Starting New House Finally!

[Alan L.]

Its been slow. They finally finished the island countertop only today. Cut out the cabinet work for the sink where they screwed up and then put granite on the side (back of shelves under island) to cover it up. Mrs. Alan L. approved the job - she likes it. Now the light fixture does not hang directly over the sink like its supposed to.

They are scraping the wood floors today and will have stain and 2 coats of poly on them by Saturday. Once we are ready to move in they will put one more coat.

Carpet is supposed to go in next week, the tile guys are still working and the trim and paint people stil have small stuff to do. Outside flatwork formed but not poured yet because of the rain.

We should be able to close end of next week and move in a week later. With no furniture (!!!). Who has time to shop for funiture when building a house. We still have to purchase the door hardware, which will be all oiled bronze.

I will get some pics on here this weekend.

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[Alan L.]

Here are some pics of the tile backsplash in the kitchen and tile in the master shower (no grout yet). Also granite in the kitchen and the large piles of shavings from the hand scraping of the oak floors done today.

 

[Alan L.]

Somes pics of the fireplace and tankless water heater. Today I ordered a 250 propane tank which we will purchase (used) for $300 rather than rent for $65 a year. We are going to get it filled up although our only uses for propane are the water heater, fireplace (starter only) and outdoor propane grill.

 

[jinman]

Its been slow...We can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I can see that light at the end of the tunnel too, Alan. I think it's the twinkle in your eyes from almost being able to move in.

The countertop color is terrific and things in general look like they are coming together. I know exactly what you mean about having a house with no furniture. It took me six months to get the minimum and another two years to get things like I really wanted.

 

[EddieWalker]

Alan,

Your home looks amazing. I'd sure like to see more pictures of the trip work around the windows and the stairs!!! I love the shading of it and was wondering what stain they used? Do you know any of the details?

It's nice to see it almost done and ready to move in. I'm sure you're very exited.

Congratulations.

Eddie

 

[gsganzer]

Alan,
You're going to love the hand scraped wood floors. They really look impressive when they're finished. Have them scrape some scrap flooring and stain it just to double check your choice of color. It will look dramatically different (much darker) on the scraped floor then on any smooth store sample.

We get a ton of compliments on our scraped floor.

 

[Alan L.]

Eddie:

The pine trim and alder cabinets, beams, and mantel all have Cherry stain and flat lacquer. The oak stair trim is special walnut, as will be the oak floors.

I'll get some more pics of the window trim and such. The picture showing back into the dining room shows the walls above the beadboard not finished. They are putting wallpaper there, but the living room and everything else is painted/stained. The walls in the living room turned out lighter than we had hoped, but its growing on us.

 

[Alan L.]

Alan,
You're going to love the hand scraped wood floors. They really look impressive when they're finished. Have them scrape some scrap flooring and stain it just to double check your choice of color. It will look dramatically different (much darker) on the scraped floor then on any smooth store sample.

We get a ton of compliments on our scraped floor.

They scraped a section and stained it ahead of time and we decided on that. Overall it was not too dark, just the distressed parts took on the darker color. We'll see how it turns out.

 

[Michael_E_Tx]

Alan, any pics of the guys scraping your floors? As a retired woodworker who has never ever dealt with scraping hardwood floors, I'd sure enjoy seeing the implement used.

When we moved on our place, the 250 gal. propane tank said 25 on the gauge. I thought, oh my, better get that filled. The only things in our house that use propane are the cooking range and oven. I recently checked and it's down to 25 again. Don't know where all that propane went. It was just filled in July of 2003. The propane delivery guy said we had about 55 gal. left at 25, so maybe I'll wait till this July to fill it again.

Mike

 

[Alan L.]

Alan, any pics of the guys scraping your floors? As a retired woodworker who has never ever dealt with scraping hardwood floors, I'd sure enjoy seeing the implement used.

When we moved on our place, the 250 gal. propane tank said 25 on the gauge. I thought, oh my, better get that filled. The only things in our house that use propane are the cooking range and oven. I recently checked and it's down to 25 again. Don't know where all that propane went. It was just filled in July of 2003. The propane delivery guy said we had about 55 gal. left at 25, so maybe I'll wait till this July to fill it again.

Mike

Unfortunately we did not get pics of the guys scraping the floors. But it was 2 guys, each equipped with a tool that had a convex blade about 2" wide at the end of about an 18" steal handle. They would put the left hand on top of the blade and pull it back toward them with the right. They did 900 square feet like this, all on their knees. They appreciated the 62 degrees I had the thermostat set on for the purpose of reducing the humidity before finishing the floors. LOTS of work, but they said they love doing it.