Settled In...

It's after Thanksgiving, and November is Winding down. This has been the warmest and LEAST snowiest November on record for Vermont, and today, the 30th, it's fifty degrees out. We are wondering if there will be a ski season, or if we'll need our snowshoes after all...

Loralee and I have spent the last few months getting settled in. The more time we spend at home, the more we love it. By now, most of our friends and family have come over, and we hosted our first holiday ever- Thanksgiving- in our new home. We moved in just in time, and we have something very special to be thankful for: Loralee is pregnant! I cannot adequately express the joy and excitement that we both share.

The house has come together beautifully, and we've spent quite a bit of time nesting. At some point soon, I'll try to get a post or two up about my thoughts on the process, design in general, and any other wrap-up thoughts we may have.

It's not over yet...

Despite moving in last weekend, there has still been a lot left to do. The chimney is not finished, so Michael will still need to work on that. Also, Paul has spent about 3 half-days wrapping up the plumbing: Installing our 3 Myson radiors (master bedroom, 2nd floor bath, and mudroom), and remaining fixtures (washer/dryer, utility sink). One other item was our air exchange system, and that got wrapped up on Wednesday.

Tuesday afternoon, we had our final inspection, and we are closing on the mortgage tonight. We had a few things deducted as incomplete (chimney, mudroom tile, fridge, etc) but nothing major. However, we did have two minor crises... Firstly, stairs off the dining room doors had to be installed-- This was on my 'to do' list to save money, but on tuesday night after the inpection, I called Jeb to come and complete it. They are wrapping it up to day.

The second crisis was our fridge-- We've been living out of coolers since the weekend, and expected delivery yesterday. Well they showed up with it: Wrong size! The Sears sales associate ordered the wrong size in the same model! We needed the smaller one, to fit in a 33-inch opening, but they delivered the larger, 35 -inch model. I was able to resolve the screw up with Sears, but the correct one will not be available until late October. ugh. At least they are giving us a loaner to use in the interim.

Our closing is tonight. Our banker Joyce Littlefield will be out at 5:00 PM. Lyndonville Savings Bank has been a real joy to do business with, and we have been very pleased with the process. These Photo's are all from the closing inspection report; I love the lighting. The road in the one below is Jones Road, the class IV road we live on. Foliage has been great, although this weekend we are supposed to get more rain which could do it in.

More photos

People have asked for more photo's, so here are a few.... Click on each to see a larger version. As we get settled, I'll take more:

This stained glass window was a wedding gift for Loralee and hangs in our master bedroom. It was made by the "Glass Goddess" shop on Main street in Littleton, NH. Loralee selected the design, a celtic knot, and the colors. The blue represents the feminine, while the red represents the maculine and the green represents thier union.

Our custom latches were hand-made by Dennis, a blacksmith in Glover VT. They were a gift from my Mother, who has impecible taste... The wrought iron looks excellent throughout the house.
The very messy den/library portion of our living room. Still getting settled!

Our dining room, sunday evening... The antique ice chest was in my Grandmother Wall's farm kitchen when I grew up, and the dining room table was my Grandmother Tester's. Both really fit with the comfortable country feel of our home.

More photos

People have asked for more photo's, so here are a few.... Click on each to see a larger version. As we get settled, I'll take more:

This stained glass window was a wedding gift for Loralee and hangs in our master bedroom. It was made by the "Glass Goddess" shop on Main street in Littleton, NH. Loralee selected the design, a celtic knot, and the colors. The blue represents the feminine, while the red represents the maculine and the green represents thier union.

Our custom latches were hand-made by Dennis, a blacksmith in Glover VT. They were a gift from my Mother, who has impecible taste... The wrought iron looks excellent throughout the house.
The very messy den/library portion of our living room. Still getting settled!

Our dining room, sunday evening... The antique ice chest was in my Grandmother Wall's farm kitchen when I grew up, and the dining room table was my Grandmother Tester's. Both really fit with the comfortable country feel of our home.

