in for a while now, but I don't think I've posted a picture before now.

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July 8, 2009: Baseboards and Wonderboard

We visited the house on the evening of the 8th (Wednesday). The remainder of the Wonderboard was in and baseboard trim was started on the second level. A couple places struck me as a little odd as I'm used to doing baseboard after tile (to get a snug fit) but before carpet (to tuck) so I'll have to check up on it.

Baseboard in the upstairs hallway. This is on top of the hardwood, so it's expected (though staining might be harder).

Wonderboard down in the jack-and-jill bathroom.

Some baseboard down in the master bedroom (this will be carpet).

Wonderboard in the master bathroom.

My "huh?" moment as there's baseboard on the wonderboard in the "throne room". Is just the quarter round going to sit on the tile?

Baseboard in one of the master bedroom closets (carpet).

Baseboard in another bedroom (carpet).

Different view of the wonderboard in the jack-and-jill.

Wonderboard and baseboard in the laundry (tile floor).

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