Brick work is complete (week 13)

It's hard to believe that brick started going up on week 7.1 and here it is week 13 and it is done! The crew worked very hard but the weather just kept getting in the way. We have seen more snow this year than I can remember in a long time. They still need to build the front steps and the mailbox which will both be brick but the house itself is done. You might notice the fireplace box on the back isn't covered yet, however it will be covered with hardiboard and painted to match the front in a dark gray.

Sheetrock also finished this week which means they will start to prime the walls and ceiling next week! The end is in sight and we are getting excited!

Sheetrock (week 12.2)

Week 11 was filled with the installation of sheetrock and the start of sheetrock finishing. Rain returned this week and put a halt to the brick work which only lacks one to two days to finish. Week 12 started with more rain/snow mix which meant that brick work was still on hold. Today was cold and snowy but that didn't stop the installation of hardiboard on the front second story of the house. We provided Tim with a list of paint colors from Kim at Just So. The Hardiboard will be painted a dark gray color and the front door will be stained Chestnut color. The sheetrock finishing is close to being finished. The cold temperatures and all the moisture we have experienced has slowed efforts but they should be done later this week.
Katie and I are still finalizing our choice on floors. Jason at Valley Building Supply offered to order two boxes of different grades of Brazilian Cherry to help us decide which to buy. We are also finalizing the style of interior door.
As soon as it dries up Tim would like to finish grading the front and garage side of the house. This will need to be completed to allow concrete trucks access to pour the front porch and garage floor. Tim is also looking to start work on building the rear deck. Unfortunately we only have one day of dry warm temperatures in the forecast before we see another drop accompanied by snow flurries. Hopefully it will be dry enough to finish sheetrock finishing and allow them to start priming the walls for paint.

The interior starts to take shape (week 10)

The interior really started taking shape this week with wall insulation going in and the start of drywall. Installation of the front door and fireplace brings the start of the finishing touches.

The plumbers completed rough-in plumbing this week. I really like how the PEX plumbing is installed. The tubing is flared until it fits over the desired fitting and then left to shrink to a tight fit. The plumbers added a return line to the hot water piping so a circulation pump can be installed. This would ensure hot water is immediately available at the faucet furthest from the hot water heater. The water supply pipes were tied in to the city water main and pressure tested as well. All that's left of the plumbing is to install the hot water heater and connect all the faucets once the vanities are installed.

Insulation work started this week and is nearly complete with wall insulation. We asked about using the new spray-on foam insulation, however the cost was nearly double. We ended up going with the traditional "pink" bat insulation, however we decided up upgrade to R-15 insulation in the walls. The cost to upgrade was minor and the cost of energy will only continue to increase. We also had them insulate the interior wall between the den and master suite to keep noise down, of course having the TV mounted on the shared wall won't help. The interior wall separating the basement workshop and the rest of the basement was also insulated (top picture).

Our front door came in this week, which we were VERY excited about. It is hard to tell in the picture but the glass in the door has an arch at the top that matches perfectly with the arched window above the door and in the office. The door is large at 8ft tall and has 14" sidelights. We ordered a 3/4 glass door, however the door came in with 1/2 glass. I think the 3/4 would look better but we aren't going to send it back since we are so far along. The door is fiberglass and made to be stained to look like wood. We are going to use Minwax Chestnut gel-stain.

Drywall was delivered on Friday and a crew showed up bright and early today (Saturday) to start installation. They completed the master bathroom vaulted ceiling, office vaulted ceiling, and keeping room vaulted ceiling today. The installation of insulation and drywall is really allowing us to see what the final size and feel of each of the rooms.

The brick crew finally got several days of good work with temperatures rising above freezing. The evening temperatures have still been below freezing, however that just meant the crew got a later start than what they would have preferred. The last few days they worked right up to dusk to get as much done as possible. By the end of the day today they were able to complete most of the garage side of the house. That means one side is completely done, the back just lacks a little around the keeping room, and the other side just lacks around the garage door. This evening the crew said they need 3 more good days to finish up. Before leaving today they prepared for Monday by stacking brick along the front of the house.

I finished up on all of the Audio/Video wiring today. I wired every room with at least one Cat 6 network cable. I also ran network cable to both thermostats in case we upgrade to network capable thermostats one day. I also ran some more speaker wire to pre-wire the garage for speakers. When ever I work in the garage I really like to listen to music so I might as well wire for it.

Lastly, our fireplace came in this week and was installed in the keeping room. The fireplace is a 40" Lennox Superior direct-vent fireplace. The direct-vent has the drawback of being sealed with glass on the front but the benefit of no combustion by-products entering the home and since it is sealed the heat in the home doesn't go up the chimney. They still generate a reasonable amount of heat and have the look of a gas fireplace.

Next week we expect to see the completion of brick work, all of the drywall should be hung, and they may start blowing the ceiling insulation. Katie and I have started looking at furniture and taking bets on when we will move in. The end is in sight...!

Colors, Cabinets, and Floors...oh my! (Week 9)

This week has been full of choices and lite on physical work. We only had several hours, literally, where temperatures were above freezing this week. That prevented any brick work from being done this week. The plumber and HVAC subs started work with the help of some space heaters. Rough-in heat and air is already finished and the plumber still has a weeks worth of work to complete his rough-in. We decided to go with a dual fuel Carrier 3.5 ton split unit for the main floor and a smaller heat pump for the second floor. We really like the idea of the dual fuel because you get the efficiency of a heat pump in moderate temperatures and the warmth of a gas unit when the temperatures really drop, like they did this week.

Last Saturday we made a trip down to Lowes Cabinet and Lighting Gallery, no this isn't the big box retailer you are familiar with, to finalize our choice on kitchen and bathroom cabinets and counter tops. We were really reluctant to make this decision because last time we were there we didn't see the look we wanted. Luckily the company now offers a Cabernet stain that was just what we wanted. We were planning on using Maple for all of our cabinets, however they showed us a sample of a Cherry cabinet with the Cabernet stain that we absolutely fell in love with. After getting quotes on the Cherry and Maple we decided to go with Cherry in the kitchen and Maple for all of the bathroom vanities. We also chose Tropical Brown granite for our kitchen and master bathroom counter tops. The order was finalized on Tuesday and should take 4 weeks to make them.

Originally we were interested in using carbonized strand Bamboo flooring for the entire main floor of the house and hallway of the second floor. We stopped by Valley Building Supply to see what they had available and found a Brazilian Cherry floor that was comparable to the price of the bamboo. We have not made a final decision on the floors yet, but we are strongly leaning towards the Brazilian Cherry floors. I borrowed the sample of the cabinets and a sample of the cherry floors to make sure they look good together since we are using wood in the kitchen. I think the cabinet, floor, and cushing green paint will look very nice together.

This morning Katie and I met with Kim McClellan from Just So Decorating again to make final choices on exterior Hardiboard/shutter choices and interior colors. The office and kitchen will be Cushing Green, the bedroom will be Oxford Gray, formal dining room is Clinton Brown, and the powder room and laundry will also be Clinton Brown. We are really happy with the palette that we ended up with and Kim's help was priceless.

Temperatures are supposed to rise back above freezing this Sunday and be back in the forties next week. The electrician is lined up to finish up with rough-in first of the week followed by an electrical inspection. Once the inspection is complete we should see insulation work start which will be followed by dry wall. Katie and I purchased our dishwasher and built-in microwave which finishes off all of our appliances. Everything has gone really well so far and with some help in a few areas all of the decisions have been really easy. Now...if the temperature will just rise above freezing!