Week 26: Happy Birthday to Me!

Week 26:  Happy Birthday to Me!

Day 185

 April 14th, 2011

I spent this beautiful birth day working on house decisions, as well as a little shopping.  Meanwhile back at the home site everyone was hard at work.

The display nook in the foyer, I have lots of ideas for this area for seasonal decor!

Patrick took the morning off, not to spend with his wonderful wife on her birthday but to pull wire.  In the end it will be a great present!

View of the kitchen and rough in of the bar area

The breakfast "cathedral"

I'm still trying to come up with a way to be creative with this space but perhaps the creativity is innate in its design

View from behind the fireplace, metal box but we are surrounding it with cement board for extra protection.  This is what they call zero clearance I guess

 The upstairs bathroom tub is set!  Love it!  Standard Aqua Glass tub unit from General Supply

HVAC upstairs

For all those who think HVAC is a vacuum system it is acutally the term used for central heat and air...something we are very excited about the concept of!

Air ducts in the ceiling upstairs

HVAC upstairs in the foyer and bedrooms

The Brick Arrives

(I guess this is this year's equivalent of a good looking man jumping out of a cake....Happy Birthday to me!)

 And just when you couldn't think the day could get better this truck arrives...

It was gridlock on Mt Pelia...ok so that is maybe an exaggeration but it took the driver about 30 minutes to figure out how to get up the driveway. He finally made it!

But not before the dump truck brought ? tons of white sand for the mortar mix

Who needs a beach when you have a perfectly good mound of sand in your back yard

Sullivan has since utilized the sand pile greatly

The brick truck, so I'm not sure how many bricks were delivered may in the ballpark of 25,000? 

The delivery man loads each stack and sets it around the house

And there it sets ready to be placed on the house

We picked an in stock brick that was basically the texture we wanted because we are going to do a mortar wash or slurry over the brick all in one color.  However, we chose one that would not look too ridiculous to passer bys so people wouldn't think, "What in the world are they doing to that nice house?!"

Lovely view from the back of the house

 Over all it was a good 31st birthday! I never thought I would be so excited to get  wood, wires, sand and bricks for my birthday but I was.   Progress was made and things are really starting to come together!

Weeks 21-25: We've been Framed... Wired, and, Windowed

Week 21: We've been Framed

Just to catch everyone up on the progress over the past few months...

Day 148

March 8th, 2011

The Butler's hard a work, Chris high on the scaffolding finishing the "fold over" on the roof.

The sun shines over the nearly completed framing on the front.  Even the dormer above the foyer is framed!

 Day 157

St Patrick's Day

It took a few tries but finally they figured out how to bend the masonite to form the arch.

The finished product a few days later. Very french provencal...

Everyone is hard at work, Patrick discusses with the Butler's about the arches

Jasper gets in on the action, he oversees that all the cars that enter the site are supposed to be here.  So far the Butler's he is ok with but the roofers he is still not sure about.

Chris and one of the roofers discussing the plans

Inside Sullivan's big boy room upstairs, the ladders are in the 2 closets and the other doorway leads to the attic space

Wall in the living room looking through to the Master Bedroom.  This is where the fireplace and book cases will be!

Future play room...big!

Dormer in the upstairs playroom

Last of the framing, we decided to go ahead and add another dormer in the future room because it is really the only other view to the East. I think we'll be gladd we added it.

View out Sullivan's upstair bedroom toward his Meme and Grandaddy's

Who knew shingles could be so beautiful--over the back porch and breakfast nook

Day 159

March 19th, 2011

Love the lines, beautiful day

Garage with pallets of shingles

Notice the boards on the finished roof, these were temporarily attached to work on the section above. 








Meanwhile, inside on this beautiful day Patrick is under the house taking on his new found profession...electrician.  After a quick lesson in power tools and wires from Mr. Steve Blake, he shimmy's under the house to pull "home runs" from the various electric outlets in the house to the main breaker box in the basement.  Sullivan still looks under the house sometimes and yells, "Daddy!"

Jasper is helping too!

Crawling thru the hole to the crawl space above the safe room.  The large staple on the floor in front of him are what was used to tack up the wires along the runs.

Example of an electric box, glorious!  Mr. Steve is awesome!

Week 24:  First of Many Family Gatherings...The Stooks' visit

Day 173

April 2, 2011 
 
The Wayne county Stooksberry's came to town for Patrick's dad's birthday and got to visit the new house in progress. 

Cousin Dana, Aunt Cindy and Aunt Nan checking out the view from the foyer out the front dor

Catching up in the garage while Felicity shows Sullivan how to drive his tractor

STOOKSBERRIES

Waving bye, hopefully soon we will be able to host many more family get togethers!

...after we get the yard boy to finish mowing the dirt!

By the first of April the framing is complete and the shingles are almost done!  It's about to get really exciting...again!

Week 25:  Our Windows to the World

 Day 177

April 6, 2011



Bright and early Jasper gives a bark and down the driveway come our WINDOWS!  I run through the house shouting " they're here, they're here!"  I send Patrick out with the camera as Sullivan gives me a look like "Should I be excited or scared!?"

Master Bedroom door

Living room

Option 1:  not the option we chose but for the back patio door but it is what came in, we tried it in but sent it back.  We decided to go with 8 ft doors, instead of this 6 ft 7 doors with a transom. 

Master bedroom door and Living room windows.  Love them! 

First views of the front of the house with most of the windows!!

Sullivan takes a wagon tour of the grounds

Breakfast nook

East side view

The specs: Sun Windows ordered from Vowell's, Low E with Argon gas ect.  Sounds fancy but they really do block a good bit of UV from in the house. 

Front nursery room

Master bedroom door--8ft...nice

Windows in the master bath

Bronze on the outside and white panes on the interior with paintable surround, panes are between glass so they never need cleaning

Front guest room casement window...love this view!

 

I love our new windows, however, an unforeseen problem has been discovered...apparently the way double hung windows are made the middle window pane hits at about 5 ft 5 inches, the exact height of my eyes, therefore when I stand at the window to look out I see...wood.  So I either have to stand on my tip toes or crouch down.  Hindsight, would have gotten all casement but was not in the funds.  However as above the double hungs have this cool feature.  AND... you don't have to have a stick to hold up the window when its open, it just sticks there automatically!  Lovin' technology these days!