Day 113 - Finishing Touches

We have spent the last five nights at a local hotel while the last bit of finishing work is completed on our house. Needless to say we are more than ready to move in.

The last of the flooring went in today with carpet on the stairs and in the downstairs bedrooms. The plumbers have been in to install fixtures, tub, sinks, and toilets. Comcast was in to hook up the cable, phone, and Internet.

Since my last post, we've also had the counter tops installed, as well as most of the lighting. Some of our light fixtures are on back order. We also had our stairs, sidewalk and back porch concrete done.

Back of the house with foam insulation on the slab, and drain pipe in place prior to concrete being poured.

Front steps and sidewalk

Side steps off the porch to driveway

Decorative curb to enclose insulation on the slab.

Back porch slab.

Granite counter tops in place with temporary supports under the bar.

The kitchen island and bar.

Dining light fixture hanging above some of our stuff.

Laminate flooring completed throughout the downstairs.

Tile work in the master shower.

Upstairs hallway: painted, carpeted and door hardware installed.

Master bath vanity and lighting.

Kitchen with microwave installed.

Sailboats in the bay.

Day 107 - Finally! Flooring!

After months of staring at plywood and concrete, we have some real floors going in. Would write more, but we're in the midst of packing, cleaning and moving, in preparation for the transition to the new house.

Laminate plank style flooring in the front room and den. This flooring will go throughout the main floor, except for bedrooms, which get carpet.

Laminate going into the kitchen/dining area.

New stairway railing.

Day 104 - Nearly There

Sorry we've been off the air with travel and other business for a few weeks. We are getting pretty close to completion now. We still have flooring to get down, which was delayed due to additional leveling that was required. We're hoping some of it might start getting installed tomorrow. The tile floor in the master bathroom is pretty much done. Work is underway on tiling the shower. Appliances have arrived. Granite countertops have been templated and should be ready soon.

The exterior paint was completed while we were away. We ended up choosing a blue on tan look. Specifically, it's Philipsburg Blue on the shingles, and Crown Point Sand on the siding.

I'll have more extensive pictures up tomorrow.

Quikcrete used for leveling the floors is drying.

Cabinets are in and awaiting counter tops, appliances, and trim.

Day 83 - Porch Railing and Trim

Just a quick post to show off the new front porch railing and column trim.

Day 82 - Siding Complete, Porch Trim Begins

The siding is complete and the porch is getting trimmed out with some nice square columns. Drywall work continues on the inside, and in the back yard we have the posts in for a simple fence along the creekside.

Day 80 - Siding, Drywall, and that Pesky Beaver

I have been having a hard time finding blogging time between making decisions about lighting and flooring for the house, yard work at two properties, and parenting.

We've seen continual progress over the past week.  The siding is almost done, and looks great. Drywall has reached the taping phase, and our kitchen and bathroom cabinets are on site.  On the wildlife front, a deer has been sleeping in the garage, and that pesky beaver has returned to do some nasty damage to a couple of our apple trees.  Yes, I should have wrapped them in chicken wire sooner.

By request, I've included some before and after shots in this post, so you can see the changes without having to go back through old material.

Apple tree at the back of the yard was the first to get chomped.

This was one of the nicest trees, and I'm not sure it will survive this damage.

This tree and one other apple tree were untouched.

Too little, too late.

Here's a reminder of what it looked like just before the siding came off, and...

...here it is with its new facade, and the siding nearing completion.

Even more nearly complete.

Here's the pre-reno shot of the kitchen/dining area. The old galley kitchen entry was at the far left, and that was a bedroom straight ahead.

Here is the same view now.

The passage between the front room and the living dining as it looked before...

...and now (standing a lot farther back because there's no wall in the way). The old double doors are replaced by French pocket doors.

The fireplace wall then...

...and now. Eventually we'll stick a gas fireplace in there, but for now, it's a wall with built-in cabinetry to follow.

The south window of the old dining area then...

...and now.

These are the old front windows of the house...

...and this is the same room now. We've partitioned it with a den on the left.  Those are our kitchen and bathroom cabinets in the boxes.

The upstairs hallway.

The master bedroom and entry to the old master bath before...

...and as it looks now. The bathroom moved back, and the small doorway on the right is a storage closet.

This was the interior of the old turret...

... and this is the same view now. The turret is gone, and we have a walk-in closet. The bedroom also has high a high ceiling throughout now, while the sloped ceilings have been confined to the closets.