Devils in the details...

OK, been offline for a while...it's been a mix of winter weather, our project manager trying out for the olympic ski team, and a tiler-in-abstencia.  But seriously, some good work done over the last few weeks, the house is becoming a home!  Our good friends Gayle & Chip visited the site with us this weekend, a chilly but sunny day, "walked the fences", did some plinking with the .177, and rounded it out with a French-style picnic on the half-done porch.

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A view down from the second floor.  Like the title says, the devil's in the details, getting harder to see.  Moulding in place around the windows, baseboard and along the stairs

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While we were discussing stuff, Matt spontaneously started peeling the protective plastic off one of the living room window's glass...absolutely gorgeous!  Compare the view to the one next to it.  When we were locking up, I mistakenly thought the window had been left open.

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Kitchen installation in progress.  We went with IKEA cabinets for both the price and the innovative features.  My sister Leslie renovated with IKEA last year and highly recommended it.

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Another kitchen view, sink will be under the south-facing double windows.  The gap is for a dishwasher.

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A slightly earlier view of the kitchen, but shows the general layout.  All the light-colored wood gets covered by doors and panels of the darker brown wood, or on the island, stainless steel.

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Doors reporting for duty.  This the the 1st floor guest room.

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Looking out from the master bedroom, across the hall to the 2nd floor guest bath.  Wood doors and frames on all bedrooms, white doors on everything else.

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On rainy days, Matt has the exterior siding craftsman Ruben, working inside on the window, baseboard and other trim.  We really like the trim detail around the structural beams in the great room and kitchen.

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Outside, the plumbers have trenched a supply pipe from the well-head into the basement.  You can also see the electrical wire for the well pump.  We have this wired in to the future generator vital power circuit.  I'd like to find a manual pump that could be fitted to draw water....in case of the zombie apocalypse.

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A nice view showing the siding complete on the east side, and the well-head in the mid-ground.

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An example of the tile-work in progress.  This is the 2nd floor guest room shower.

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Aft view of the house showing siding complete.  Another view of the small shed roofs over the basement doors.

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Jenny and Gayle take a break during the hike around the property.  This is down in the wood along the stream.

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One nice thing about taking the scenic route home from the Lake thru Culpeper and Warrenton, is stopping in at Pearmund Vineyards.  The manager gave me some great info on a beginner grape growing seminar taught by Virginia Tech.  Cheers!

Water and wood...

Some good progress in the last week.  Biggest achievement was the drilling of the water well. I didn't get to watch the drilling process but, it's reported they drilled to 245 feet and have a 10 gallon per minute flow, which is sufficient.  The hickory hardwood floors were also laid on the main and second floors. All the interior walls were painted/primed white (for later finished painting).  Jon the tiler started in the main floor guest bath and and worked the shower pan area.

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Drilling rig on site....last week.

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The result:  the white tube in the foreground is the well-head, east-northeast of the house.  We have future plans for a 3-car garage in the area between the well and the SUV, right about where there is a wooden ribbed structure, .... but that's Phase II.

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A little bit more stucco panel siding, that team has trimmed around the front windows and fitted panels under the front porch roof.

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Close-up of the stucco panels fitted under the front porch roof supports.  Nice job!  After the seams are siliconed and exterior-painted, you should be hard-pressed to see any panel joints.

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'Character' hickory hardwood floors laid.  This view towards the kitchen from the great room area.  Towards the end, we'll look at different stains and finishes for the hardwood floor, based on how the interior doors and trim look.

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Hardwood floor install viewed from the side-entrance door, into mudroom, through to kitchen and beyond.
Powder room (left) and pantry are also hardwood floored.

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Hickory hardwood floor in the upper landing and sitting room.  For affordability, we are going with carpet in all three bedrooms.  The primed walls, light-wood floors, and windows really fill the house with light, which was a main objective. (and this was shot on an overcast day).

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This picture shows how Jon the tiler was able to cut-down the main-floor guest bath shower pan, allowing a seamless transition from bath floor to shower.  The shower deck will be a bit lower than the bath floor, sloping towards the shower drain to the right.

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