Landscaping Day 3

Landscaping day 3 was another big one!  Two trees are planted, along with a ton of salal.  More irrigation and wire progress.  Some accent rocks are set in place and beds are taking shape.  It looks so good already.  I think Jeremy and I will live outside and the kids can have the house. 

On the interior, kitchen pulls are on the cabinets.  The log set is in the fireplace.  And the pantry cabinet maker made good progress on the second cabinet.  😉

Another Quiet Day

Another quiet day.  Waiting on the floor to acclimate.  It's engineered flooring, so it doesn't need weeks to adjust like full hardwood flooring does.  But best to give it a little time.  And concrete is who knows when.  Depends on weather and their schedule.  The house seems lonely.  

 

But we're busy!  On top of getting our current home ready to sell and preparing to move, we're doing other things.   Like figuring out a possible library ladder for the study.  Ordering sheds to store things until we can build a shop.  Planning the fence for the backyard. Breathing a sigh of relief that our kitchen backsplash tile matches the new countertops so well.  Ordering a tool to make plugs for the mantel holes because I don't trust anyone else to do it.  ;) And taking a moment to admire how the mantel is seated in the stone.

The Study built-ins are still in progress.  There will be stained wood shiplap in the nook wall.  And hopefully a library ladder.  Even though it's going to stick out in front of the window, I can't let go of my library ladder dream. 

The builder thinks I won't notice the holes once it's stained.  If we were staining it really dark, I'd agree.  But we're not, so I want to plug them.  And I don't trust someone else to care about matching the grain, so I'm doing it myself. 

It was a gamble but I think the backsplash tile looks great with the counters.  Relief! 

It's pretty. 

Masonry Mood Lift

Phone rings-

Builder: The fireplace is incredible.

Me:  Uh oh.  Why are you leading with the good stuff?  😆

It's been a heck of a week.  Three countertops are out.  One due to installation error, one due to fabricator error, and the third due to problems with the stone itself.  So I'm due for another trip to Seattle for new slabs.  And we have to decide if a problem in the kitchen is worth ripping out or keeping. Ugh.

He's right though.  The fireplace is something else.  And most of the remaining countertops aren't too shabby either.

Not As Fun As I Thought

It's been a rollercoaster of a day.  We have counters...sort of.  Our vanity top isn't going to work due to cracking.  The boys' vanity top was cut wrong and needs to be redone.  That means that beautiful slab of Dolomite we fell in love with months ago and worked so hard to get is gone and won't be in the house.  I haven't spoken with the installer yet but I think I'll be headed back to Seattle to try to find a replacement.  And I have questions about some of the holes that were drilled for faucets.  Jeremy is too swamped at work to even see the countertops.  Not quite the day I'd hoped it would be. 

On the plus side, the fireplace rock and mortar is finished.  I'm hoping they clear away some of the protection and scaffolding soon so we can see it.  And it's always better once the mortar dries to a lighter color.

We've Got a Nail Biter Folks

Well tomorrow is going to be a nail biter.  Countertops are coming.  Two cabinets are missing, but they're supposed to come tomorrow.  Obviously cabinets need to come before the other (and be installed).  Plus, as they were loading up our bathroom countertop today, it started cracking.  So they decided the only way forward was to cut it into two pieces and seam it.  Boo, but whatever it takes.  However, now I'm worried about the unloading and placing...making sure everything stays in one piece.  Or two pieces as the case may be.  

I think the finish carpenter has taken the trim as far as he can without the wood floors in place.  And the fireplace looks so nice.  They're mortaring the joints as they go and are approaching the top!  Plus, some very cool barn door pulls arrived from Canada today.  I LOVE Etsy.  ❤

Glorious Grids

They finished off some lower stone and went up higher on the edges.  Window trim is coming along nicely.  Pretty grid out front ready for concrete.  There's exterior paint staged in the garage.   And we have so much to do!

Millwork is Moving

The fireplace just keeps getting better.  Upstairs window trim is done and he started on the downstairs windows today.  There's a  big rebar grid out front.  The plan is to pour the week after next.

Lookin' Curvy

They started on the concrete forms today.  I like the curvy front.  The scratch coat is finished on the inside fireplace and they started setting stone.  The two problem cabinets are removed and back with the manufacturer.  The builder isn't willing to bump the counter install date, so some quick magic needs to happen to get the corrected cabinets back in place before next Tuesday.  Still waiting to hear how they're going to address the issues with the painted cabinets.