Flooring Continues

Progress on the flooring is going strong. The dining area is completed and the great room is just about done. I have installed the flooring myself and I might say it looks great. Once I get started it's hard to stop after looking at the progress. The wood stove is scheduled to be installed tomorrow morning. It will be installed in the basement and will be a great feature for the house when the down stairs is finished off. I took two kitchen photos showing the progress in there. I just have the edging on the granite counter top and the area behind the stove will need a back splash. Floor moldings will be next and the radiators on the first floor should be installed by next week.

Upstairs Floors Completed

The upstairs floors were completed yesterday. The only thing left is moldings and the railings. Patti & I made a trip to Pick up some more flooring in NH on Saturday. We have eight boxes of flooring left to pick up that will make 43 boxes of flooring. We worked all weekend at the house and completed many projects. Patti worked on the painting and decorating. The hall was painted and the entry way color was changed. I put the 2nd coat of joint compound on the bedrooms downstairs and started the last coat. The closet ceiling was put in the linen closet. Sanding of the log walls to get rid of the strap marks left by sitting in the weather. I started putting up the loft railings of cedar logs last night before we left. Lots of trim work left to do but that will be started after the floor is done. In the loft picture shown you can see the wood shade I made that covers the fluorescent lights. I custom made this shade using pine and small birch branches to attach it to the wall.

The Floor is GOING DOWN!

The flooring is finally going down. Rick & Kate our friends from Lincoln Logs let us borrow their floor nail gun. I started last Friday and as of today the upstairs bedroom is completed and the loft is started. I still have to go to NH to pick up the rest of the flooring. I hope to have it completed soon. I still have a little dry wall taping left in the 1 st floor bedrooms and some molding left to do. Many little odds and ends and the fireplace needs to be completed. I am waiting for the wood stove chimney to go in before I start that project. It's nice to see it all come together, but I'll be glad when I can relax and enjoy it.

Heat &Hot Water

You might think how easy it is to turn on the hot water faucet and get hot water. Just think what goes into the process of getting to that point in construction. As of yesterday we have heat and hot water at the log home. All bathrooms are working with hot water as of yesterday. The kitchen sink is also installed as well as the dishwasher and garbage disposal are now working. The jet whirl pool tub can now be used in the master bath. We also bought the flooring for the house and brought enough wood to install the upstairs. We have decided to install bamboo flooring in the house. Although it is a green product and is actually grass it is as hard as maple and has a hard finish that will hold up for many years. It was also much cheaper about half the price as maple. Hopefully this weekend we will be able to start installing the floor. I also started the railings for the loft and stairway

I have been working on a mock up of the railings and hope to have them roughed in by this weekend. Last Sunday I completed the granite counter top and I grouted it today. The last few day's I've been working on sanding the logs that were exposed to the rain and weather during construction. I am happy to say that it looks good after about eight hours of sanding. Four of the five doors have been installed. There is alot of finish work to complete but the big part is completed.

Fall Preview

Progress continues on the home as fall reaches it's peak in Leicester. Color has transformed the lot into a beautiful work of art. I started working on the granite counter top in the kitchen this will be a beautiful project when completed. The wiring is almost completed with only some of the kitchen left and a few small areas. Last Thursday Peter installed the outlets in all the rooms as well as the ones outdoors.
We now have grass on our lawn. All the work that was done late this summer has paid off as you can see in the picture. The last two weeks have been busy because I'm also working at school the past two weeks. Patti & I installed the cabinet knobs and painted the front door the other day. The siding under the deck is almost finished. I worked on it last week. If you remember the contractor did not complete the work for us so I had to do it myself. It will be all log siding and look like the rest of the house. Pictures will follow in the near future.