Post-move update

Friday-

The team worked overtime on the house this week, to get ready for our Saturday Move. Paul got most of the fixtures wrapped up on Friday, with the exception of our Meison raditors (for bathroom, master bedroom, and mudroom), and the 1st floor bathroom sink. Terry from Viking worked on our lighting, but needs to add two dimmer switches, and a couple more lights. Jeb, Shane and Jason managed to get all the odds and ends on their punchlist complete, so spent most of the day just picking up and taking care of little odds-and-ends. Michael continued to work on the chimney, but has about 3 more days to go. (PHOTO: Shane, Jeb & Jason of OSB.)

My Mom took Friday off from work, and along with my Grandmother (Who is 80!) and her friend Doris, spent the whole day cleaning. What a help! It was such a daunting task; Really, we should have reserved one weekend just to clean- Every surface was covered with a film of dust. (PHOTO: Emma & Kate Wall)

That morning, Loralee brought coffee and breakfast up for everyone; I swung by that afternoon to thank them, and to touch base. Jeb and I chatted for a while; He is such a craftsman, we will really miss working with him. We could not have asked for a nicer group of people.

That evening, Loralee and I stayed to continue cleaning, and get ready for the next day’s move. Chris arrived from New Hampshire around 6:30 and helped out, but we broke by 8 and hit the Trout River Brewery for the requisite pizza and beer. Any time Chris comes up alone, we try to hit there as his Wife, Wendy cannot eat pizza. Poor Wedny. Dinner conversation focused on how best to move the piano.

Saturday-

Back at our rental, 6 Westview, the dogs are anxious and know something is up. Boxes everywhere. The day dawns cold and drizzly. Unfortunately, there was not a rental truck to be found in the area, so we’re stuck with a U-haul cargo van. Chris walked the dogs while I ran errands and grabbed the van. Loralee wrapped up packing. Did I mention the rain? (PHOTO: Tucker, worried he'd be left behind, packed himself in the car)

Dale came by 10 AM… Thank God, his truck has a cap on the back. Earl was not far behind. We started loading, then took the Van, Earl’s jeep, Dale’s truck, and Chris’ half-ton up to the new house with the first load. Luckily, it’s only a 4 mile ride. Loralee was joined up at the new house by our friend Sarah, and they stayed there to unpack and shuffle boxes. My Mom came back and helped them by continuing to clean.

Back at the rental for the second load, Dad came with his truck and the piano moving equipment. John Young, who is the band leader for the Slant Six Swing Band which played at our wedding (They ROCK) is a piano tuner and let us borrow his equipment. This consisted of a heavy steel ramp, padding, and a piano dolly. We proceeded to ignore the piano while loading the other vehicles.
The piano would not fit in the cargo van—Therefore, we decided that despite the rain (sporadic and drizzly at this point) that the best way to move it would be in Chris’ truck sandwiched between two queen sized mattresses. WARNING: this method is NOT recommended!

We lined up Chris’ truck to the front door, and it what here that Dale earned his name for the day, “Mcguyver.” He suggested that we take the tailgate off the truck, as it would not handle the weight of the Piano AND the ramp. As we got the piano on the dolly (all 5 of us lifting), then lined it up to the ramp, Earl remarked “So, why didn’t you get Loralee a flute, instead?”

Pushing the piano up the ramp was stressful enough, but not as bad as Chris’s drive with that thing in the back of his truck. It was big, tippy, and awkward. Every time he hit a bump, the piano would sway violently from side to side. We had it sandwiched between two queen sized mattresses and wrapped in a blue tarp to keep the water off, and must have been the worst piano-packing job ever. With five vehicles now in the caravan, we crept the four miles across town, Dad leading in the big red one-ton with Chris following, and Dale after that to watch the load.

