Water and Fire

Due to all the rain we've been getting, we found some leaks upstairs near the corners of the dormers.  We suspect it must be from some flashing at the metal roof.  This is the time to find them though.

 

 

The rain also allowed to us finally burn our burn piles.  We have had two big brush piles from when the dozer cleared the land.  We saved some money by having them left onto our property instead of having to pay for a dumpster and disposal fee.  Our neighbor's son came and helped us start the first one since this was the first time I had done this.  They had some used diesel oil to help start the fire. 

 

 

As you can see the fire really never got too big.  Every so often I would take the tractor and push the pile closer and closer together.



3 month mark

The home is coming along after 3 months of progress.  It is sometimes hard to remember how just a few months ago, this was a piece of very raw land with no improvements done on it untouched by humans for years.

We now have a weather-tight home, water, electricity, completed barn.  The finish carpenters are now starting, doors, trim, cabinets are all going up and the house is now really looking like a home.  The house is much darker inside, quieter, and you can no longer just squeeze through some studs to get to the other room, now you have to open a door!

We have picked out our countertops this week and after the cabinets are built we will get to the details.  We also have picked out our tile for the bathrooms.  Lots of finishing items are just waiting to be installed and soon it will get really exciting as it all comes together.

This week we were blessed with lots and lots of rain.  Unfortunately, the soil around the home is mostly red clay and makes getting to and from the home dirty.  The Septic contractor was supposed to start this week and dropped off the tanks, but we will have to wait for some dry days to install them.  They have to be inspected once installed by the state.

 

Even though it was a bit muddy, the electricians came out and trenched for the underground electric from the pole to the home, from the home to the barn, and from the well to the home

 

 

The Masons are back

The Masons returned for 3 projects inside

 

The first is to make the Hearth for the Fireplace

The bottom is 4 rows of bricks with Oklahoma Stand Up Flagstone used for the sitting area.  After many discussions with our builder, we got our way and were able to have the top of the hearth at 14 inches high - perfect for sitting next to the fire and for a step up to the cabinets on either side.  Then they placed our Arkansas Tumbled Stone Up the fireplace wall.

 

 

 

 

The next project was to brick the kitchen island.

You won't have to worry about a bar chair or leg knocking through the wall.  There will be an 18 inch wide countertop placed slightly higher than the kitchen countertops for a bar area.

 

 

The 3rd and most dramatic (I think) project was to brick and stone the area above the stove

 

A few months ago we were able to acquire a Vent-a-hood 2 blower hood for the stove.  It has really required lots of pre-planning in order to make it work.  From gas lines and electric in exact places for the range and 2 8 inch ducts that merge into a 12 inch vent for the hood, lots of subs have had there hand in this stove and vent.

 

The masons started with a brick sides that will act as buttresses for the arch above the stove.

 

 

The masons then built a plywood arch template that will hold the brick while they set

 

 

Then they start laying the stone above.  The arch is so strong, we could of went 14 feet up with no extra support (we only needed about 5 feet)

 

This is it completed, the hood will slip up and inside the cavity

  

 

(note: Rachel is not actually holding the arch up!)

 

 

Finished Fireplace Hearth

Texturing

Texturing

 

Jose's drywall crew returned today to do the texturing.  They begin with the ceilings, a "stomp and drag" pattern.  This is two guys using special brushes, diping them into the mud mix and stamping it onto the ceiling in a rotating, seemingly random pattern.

 

 

 

The walls were then sprayed from a hopper then knocked down with a rubber door sweep

 

I know it's hard to tell, but it looks great!

 

Interior doors and mouldings

Interior Doors

Sticking with our farmhouse feel we chose this arched door with the beadboard inset.

 

 

We wanted a tall base board which reminded us of the feel of older homes.  The one on the bottom right is 5 1/4 " tall but simple and straight forward.

 

 

 

We also picked out our crown moulding, who knew it how complicated that could be.  I didn't get pictures of that so you will have to wait to see.

Drywall, taping, floating and fixing a mistake

Drywall Completed

Taping and Floating Begins

 

 

The drywall goes up quickly since they hang it with only a couple of nails to keep it in position.  Then they have to come back and secure them firmly to the studs with drywall screws.  As you can imagine, this process takes a little while, about 4 days .

 

Taping and floating is also expected to take a full week.

 

Every seam and corner gets taped and mudded and all the edges get softened with a molding.  Each and every hole gets filled.  Seems overwhelming but with the right tools even this small crew of two makes good progress.

 

This tool is a taping gun that has a roll of tape loaded in it and then filled with mud.  This allows the tape to come out pre-mudded which really simplifies the process.  I wish I would have had one of these for all the drywall projects I've done over the years.

 

 

We had a cool front this week with the nights dropping into the upper 40s, which made for great working conditions, however, it kept the mud from drying very quickly.

 

After the sharp corners and cheese grater walls in our previous home, we are looking forward being injury free in the new house.  We asked for softened corners which are pretty standards these days.  They use this plastic corner molding for all the edges.  It is flexible too which makes it ideal for the arched doorways as well.

 

The mudding was nearly completed, when Uriah noticed that the washer hook ups were in the wrong place, they would have been in the middle of the laundry room counter tops.  So at 5 pm we decided to fix the problem ourselves since the next day they were to begin texuing the walls.  Thank goodness for Jim's Hardware just a few minutes down the road because the closest big box store is 35 minutes away.  Luckily I had taken pictures of the walls before they were covered in drywall, so we were able to see exactly what we would need to do to move the laundry box.

 

 

All we had to do was move the white box over one bay to the right.  If we would have noticed it when it was at this stage, it would have been a piece of cake to fix.  But no, we were there fixing the problem till about 10 pm.  But now Uriah will not have to fix this in the future.

 

 The little white box is now covered by the brown paper since they were to begin texturing soon.

 

 

The Pink and the White House

Insulation completed and Drywall begins

First they used the expanded foam to seal the corners and seams. 

Then came back with the cotton candy batting.

 

I really want a pair of these stilts, how awesome would that be for dusting or changing a light bulb?

 

 

The black strapping holds everything in place until the drywall gets installed.

 

 

The guy on the stilts is Jose, he owns the drywalling company. 

 I have to say, all of the subcontractors have been really great guys.

Once these huge pallets of drywall got dropped off, they wasted no time getting down to business.

 

They work from the ceiling down.  These two guys are working on the master bedroom.

 

The Great Room

 

The back wall of the kitchen, where the stove will be.

 

This is my studio upstairs

 

Same room, from the window looking in.

Next week they should begin the taping and floating.

 

The house really seems to be becoming a home.  Everything feels less massive now that the walls are in place and the echos are gone.  Now I have to yell to find my hubby.