October 3 - The brick borders have been laid on both porches of the guest house. The 4in block were also laid around the porches. Stucco is scheduled to begin in the next few days.
October 3 - The gable is bricked on Bedroom #3. The brick is complete from this gable around to the Jr. Master Screened Porch.
October 3 - A few bricks have been laid from the gable wall to the porch on the left side of Bedroom #3.
October 3 - A couple of rows of bricks have been laid on the foundation around the Study walls. The side on the left is the left gable wall.
October 3 - In the rear of the house, the Master Bath is finished. Bricks are going up on the Master Bedroom wall.
October 3 - The Master Bedroom bay window has a brick skirt now. The row lock is complete except for the corners.
October 3 - There are two short walls of bricks tucked between the Kitchen Screened Porch and the Master Bedroom. The wall in the rear with house wrap will have bricks.
October 3 - The rear of the house is being completed. The Kitchen Screened Porch has bricks around part of it. It will have a brick band at the top and then tile on the floor. The house wrap near the upper center of the porch will also have bricks to simulate the outside of the chimney.
October 4 - The Master Bedroom brick wall is being laid. The wall around the Master Bath and Master Walk in Closet is finished (except for a few details). The laid bricks have not been cleaned yet, they don't look as good as they will.
October 4 - The bricks on the Master Bedroom go on around the corner. There is a small section of brick wall between the bay windows and the porch that is only partially laid at this time. Obviously, the Kitchen Porch is not finished.
October 4 - The gable of Bedroom #3 is finished (except for cleaning and a few details). Work has started on the left gable and the front porch walls.
October 5 - There was a visitor about 5 feet from the Guest House last evening. Judging by the hoof print, it was a rather large visitor.
October 5 - The front doors don't have locks yet, so we secured them with framing lumber and 1/2in lag bolts into the studs. Only the center two doors operate. The framing lumber extends past them because there was no point in cutting it. All of the other doors have their locking mechanisms installed and are secured. Hurricane Matthew is due in about 72 hours.
October 5 - The Study gable is being laid. There are a number of bricks temporarily stacked on the laid brick so the scaffold boards could be removed for the pending hurricane.
October 5 - The right wall on the front porch is being laid. Note the row lock corners are not in place yet. There are other details which will be addressed.
October 5 - The wall on the Master Bedroom is nearing completion.
October 5 - The short wall next to the bay window is also nearly complete. On the far side of the bay window, brick still needs to be laid.
October 5 - There is a detail on the plans showing three rows of recessed bricks: 1 in the top row, 3 in the second row and 5 in the third (bottom) row. The detail is not obvious, but is there.
October 12 - The Guest House foundation has two coats of stucco: the scratch coat and the brown coat. When these two coats cure (a couple of days), the final colored coat will be applied.
October 12 - The block outlines show because the stucco base coats dry more quickly on the face of the blocks than at the joints. When the stucco is cured, it will be even colored.
October 12 - The shady side is still relatively wet. The stucco covers from the bottom of the siding to the footers.
October 12 - The stucco goes over the blocks that were laid around the porches since bricks were not used on them.
October 12 - The Master Bedroom Window bay window has brick on it. There are two short walls on the left of the window that remain. The brick boarder has not been laid on the Porch.
October 12 - The Master Bedroom wall is finished between the bay window and the Master Bath.
October 12 - The electricians have mounted electrical boxes on the Master Walk In Closet wall. The middle two boxes are transfer switches for the generator. The meter will be in the right box. The left box is a disconnect/breaker box for feeding the Garage and Guest House. The two conduits on the left go to the Guest House and Garage.
October 12 - The last wall of the Master Walk In Closet is being bricked.
October 12 - The Study gable has bricks to the top of the window. Tomorrow (if all goes according to plan) the lintel will be installed over the window and the gable will be completed.
October 12 - Bricks are being laid on the Front Porch.
October 12 - The feed wires have been pulled from the main panel on the Main House into the Garage breaker box. They have also been pulled to the Guest House.
October 17 - The guest house has its finished coat of stucco now. The exterior finish is complete (except for some minor touch up and the porch tiles). The sun is behind a cloud, so it is a bit overcast here.
October 17 - More finished stucco is visible in the rear of the guest house.
October 17 - With the sun in just the correct location, the recessed detail over the windows of the front gables are clearly visible. The Study gable is now complete.
October 17 - Both front gables are bricked. The front porch area between the gables will be brick steps. Much of the brick work is complete.
October 17 - This is the Study gable. The sun has moved a bit and the detail is not quite so obvious. A small portion of the wall to the right of the owner's entry is not bricked yet.
