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!
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?
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.
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.
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...
You can see in this photo that we're saving the original floor but Hector repaired the far side by patching it with new white pine.
It's Amazing how the house is coming together -- it's almost just finish work left to be done.
Looking into the master closet
Ed has had Imar's crew at the house to get the siding done quickly so that the house is fully weather tight. We really appreciate that he brought in such a good crew to get the job done quickly. They took care of all of the clap boards and you can see some of our handy work - we're doing the shingling.
Today we got half way up the right side of the house and started on a little section by the left of the Kitchen door.
What we didn't have time to photograph is the interior which has been transformed by a skim coat of plaster! It looks great. This coming week (we'll the first two days of the week) should mean some floors start to go down - maybe kitchen cabinets...we'll see!
The other thing that we are contending with is lack of heat in the house -- that will be fixed when we get floors in but for now we are using heaters that get the house warm during the day and then are off at night - so as a consequence we're having tons of condensation inside the house -- and it freezes at night...not great for the wood windows. Hope to get that heat in soon so that we can keep the temps consistent.
In this photo you can see the kitchen has been insulated, the low voltage recessed lights have been installed and in the top right of the photos you can see a white piece of plastic where the speaker wire will be secured for the in ceiling speakers (which will go in later as budget allows). Leigh and I did all of the wiring for the whole house audio -- so we'll see how that goes. There will two speakers in every room of the first floor.
Here you can see the vaulted ceiling of the kitchen -- the off white things between the rafters are Styrofoam vents to bring cold air in from outside to keep the roof temp cool.
This is the insulated living room. The coil of yellow wire to the left of the windows is the speaker wire. You can also see some primed clapboards on the floor. Leigh and I spend days and days priming these pine boards. They were milled for us by Rand Lumbar Yard in Rye NH.
Living room looking towards the kitchen...lots of insulation.
This is the living room fireplace -- we left coils of wire so that we can decide where we want to put the sconces once the living room is finished.
Upstairs looking towards the back of the house.
Here is our super efficient gas heater and on the left the 45 gallon hot water tank.
Ed and the guys installed plywood where the cabinets will be installed.
Blue board in the dining room, waiting to be plastered. Imar and his crew had the blue board one in only a few days and are now in the process of plastering the house.
Most of the house was insulated using traditional insulation but we insulated the roof with closed cell spray foam insulation only 4 inches has an R value of 30. We did this so that we could keep the vaulted ceiling exposed. Because we used spray foam we do not have to vent the roof.
Blue board in the study.
Here you can see the master bedroom with the plaster on the walls...looks great!
Master bedroom looking towards the closet.
Hector and Mike have been doing the clapboard siding -- they're doing a great job of lining the boards up with the bottom and top of the windows. We're hoping that their part of the siding will done by Tuesday next week so that they can start laying the floors which arrived on Tuesday. We have to let the wide pine acclimate to the house for 7 to 10 days before installing them.
All in all, things are going well - we were hoping to be in by Christmas but it looks like we'll still be in the house ahead of schedule. Tomorrow we make some decisions about trim...I'll try to keep the blog updated on a more regular basis...no promises though.
