countertops!

Here are pics of our new Silestone countertops!!!

cabinets, flooring, & fall color

Byron & I laid the laminate flooring in the kitchen, master bath, and bonus room last week. Now the cabinets are up in the kitchen and master bath! I have been painting like crazy--especially the ceilings before the builders finish laying the rest of the floors.







Here is the kitchen--you are looking at the studs forming the back of the island, part of which is raised. The studs will be covered with beadboard and painted white.





Looking inside the kitchen and the island is on the left. In the back middle of the photo you can see the hole where the fridge will go.











Looking down our master bathroom at the cabinets and floor. We put paper down to protect the floors.








The fall color here has been incredible in the last couple of days! I think this week and next are the peak weeks. Really vibrant colors!






This is an autumn view down our road, with colors in the distance.

lots of progress!

We have drywall!! These photos were taken last Thursday. Now the drywallers are completely finished and have primed all the walls and ceilings. Byron & I started painting yesterday! We finished the entire bonus room and the kitchen, and today Byron did most of the ceilings upstairs.




In this pic, Byron is looking out the sliding doors in our bedroom in the afternoon.







The bonus room (laundry room through the door to the left) has really taken shape now that the drywall is up.






This picture was taken standing in the living room, looking at the fireplace. There will be bookshelves on either side of the fireplace.








Front of the house--siding is almost all up now, and painting is almost finished outside! First coat, that is...






The master bathroom.

roof & windows!

All the windows are in now!--except for the windows in the bonus room above the garage. (They were ordered later and are scheduled to arrive next week.)






Looking out a bedroom window upstairs










Windows in the bonus room above the garage








Octagonal window at the landing on the stairs--this photo was taken halfway down the stairs.









Windows in our master bedroom.

roof!

Monday - shingles going up!

















Tuesday - shingles almost finished!

trusses going up!

June 12 - the crane is lifting the trusses onto the second floor (mom & dad saw this!); the builders finish setting the trusses over the main part of the house by hand later that day and the 13th






June 14 - with the help of the crane, the builders set the trusses over the garage







the trusses over the garage create the "bonus room"; the builder in this photo is standing in the gap where the dormer will be









on the second floor, looking at the trusses; at the far end, the trusses are pointed from below to create a vaulted ceiling over our master bedroom

first floor!

We have a full first floor!


All the interior and exterior walls are framed and up for the first floor.





Byron is standing in the living room!






This is standing in the dining room looking at the corner of the kitchen.







This is the view from the street.

If the weather holds--they are threating T-storms --they will start putting on the second floor tomorrow!

let the framing begin!

Well, quite a bit has happened since the last update. (Sorry for the delay...moving, trips, etc.)



The basement is now finished.






The footings have been poured for the porches and the garage.






Finally, the deck was put on last week.




Tomorrow the framing begins!






On Friday night, we watched the sunset standing on our first floor!

concrete forms going up

As of Thursday morning, the footings were completed.
Yesterday, the concrete forms were delivered. A crane lowered the heavy stacks of forms down into the hole. By yesterday afternoon, they were almost finished putting them up.
Hopefully they will pour the foundation on Monday, but possibly Tuesday.

Byron & I will be in St. Louis all next week, so check back in May for more updates on the house progress!

footings

This is a cross section of the layers of clay and sand in the ground. There were several pockets of complete sand, and others of a sandy-clay mixture.





Fortunately, there was only one large boulder and the rest were smaller rocks.
Many of the rocks have fossils and shells in them, and some are "Petoskey stones", which are actually fossilized coral.







Yesterday, after all the gravel was put down, the masons came and constructed the forms for the footings.




This morning, the inspector came and gave his OK, and then they started pouring the concrete.





Annabel insisted I take a picture of us watching the workmen. :)
They are finished with the footings now, but I don't have those pics yet.

the digging continues

It rained all day yesterday, so they couldn't dig. But before it started raining yesterday morning, the excavator noticed water at the bottom of the hole he had already dug--they ran into the water table! This was very surprising, as we are nearly at the top of the hill, but all the snow has just melted. Now that the hole for the foundation is completely dug out, the water is still there. Parts of the ground floor are solid, and others are completely spongy. They will fill in with some gravel and make the footings wider to make sure the foundation will be stable. The excavator is going to try to get all the gravel down tonight, as we are expecting rain tomorrow morning. Then, weather permitting, the masons will be able to start pouring the footings tomorrow afternoon!

the big dig

Yesterday the excavator had to create a 3' high driveway over the high-pressure gas line that runs across the front of our lot. He piled up 2'6" of dirt and 6" of gravel over the line--with the man from the gas company watching anxiously--to protect the line from vibrations from heavy trucks. Then he started digging out our foundation!