hit the floor!

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the estimate is 4 weeks....to completion. it sure looks like it will take longer, but everyday something is changing. this past few days, the stonework has been getting a fresh layer of grout. wow, the slate, blue stone, carrara marble, and glass tiles look great when hit with a crisp grout line. i will get photos of these up soon. also this week, the sprinklers have been laid and awaiting inspection on Monday. additionally, the floor guys are back. did i mention that the air conditioner is working? not too soon. the floors required about a week to adjust to the cool a/c air, to ensure that the moisture content is low enough to sand and stain. we are hitting the floors with a dark ebony finish. almost black at low light levels. death star is the inspiration :) = just take a view of a star wars movie....you'll see. we hit the floor with some alcohol to pop the grains on the 5" solid northern white oak floors. with the first coat of stain, the floors already look amazing...with room to improve. of course, with all the stain and paint, the house is a deathtrap for the oxygen dependent. oh well...i guess it requires fewer brain cells anyways to be building a home in this economy. one thing to note as well, we had two agents stop by the home to get their input as to sale price, etc. we will touch base with them later, but their initial comments were highly favorable.

siding and colors lay down

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new updates for this week are the paneling on the courtyard facade has been installed. the fire sprinkler system has been installed. paint color has been finalized. the brick is still scheduled to be installed over the next week or so pending inspections. drywall is just around the corner once we get all the wiring, plumbing, and other rough-ins finalized. soon enough we will have a hvac system up and going. upcoming will be the installation of the tankless water heater. one large heater will be able to service the whole-house. additional "green" aspects of the home are the foil-backed OSB boards on the ceiling/roof, the commercial type windows with argon gas middle and a thermal layout that keeps the hot west facing portions of the home low and unexposed.

oranger - primer?

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Today the painter primed the majority of the soffit and facias on the home. additionally, he also primed the main structural beams on the home. having the same color on these areas has helped us see how the home will eventually look...no longer the factory color of the panels. the roof is coming to a finish, the tpo guys were working hard again, hopefully we will have a few dry days for them to finish up. we need to decide on paint colors, hence the few sample colors. not easy to decide, but luckly, paint is always something that can be changed later so we will try not to lose too much sleep over it. something to not lose sleep over, is the interior fire spinkler system that is currently being installed. you will see orange piping through out our home right now. becuase the home is built so far deep into the lot, the fire code require sprinklers. this was an expense we did not originally budget, but in the short term, the cost will be recovered by the small discount in insurance, and of course, the peace of mind sure doesn't hurt.