What's Happening Now: Late December
The holiday season and snowy weather slowed the pace of work during the last two weeks of December. It's a good time to stop and appreciate the beauty and wonder around us.
Flooring
Grandsons Spencer and Jeff are making great progress in laying the flooring. (You can see that the pile of wood is diminishing!)
They've nearly finished laying the maple floor -- milled from big-leaf maple trees cut on site -- in the great room.
The alder floors in the master and guest bedrooms are complete.
This was particularly challenging since alder wood has a stong tendency to twist and bow. Spencer and Jeff used shorter pieces of wood, and took the time to carefully cut them so they fit tightly together.
Doors
Son Karl has nearly completed installing the interior doors.
All of the doors on the upper floor are made of knotty alder, which looks great with the alder floors.
The only doors that remain are the doors on the office, the guest bath, and the pantry, along with four pocket doors and the bifold doors on three closets.
Then we'll need to add the doorknobs!
The "Bug Room"
We have been doing the finishing work ourselves in the three-season room we affectionately call the "bug room" -- an enclosed area where we can escape the mosquitoes that make their home in our wetland.
We've finished paneling the wall with cedar ship-lap and, above it, shingles.
Tile
Tile work in the showers is complete. The tile floors are complete except for the grout.
(Yet to be done is the tile work in the guest bath -- some work first needed to be done on the plumbing there, which is now complete. We expect that the guest bath will be completed in the next couple of weeks.)
Countertops
Granite countertops are being fitted to the bathroom cabinets.
We think the colors are turning out beautifully.
Measurements have been made for quartz countertops in the kitchen, and they're currently being fabricated.
We expect them to be installed in the next couple of weeks.
Cabinet Hardware
We installed all of the knobs on the cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms.
By our count, there were 54 knobs!
Lighting
Electricians have been hard at work finishing the wiring.
They've been installing light fixtures inside and -- even in the snowy weather -- outside.
The electricians have also been finishing up the electrical outlets and phone/cable outlets.
Getting Ready |
Well |
Milling Wood |
Excavation |
Concrete
Framing |
More Framing |
Plumbing |
Electrical |
Floors |
Roofing
What's Happening Now:
Late Oct |
Early Nov |
Mid-Nov |
Late Nov |
Early Dec |
Late Dec
Early Jan |
Late Jan |
Early Feb |
Late Feb |
Early March |
Mid-April - Done!