Fast and Furious

It is amazing how many projects were completed this last week, next week promises much more too and then it's over...sigh. So what do we mean by alot? Well here's a partial list of what was installed this week: all the light fixtures and switches, the range hood and dishwasher, lovely handrails stained to match the cabinets, all plumbing, counter tops, hanging of all doors, closet shelving, exterior lights and the backyard fence. We visited a few times since so much was happening and now that the lights work we can go over after work! Check out the pictures...

The kitchen has white quartz counter tops. The under counter lights aren't turned on in this picture which provide even more light. 

The view from the stairs looking into the kitchen. The hand rail stain matches the cabinets, apparently we were the first people to choose so many gray tones so they had to develop a new stain for them. They really nailed it.

A piece of counter top was cut and waiting to be installed early in the week. Looking at the size of it, I think it went in the upstairs guest bathroom.

The Bosch range hood was installed, a bit more modern than the standard version. Given the high heat range we have going in below it, we needed to upgrade to make sure it had a powerful enough fan. The LED lights were a bonus.

The upstairs linen closet was a point of drama. We didn't want them to install these obnoxious support brackets for each shelf since it seriously cut into what you could put on the shelf below. We ended up having to sign something so if we overload a shelf it won't be replaced by warranty. Crazy, right?

The upstairs hallway leading back to the master and loft area from the back bedrooms.

It was a big week for Kohler, every faucet, sink and toilet is Kohler. At one point during the week Matthew stopped by and the whole living room was full of Kohler boxes. 

The faucet and shower head were installed in the guest bath, running along the accent tile. We like how it turned out.

We chose standard light fixtures which means they all come from the same series with the linen frosted effect. 

We chose dual flush, skirted toilets. What does all that mean? Well the toilet looks mini because the tank is small and no more cleaning around those stupid knobs at the base. 

This is the steam unit which was installed in the basement. It sits atop a shelf that would safely hold our entire family of three, someone went a little overboard. 

Another shot of the railings, these are in the loft area upstairs.

The master bath is getting closer to completion! For some reason the center cabinet isn't actually sitting on the counter, we plan to have that lowered rather than dealing with things disappearing under there. 

The glass shower doors will be one of the last things installed. They came and measured this week.

Back in the living room, you can see the fence from inside. Matthew thinks if we start to dispense treats from these windows, Astrid will always be waiting underneath them. 

The fenced backyard which thankfully they leveled. The growing season starts earlier here, so sod and plants will arrive around Mother's Day.

A sneak peak of what's to come... they laid hardwood under where the fridge will go. Yes, it's that light and will be all over the first floor.

This coming week brings hardwood flooring, carpeting, doorknobs and more. 

Until the next step -Lynne

Details: Cabinets, Tile and Paint

Over the last couple weeks work has continued on the house and with the closing date looming each day brings the project closer to completion.  I've been faithfully visiting the house to check on progress and can happily report that the cabinets are in and look even better than we expected.  Tile work continues and looks great so far.  On one of the warm stretches in Denver the exterior of the whole house was painted.  Progress has been made in the details making the whole house come alive again. Now for the pictures...

In the kitchen and powder bath we chose maple cabinets with a stained finish called Winter.  The color changes a bit with the light, but no matter what time of day you look at them they are a statement. The step down in the lower cabinets is for the slide-in range and the break in the cabinets above is for the hood.

The dining room is starting to take shape and will have good light from the transom window. The big hole in the cabinet is for the double oven.

This perspective shows me standing in the walk in closet off of the master bath.  We joke that the closet is larger than some bedrooms we saw in NY.  

A closer look at the small tile that runs the length of the floor.  

We have the same tile in the poured pan in the shower. It seems to change color with the light, but Lynne remains adamant it's not forest green. 

The wall tile in the walk-in shower is Lynne's favorite of the project.  I can't wait for the glass doors to be installed. We matched the grout color very closely so you can't even see the vertical tile breaks.

The Jack & Jill bath has simpler tile with an accent strip that runs behind the faucet.

The painting process was intense.  They taped off all the windows, molding and limestone then started spraying. Thank goodness for the recent nearly 60 degree days, we know it will set well in those temps.

Ladders, ladders and more ladders. 

You can see the wood detail under the canopy and how great the finished paint job looks. Also our front steps were re-poured and are now the correct five foot width. 

Next step on the exterior will be the backyard fence and later in spring they'll lay sod and plant the gardens! We chose a mix of peonies, forsythia and a number of wild grasses.

I love the little details...

Lynne, Astrid and I will be watching the progress and will have another update soon.  We are looking forward to interior paint, appliance,counter tops and railing all to be installed this week. More to come --Matthew

The Finishing Work Begins

Our closing date has been set for March 7 which means the finishing work has begun. All the subcontractors are on a timeline ending with carpet installation on February 15. So in effect, the house will be finished in just under five weeks! I am as excited as the day they started digging, it will really start coming together quickly now. All the walls are up with the finishing texture applied. They started to lay the floor tile and by the end of next week will be done with all tile. This makes it ready for cabinets, then interior trim and paint. That brings us to the end of the month, so there will be much more to see soon. On the exterior, they've finished hanging the limestone accents and laying brick around the column out front. The next step outside is to paint the siding. While we have had a bit of unwelcome Canadian air lately, we'll be back in 50's by next week. Hopefully that will help the outdoor work. So onto the pictures, enjoy!

