Siding & Soffit

Sidling up to Hardie Siding
Siding is going up with a little break for the snow.  You can see the difference with the larger boards on the lower section.  We are so glad it is looking good, we had really wanted stucco.  I think we'll be pleased with our choice, doesn't look at all like a second choice.

A look from the driveway side of the house.

Soffit!

The soffit is up and looking sharp!  Yet another thing that we are very glad looks good since it wasn't our first choice.  Our biggest worry was that it would look too busy with the siding - I think we're safe.

A peek out a window and up at the soffit.

Inspections and Insulation

Tomorrow, we have the framing, electrical and plumbing inspections.  With that complete, insulation will be able to to begin.  We are doing a kind of insulation called fiberglass bib or blown-in-batts.  This was a good middle ground between fiberglass (known for gapping and voids, but cheap) and foam (good seal, but expensive).  

Clues into the Future 

A few glimpses into the future work ahead.

• Sheet rock should begin next week Tuesday and last about 3 weeks
• Wood flooring is being measured this week, and will go in after the sheet rock
• Choices to make:  Front door, tile, paint colors

Dream-Inducing Progress

A lot has happened over the last week, it's getting hard to keep up.  Last night I had a dream that the floors were installed overnight - they weren't.

Windows Installed
Our windows were installed though out the house, except one in the basement.  My guess on that one is to allow for delivery of big stuff to the basement.

A view up the stairwell.  I realize we won't be using those high double-hungs, we didn't have another option that we liked.

The back door is actually a  Marvin brand, so it was installed along with the windows. The door's window being the only window in the mudroom, we went as big on the glass as possible.

A line of basement windows along the driveway side of the house.

Shingles Installed

I was visiting the site this week and saw the shingles peeking out of the snow.  While we had picked out the color of shingles, we didn't realize they were going on so soon!

Cables Installed
Andy has been working with a low-voltage wiring specialist to get the house wired for sound, TV, phone and computer.  Most of the setup is pretty standard, but a couple of aspects are a little fun.  We put speakers in the ceiling in the living room and the kitchen/dining area.  They can be used along with  the TVs (one on the kitchen wall and one in the living room)  independently or together.  They can also be used to play music throughout the space.  All of this is run from components that will be in the hall closet.  Just when the parental units figured out how to control the TV...

Kid's Tub Install
The kid's tub was installed, the first piece of finishing!  Now that the framing is complete and the plumbing and electrical are roughed in, the house is like a giant fill-in-the-blank.

Ta da!  We chose the Kohler Bellwether.  The Kohler Villager just didn't cut it, why does it have to have a giant check-mark on the side???

Siding Underway
The Hardie siding has begun to be installed.  The boards are primer colored, not what we are choosing. The top section will have narrower boards that the lower section.

A peek out of the window midday on Friday.

A view from the backyard (the port-potty in the background is only temporary, not part of our plan).

A Quick Tour

Lucy had the opportunity to give her cousins (and uncle) a tour of the house yesterday.  Many discoveries were made:

The girls discovered that the island is just the right size to sit for a snack. 

The girls discovered that the Master shower is pretty awesome (they are showering, if you can't tell).

Andy discovered that there is a fish house in the basement!  Without stairs to the basement, we haven't been down there yet.  We wondered how the guys didn't turn into popsicles.

W.O.W. (Windows of Wonderfulness)

Windows, windows, windows!!!

It isn't exactly clear, but we believe all of the windows went in the house in a single day.  That seems extremely fast!  We went with Marvin Integrity windows which are wood on the inside and fiberglass on the outside.  The thought of draft-free, functional windows is intoxicating.

Better light on this AM shot, you can see the exteriors are bronze - a dark brown color.  Seemed like a good way to downplay windows without a grill pattern. 

You can see by Tony's hieroglyphics pose, no fun is being had on site at all.  

Installing the final window at the end of the day.

Tub Scare

We stopped by the site on Sunday and were told by the plumber that the NBA tub was not going to fit. AHHHHHHH!!!!!  With a quick bathroom redesign - changing from 2 pedestals and a cabinet, to a double sink vanity - we can fit it all.  Whew. 

Wood and ivory

We set out this morning for St. Michael, site of our cabinet shop, Great Ideas.  We needed to decide on the wood species for our cabinets and other wood built ins.  The birch floors have thrown the whole equation out of balance, so off to find zen (equation) balance again.  