October 17 - The brick breezeway skirt is being bricked. This is the side towards the front yard. The brick border is being started. The breezeway will be tiled.
October 17 - The west side of the breezeway is also getting a brick skirt and border. The Garage jut out is the last major area of bricks to be laid. There are also a number of small areas to be finished.
October 17 - The wall to the left of the Owner's Entrance is bricked. The brick header over the window was laid incorrectly. The bricks were removed. They will be relaid tomorrow.
October 17 - The Master Walk In Closet wall has the major electrical components mounted on it. The white box is one of the tankless water heaters. Temporary power has been run to the house. The feed line is visible near the eave line. The feed line goes down the conduit in front of the water heater.
October 18 - The masons are working on some of the small areas today. The corner bricks are now installed on most of the row lock corners.
October 18 - The Breezeway skirts and borders are complete. The Breezeway will be tiled. There is still a small section to the right of the Owner's Entry door that needs bricks.
October 18 - The header over the window to the left of the Owner's Entry door is being bricked.
October 18 - The small section of wall on the Kitchen Screened Porch is being bricked. This simulated the back side of the Brays Room Fireplace. The fireplace is actually completely inside the Brays Room. This makes the wall much more weather tight. By adding brick to the outside, it looks like the chimney goes through the wall.
October 18 - The Breezeway looks very nice from the Main House Front Porch.
October 18 - Either side of the Front Porch has brick. The small white box in the lower right corner is an electrical outlet. All of the bricks will be cleaned by the masons at the end of the job.
October 18 - Here is how the Main House, Breezeway and Garage look from the drive entrance. The Guest House is off to the right (and not visible in this photo).
October 18 - Three large rectangles have been cut in the sub floor of the Foyer. The dividing pieces are not complete, but can be seen on the left side. The sleepers will be removed. Each rectangle will be bricked. Wood flooring will go around the bricks.
October 21 - The garage gable now has brick. The brick work on the garage is complete except for cleaning. Obviously, the garage apron is not poured yet.
October 21 - The wall near the Owner's Entry is being bricked. Only a small portion remains.
October 21 - The small rear wall between the Master Bedroom bay window and the screened porch is complete except for cleaning.
October 21 - The 'chimney' rear wall on the Kitchen Screened Porch is complete. The porch itself will get a row of brick around the perimeter and tile on the deck.
October 21 - 8,000 pounds of floor tile is stored in the garage and ready for installation this coming week.
October 24 - The second (and final) load of mixed hardwood flooring arrived this morning about 10 am. The first load was delivered on Saturday.
October 24 - The brick mason is finishing the pilaster tops on the rear wall of the house.
October 24 - He is working on the 4th (and last) one on the Brays Room in this photo. The work is a bit tedious because many bricks have to be cut.
October 24 - This is an intermediate pilaster. The bricks have not been cleaned yet.
October 24 - This is the pilaster being completed. The bricks have to be cut at angles to make the mitered joints.
October 24 - This shows the front porch and side wall. The bricks to the right of the column are washed out because of the sun's glare.
October 24 - This is one stack of the mixed hardwood flooring.
October 24 - A second large stack is in the kitchen area.
October 24 - The stacks next to the mahogany doors have been trimmed on the end so they will butt well.
October 24 - This is the location of the center brick tile pad in the foyer. Concrete board will be used to fill in the spaces between sleepers (boards nailed to the concrete). There are three brick tile pads in the foyer.
October 25 - The last corner pilaster on the Brays room is completed. The bricks around the porch still need to be laid.
October 25 - The corner of the Kitchen Porch is finished.
October 25 - The mason is working on the small walls to the right of the owner's entry. This is one of the last exterior areas needing bricks.
October 25 - Durock (underlayment for tile) is down in the Jr. Master Bath. This floor will be heated. If you look very closely, you'll see the flexible conduit on the Durock on the far right just past the short wall.
October 25 - The Durock carries on into the water closet room. The white circle in the back is the plumbing connection for the toilet.
October 25 - The Master Bath has Durock on the floor also. Notice the new knee wall around the shower.
October 25 - Here is another view of the Master Shower and new knee wall.
October 25 - The dog shower also has a new knee wall.
October 25 - The mixed hardwood flooring is going down in the Master Bedroom. It looks very rough right now, but once it is sanded and finished, it will be beautiful.
October 26 - The mud bed is installed in Bath 1 of the Guest House. The bed provides the slope for the shower floor. The large white pipe is for the toilet.
October 26 - The mud bed is also installed in Bath 2 of the Guest House. Notice the curb. The floor and walls will be lined with a waterproof membrane.
