The most obvious part of this photo is the fireplace which Mark E and his helper have been working on this week..Mark picked up some 1700's bricks to use to re-face the fireplace -- he had to build it out from the original depth because code required Ed to build the walls 2" from the opening...the bit in the middle that looks like new bricks are new bricks -- we're going to ask Mark to change them to old bricks -- all in all it's looking good though. You can also see the door that goes into the first floor powder room. Norm and Gus have been working on hanging doors and trimming them out this week... This fireplace is waiting to receive a new face as well -- the other fireplaces in the house will be skim coated with plaster/mortar and painted black - -this is how the house was when we bought it.

Here you can see the master bath where Hector has been laying tile...you can also see a bit of the door trim that went on today.

The tub surround...

Here is the floor of the guest bathroom...

Doors..Sink...Counters

So our interior doors arrived today -- 1600lbs of them! Here are a couple of photos of the doors that were installed after they arrived.

The Kitchen Sink was also installed so that Russ from Eno's could come template the counter tops -- which with any luck should be installed in the next couple of weeks. Things are moving along nicely.

Other things happening this week -- Mark the mason should crank out some brick work for the fireplaces and get the insulation in the chimney. Hector is working on the bathroom tiles and we're going to try to get the basement bulkhead closed up so we don't keep losing heat!

A milestone day...

With unseasonably warm weather for the last two days, Leigh and I were able to FINALLY finish siding the house...this is a major milestone for us -- if you recall we had hoped to be done with this part of the job by May 15th or so last year! How about that only 7 months off our estimate! Anyway -- it was a good feeling. You can seem me here up on the plank getting ready to put that last piece in. Leigh was working inside today cutting the angle on all of the shingles and handing them out through the window. The final shingle...

Our friend Bruce today asked if we were hand nailing the shingles or using a nail gun -- good question -- I can tell you that if we were hand nailing them (see left hand) we would be done by about May 15, 2010. So yes, we used a nail gun and stainless steel nails (very expensive) but they are better because they will not have a reaction with the white cedar. With galvanized nails, they often react to the cedar and create black streaks as the cedar weathers. Our plan is to let them weather to a nice grey and to sell the house before their 30 year life span requires replacement!

These next two photos can only be shown because it's already happened -- otherwise, our mothers would be too nervous...getting up and down onto and from the plank is a bit awkward...

Finally today - and entirely unrelated to siding -- is the master bath tile is is starting to go on the walls - Hector worked on Saturday to get started -- these are subway shape but more like 5x13...they are grey -- yes grey -- I seem to be in a phase where grey is my go-to color. The question of the day is WHAT COLOR DO YOU THINK THE GROUT SHOULD BE? I am leaning towards a lighter color to give it a bit of a retro look -- and so that he vertical brick pattern is a feature. Tile store folks suggest a dark grout...WHAT DO YOU THINK?

The floor tiles are a really pretty white 18" Square with a subtle line pattern in it.

I am hoping that this week, doors arrive and that Mark E shows up to finish up his masonry work...it would be nice to have that wrapped up. Also, painting should be done.

Paint and Trim

So finish work continues -- paint, trim, water and heat have been the latest additions. You can see the living room here - I think I mentioned in a previous post that most of the house is painted Revere Pewter...and the trim will be White Dove. They are Ben Moore colors and will be a neutral palate on which we will apply pops of color through art, rugs, window treatments etc... Here's the Master Bedroom -- you can see above the beams that we've installed insulation that will ultimately be covered with barn board. Gus is doing a great job trimming out the windows -- not all of the walls are straight so it's a bit of a challenge but you can tell that he really takes pride in his work.

Appliances arrived the other day and are awaiting installation...

They are not actually blue - they're wrapped in a protective coating.

Because we are going to have so much white in the kitchen (cabinets and tile), we decided to go with a darker color for the wall...jury is still out...

All in all things continue to go well -- we're still not sure when we will be moving in but we're crossing our fingers for the end of January....this weekend we're hoping to finish the siding...but we'll be happy if we get it almost done.

Happy New Year -- we'll be in the house in 2010

So the year has come that we'll move into the house...finally! We think we may actually be a couple weeks away from being able to move into the house. You can see here that kitchen cabinets are installed -- we had some damage in the storage trailer and one cabinet base was ruined and four drawer fronts need to be replaced but we're getting there...appliances will be delivered on Friday and the gas should be turned on by then so it shouldn't be too long until we're cooking our first meal. The base cabinet that is missing is part of the pantry which you can see on the right wall here...so we'll likely be without that for some time. In the middle, you can see the island which will house the wine fridge and the microwave -- we're going to make the counter top out of salvaged wood floors from the attic...that should be done in a few years... (notice that the lights are on in this photo...

Here's another view of the kitchen -- we're trying to figure out what color to paint the walls --cabinets are white, tile is white, counters will be grey soap stone -- ANY SUGGESTIONS? Most of the rest of the house is Revere Pewter (a shade of grey)

My mom's very generous Christmas present to us was to have the walls and ceilings painted before we move in -- we had planned on doing this ourselves but due to the overwhelming kindness of my mom we won't have to worry about it! Leigh cried... Here you can get an idea of the wall color, though it's a bit hard to see in the photo. The trim will be white dove...

Looking forward to seeing the trim go up...