The climb up our driveway from the road was rough, and Chris had to feather his brake as well as stay on the gas to maintain a slow steady speed without spinning out. He made it, though, and we backed up to the house to unload. That was another crazy process, led by Dale and involving belaying ropes and cardboard, but suffice to say that the piano made it safely into it’s new home. That piano will never move again.

The rest of the day was a flurry of moving furniture, unpacking boxes, and getting settled. Earl, Dale, and my Father hit the road, but Chris Lor and I went over to my grandmother’s for a home-made. lasagna dinner with meatballs and sausage. She had also baked a fresh apple pie, which was delicious. We didn’t walk out of there—We rolled! After picking up the dogs, we got back to the house by 8:00 PM.. Full, exhausted, and drained. Mostly, we spent the next hour sort of hanging out, staring at the house, the beams, the braces, the cabinets and floors, and the masonry heater. All three of us dragged ourselves to bed by 9. (PHOTO: Chris in post-move decompression mode)

Loralee and I are very lucky people. We cannot express how much the love and support of our friends and family mean to us, not only through this big ‘move weekend’ but throughout the entire home-building process. For this weekend, I want to especially thank:

Mom, Nana Wall, Sheri and Doris- For all their great help cleaning and helping get the house ready for us to live in.

Dad, for picking up all the heavy-duty piano-moving equipment, and helping with the most difficult job of the day.

Chris- For his can-do spirit, incredible time commitment, and cutting wit to keep things real. There is no better friend.

Dale- For coming back up to Vermont 3 days after through-hiking the Long Trail just to help us move. His common sense ideas were a huge help.

Earl- Despite a bad back and near-allergic reaction to physical labor, Earl was a HUGE help and made us all laugh the most throughout the day. I promised not to tell his wife how hard he worked, it might raise the bar at home.

Sarah, because her drive and no-nonsense approach was an inspiration to Loralee as they got things unpacked and settled at the house; It really helped us get the house ready to be lived in!

Final week?

As you can imagine, it was a busy weekend for Loralee and I. The fall foliage is really coming out nicely, and the weather was beautiful, but we did not have much time to enjoy it. Our big push was to get the 2nd floor finished so the OSB team to wrap up the trim on that floor.

I picked up the sander from the rental agency on my way home Friday afternoon, and we went to work as soon as I got there. Cleaning and sanding the floor 3 times- 36 grit, 60 grit, and 100 grit-- took us until nearly 10:30 Friday night. For dinner, Lor ran down to the House of Pizza, and we scarfed it down while sitting on the front porch.

Saturday, we returned around 8 AM, and finished cleaning the floor then hit it with the first coat of urethane. My Mom came by, and helped with raking/seeding the lawn while I put up the mailbox. Then , we puttered for a few hours waiting for the floor to dry... Lor did more urethane work on the stair treads and railings, while I put shelves in the kitchen pantry and put a new 4-prong plug on our oven. We were there until 5, but the floor was still very wet.. No second coat on Saturday.

With the weekend running out, we still had two coats to go. We committed to getting up early, and were back at the house by 7:30 Sunday AM. The first coat looked great, so we sanded it and laid down the 3rd coat. Headed home to rest/relax, but came back at 5 for the third and final coat. Unfortunately, the floor was still pretty tacky, and we had to give it another 2 hours before we could start... But, laying down the 3rd coat by 7, we wrapped up by 8:30 PM. The last big job of ours was done!

We are supposed to move in on Saturday, but it seems a lot is left to do:

- Install finished stairs
- install 2nd floor trim
- install door latches
- install pluming fixtures
- install bathroom heater
- finish the lights
- finish kitchen counter
- tile shower
- install appliances
- finish the chimney

Yesterday, Jeb got the stairs in, and the countertop tile was laid (it looks great!). I can't wait to see what is done tonight....

bath tile, cabinet and boiler

Here are some images from the past week:

This heating system consists of a propane boiler and water tank. note the red hoses for our radiant heating in the basement slab. This, of course, is our 'backup' system and will be used for domestic hot water.
A great shot of one of the kitchen cabinets. we now have the hardware installed- We love them!