October 26 - More bricks were laid on the Owner's Entry.
October 26 - The Study floor is in place as is the Bar floor.
October 26 - The Master Bedroom floor is completely installed. The flooring will continue through the door into the hallway in a day or so.
October 26 - Durock for the Laundry Room floor is glued and nailed in place. This floor will be tile.
October 26 - The Powder Room adjacent to the Laundry Room also has a tile floor. The gap in the wall is for a pocket door.
October 26 - The fireplaces will be wrapped in brick about 6-1/2 feet high. From there on up, it will be wood wrapped. Each side of the see through fireplace has a brick hearth that will be built in the sub floor cut out.
October 26 - The Jr. Master Bedroom and Walk In Closet have flooring installed.
October 26 - The Great Room of the Guest House has tile. It is being installed. The cut out on the right is for the brick hearth. There is a fireplace that is barely visible on the right side of the photo.
October 26 - The Jr. Master Screened Porch brick border was finished today. A border still needs to be built around the inside walls (under the doors).
October 26 - The Dog Shower in the Laundry Room had a mud base on its floor. The orange piece on the left is the back of a niche which will be built in the dog shower.
October 26 - If you look closely, you'll notice the 'picture frame' wood floor around what will be tile pads in the foyer.
October 26 - The Foyer 'picture frame' flooring is more visible in this photo. This is going to make an amazing entrance.
October 26 - The Jr. Master Shower floor is also prepped for the next stage.
October 27 - Durock is on the ceiling of the Master Shower in preparation for tiling the ceiling.
October 27 - The Jr. Master Shower also has a tile ceiling, hence the Durock.
October 27 - More tile has been laid in the Guest House Great Room . Note the cut out for the hearth. The tile setter is meticulous.
October 27 - The shower pan is in place in the Dog Shower. The walls will also have the orange waterproofing material on them.
October 27 - This is the niche in the Dog Shower in the Laundry Room.
October 27 - The Left Gallery flooring is down. The door with the wires on the left is the kitchen. The Foyer is in the distance.
October 27 - The Right Gallery is also floored. The doorway on the right is Bedroom #3. The Jr. Master Suite is in the distance.
October 27 - The Master Suite and linen closet have wood flooring. The Master Bath Durock (for tile) is visible in the doorway on the left.
October 27 - Bedroom #3/Julie's Office floor is in place. The outlet in the middle of the floor will be cut flush with the floor (obviously) when the electrical trim out is done. This will provide power under the desk.
October 27 - The Jr. Master Bedroom has the flooring complete.
October 27 - Flooring is starting to go down in the Kitchen. Only the Kitchen and Dining Room need the wood flooring installation complete. Engineered wood will also go in the Guest House bedrooms, but it has not arrived yet.
October 27 - The flooring extends into the Dining Room and past the chimney. Hopefully, the flooring should be down tomorrow. They will sand the edges and leave the finishing until the house is complete.
October 28 - The Kitchen is a little over half floored. The black stripe is felt underlayment.
October 28 - The floor is 'pictured framed' around the hearth location.
October 28 - The sixth (and final) shower floor is prepped with the 'mud' (actually concrete) base. Next, it will get a waterproof liner (Kerdi fabric) and tile.
October 28 - The Kerdi waterproof material is also applied to the walls to a height of about seven feet - higher than water will splash. This is the dog shower in the Laundry Room.
October 28 - The shower in Bath #3 has Kerdi applied to the floor and walls. It will be ready for tile when the bonding agent sets (a few hours).
October 28 - This is how the reclaimed mixed hardwood floors look before sanding. The wood has a lot of 'character' and will be beautiful when it is finished.
October 28 - The Guest House floor is just about to the the Kitchen island conduit. The installer is very careful to make sure the tiles are flush and level.
October 28 - This is how the Guest House Great Room tile looks. The very small cracks will be grouted once the tile thinset has cured.
October 31 - The Jr. Master Shower has Kerdi board (and two niches) on the walls. It will be ready for tile in a day or so.
October 31 - The Master Shower has a low niche at the end of what will be a bench. Part of the shower wall has been covered.
October 31 - There is also a higher niche to the right of the controls. These walls had a number of pipes and wires in them, so niche locations were rather restricted. These two walls should be covered with Kerdi material tomorrow.
October 31 - Tile is starting to go down in the Brays Room. It went slowly today because all of the prep (vacuuming, mopping, et ectera) had to be done. The wide white 'tape' covers the expansion joints in the floor.
October 31 - The Guest House Great Room floor is within a row or two of being complete. The tile setter had to stop here because he cannot get on the freshly laid tile. This room should be finished tomorrow.