Burn baby burn, some finishing touches & A story about my Hero

Well, I've been waiting for this day for awhile now. And it finally came. Between getting all the scrap material and burnable garbage  and cardboard boxes ready, waiting for water on-site and getting a less windy day, it all had to be timed up perfectly. But alas, the huge pile in our backyard is gone! It doesn't look like such a big pile in the picture, but it took me 2 weekends to go through it. I had insisted that we couldn't just light it up where it was because I thought the pile was too big and too close to the house. But... on weekend #2 I was so sick of carrying pieces to the burn pile and I got the pile small enough that I finally just lit up the rest right where it was at. So then I had TWO bonfires!

Before

 During

 After

I am so glad I won't have to look at the pile of garbage in the backyard after we move in. I know it would have bugged me all winter.
And I feel better knowing it's one less hurdle when we call back the excavator in the spring to do the final site grading.
 
Another project that took 2 weekends was the porch. And in case you were wondering...I GOT MY BEADBOARD CEILING!!!! The columns and painting will have to wait til spring.

 Another finishing touch that happened this past week was our masterbath shower glass partition. I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out though I have already been given several (unasked for) opinions on how we should close it off.  I am a little worried that I'm going to freeze my butt off, but we'll have 2 shower heads and the floor is heated. And the option to close it off if we need to!

 

In other VERY exciting news, our granite installation went right on schedule Monday, despite the crappy weather. I just LOVE the way it all turned out. Thank you MGT Inc!

The kitchen granite color is Colonial Cream.   The master bathroom granite color is Piracema.

The boys bathroom granite color is Cielo de Marfil.

Last but definitely not least, the story behind this picture:

 

Last Wednesday we were told by our carpenter that he could not get his guy to come help install our banisters. No big deal, we knew it would be tough on a holiday week.  Monday came and again, no help. The excuse this time was the weather. Ok. I can accept that. Today, Tuesday, I headed over in the morning to check in and make sure all was on schedule. Nope. No help again. I finally had it.  The carpenter and I proceeded to have a (not so) nice chat. Given there were just a few little items on his list, I suggested (told) him to just leave for the day and come back when he had the help he needed. And he wouldn't. So, unfortunately for Alex, who had just got home from working all night plowing, I called in reinforcements. Alex also had a chat with Mike. Finally the conclusion came. He would not leave, but neither would Alex. They would install the banisters together. And that is how Alex became a finish carpentry apprentice. And that is why he is asleep in the picture. And that is why he is my hero.

By the way, I am really happy with these banisters. I had done the stain work myself and Mom helped me with the first coat of paint. They'll get another coat now that they are up. Note, the actual stair/treads will be carpeted.

It's all coming together....next up, finish plumbing/fixtures and an entry on all our lighting fixtures.

Watergate

I'd been meaning to post this one for awhile but just kept forgetting to take an after picture of the water.
The water project (aka Watergate) was not complete until we had our water softner and reverse osmosis system installed by Huemann Water Conditioning.
The water in our home was tested before the system was installed to ensure we would get the best result after. Turns out our iron was off the charts 3.5 (and will stain at .3), so given we had the tubs and toilets installed it was crucial we get the water conditioning system in ASAP, so we didn't get rings around bowls.

Picture of water before-yuck

The Kinetico K-2060 Water Conditioner

The Kinetico K-5 Reverse Osmosis

Picture of water after-much better!

We gave it our all

Pete the Cat says:
"Give it your all, Give it your all. At Christmas you give, so Give it your all."
Well folks, it's time for an update, we will NOT be moving in by Christmas.
Even though we gave it our all.

As you can see from the pictures below, the flooring is down (and mostly covered in cardboard to protect it), the cabinets are in and the appliances were delivered. Alas, the granite will take probably close to another 2 weeks. Not to mention that, as hard as our carpenter tried to finish the trimout, it's difficult to do when you don't have all the doors. The driveway was re-surfaced, and has far fewer potholes, but the picture not included here is the view of the house as you approach. That is because our siding still is not done. So...we gave it our all, but we have moved on to a New Year's Resolution...to get it all wrapped up just after the 1st. And we're doing it for you...because we know you don't want to help us move in the bitter cold and snow. See, we're always thinking of you.

My future home office, where I can blog about the next adventure....

Our long and winding road

 Well, of course you know that I couldn't not put up some holiday decor, to get those contractors in the spirit. We've got an itty bitty tree in the corner of the great room, some plastic jumbo ornaments hanging from a couple trees along the driveway and the below message on the sliders overlooking the backyard.

That being said, stayed tuned. The end is in sight and I feel a flurry of blog entries coming on. Afterall, I can't keep the list of what needs to be done in my head..
Get HVAC back to hang condensers, Push Mike to finish siding job, paint doors and add all door knobs, paint stair sides of risers, paint stair rails, finish painting lights-so Jim can hang them, install fireplace stone (figure out mantel), figure out porch ceiling (I want beadboard), design and hang all the closet & pantry shelving, hang the mailbox on the post, add stair railings for 1st to basement, hang guestbath shower doors, oversee installation of glass partition in master shower, figure out vanity mirrors-hang, add all vanity hardware, hang all towel bars/tp holders, get Mike to finish trimout (he's waiting on doors and vanity cabinets that came damaged and had to be re-ordered), add all cabinetry hardware, finish installing appliances, oversee granite install and get Rob back to finish the plumbing trimout, add garage door openers, touch up all walls, ceilings, trim, etc, CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN, PACK, PACK, PACK, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE, UNPACK, UNPACK, UNPACK.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Still Married

Everyone says when you are building a house, it really tests your marriage.

They are right.

But here we are, 1 year later, still building, and still married.

50 Shades of Gray

I'm talking about paint, you naughty people!!!

We used Dutchboy Duraclean Satin finish.
I wasn't sure how to show you, so here's a picture of the paint chip cards and a few pictures from around the house.

Looking at the paint chips above...
Starting at bottom left:
Cliff face-office
Ultra white (not shown)-guest bathroom, library, laundry room mudroom, pantry, closets
Silvery Gray-kitchen and greatroom
Ironed Gray-accent walls in greatroom
Muted Rain-boys bathroom
Silvered Cloud-boys bedrooms
In the center:
Scalloped Gray-foyer, stairway & upstairs hallway
Starting at the bottom right:
Fair-minded Gray-master bedroom
Silver drop-master bathroom (Behr paint)
Octopus Gray-bonus room

Guess who painted the bonus room...

Liam's bedroom-he picked the color, well, kinda-would have been camouflage given a real choice....

master bedroom, hard to tell, but ceiling is coffered

Hall way looking towards stair landing

Thank you to all our painters, and our helpers who didn't paint, but gave us the gift of time without the kids underfoot, so we could paint.

FYI-still working on painting baseboard and stair rails.