A good shot of our vanity and tile in the 2nd floor bathroom.

Endgame

We are a week and a half away from moving in. That's right, we are scheduled to move in the weekend of the 23rd and 24th. Believe it or not, it looks like we are going to hit that date. So, what's been going on? To be honest, my mind (and body) is mush. Last Saturday, I made the whirlwind trip to Connecticut with my Father, and we cleaned out a bunch of furniture from my Grandfather's old house. It ended up working out well- Loralee and I have thier dining room set for the new house, as well as a nearly-new electric stove and a riding lawn mower. Although we really want a nice gas stove at some point, this one is in excellent condition and will work out extremely well for now.

Sunday, while I ran back up to Dad's to borrow his small tractor and equipment, Lor worked at the house- Painting the new vanity, urethane doors, and a ton of other things. She got a lot done, and it all looks great. Oh, and Chris and Ray came up to do some mountain-biking, and stayed over night. I think they thought we were totally burnt out (which we are), but it was great to see them both and connect a little bit-- It almost felt human.

THis week, aside from paint/urethane work, we have been working on seeding and mulching the yard. Meanwhile, the tile guy is setting the tile in our bathrooms and kitchen counter. Jeb milled our finished stairs, which came out great. The rest of the doors are being hung, and we're just waiting for the door hardware. Michael the mason got to the ceiling, and is breaking through to finish on the exterior. Paul is installing the furnace and plumbing.... Really, we are ALMOST THERE!!

This weekend, our big job will be to finish the floors in our bedrooms. Next week, Jeb can wrap up the trim there, and focus on punch out.

As soon as I get a chance, I'll get more images up here...

Cabinets in

Two weeks to go. Today, we have perfect weather... When I woke up it was around 40 with a heavy fog.... But, it has warmed up to about 80, with clear blue skies. The sun is beautiful on the trees that are beginning to show hints of reds and gold's....

This week, cabinets went in, our boiler went in, and more trim put up. The 1st floor doors are hung. We are pushing the mason to get up to the ceiling so the stairs and 2nd floor trim can be completed. He plans to be up there by Monday.

Loralee has been spending her afternoons after work urethaning the doors, and I've been doing a lot of running around (getting sinks and faucets from the evil HD, picking out a dishwasher from sears, etc). This weekend, I need to run to Connecticut with Dad and clean out my Grandfather's house on Saturday. Sunday, I am borrowing Dad's smaller Kubota and some equipment to level and seed the yard. I am hoping to grab the brush-hog, if that will fit as well.

First Floor Finished

Thank God for 3-day weekends. So, Jeb and the OSB team finished laying the wide pine boards on the first floor last week. I had planned to finish the 2nd floor this weekend and have the 1st floor done professionally at a later date. However, Jeb really wanted that first floor done so they could get the baseboard in, and have the kitchen cabinets installed on Tuesday. So.... It was the first floor for us this weekend, as no professionals were available.

The job was HARD, but not technically challenging. Saturday, Loralee and I started at 9 AM, going over the floors with a medium grit sandpaper. Then, I sanded a second time with a fine grit paper. We were happy with the results, and it was about that time that Jason stopped in to see how we were doing, and if we needed help. We seemed to be doing okay, so continued to press forward. We vacuumed the mess completely, working at the cut-nail holes to dig out the embedded sawdust. To be honest, I think that was the hardest part. Next, we cleaned all the other dust - the walls, the windows sills, etc, and wiped down the floor with damp rags. Then it was time to put on our respirators, and lay the urethane. It was 5:00 PM by the time we finished that first coat, and we went home tired but satisfied.

