September 23, 2009: Closets, Backsplash

I went out of town at the beginning of the week again and dropped by the house Wednesday evening. The backsplash, outside ground spots, logs for the fireplace, and closet shelves were all installed while I traveled.

Outside lights, including ground spots were installed.

The light post and the garage lights.

The ground spots used to light up the outside of the house. We'll eventually hide them in the landscaping. The boxes are there to limit mud splashing back on the bricks while the bricks are washed (to knock off excess mortar) on Thursday.

We have a street number! Which makes this a real house.

The house from the road.

Backsplash - a mix of marble with absolute black granite insets and some random 1" tiles we found at Home Depot for trim at the bottom.

Another view of the kitchen with the backsplash. After we move in, we'll track down some outlet covers that match the marble so you don't get the jarring white/black combination on the backsplash.

Closeup of the backsplash.

Pantry. Closet shelves were installed.

Coat closet on the main level. With shoe racks at the bottom.

One of the closets (his / her) in the master bed room.

The tub was installed and tiling touched up around the tub.

The covering paper was also pulled up so you can see the master bath floor for the first time in a long time.

Fireplace, now with screen and gas logs.

Switch (Fire switch?) for the gas logs.

The gas line to the outside of the house was hooked up. It'll run to the fireplace and to the range. We don't have a propane tank, yet, however.

To get a Certificate of Occupancy, we had to put railings to block exit from the main level doors that will eventually (year? two years from now?) open onto a deck.

Grass is coming in.

Glass shelf in the main level bath.

Perhaps the most important thing to be done - the water is all hooked up.

Outside faucet on the backside (basement). We can mix and match hot and cold water so we can bathe the dogs in the winter.

The driveway with surface treatment (tar and gravel). We'll pave next summer (not to save money which is why we delayed other things, but to let the ground settle first)

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August 20, 2009:

On Thursday, we got out to the house in the evening. The rest of the cabinets were in place and cabinet hardware had started to be installed.

A view of the slightly update cabinets. The handles on the doors are on, but the knobs on the drawers still have to be added. Also crown molding on the top of the cabinets and a shelf for the microwave was added.

Closeup of the microwave shelf.

Detail of the cabinet crown molding which was added today.

Compared to before, I don't know that the gap between the doors was adjusted much. However, Preethi spoke with the installer again today, and it turns out that we be able to adjust the doors further, which I'll do later to close the gap. Sure the doors will swell and shrink throughout the year, but cabinet doors haven't been that hard to adjust in the past.

The bifold door for the pantry was installed today.

Bifold door on the linen closet in the jack-and-jill bathroom.

Vanity on my side of the master bathroom.

Forms in the ground for the piers for the stoop on the south facing door from the garage.

The rest of the forms for the piers are currently in the garage.

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June 10, 2009: Bricks and Drywall (and a lot more)

On Wednesday, the bricks progressed until it started raining, the basement step rough-in was completed, the front entry slab was poured, the whole house fan was installed, more dirt was delivered, and... whew. That's a lot!

View of the house from the northeast corner of the lot. Bricks have gone up on the garage side and a bit on the front.

View of the bricks on the garage side.

Close up of the soldier course and iron angle above the garage. Pretty, but weaker structurally than the staggered pattern.

We had some insulation added around the master bed room to cut down on sound wafting up from the great room.

The master bed room all insulated in.

More drywall in the great room with the dormer filled in.When you hang drywall from the top down (as you're supposed to) and you have a 24 foot ceiling, it takes a little bit to work your way down.

The kitchen drywall was mostly completed (except for the mudding).

Looking out from the kitchen towards the great room.

Looking from the kitchen towards the dining room.

The pantry.

The dining room.

The main level (guest) bedroom.

The main level bath.

Some more dirt was delivered for finishing the filling around the house after the brick work is done.

Our whole house fan. The concept is to expel all of the air in the house out through the roof and replace it with air from outside in about 3 minutes.

View of the basement stairs from the main level.

View of the steps from the basement.

The front slab was poured, but is covered to protect it from the elements.

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