Where have you gone, Joe Blogger?

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post.  For those of you on the edge of your seats, waiting for startling photos of a nearly completed house, just ease back a bit and have another handful of popcorn.  Lots has happened, but the visual evidence is not all that dramatic.

Friday, October 24.

I snapped this pic last Friday.  The front porch is now finished and the permanent columns are in place.  These are nice square fiberglass models that should be relatively maintenance free.

We were pretty specific that we did not want to spend our declining years up on a ladder scrapping and painting, so much of the outside of the house will be basically plastic.  We selected vinyl siding (cuz vinyl is final) and PVC decking for the front porch and south deck.

Oh yes, the decking…  And here we launch into a little tirade about how everything is not always seamless in a building project.

Some of the first choices we made were the shingles, the siding and the decking.  The decking came in a variety of colors and grains.  As this was basically plastic decking, we choose a cedar grain because it looked a little less "plasticy" than the oak grain.  Little did we know that the oak grain is stamped on one side and the cedar grain is stamped on the other.  When Kevin and his crew installed the deck, they were very careful to make sure they consistently put the same grain up.

I can't say enough about the quality of Kevin's work.  This house is built like a tank.  Everywhere we look, the quality of the framing is absolutely first rate.  Several of the vendors that we have met with know Kevin's work and wholeheartedly agree, he is the BEST!!

Somewhere in the cycle, there was one key piece of information missing, and long story short, all of the decking was installed upside down, so the oak grain was showing.  All's well that ends well, Kevin and his crew were able to remove and flip the decking, using the same screw holes, and now it looks great.

Inside the shell, the concrete for the garage and basement has been poured and the inside walls in the basement, to accommodate an additional 6 inches of insulation, have been built.  The stairs to the basement have been installed and the finished main staircase, after an unfortunate, but quickly repaired mishap, was also set in place.

Main staircase.

Here's a not so great photo of the staircase.  You can see the white painted risers.  The treads are birch, but you can't see them as Kevin has covered each with a piece of sheathing for protection.

Soffits were also framed for the kitchen cabinets.  We have nine foot ceilings on the first floor, so we were able to have the taller, forty-two inch upper cabinets in the kitchen.  We don't like having an open space above the cabinets to gather dust and grime, and the soffits will allow us to install can lighting that will illuminate the countertop nicely.

Lastly, we tweaked the size of the shower stall in the master bath to make room for a tiled bench.

As I look around the place, it sometimes seems like not a lot has happened in the last month.  But there is one area of the construction that is going full steam ahead, and that is the outpouring of money.  We have selected and chosen and considered and decided until we are both as green as the cash we are committing.  After a grueling day of meeting with kitchen, plumbing and tile vendors, we stopped somewhere to pick up something, and the cashier asked us if we wanted a bag for our purchase.  We both stood there staring at the poor kid.  "I just don't know", I said, and I meant it!!

So the plumber is scheduled to be on site tomorrow to begin the rough-in.  Our windows should be here in about a week, and once those are installed, the electrician will start his rough-in.  Things should start clipping along nicely very soon.

Next time I'll share some more of the kitchen plans and describe some of our other choices.