Sunday AM found us back at the house by 9. We had a wedding to go to that afternoon (Nathan Stahler and Carrie Baker-- We had a blast!), so HAD to be done by 1:00 PM. I sanded with 120 grit paper, while Loralee followed behind with the vacuum. It went a lot faster than the day before, and we actually had the 2nd coat of urethane down by 11:30.

Today, Labor Day, Loralee had to teach up at BMA so I was flying solo on the 3rd and final coat. I got to the house around 8:45, and was immediately impressed by how GOOD the floor looked--- So good, I almost didn't want to touch it! However, I got right to it, and used the 12o grit paper to do a hand-scuff across the entire surface. Next, I did a thorough vacuum, followed up with wiping down the floor with a damp cloth. Working straight through, my back was killing me, but I wanted to lay the urethane down so it had as much time as possible to dry. This final coat went on much smoother than even the second coat, so I am hopeful it covers well.

All in all, the floor will not be perfect, but I am pretty tickled we did it ourselves. I am going to try and target the weekend of the 16th for Lor and I to finish the 2nd floor as well. Hopefully, Jeb can work that into the schedule. It really saves us a lot of money... We had a price of $1,600 to finish the first floor; By doing it ourselves, I figure it cost about $300, still saving $1,300... Which at this point in the project is really important! If we can do the 2nd floor as well, we should achieve the same savings.

Preparing the floors

This weekend, Loralee and I are finishing the wide pine floors on the main floor. Day one down, with the sanding and one coat of urethane complete. Tomorrow, one more coat after a quick scuff- sand and cleaning. Dirty, exhausting work. Here are some photos for you to enjoy:

One sub done

Brent wrapped up on Friday. The dirt work is complete- the leach field, the driveway, the yard leveled and the topsoil laid back on. Oh, and our retaining wall is complete. This was a last-minute adder; We were going to build it, but we just could not get to it. Our original plan was to use the pre-fabricated square blocks, but we had all these really great stones from the excavation, it was a shame to use a man-made product instead. I thought I was going to be able to save money with this one-- The original plans called for a cement retaining wall, coming in at $600. I nixed it, and said "I can do it for less!".... Yeah, right... As we priced out materials to do it ourselves, the price neared $800 plus. So much for saving money. In the end, we asked Brent to do it with his excavator. It was expensive (over $1000, but I won't tell you by how much), but the look is perfect for our house. And we once again managed to use a natural, locally grown resource.

The 'screw it' stage

First off, I need to start this post by saying that both Lor and I are burned pretty crispy. The long days and weekends tied up working on the house are beginning to take their toll. We are just tired.

Now that that's out of the way: the house looks great! The interior painting is done, and Michael made a BIG PUSH to get the heater up to the ceiling in the first floor. In fact, all he has left is to cap the heater, then start working on the chimney. He was here until 10:30 PM on Friday night, but the effort paid off, as the OSB guys could start the finished flooring this Monday. That is looking very good, and they expect to have it done by end of day, today. I am really glad we went with the wide pine and cut nails.

Lor and I worked on the trim all weekend. It needs two coats of urethane, which is back breaking work. However, its a lot easier to do before going up on the walls. Right now, we have most all the trim with one coat, but a second coat would be ideal. We are working on that all evenings this week.

Also over the weekend, we seeded and mulched along our driveway, and the areas that have the final grade. Brent is working on our retaining wall... We were not planning on paying him to do it, but said 'screw it', and asked him to take it on. Overall, I am glad we did. He is using a lot of the large stones from the excavation work, and it really matches the house.

One other thing getting done this week: Final wiring. Hans with Viking got most of the plugs and switches done yesterday, and expected to be *mostly* Wrapped up by end of day today! God, we are close. Lor will need to check in with Calendar Brook to see where our cabinets are at, they should be delivered next week.

Cool pics

Above, I'm sitting on the heater, taking a break from painting the stairwell.

Jeb Harris, our lead carpenter, working on the box to hide the electrical meter. Bluff, the dog to the right, is Jason's lab.

