We Got Stoned.....

Actually, we finally have the majority of stone on the fireplace, with just the hearth stone left to be put in place.

As usual just the prep work alone, prior to the crew getting started with the stone work, took longer than I had expected. The majority of the work involved was the timber work that surrounds the chimney about a third of the way up. We had some timbers left over so I decided to make use of them for the mantel as well as the band that kind of breaks things up.

The hearth stone will be a flagstone that has yet to be picked out but will probably be chosen this week. There will be some hearth stone also incorporated onto the top of the timber band. It will hopefully give it more of a tapered look, or at least soften the difference in the upper and lower chimney.

The first step for applying the stone was to brown coat the entire face of the fireplace surround / chimney.

Once this had set up the stone could start to be applied. With four people working on it, it went relativley fast but still took them two days to nearly complete it.

Also, the granite for the counter tops has been picked out, ordered, and hopefully will soon be fabricated. This was quite an education how the whole process works. First off we needed to chose the colors that we wanted in the granite and then decide the thickness of the granite. Once we had this decided we needed to make an appointment to pick out the slabs of granite. When picking out the slabs they have them all lined up so that they are in succession as to how they were mined so as to keep any lines running in the granite together once it goes into fabrication. As it turned out, we needed three slabs to complete the kitchen, and the laundry room. Another slab of a different color was chosen for the master bathroom, and guest bathroom. The powder room off of the kitchen was also a different color granite and was chosen from the companies remnant selection.

Obviously, with the granite soon to be installed most of the cabinet ( kitchen and bathrooms) installation is complete. Some doors and smaller cabinets need to be installed but this part of the project is winding down.

The office cabinets are slated to be installed shortly after the fourth of July, with the desk top being fitted and installed shortly there after.

The tile has also been quite a process to get picked out and to get someone set up to do the installation. We had originally planned on doing this ourselves, and actually were looking forward to it, but time is not on our side and thus this is one of the things that needed to be contracted out. All of the tile will be porcelain tile which was a bit of a sticker shock but in the end will hold up much better than ceramic.

This week should see the delivery of the evacuated tubes, ground mount kit and other materials needed for the solar portion of the radiant floor. This is a ways away from installation due to..... you guessed it time constraints, but we figured we better get it ordered now because it doesn't appear that shipping prices are going to be getting any less expensive!!

If any spare time is had, we have been trying to devote it towards getting more siding installed. As you can see there has been little change since my last update but our hopes are as we get more of the inside work completed we will find more time to make a bigger dent in the siding project.

And lastly, a garden update. I seem to be a bit behind this year on getting everything in but it is coming along nicely. Just wish for the garden's sake and the rain catch tanks sake the monsoons would start up soon!!!

Making Progress

Although slow, we are making steady progress on the finishing work.

Painting continues, with some of the rooms having at least one coat of colored paint applied and the majority of the house has been primed, thanks to my wife.

A couple of weeks ago the Gutowski cabinet installers came up and installed all of the laundry room cabinets,

all of the bathroom vanities, and got what kitchen cabinets that are on site, somewhat set into position. This coming Friday they will be returning to install all of the kitchen cabinets which will allow us to get the granite counter tops ordered. I should add that they did install the china hutch as well as the pantry in the kitchen.

Prior to them installing the cabinets, I managed to get a fair amount of casing run to trim out the windows with.

We also purchased a knife set for making our own rosettes. I wanted to get the windows in the kitchen and laundry room trimmed out before the cabinets went in. It was a lot easier this way to work on them without having to work over the cabinets. We also decided to do a window sill on several of the windows, so I have been making those, as well, while trimming out each window.

I have been working on the base for the master bathroom tub. All that is left, is to frame the walls around the tub. This will allow the Gutowski's installers to get a final measurement for the linen closet in the master bedroom.

Our hopes right now are to have someone chosen the first part of this week to do the stone work on the fireplace, and hopefully begin work the beginning of next week. I still have a fair amount of work to do on it prior to that though. The front is mostly complete with the mantel anchored in place.

I still have the surround timbers to mill and put into place, as well as frame for a water feature that will be on the back of the fireplace. This week will be devoted strictly to the fireplace so as to hopefully have it ready so stone work can begin next week.

Also, this past weekend, we spent some of our time working some more on the siding. Hard to believe in less than a month we will be into the monsoon season. I would like to have a fair amount of the siding installed on the South and East facing sides of the house in case of a driving rain. Once we get going on it, it actually goes rather fast but with a hundred other things on the "to do list" it often gets moved down.

Due to the year flying by as fast as it is, and a November deadline looming, we will be having someone come in and do all of the tile work. We have done some looking around at tile and slate for design ideas but have not settled on anything definite yet.

I think we have decided on the type of hardwood floor for the great room and have an installer chosen for this already. Initially we were against an engineered hardwood floor, we just did not like the looks of them. What we have decided to go with is a engineered unfinished hardwood floor. So after it is installed it will require sanding and finishing and we will still get the look of a solid hardwood floor.

Our hopes are that we will be ready for the hardwood floor sometime near the end of July or the first part of August. Our hopes are at that time to have the majority of the inside work completed, and turn our attention to finishing up the outside of the house.