Lights, Lights & More Lights

Today was another productive day at the log home. Peter energized many lights that I put up and we installed some others. The kitchen and dining area now have the lights installed, both bathrooms, master bedroom , both halls, entry and great room. Many more lights were connected and also installed outside I would have taken more pictures of lights but you get the idea. Also the fireplace was hooked up with propane gas as well as the kitchen stove. We had a new tank installed this afternoon. With the fireplace working we now have some heat in the house, for the up coming cold weather. The plumber will be connecting the furnace the next time he comes. We had to order some fixtures for the upstairs bathroom and they haven't arrived yet. We also have a lawn. The grass that was planted a few weeks back has shown some growth and as you drive down the driveway you can see the lawn. With the tongue and groove boarding done in the kitchen the only room left is the computer room downstairs and that should only take part of a day to complete. I still have some molding left to do but now it looks like a small project and not a major job. Patti has started to put up some curtains and started to decorate where she can without getting things in the way. It really is starting to feel like a home now with some of the comforts you would expect and you take for granted on a daily basis. One interesting point is that we started the ground breaking last October 5th and closed on the 7th. Look at the archives and you can see what really has happened and what we've accomplished. Our dream has come true!!

Kitchen & Bedroom

The tongue & groove in the Master bedroom was completed this week. and the lights were installed. Also the hall and loft ceilings were completed today and the light globes were installed. Only one small computer room and part of the dining area left to put up and the ceilings will be completed. Today I roughed in the granite counter top for the kitchen. The final cupboard was put up over the refrigerator. As you can see the color of the granite is a earth tone brown. I installed the kitchen sink as well. Patti and I decided to do the granite because of it's beauty. I decided to install it myself because it will be completed well before anybody else could do it. Also the cost is just a fraction of what someone else would charge. I am still working on the joint compound upstairs I just have to finish the second coat and do some trim and that area will be completed. I will be pushing myself to get things done and I finally can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Lots of Changes

Ploof excavating has been working on the property leveling and bringing top soil so grass can be planted. He has also placed some flat rocks in our walkway as well as a rock front step. The picture does not look as good as it does in person. These rocks are quite large but were flat enough to use in our front walk way. We had him take a few more trees taken down so we will have a larger yard. The appliances arrived today and the propane gas co was here installing the gas lines for the stove and fireplace. They still have to bring the tank and hook it up because they had to order new tanks, this should happen hopefully this week. I have been installing T & G boards up in the master bedroom. I should be done soon because this area is quite easy compared to the great room. As you can see by the pictures the room is almost done. I should have the ceiling finished by this weekend. We are still waiting for some of the bathroom faucets to come in, they had to be special ordered. This has been a busy summer and I hope to have most of it done by the end of November.

Lights & Water

Today was a very productive day. Our water softener and filter was installed and the we now have pure soft water with no iron. The level of iron was at 9 which should have been zero. It also had tested for organic iron which a charcoal filter took care of. Now we won't get rust stains. The upstairs bathroom toilet was installed along with the water for the sink. I'll have the fixtures for the tub and shower by Friday. The down stairs bathroom sink was also installed today. If you look close you can see soft water coming out of the faucet. Patti and I designed and built the tile counter for the Mexican sink, Also the shower is installed downstairs. Notice the light above the sink and the trim around the sink. Nice touch Huh!! The kitchen sink water line and drain was also installed today.

Now lets talk about lights. Both closets now have lights. Both bathrooms have lights. The front hall entry has lights. Notice the high area T & G in the great room is completed when you look at the new ceiling light installed. I have also completed the sheet rock in the hall with the last coat of compound to go on tomorrow. Two wall lights are installed in the master bedroom. The T & G in the bedroom will start Friday. The oil tank was filled today and we will have hot water by this Friday. I have all the lights for over the doors in the great room which will be installed real soon. Appliances will arrive this Friday. We have low voltage lights outside to light up the house. It looks real cool in the evening with the accent lighting.