The north side of the house is now completely sided. Acutally, the siding is nearly complete, and will be wrapped up today (Wednesday).

I took Tuesday off to help Loralee wrap up painting. Almost there- just need to finish the master bedroom, and two bathrooms. I spent most of the day in the vaulted stairwell, which was a real bear. Also, we had our propane tank installed (underground), and the leach field is almost done. We've been pushing Michael to get the heater done by the end of the week, so the flooring can go in next week. He should be able to do it.

You Want Color??

With a big painting push this weekend, we are in really good shape. The first floor is DONE (priming plus two coasts of finish paint), except for the mudroom and bathroom. On the second floor, everything is primed, and one of the smaller bedrooms is done. We should have it all wrapped up by Wednesday, in time for the guys to come in and start installing trim.

So, you want color?? Loralee wanted to go bold in some areas, so that's what we did. Most of the house is Navajo white, except the sitting area in front of the hearth, and our master bedroom. We chose a terracotta color for the sitting area, which compliments the cherry braces very nicely. It breaks up the first floor, and creates a very warm area for sitting, relaxing, and conversation.

For our bedroom, we went with a sagey green-- And, boy, once we got it on the walls, it's GREEN! It feels very soothing, and really adds to the organic feel of the home. I think once we have our furniture and curtains in, it won't be as overpowering as it feels right now. One other room, the guest bedroom, will also have some color- Lor chose a dusty rose. Once coat is on, and it looks good. We'll see how the final coat comes out.

Michael worked through the weekend, and the heater looks great. The first shelf of the woodbox is done, and the main firebox is framed in. He is pushing to get off the first floor by the end of the week so OSB can lay the finished floor there.

Also, on friday, our well pump was installed and the water connected up in the basement. As soon as it's wired up, we'll have water!

Below are some great photos over the past couple of days. Can you believe the loons? Those were taken at my parents camp on Lake Parker in West Glover. The image of willoughby gap was taken off our front porch.

Painting, painting painting...

So, with the taper running behind last week, we had to cancel our 'painting party'. We weren't able to actually start painting until Tuesday. This is good and bad. We've been so burned out that Loralee and I just took Sunday and did... nothing! It was great, a quiet day at home with no responsibilities, no where to go, and no projects to work on.

This week, however, we are making up for lost time. Lor started doing the interior wall priming on Tuesday, and got nearly all the 1st floor done, with the exception of cutting in. I've worked on that the last two nights, and as of yesterday evening the 1st floor was fully primed. The second floor, with all the vaulted space, will be a lot harder to do. We need to have the house primed and two coats on by next Wednesday. It's going to be a very rough weekend.

The cost of our driveway just went up, as the town made us put a culvert across the road. This is the kind of unforseen stuff that just drives me nuts. Oh well, the money is spent and the work is done. Brent is working on the Septic, now. Actually, there was a very near accident last night, as he was setting the tank with Hopkins & Sons. The truck has a crane, and the bottom half of the tank went in with no problems. However, as the top half was being lifted off, the load shifted and the truck tipped, almost rolling! Luckily, nobody was hurt, but the top tank did get chipped. Not bad, Hopkins will just give us a slight discount and we'll be all set with it.

So, onward. We'll be painting all weekend, and I am taking next Tuesday off from work to wrap up. Once that is done, the OSB boys will have the siding complete so they can start on the interior trim work. Our mason should be working through this weekend to get the brick-work wrapped up as well. He has another good week and a half to go.

Purple Loostrife

Years ago, back in the early 90's, I attended college in the Boston area. I remember as I headed south from the Northeast Kingom through New Hampshire and on into Massachussettes noting many of the beautiful wetlands that I-93 traversed. Once in Mass, the native cat-tails were replaced in mid-summer by a form of vegetaion with beautiful purple flowers. "how amazing", I used to think, "too bad our Vermont welands don't have such an attactive flower".... At the time, I did not realized that the purple flower as Loosetrife, and invasive species from Eurasia.