We have found a balance that makes us both happy with stained cherry.  And thankfully it all looks good with the lot of Restoration Hardware knobs and pulls that we bought on Craigslist.  

The kitchen base cabinets and island will be in the stained cherry at the back.  The few upper cabinets will be in the painted white.   

In other news, Lucy has found that there is a piano in her bedroom.

Steps, Floors and doing the Electric Slide

Stairway to Heaven... or at least the 2nd floor

Last weekend we stopped by the house and found stairs!  Very handy.  The stair configuration was one of the most difficult things about our design.  We wanted to have the stairs to terminate in the center of the 2nd floor to minimize hallways.  With such a narrow house, you don't have a lot of options.  We ended up with a configuration with 2 landings - a few stairs, a 90 degree turn, quite a few more stairs, another landing, another 90 degree turn, then a few more stairs.  

On the first landing.

Maple!  No, Birch!  No Birch!  Yes Birch!

Flooring has been one of those things that we have waffled on.  We knew we didn't want oak.  We knew we wanted sand-in-place, not the micro-bevel kind (just something about the micro-bevels that seem to invite dirt).  In our bid, we specified select maple.  During our discussions about cabinets, maple started to appear a little too stark.  

After a trip to Lon Musolf Distributing, we were down to 2 options:  common red birch and heartwood hickory.  The rep told us that both were approximately the same cost as the maple.  After much deliberation, we chose the birch.  We felt so good and proud of ourselves.  Then, the flooring dude said the birch was going to be $1.00 more per square foot.  Heartbroken, we let go of our birchy dreams.  After much calling between us, our contractor, the flooring dude, and Lon Musolf a miracle happened - the birch was on sale.  There would be no difference in price, the we could have our birch.

Common Red Birch - reds, browns, bluish grays and lots of swirls and shimmer.  

It's electric (boogie, oogie, oogie)

This morning - with freezing toes - we did our walk through with the electrician.  We set switch, light, and socket locations.  Everything feels so incredibly permanent.  The pressure is really mounting to get things right.

General Progress

Lots of stuff is starting to happen at the same time.  I feel like the progress is growing exponentially - the site now buzzing with various tradesmen, all doing their piece of the puzzle.  Stuff just starts showing up:

• The laundry chute was put in making a drop from the 2nd story to the basement laundry
• Exhaust vents have been run from the baths 
• Ducts/returns are being cut into rooms
• Windows arrived on site
• The portico (covered front step) is taking shape

The glorious laundry chute. 

First glimpse of the portico.  Sounds fancy, doesn't it?

Bleach, soffits and magic markers

Plumbing update
We now know which celebrities to thank for the delightful bathroom fixtures.  The condo was owned by Dwane Casey (coach) then later rented to Al Jefferson (player), both of Minnesota Timberwolves fame.  While these names mean nothing to me, based on the reactions I have gotten, I believe I will bleach the tub with much gusto.  I will also lie to myself that the tub only served as the beer cooler during the NBA parties often held at the condo.

Soffit trouble
Smooth, painted soffit was always the plan especially since we will have 3 foot overhangs staring down at us.  Unfortunately through a misunderstanding, we only budgeted for aluminum soffit.  We thought long and hard over the budget increase and ended up sticking with the aluminum option.  Oh, smooth soffits, the dream of you will be missed.

A sense of the size and visibility of the soffits.

Cabinet meeting
We met with Brad, the cabinet guy today.  We stood in the kitchen as he drew out the cabinet plan with marker on the floor.  It was surreal!  With a few rejiggers of Brad's draft, we are looking forward to an incredibly coherent kitchen plan.

Looking good in the kitchen.

A trip upstairs

We had the chance to see the upstairs since it was framed.  Things are coming along great!  

My closet is so big,  I can't reach both sides at the same time. 

Lucy's room has a small walk-in closet complete with a window!  Gonna need a shade on that.

  

Home decapitation

Yesterday, the carpenters started putting up the roof trusses.  Today, about half of the roof was covered with plywood.

A peek at the side.

A view of the hip roof from below.

Then we discussed a situation with the roof over the single story section in the back.  The walls were mistakenly framed 1 foot too high.  This was discovered when the roof trusses overlapped a window opening on the 2nd floor.  To solve the problem, the guys are going cut the roof off of the entire back part of the house, cut the walls down a foot, then put the entire roof back on.  They didn't seem to think that decapitating the house was a big deal, it might take them a day.  Thankfully the entire 10 day forecast still shows mid to upper 30s!