Fireplace Mantel

The guys built our fireplace mantel today.  It is simply beautiful...can't wait to see it painted!  We will have stone on the fireplace under the mantel.  More baseboards were installed today.  Stone and tiles guys didn't show today...so nothing new there.  Roofers were here ...but left early due to the rain....RAIN, I said!   Thank you God for the rain...just a little bit blew into the house...thankfully, most of the roof is done.  Things are looking great!

Pantry Shelves....

Wow...they put in the pantry shelves today.  We are going to love our big, walk-in pantry.  That is one of the reasons we picked this house plan.  Since we live in the "boonies", we have to stock up on supplies...this pantry is going to be wonderful!  The guys continued crown molding work today.  They started installing the baseboards also.  The stone guys completed more of their work.  The roofers continued their work.   I counted 7 trucks here today when I drove up...thank goodness we don't have grass yet....it would be pounded in the dirt with all of the vehicles driving in and out daily.  I hope they remember to NOT park under the oak trees...a few weeks ago, one of the guys got his truck dented from a large falling limb!  Ouch!

More Beautiful Crown Molding.....

The guys continue their crown molding work.   They worked on the molding in the master bathroom today.  It is so beautiful with the vaulted ceiling!  Interior tile guy was here and worked more on the master bath shower.  The roofing guys got more of their work done.  The exterior stone guys formed our first stone column for the front porch.  Looks great!  More exterior hardi siding was hung today.  We are having some issues with the front stairs, etc.  We thought we were getting tiled steps with the stone carried on the side.  They are saying that it is an "added expense"...We keep hearing "added expense"..well...there are no funds for "added expense"...it's very frustrating!  Now they say we are going to have front wood steps that are open on the side...well, then...the stone has to be carried across the front of the house, under the stairs.  There is no other alternative that will look right.  Oh, how we are so ready to get this done.  Thank goodness they are building quickly...I just don't think I would have mentally lasted thru a 6-9 month house build!

More Crown Molding...

The crew completed more crown molding work today.   They really do a beautiful job on that!  Some door trim was completed today.  The roofers continued their work.  Looks like they don't have that much more to go.  They asked for paint colors today, so looks like that will be started soon.  The exterior stone guys continue their work.  Everything is coming together nicely!

Crown Molding....

We came home this evening after a long day of being out of town to find some beautiful crown molding work done!  Go Gilbert and crew!  The crown touches are spectacular!  There is truly some beautiful work going on here!!!  Window trim is looking great also.  The metal roof crew completed more of their work.  The bathroom tile guy is doing a beautiful job on the master shower.  We have chosen a "whitish-stone-looking" tile with decorative tiles that have metallic inlays.  The metallic inlays change colors with different light...sometimes a silver tone, sometimes a bronze tone.  We can't wait to see the finished shower.  It should truly be beautiful.....love all the detail work going on right now...it's really fun seeing all of our "choices" come together!

Same Crew...More Progress...

Things are moving right along...more roofing done, more exterior stone work done, more bathrrom tile done, more master closet work....pantry shelving started,  beautiful front door hung, ...and a little bit of this and a little bit of that.....things are looking great!  Still daily issues to work out, decisions to make, adjustments, and "re-do's"...but we are excitedly coping!

Front Door Delivered....

Our beautiful front door was delivered today.  It is sooo pretty!  It will be stained a dark color to match the hardwood floor.  The guys worked on the master closets today.  The tile guy started some of his tile work today.  The stone guy continues his work.  The roofers got alot more done today.  Lots of work going on...love it!

Interior Doors Hung....

Lots going on out here today.  The roofing guys continue their work...roof is looking great!  Exterior stone guy got alot done today.  We told him our concerns about the unlevel lines.  He is trying to straighten things out...although he is still working from the bottom - up which will continue to create level problems due our sloping lot.  Most of the interior doors were hung today.  They look great!  I love our pantry and laundry room door!  The framers also worked on the master closets and installed the attic ladder.  The bathroom tile guy was here continuing his work.  The electrician was also here for more of his work.....lots of progress!

Metal Roof Started...

The roofing guys worked all day Saturday on the metal roof.  They were back today and worked till 6pm.  I know that is very hot and difficult work...but it is looking so good.  They are doing a great job.  The bathroom tile guy was here today doing prep work in the bathrooms.  The framers were working on various things.   My clawfoot tub was delivered today!  Yea!  It is going to be so beautiful.  Our interior doors also arrived.  They look good, although they ordered the wrong door for our library/music room.   They were supposed to be double french doors (glass 15 lite), but we got a solid set of doors.  We will have to get that straight.  Another issue that has me pulling my hair out is the stone work today.   EEK...the first little bit they did last week looked really good.  They started at the top of the stone area and worked down.  That kept the horizonal plane line straight.  Well, today, they seemed to work from bottom to up...which really threw the horizonal line off.  It is wavy and angled and is driving me crazy!  Our house is on an sloping elevation so the horizonal stone line can't be started from the ground...It just won't end up right...and now the work they did today is literally "set in stone".  It is not an easy fix.  Sometimes, I think I'm being too picky, but I have an eye for detail and things like that just drive me batty!  We'll see how it turns out...I just don't want them to get too far with things being "off", when we could have said something earlier to "straighten things out"....oh the joys of building a house!!!!

