Invisible But Busy

It was a busy day at the house today but a lot of the progress was invisible or hard to photograph tonight.  The plumbers came back to do some final work.  The water sample was taken so the ball is rolling for getting sign off from Public Health.  The tile guy is still there doing finish tile work, including replacing a bad tile in the kitchen backsplash and caulking the top of the tile baseboards in the bathrooms.  The stone mason finished putting rocks on the front post bases.  The builder installed the crawlspace vents in anticipation of landscaping starting soon.  Jeremy and I built the foundation for the garden shed tonight.  

Later this week the painters are returning to continue work on the exterior...sealing woodwork and finishing the paint.  Cabinet doors may be arriving tomorrow. Housecleaners are returning tomorrow.  Next week the siding company comes back to finish siding around the door.  Things are happening!  If we can just get the closet shelving going we'll be in good shape.

The Kitchen is Merry and Bright

Seeing these pendants in the kitchen is an early Christmas gift.  They're dirty, but I don't care.  And the finished backsplash is a bonus.  Appliances are being installed on Tuesday!

Tile Epiphany

I have to share my tile win today!  On Friday the tile guy finished the laundry backsplash, but the right side of the window not matching the left made my eye twitch. 

The problem with raising the right side was the tile edge would intersect the light switch cover plate.  So I pitched an idea to tile all the way to the door casing, down to the baseboard, and up to match the height on the left.  They made it happen and it looks so good!  It'll be even better without the blue tape and with grout.

The tiler added the pencil liner to the kitchen backsplash, patched up the bathroom floors where we had the vanity cabinet changes, finished the tile baseboard install around the door casing, and installed the ledge and curb slabs in our shower.  Now we just need grout!  (And a range hood so they can tile up to the bottom of it)

Backsplash

Busy day!  The kitchen and laundry backsplash tile is installed.  No grout yet and their weird lighting makes it tough to get good pics.  But we love the kitchen tile.  It's different shades of off-white.  Simple and goes well with the counters.

Finish carpentry is done!  The painters start Monday.  Gary the stone guy delivered all the slabs for the hearth seats, post caps, and exterior lid/mantel.  We brought a piece inside so we could see it next to the stone.  We think it'll look great.  He also put the lath up on all the post bases.  So glad he's back.

In the bad news category, our generator is backordered with an estimated delivery of March.  This isn't the transfer switch that we already knew was backordered.  This is the generator itself.  Pandemic construction is not for the faint of heart!

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. 

Templating Day

We finally got a good look at the slate floors.  They'll eventually be a charcoal gray once the dust is gone.  I really like how it runs at a diagonal in part of the powder bath due to the bend in the house.  The grading out front looks great too.  

They measured for countertops today.  That's why the laundry sink is temporarily in place.  Tomorrow I have to watch my email like a hawk because they're laying the templates on the slabs and I asked to be involved.  So they'll send me photos and I'll make sure it's what we want.

Grout & Grading

We didn't catch enough daylight to get good exterior pics but maybe tomorrow.

Wet Tile, So...

Vladimir (the tiler) offered to let me in the back after he saw me looking in windows like a home improvement peeping tom.  But I didn't want to slow him down.  I opted to peek in the doorway instead.  It's dusty but there's slate down in the laundry, mudroom and powder bath.  And we have some pretty dispersion trenches out back.

Big Start This Week

So much happened today!  More cabinets are installed. More tile is cut, including the tile baseboard trim.  Viv's shower is finished and they've started on the laundry/mudroom slate floor.  And the final grading and drainage kicked off today.