August 27, 2009: Granite and front steps

On Thursday, we went to the house twice. Once during lunch to meet with the granite guys and then again in the evening to inspect the results and go on a walk. Work was also proceeding on the sidewalk and the front steps had gone in on Wednesday.

The granite in the kitchen in the evening after installation (all in). Preethi's playing "find the seam".

Your turn to find the seam. I promise it's there. What is easier to see is where the installers intentionally tore out a little drywall. Basically, the granite is perfectly straight, but drywall is not and if you'll be putting in a backsplash you can cover over the hole later.

Earlier in the installation process with the granite around the sink and dishwasher going in.

Same piece as in the preceding pic, but just after being dropped in (not yet glued and the sink has not yet been attached).

The granite around the sink post installation.

A closer view of the island. The island has a 1/4" bevel edge while the rest of the granite has a pencil edge. (granite edge types)

Another view of the installed granite in the kitchen.

We also put granite on top of fireplace. Oddly, the granite and the crown was cheaper than a traditional mantle piece.

The brickers were back installing the front steps the day before and while they were there I asked them how hard it would be to tear out some bricks rebrick a part which I thought didn't look right. (see the vertical line in the mortar in this picture). Turns out it's not that hard for the masons to knock out selected bricks and re-lay a few.

Preethi, Danny, and W.D. discuss the exact path of the sidewalk during lunch.

The sidewalk later that night. The curved wood is actually masonite.

This is mostly to see the bricked floor in the entryway. Still has to be cleaned.

Dan drops off a fresh load of dirt to build up the support around the piers that will support the garage backdoor pad.

Dirt filling in around the pillars. Eventually, the concrete blocks will be covered.

Glass samples we were considering for the cabinets. The left is "ridged" the right is "bubble". We're going with the ridged.

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April 27, 2009: More work on the second floor and a little in the basement

Most of the walls on the second level were completed when we came in the middle of the day on Monday, with basically just the north east bedroom and effectively the entire second level ceiling left to complete the main framing on the second level.

View of the house from the road. Most of the second level walls are up with the second level ceiling to go.

View of the house from the tree at the North east corner. The northeast bedroom on the second level is the one room with walls remaining to go up. At the same time, you can see the longer boards stacking up on the side of the garage that will be used to help build the ceiling.

View of the house from the Northwest corner. There was still some discussion on exactly how the recessed entry would appear so it wasn’t done yet.

View of the framing of the bumpout and the quasi-interior wall of the Master bedroom.

One of the workers stands on top of the corner of a closet and bedroom wall in preparation for working on the second floor ceiling. Don't think I would be comfortable standing like that, but it seemed like the most natural thing in the world for him.

I discuss ceiling plans in the Master bedroom with Juan. W.D. was a little startled to see me climbing up the ladder, but based on the brackets going in on the bumpout support, I was afraid that the ceiling was about to be built flat instead of as a tray ceiling. Turns out I was right about the intention for a flat ceiling, but wrong about the significance of the brackets. We’re now putting in the tray.

View of the trenches (to carry away sewage to the septic tank and drain field) in the basement from the West side of the basement (Den). W.D. (looking up the stairwell) also sneaks into the picture.

View of the trenches in the basement from the East side of the basement (Den). W.D. and Preethi discuss plumbing rough-in plans for the basement.

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Feb 26 - Basement Excavation Begins

On the way down the road, I startled Preethi with the cry, "We have dirt!" which was really quite exciting for me after the delays clearing the trees (mechanical issues with the track hoe). The hole was actually a little less than half done at this point. But ground had been broken.

View from the road (looking south). According to W.D. (the builder), we were fortunate with the dirt as the dense red clay is good for stabiltiy / minimizing settling.

Dan (W.D.'s son and lead on the excavation) next to the hole.

Me in the hole. I'm standing in the basement underneath where the main level bedroom will be. The wall of dirt to my left is where the main-level garage will be.

W.D. is amused by his customer scrambling into the basement hole to have his picture taken.

W.D., Dan, and me. I didn't hang around too much longer after this photo as having some fool where you need to dig is counterproductive for excavation.

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