Exterior Stone Work...

Not alot going on our here today.  We had a couple of men working on the exterior stone.  They did mostly prep work over the past couple of days.  They did manage to apply a few stone veneers before calling it a day.  It is going to look really nice.   The temporary stairs have been torn down so that the stone guys can do their job.  That makes it pretty tough to get in the house to look around and for deliveries...Just had a truck pull up to deliver inside trim and such.  They are jumping on/off the porch to carry in the trim and other things delivered today.  Hopefully, the stone work will speed up and the front stairs will be built soon to make the entrance into the house a bit easier.  The roofing guys are supposed to start tomorrow, Saturday.  I surely hope so...we have several chances for rain over the next few days.

Cabinets Are In....

Wow!  The cabinets arrived today and the guys put them in pretty quickly.  They installed kitchen cabinets, laundry room cabiniets, and built in shelves by the fireplace.  They still have some work to do with them.  The cabinets will be painted a color called "Dove White" and will have a "chocolate glaze" on them to antique them.  They are really pretty!  A trailer of stone arrived yesterday.  The stone guy will begin installing the stone on Thursday.   Alot of our plumbing fixtures, door knobs, light fixtures, etc were delivered today.  We also got a supply of our bathroom tile.   Things are moving right along.  I just want the metal roof to be installed ASAP!  They are doing all of this beautiful detail work inside and the roof is not waterproof yet, just tar paper.  I'm so concerned that so much will be ruined if it rains.  Come on guys....roof, roof, roof! 

Textured Walls... (almost)...

Monday, July 11th:
The guys came out on Saturday and spent the day texturing the sheetrock.  It really looks good, especially with the rounded corners.  Unfortunately, they missed a wall in the bathrom, so they will have to come back again to complete their work.  Wish I had known and had done my "inspection" before they drove off....that would save them a trip back...oh well...such as life!   Today, the crew hung some exterior siding on the back covered porch.  They also pushed back dirt from around the front of the house so that the stone veneer people can get their stone work done.  I can't wait to see the stone on the house.  That is really going to add to look of the house.  Below are a couple of pics that I took of the lake...(what used to be the lake).  The lake level is usually close to the top of our wood retaining wall.  As you can see, the lake has dropped so much!  We have never seen it this low.  I just know that any day now, our dogs are going to figure out that they can walk across the lake!  Hopefully, the rains will come (although I hope they get our metal roof on first).  This would surely be a great time for Michael to work on the retaining wall, which needs alot of work!  Unfortunately, the "funds" are going to the house right now, so the retaining wall will just have to wait.

Taping, Floating, Mudding...Part 2

The guys continued today to tape, float, and mud.  They finished all but a couple of places in the master bathroom.  Michael asked that they replace the sheetrock in the pantry corner that looked so horrible.  Yea...Done!  One less concern!   The other guys continued their exterior siding work.  Looks really good!  There is supposed to be a crew here on Saturday to sand the sheetrock and begin texturing the walls.  I spent some time today drawing a rough sketch of the bathroom shower tile design that I want, then faxed it to the builder.  They may start that work soon.  I hope my design will look ok...I just don't have any experience in tile lay-out design, and that's not something that's easily changed.  A roofing guy was out here today to look at the house to give our builder a bid on installing the metal roof.  His regular roofing crew is on vacation for several days.  So many things going on...progress, progress, progress!

Taping, Floating, Mudding....

The guys continue to work on the exterior hardiboard siding.   The sheetrock guys continue to tape, float, mud , etc.  Things are looking really good, except for a couple of issues.  The sheetrock guys kinda did a "shotty job" in the pantry in one of the corners, putting in a piece of sheetrock that was broken, crumbled, and didn't meet in the corner.  I have been concerned about this and Michael has pointed it out to the builder.  The guys are mudding in that corner, but it looks horrible.  We really don't think it's gonna work.  They really need to re-do that corner!  Also, quite a bit of rain got in the house the other night during the storm.  We think the sheetrock is ok...but it kinda worries me that maybe isulation is wet, etc.  Hopefully everything is ok....

Taping and Floating...

Tuesday, July 5th:
It's after 6pm and the sheetrock guys are still here taping, floating, and installing the bullnose corners on the walls and windows.  We love the rounded corners!  They also worked yesterday, July 4th for a few hours.  Things are looking good..still working out some issues, as usual.  The guys worked on exterior siding today.  They framed for the master bathroom shower seat.  Other guys worked on insulating under the house.  The metal roofing supplies were delivered a few days ago.  Lots of various things going on at the same time....it all adds up to progress!  Love it!

Sheetrock up...

The guys have worked for a couple of days hanging the sheetrock.  Things look so great!  The windows are in and are beautiful!  The air conditioner guys are here installing the air/heat units.  It's 8:15pm and they are still working.   A crew will be here on Saturday and Monday, July 4th to tape and float the sheetrock.  Wow...things are moving fast now!