The street view, they will soon install wood planks on the underside of the overhang around the post.

A close-up of the limestone detail.

As you walk in the front door, you enter the living room. That is the fireplace and uber-modern mantel.

The view from the living room into the kitchen. 

Looking back into the living room from the kitchen. The bottom section of the large windows are casement.

Looking up into the wedge. The rail will be finished along the side and open onto lofted TV area.

Entering from the garage you walk through the mudroom and into the kitchen.

The first floor tile went down in the mudroom. Colors are deceptive here, but we chose a light grey which will blend will with the white washed ash hardwood to come.

Now upstairs into one of the bedrooms. This window faces south and is larger than it appears here. We'll need to come up some good window coverings so it's not steamy inside!

The same floor tile we chose for the mudroom is in the jack & jill bathroom. In the background you can see the tub that was installed when the doorways were more open for easy maneuvering, now it's covered in protective blue coat. Also sketched on that wall is the future wall tile layout: vertical brick set.

The loft which is above the living room. Matthew has lots of speakers planned for this room, so let's hope it doesn't disturb anyone who happens to be reading in the living room (hint hint!)

The other half of the loft taken with my back to the three casement windows. We'll hang the TV in the middle of those windows.

Across the hall from the loft is the master bedroom (you can see the rail on the right). You enter the bathroom on the left past the first doorway and the bedroom past the second doorway. We plan to hang a barn door on the inside of the second doorway.

The next three pictures are of the master bathroom taken from the closet looking out. Here  you can see the interior transom window visible in the previous picture and the window in the background is in the bedroom.

The steam shower is coming along! We spoke with the tiler and this will be a little tricky, but we have chosen large, textured tiles in a straight-set (see the red box outlines). They will run onto the ceiling and around that top edge. Then the whole space will be surrounded in glass. We are very excited about the progress here!

Next to the shower will be the double vanity under the window. We are looking forward to seeing the cabinets installed  to start filling in the space.

Well, that's all for now. In the next few weeks will be some fantastic progress where we will finally be able to see all of our choices around finishes come to life! 

Until the next step, Lynne 

Super Sheetrock

It has been so fun walking through the house during the last few days. We've learned the process of hanging sheetrock quickly starts with the ceilings and then the walls to eight feet which requires no cutting of the large 4x8 boards. Then they go back to cut out the windows, outlets, recessed lights and finish the walls to the ceiling. The days of seeing through the walls is over which really transforms the house. We finally have a sense of the way light will hit rooms and were surprised at how bright it is even with late December sun. 

Thankfully they've installed the furnace so our walk throughs have been quite comfortable. In fact the only problem we've had is discovering the front walk that we optioned to make wider than standard was poured at the standard width. We'll see how they remedy that situation!

As Christmas 2012 comes to a close we are thankful for the chance to build this lovely home. We hope you've had a wonderful day and feel peace tonight. Merry Christmas!

  

The front of the house taken after our Christmas snow!

All the siding is on and the windows are framed. The white house wrap on the corners is where they will hang limestone.

Matthew standing at the front door. Behind him to the left is the office.

The office shows they hang sheetrock in full sheets and cut later. The window on the left still needs to be trimmed.

The living room where you can see the insulation that was blown in before the sheetrock went up. Each room has a giant scrap pile in the center making this one of the dirtiest times on the job site.

The view into the kitchen from the living room.

The kitchen with a small stack of boxes full of sheetrock compound. They will need that for the next step of mudding all the joints. The black wire you see coming from the wall is the 220v for the double oven.

One more view of the kitchen and living room this time from the staircase.

The garage is sheetrocked too, pretty different than the garages we grew up with! 

Now some views of the open staircase. This is coming in from the garage.

Climbing the stairs, the giant west facing window floods the space with light. 

View down the stairs from the second floor. All the white construction railing will be open, iron handrail.

The master bedroom, all the windows on the front of the house really made it bright today!

The master bath, the skinny doorway leads to the walk-in closet. It's partially covered by sheetrock at the moment. We added two transom windows here which you can see on the left and right sides. The one on the left is the interior one bringing in morning light from the east facing hallway.

The framing for the shower is clear here, the glass doors will go all the way to the box on the ceiling.

The view down the hallway from the doorway to the master bedroom. 

The loft which is has alot of trimming that still needs to be done. An entire front window is covered and you can barely see the others. The eight foot ceiling in here makes it feel so cozy.

We opted to finish the staircase leading to the basement. Here you can see the half wall around that will lead around the corner. You've got just a glimpse of Matthew as he goes down to check the furnace.

A jobsite necessity which we always found resting in a different place. Matthew asked for a laser level for Christmas, but sometimes old school tools do the trick!

And we couldn't resist adding a fun, snowy picture of Astrid. Merry Christmas!

After sheetrock seams have been sealed with mud, they will be sanded. And when we return from a quick trip to MN, we have our walk through with the designer to confirm our finishing touches. That will be alot of fun, so until the next step! -Lynne