Walking the Plank

Its been a little tricky lately. If you look closely at the picture you will notice the planks that come off the scaffolding. The only way I could reach the area over the stairs was to attach planks to the wall and rig up the step ladders to hold the planks. This is the part that I've dreaded from the start. The good news is that I only have three rows of T & G left in the great room which happens to be over the stairs. I had to order more wood yesterday and it should be delivered today so I can complete that area. I also have good news that I received a 9.5 judging from Patti for my plank walk. Its been slow going but the finish product is going to be wonderful. I have also installed some lights and tiled the front entryway with the Mosaic. I tiled the down stairs bathroom sink that we designed. The grout work on both will be completed today. We will have the gas installed on the 15 of Sept and the appliances are ordered. I hope to have the walls completed soon, I just have to push myself. I'll keep everyone updated when I can.

Interior Progress Still Going Strong

With summer almost over the interior has transformed into a variety of small projects going on daily. I installed the kitchen floor yesterday and grouted it today. I installed the porch light today as well. Patti painted the downstairs bathroom this past weekend a light blue. I installed the fans/lights in both bathrooms and will be installing the other lights this week over the vanity. As soon as I get the lights for each room they will be installed. Last Thursday our fireplace was installed. The stone work will come later this fall. I also installed the window seat in the kitchen. It will be padded later and the front trim will go on when I complete that. Some more trim work was completed in both bathrooms. The propane gas company will come next week to install the gas for the fireplace and stove. Macintyre will come soon the hook up the rest of the plumbing for the sinks and showers. They also will get the hot water hooked up which means we will need some fuel oil for the house. At the present time oil prices have fallen, but at this point I'm hoping the price will stabilize. The extra insulation and the new modern efficient furnace should cut down on the cost of heating. I hope!!!! I still have some ceilings to complete downstairs and upstairs. This is going to take some extra time to reach the high areas. I have to order some more T & G wood for that project.

The Progress Continues

The last couple of days we have completed many items on the list. Last week we put up some more tongue & groove boards in the kitchen and painted the upstairs bathroom. The downstairs bathroom has been taped with three coats of mud. The floor has also been put in and grouted. With a little sanding and a primer we should be ready for the paint downstairs. Patti and I installed the upper cabinets in the kitchen yesterday. Today we had a special helper. Joey came over today and helped put up the knee wall for the sink cabinet as well as some boards in the kitchen. We had to fabricate the wall with the cabinet in place because of the angle it is. We will have a back splash and shelf on this wall. Now that the wall is in the sheet rock can be done and the floor can be put in. The color of the floor still has to be decided. Work will continue in the kitchen and bathroom so the these rooms can be used.

Great Wall Work

Work on the great wall continues. Patti & I have spent the last two days working on the great room. The stagging has been the best helper for this on going portion of this job. It has been a challenge to get the cut's just right and very tiring because of the long days. We have made much progress but still have a long way to go. I have both sides going at the same time and moving the staging to be able to reach each area is a challenge. I have most of the trim done and as you can see by the picture we have a two color accent. We wanted to make it rustic looking but give it some charm at the same time. Each piece has been sealed with two coats of a min- wax clear satin sealer before it is put up. Patti has been a great help in cutting some of the boards while I'm up on the scaffolding. It has saved so much time and her cuts are right on. We still have a long ways to go but with some hard work ahead we should be done this fall.

Work Continues

Well we now have our scaffolding and the tongue and groove high work is now in progress. The loft area is almost done and the great wall is well underway. What makes this harder is that every cut is made on the main floor and has to be brought up three lengths of scaffolding. Also they have many angles. I thing a couple of more days and the harder part will be done, then the more challenging part will start. The ceiling! I put on the last coat of joint compound on the upstairs bathroom and the room is grouted. Just a light sanding and a coat of primer and I'll be able to do the trim work in there. I completed the base for the fireplace Sunday. The fireplace will be installed on August 14th. The mosaic for the entry is completed. All that is left is installing it, that will come later. The kitchen cabinets were ordered again. The first ones that came two weeks ago were the wrong color. This is a major delay for the kitchen which was going to be put together last week. The extra time will be used to complete the T&G wood. Next week the downstairs bathroom floor will go in and the walls will be taped. All is going well and it will take some extra time to complete everything. We did have a day off yesterday Patti & I took Casey and Stacy to a Elton John concert last night which was just amazing. A great time for everyone!