More Decisions

While the concrete floors are at a standstill, we are frantically trying to make some final decisions on other finishes. This bathroom is a bit too "busy", but we're going to do a similar tile gradient for the tub surround in the boys' bathroom. This is 3/4" x 3/4" glass tile from Hakatai.com. (Matt gets an excellent trade discount!) We are going to use the white blend that is shown on the floor here for the boys' bathroom floor and then the gradient tiles starting at the tub and going up will have more white than shown here. The darkest blue at the top perfectly matches the cabinetry we got at Ikea.

We are also narrowing in on tile for our master shower and the kitchen backsplash. (I'll post those once a decision has been reached.) Unfortunately, we were hoping to know what color our concrete floors would be before selecting countertop colors in the kitchen and master bath....we may just have to make a blind choice.

Another option

Roy, from Milwaukee, shared these photos of his living room with us. I think the floors look beautiful! He explained the process a bit in the comments section of my previous post. (In brief: The surface of the concrete is ground down to expose the aggregate, an epoxy is placed to fill in voids, and a high gloss sealer is the final step.) While we're still pursuing a stained look at the moment, it's nice to have this option in our back pocket. Thanks again for sharing, Roy!

Floor Frustrations

Well, by now we were supposed to have beautiful stained concrete floors in a rich brown color. Our floors are still grey. For some reason, the stain isn't taking and even though it looks perfect when the acid stain is rinsed off, the buffer, which is the next step in the process, removes all the color. We (the stainer and us) have no idea why this is happening. There were no additives placed in the concrete, so we're at a loss. We may try looking at some water based dyes or think about just polishing our concrete as it is. I've been noticing many homes with polished concrete that is unstained in Dwell recently, so I don't think it will be the end of the world if that's the route we have to choose.

If anyone has experience with this type of problem, I would love suggestions!

Ikea Wardrobe

For the disgruntled blog reader who couldn't fathom a house without a built-in closet in the bedroom, this is what we purchased yesterday. It's a 5' wide, 7'9" tall wardrobe from Ikea, which can be completely customized with drawers, shoe racks, shelving, etc.

Along with the wardrobe, we also came home with the cabinetry for the boy's bathroom, all the hardware for the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry, and all sorts of odds and ends - from towel racks to toilet paper holders.

So much to do in so little time...

So on we go. We are absolutely out of our condo on Feb. 2, but at a meeting with our contractor this Friday, he didn't think that was going to be a feasible deadline. I guess we may just be moving into a lot of dust because we'll have no choice!

This weekend the concrete floors are getting stained and sealed. We met with Tom Cranley on Thursday night and he showed us a sample of the stain on the shower floor. This photo looks like a toxic dump because the process involed an acid reaction with the concrete. We were very pleased with the brown/rust color that resulted - I just forgot to take a photo. Anyway, it's a 3 day process, so we won't really get a good look at it until Tuesday.

A little "oops" - we forgot to have an outlet placed in the concrete for the kitchen island as required by code. Tim was able to cut a section of the concrete in a place that will be covered by the island and another section under the kitchen cabinets and then slide some conduit beneath the slab. This was a little nerve-wracking, considering that the slab is dense with radiant floor tubing.
Wiring is nearing completion in most of the house...this is the back wall of the kitchen where the sink and cabinetry will be located.

This is the plumbing/electrical for the master bath...2 sinks.

Details

There's not been a huge amount of visible progress this week, but a lot is going on. The heat is on and the plumber and electrician have been hard at work. The exterior masonry is done (with the exception of a little correction that unfortunately is going to be difficult - no fault of the mason's - he's been wonderful) We found these door handles on-line and ordered a set to see how they feel - Matt was thrilled with them, and we'll be ordering them for the whole house this weekend. We will have two of these vessel sinks in the master bath. They arrived this week and seem huge, but have been assured by several sets of eyes that they'll fit in just fine. I like the simple lines of them and think they will look great with the faucet we selected so, so long ago.

