February 2 - The stair treads are installed. The handrail is being installed. It will run continously from the basement to the second floor.
February 2 - The mantle is in place. The TV coverup is partially opened. Stone will go below the mantle.
February 2 - The storage room cabinets are getting hanging rods. The finish is oil paint, so it is very smooth.
February 2 - Work is progressing on the trophy shower. It will have a glass door soon.
February 2 - This is the first floor view of the steps. The hand rail is one continuous rail from the basement to the second floor.
February 2 - The ceiling beams are ready for paint. Crown is up in the living room. A paint sample is on the wall beside the fireplace.
February 2 - The library pocket doors are installed. They will be stained on the inside.
February 4 - The mantle is cut to length. It is about an inch below the TV cover up.
February 4 - The wood trim is being stained in the trophy bedroom. The walls are not painted yet.
February 4 - The wood trim is being stained in the trophy bedroom. The walls are not painted yet.
February 4 - The fireplace wall in the living room has been modified at the top. It will have pencil molding trim on its face to accent a painting. The mantle will be made of the bench sitting in front of the fireplace.
February 4 - Tile is going on the walls of the master bath shower.
February 4 - The master tub splash is finished.
February 4 - The trophy shower is now finished except for a small area in the floor that needs grout.
February 4 - Fill is being moved up in front of the house.
February 5 - The front yard has been filled and strawed (to help minimize erosion).
February 5 - The trophy bathroom has the vanity installed.
February 5 - The front of the fireplace is being prepped for stone like the walls.
February 5 - The trim downstairs is being stained. This photo shows the bar. The shelves beside the door are for glasses.
February 5 - More tile is laid in the master shower. The thin accent row is a divider. Smaller tile will go above the dark tile. The blank tiles in the corner are where the bench will be installed when it arrives from the granite company. By using small pieces of tile to keep everything in place, the tile setter can continue.
February 5 - The side view shows the profile of the front yard compared to the walkway.
February 6 - The garage doors are hung. Unfortunately, the installers brought the wrong counterbalance springs. That will be corrected tomorrow.
February 6 - The master shower floor is being laid. It needs grouting.
February 6 - The western wall is now getting stone. The wood trim will be stained a chestnut color like the other trim downstairs.
February 6 - Three steel supports have been installed to support the bar top. If you look closely, you can see the black supports. The wood is to make sure no one accidentally walks into the supports.
February 6 - One garage door is down. It will be painted trim color.
February 6 - The septic system is being installed. This will take a couple of days. It was scheduled to begin yesterday, but it was postponed due to rain.
February 11 - The kitchen cabinets are being covered with plastic in preparation for painting (spraying) trim on the main floor. The upstairs has been sprayed.
February 11 - The septic system is being installed. The health department has called for two large fields. The septic tank and a pump will be located down the hill from the drain field. We are having a delay in the tank delivery and placement due to truck problems the septic tank contractor is having. Tentatively, we will get the tank placed early next week.
February 11 - Bookcases and cabinets are being built in the trophy room. The cabinets on the lower portion will have doors. The shelves on the upper portion will be adjustable. The shelves and cabinet (and mantle) will be stained. The upper portion will have a face frame like the lower section does on the right side.
February 11 - This stone wall is finished and the trim around it is stained. There is an electrical outlet in this wall. The wall to the right will have paneling with zebra skin insets.
February 11 - Most of the tile has been laid when this photo was taken. The shower will be grouted tomorrow. That will complete the master shower tile work. The trophy bath shower tile is also complete.
February 11 - The seat and shelf are in place. There are two shelves and one seat.
February 11 - Stucco work is proceeding. The cold and rain has delayed some of the work.
February 11 - The first coat of stucco is nearly completed. Another coat will be applied over the scratch coat and foam and then the final coat will be sprayed on the walls.
February 11 - The library fireplace tile has been laid for the hearth and surround. It still needs grouting although the grout joints are very small. The wood is to support the tile over the fireplace until the thinset (cement) sets. The wood supports will be removed tomorrow and the tile will be grouted.
February 11 - The tile in the master shower is laid. The two shelves and seat are in place. Final grouting will be done tomorrow if all goes well. The tile near the bench needs grout as does the smaller tile above the two shelves.
February 11 - Trim in the office over the garage has been sanded and painted. The walls will be painted next.
February 11 - One of the trophy cabinet/bookcases is built. The lower portion will have two doors. The upper portion will have five adjustable shelves in each section. The wall in the back of the lower portion will be painted or stained dark. The wood will all be stained the color of the television coverup on the left in the photo. There is about 20 inches from the top of the book case to the ceiling.
February 11 - Another wall of stone is nearly finished. It still needs grouting. In all, there will be four sections of wall and the fireplace surround with stone. The stone wall lower right in the previous photo is the remaining wall. The fireplace surround (gray on lower left of previous photo) also will have stone.
February 17 - The stonework is finished in the trophy rooms. The fireplace has plastic on it to protect it. The book cases on either side and the mantle sill need to be stained. A painting will be attached to the plywood above the mantle.
February 17 - The cabinet behind the bar is finished. It will be stained and finished like the other wood in the basement. The far opening in the cabinet will have a door covering shelves. The next opening will have a beverage cooler. The third opening will have three drawers. The next compartment will have two doors. The sink will be mounted in this compartment.
February 17 - This is the bar counter from the storage room end. Notice the far set of shelves is narrowed a bit because of the doorway. The black brackets will be covered with a backsplash once the granite is placed on the pass through.
February 17 - The trophy bedroom has two colors on the walls. There is still masking paper and tape on the chair rail. The floor is not finished yet.
February 17 - Trim is on the front door.
February 17 - The granite tops and sinks are installed in the master bath. The tile work is finished in the master bath also.
February 18 - The drain fields are ready for inspection (scheduled Friday). There are two fields.
February 18 - The plumber is digging a hole for the pump tank. The septic tank is buried. Liquid that flows out of the septic tank will be pumped up the hill to the drain fields. The tank is due for delivery today. It was scheduled for yesterday, but we were rained out.
February 18 - The trophy fireplace mantle and book cases are now stained. They will have a coat of poly in the next few days. The lower cabinets will have doors. The upper areas will have adjustable shelves for books. A painting will be attached to the plywood television cover over the mantle.
February 18 - The library built ins are started. Beside the fireplace on either side there will be a book case on a base cabinet. The wall to the right (in this photo) will have the same base and book cases for its entire length. The very preliminary base cabinet is visible in the photo. The cabinets are made of cherry. The fireplace wall will be paneled with cherry. The mantle will also be built with cherry wood.
February 18 - The office over the garage is painted. The photo distorts the colors a bit.
February 18 - All of the stairs have treads and risers. They will be finished after the floor goes down. This set of steps goes down into the upstairs office.
February 19 - The plumbers are running pipes from the septic tank to the pump tank to the drain fields. It is bitterly cold (20 with wind chill), but they are still pushing for inspection tomorrow.
February 19 - The wall assembly is now in place. Next will be face frames and then shelves - lots of shelves.
February 19 - The bar cabinet is now stained. It will get a poly finish in a day or so. The door casing (left edge of photo) has poly on it, so the stain color looks a little different (due to the camera flash). The wood grain on the cabinet is very nice and attractive.
February 19 - The trophy office/sitting room is being stained and clear finished. The dark wood trim really looks nice.