Loostrife is one of those very successful species that out-competes the native plants such as lilly pads and cat-tails. As it expands, the loostrife tends to completely take over a wetland, choking out these other plants, and actually cutting down on available wetland for waterfowl and other animal life. I have come to hate Looestrife.

Over my years of trips back and forth to Boston, I watched as Purple Loostrife became more and more prevelant along our roadside. By the mid-90's, you could see it outside of Concord, NH. By the turn of the century, it had reached Vermont's borders. Now, we can find it in small clumps here and there throughout the Kingdom's wetlands. If left unchecked, it will eventually consume these beautiful but fragile areas. (note, the photo above was taken outside my office in Littleton, NH-- Just over the river from the Northeast Kingdom).

For more information on Purple Loostrife, and how to manage the weed, check out this website:
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/lysa1.htm

August is definitely here

It's hard to imagine, just a week or so ago we were having trouble sleeping at night due to the heat and humidity. The weather all this week has been perfect- low humidity, 70's during the day, and cooling right off at night. This coming weekend, it may be 'unseasonably cold'.... August is definitly here!

Loralee and I are starting to burn out, burning both ends of the candle at the same time. We've felt a but under the weather this week, but we are getting through it.

The tapers are nearly done, although they are about a day behind. The first layer did not dry as well as they had hoped, and that put them behind. It should still all be good to go for painting this weekend. Meanwhile, we have been keeping up with the siding, painting it as it goes up. This has made the job a lot easier to manage.

Since we'll be painting the interior next week, we've also been struggling with what colors to paint. One thought is to just do the whole thing in Navajo White, and deal with colors later. However, we want do have some color, and use it as a strong accent for some of the rooms. So far, we have decided to do the master bedroom in a sort of sage green, and do the sitting alcove in front of the Masonry Heater in a sort of rust color. We have a big question mark for the rest of the house though... I just don't have the vision for it, we can't tell anything from those little paint chip samples. We need colors that will compliment the natural woods- the yellow of the pine and red of the cherry. My concern is using colors that will 'wash out' those tones. That leaves us with a pretty limited pallette- Earth tones and greens. Blues are nice, but too cool for the house in general. Ah well, we'll continue to work on this; We have a few days left to decide. One thing, if anyone is interested, check out some of the other OSB houses in the Gallery on www.oldschoolbuilders.com to see what other's have done with interior colors. two houses, the 'Vermont Cape' and 'Modern Cape' both did some amazing things with different shades of green. They're worth a look!

The masonry heater is really coming along- We love the look of the used brick. Oh, one more thing: Note in the image at the top of the page the main entrance. We are really happy with the roofline over the doorway, that turned out really nice. I am pretty disappointed that the electric company made us put the meter right next to the doorway. We are going to box it in so it's not as obvius.

Perfect Weather & Weekend update

Talk about perfect weather! The heat wave finally broke over the weekend, and Saturday was one of those 'perfect' Vermont summer days. It was in the 80's, but with very low humidity (for a change.) And, to top it off, it got so cold on Saturday night that our furnace actually kicked on! what we call around here 'good sleeping weather'

So, what did we do this weekend? Well, paint, mostly. Loralee focused on getting the south wall of the house (The only one sided) painted. I worked on the white trim, but also urethaned interior windows. The main floor windows are done, but we are working on the 2nd floor. Mom came up and helped us on Saturday, which was great-- She taped the windows so I could just follow up with urethane.

Sunday, we headed to Burlington. We planned to hit a tile store over there, but it turns out it was closed! What a bummer... Anyway, I visited Earl, while Lor saw Andrew and Megan. It was nice to have a break, which may be the last one until Labor Day. We have a ton of painting to do.