The technical stuff

This is the utility room as it looks this weekend. The water heater is very large because it is dual purposed. It heats both the floors and the domestic hot water. The system is much more complicated than that, though, and we've relied on the expertise of our HVAC system designer, John, at Air Care in Beaver Dam, WI. The house is zoned in several areas with both in-floor heat and forced air, and after living in a very drafty house for the past 3 years, we're excited to feel the difference!
A new challenge: Snow! We're waiting for the front door design to be completed and fabricated by our good friend, Vic, down in San Antonio. His family has been constructing doors for centuries. So, until then, we have a fancy plywood door screwed to the house. No keys necessary, just a cordless drill! We were surprised to find a bathtub upstairs yesterday! This is the boys' tub, and will be rotated to fit against that back wall. The plumber has been very busy and most of the lines are in and waiting for fixtures.

This week we anticipate the completion of the stone on the exterior, the radiant floor heat should be turned on, and the electrician will arrive.

Visible Progress

As luck would have it, one of our old neighbors is a stone mason. He's been hard at work the last few days, and doing a beautiful job. This is a synthetic stone veneer by Eldorado...Manzanita is the color. Matt wanted as close to a dry stack as possible...which aparantly is very difficult in our climate.

The plumber and HVAC crew were out working again today. We met with the concrete floor stainer yesterday - he's scheduled for Dec. 7th, assuming the house is heated by then. We also met with the woman designing our kitchen cabinetry yesterday and that all should be finalized by the end of this week.

Our completion date has been set for Feb. 1. A bit later than we were hoping, but fortunately the condo we're renting is still available until then.

We're Thankful for Progress!

It's been a while since our last post, but progress is continuing. Upon our arrival at the house on Wednesday, we were pleased to find a very busy work site. The mason was getting started on the stonework, both the HVAC and carpenter crews were hard at work, and the water from the well had been connected to the pump and house.

A view of the fireplace and future stonework from the living room. The stone will go where the black mesh has been placed.
Gus turned "1" today and started to walk this weekend. Today he took his first walk in his new bedroom! The prodema crate has been opened! Here it is shown with the cedar trim that surrounds the roof.

Baby steps

This has been a week of tying up loose ends. The wall for the stonework has been sealed up, and the stone has been delivered. An old "Beverly Road" neighbor of ours is going to be starting the stonework once the roof gets started around the chimney. Today they're placing cedar fascia around the edge of the roof. I liked the "to-do" list I found nailed to a wall this morning...written on a board!

The Fireplace

Today the fireplace was installed. That corner of the living room was a busy place at noon today, where they were also placing the final windows.

Still working on the windows...

The windows continue to go in - a bit longer process than anticipated, but they look great and will be worth the wait. Also, today the chimney got framed in. I've seen so many computerized drawings of the final house, that I almost didn't notice it - it just looked like it belonged there. I guess that's a good sign! The front living room windows and final stairway windows will go in tomorrow. On Monday the fireplace will be installed.

Progress continues!

The windows are waiting.....the upstairs ones were installed today and look great. We're pleased with the "cranberry" color. I'll try to post pics of those tomorrow. The builders were very impressed with the Loewen windows - said they were they heaviest windows they've ever installed.

The ceiling of the porch is done and the roof is being built today. These beams are the most beautiful - they're the old, reclaimed ones with many "scars," but the aged wood is so much deeper in color.

All roofed in...

On Friday the roof finally went over our living room. The ceiling looks great, and we're exited to see what a difference the windows will make this week! All of the major beams are now in place...the only roof section left to place is over the screened in porch area. Once the windows are in and the house is "closed up", we'll get going on staining the concrete floors. Here's to no more rain delays!

A Halloween Treat

Here's a glimpse of the living room ceiling...more tomorrow!

More beams....

All of the living room beams have been placed now, as has the main beam from the house to the garage, where the screened-in porch will be located. I think the support brackets that Matt designed look great!

Beam me up!

Yesterday the first two beams were placed...those are the most difficult ones, and today should show a big change as more go up. That main beam will be trimmed down (it's about 6 ft too long right now) once all the others are placed.

On Saturday Matt enjoyed doing some physical labor on the house - using Tim's joiner to smooth the sides of what will be the treads of our stairway.

The details

The sofits of the garage and second story were completed this week with the same douglas fir tongue in groove paneling that will cover the living room and porch ceilings....

The beams are now stained and ready to be placed first thing next week! By the end of next week, the living room ceiling and roof should be complete. The weather forecast finally looks good - and once the house is closed in, the weather will no longer matter!