Front door gets Installed

Installation of the Front door.

 

 

It is still in the raw factory finish at this stage, I will have to stain it in the next 24-48 hours to keep out the moisture and to keep it from warping.

 

We put the door in the barn, both to keep the door from injury and so I can get it finished quickly.

 

 

 

Hearth stone

Uriah and I drove all the way back down to Allstone Brick and Stone again, to pick out our hearth stone.  We wanted large flat pieces to complement the stone going on the fireplace so we settled on some lovely large pieces of flagstone.  Max is our go to guy at Allstate.  He showed us all around the stone yard and this place is enormous with lots of different options.

Originally we wanted a very large stone called stand-up flagstone but we found it wasn't the desired thickness. After walking through the stone yard we found the color we wanted. Uriah and I rummaged through several large stacks to pick out the few pieces we needed.

 

Finished siding

The builder was a little short on the "Cedar" siding so we were at a stand still as far as the exterior was concerned for a couple weeks.

 

 

 

 

  But I am happy to report the siding arrived and was installed. Now painting can begin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Low voltage lines finished...well almost

Between the alarm, coaxial, Ethernet and speaker wire, we ran about 5,000 feet of lines in about three days.  It was more labor intensive than I thought it would be but I got off lucky as Uriah did most of the work, I just fed wire and labeled lines.  This is what it all looks like at the end.

Just as we were packing it up and getting ready to head home for the day, I mentioned to Uriah that the electrician was running the outdoor lines for the back deck.  He went over to check the line and happened to notice that the HDMI line was cut.  Unfortunately that can't be repaired so we have that one line to run when it arrives in the mail.  But just look at all those lines, doesn't that look like fun, looking forward to hooking up all those.

Fireplace gets installed

 The fireplace finally arrived last week and got installed over the weekend. 

Our contractor said it was the first time he had ever had anyone go with anything this big.  Uriah and I both love a large fireplace and we felt this would be a good focal point for the great room.  It will have big hearth as well, for snuggling up to the fire on cold winter nights...we get a lot of those here in Houston (-:

 

This picture gives you a better idea of just how big the fireplace is.

 

 

Big Red Barn

The Big Red Barn nears completion. 

 

 

 

 

 

This was how it looked on Monday afternoon.

 

 

Since this is a metal barn, they put it together in panels with a foil type insulation and when they screw in the panel, it secures the insulation as well.  This process should reflect a great deal of heat in these Houston summers.

 

 

Today, they've nearly got it finished.  The roof was added.

 

 

They removed the post that was in the way and added this header with support brackets.  Now we should have no problem backing the truck straight in.

 

They added the large over head door and the small entry door.

They would have finished it but the supplier sent the other two doors in the wrong size.

As soon as it can be secured, we will begin moving items into the barn and out of our over crowed garage.

 

Eventually we will add a faux barn door on the front to give it that final old barn feel.

 

 

But for now, I think it is very cute.  And I am happy Uriah will finally have the wood working space he has always wanted.

 

 

 

 

Electric, Plumbing and Low Voltage

Uriah drove out late Sunday and found that the electrician had been there working all weekend.  He estimates one more day of wiring and the whole house should be done.  Unfortunately that meant that it was our turn to get back to work.  Uriah volunteered us to do all the low voltage wiring for the house, so everyday this week we have gotten up early, headed to the ranch and worked all day.

 

Laundry Room, Washer and Dryer area

 

The sink in the laundry room

 

 

Lighting in the kitchen

 

Lighting over the great room.

 

 

Bathtubs in the upstairs bathrooms.

 

 

These black pipes are the gas lines.

 

 

 

Uriah has been the one with the plan and also the one doing all the hard work.  I've just been the assistant handing him things and keeping the wires straight.  Uriah is great with planning and logistics.  He has every wire, for everything, all mapped out (speakers, alarms, telephone, infra-red, etc), it's quite impressive.

 

When we opened our large, heavy box of Coaxial cable, we found the plastic mechanism that allows the coil to unwind smoothly, was badly broken.  So, never being one to give up easily, I made my own device out of left over lumber and nails lying around.

 

 

My job was to label every line with it's origin so we can wire them without loosing our minds later.

 

 

The white wires are for the alarm system.  Look at all of them, and that is only half of the first floor.  It was incredibly humid today, Uriah is soaked from head to toe but proud of his hard work.