Brent never showed up last week- That puts him a week behind. Not a big deal, and it may actually work out better. In about 2 weeks, the OSB guys will be completely done outside, so Brent could do everything-- Septic, final grading, etc.

What got done last week? The heater core is complete. Also, the sheetrock is all hung, and the taper starts this week.

Painting Party

... Well, it's going to be more like a 'priming party.' The sheetrock was all hung this week, and the taper starts on Monday. It should only take him a couple days to get the taping and mudding done. That will leave Loralee and I ONE WEEK to do the interior painting! So, we are having a Painting Party! From Loralee's email:
_____________________________________________________________

Hi Everyone!
Well, yesterday saw the completion of all our sheetrocked walls! It is hard to believe how different the house looks with them up, and it is becoming even more real that we'll be moving in just a couple months. The taper is coming in next week, and in trying to keep up with our builders' schedule, we're trying to get the walls painted as quickly as possible.
So, just in case you didn't have anything better to do next Sunday (the 13th), we were wondering if you'd care to join us for a painting party! We thought we could get started around 12:30 or 1:00 (or whenever works for you) and then pull out the grill for dinner around 5:00 PM.

Let me know if you can make it--there's no pressure, though--I know how busy all of you are!
I hope all is well. Looking forward to seeing you soon, if not next week, then at our Open House this fall! Please RSVP me at: loraleedawnATyahoo.com
Loralee

Sheetrock and stuff

Sunday was the 'perfect' summer day. Dry, not humid, with a high of 75. The 'eye on the sky' is calling for more humidity and heat this coming week with temperatures in the 90's. Over the weekend, we did some painting, picking up, and we insulated interior walls for soundproofing. Basically, any wall with a water pipe, plus all the bathroom walls, and some key walls in the 2nd floor bedrooms. Hope it helps.

I spoke with Brent, our excavator, on Saturday AM. He'll be back this week to install our leach field and trench for the water and propane tank. He didn't show up on Monday, but I expect we'll see him on Tuesday.

Today, the OSB guys started sheetrocking the interior. Another big visual change! They've got a few days to go, but the mudroom is rocked in, as well as 2 of the 1st floor closets. Apparently, they're pretty hard to do. Michael, the mason, came mid-day, and worked on the heater core. It's getting there- That should be wrapped up this week. Meanwhile, Loralee finally settled on a paint color-- Believe it or not, its the darker one she has preferred initially! She got a lot of the south wall done, about 1/3, and it looks great. Darker was the way to go. Later in the week, when more is done, I'll get some pictures up of how that looks.

Well, well, well....

The well is in! Faulkner came yesterday (thursday) around 11 AM, and the well was complete by mid-afternoon. They drilled 260 feet, right through granite, and got a draw of 35 gallons per minute. A really great well. Now, we'll have Brent Newland come back to dig for the hose, and once that's done, tri-state will be back to install the pump and tank. The well is one of the biggest unknowns when building a house, and having ours come out so well is a huge weight off my shoulders. In addition, the cost of the well was wrapped up in a land deal I did with Neal last year, so the cost of the well doesn't hit the bottom line of our budget.

The OSB boys got the south wall siding done today, and Loralee followed up with the staining. She acutally got half the wall painted in about 4 hours, which is pretty good. However, after seeing just how light the stain color we have selected is, we realized that it's just too light. She's going to pick up a darker shade today, and we'll see how that looks on the house.

This weekend, we'll be up at the house again: insulating interior walls for noise-deadening, wrapping up the 1st floor window eurethane, and exterior painting. We'll probably work a half day on Saturday, and a full day Sunday. We also need to do a lot of picking up-- I finally managed to get the loft floors done, so all that wood can come out, now.

It's hot (high 80's) and very humid... It may break over the weekend, but I'll believe it when it happens. Summers are short around here, so it's hard to complain. One thing I've noticed is that a lot of the corn has topped out over the last few days. The hot humid weather really helped the crop catch up, but I thought it all still seemed a bit short to top off....