Got a little mud?

All the sheetrock's been hung, and now it's time for the messy part... The MUD!  This is the part that is going to take the longest, because every cold day and rainy day we've had makes the mud dry slow, and keeps the workers from being able to build up the corners and holes they way it needs to be.  That's okay though - because paint is next, and I'm hoping enough time will pass to get Jeffrey to change his mind on the smoke blue he's determined to paint this great room.....

 

 

Oh - and yes, that's our new stove sitting in the plastic there in the picture.  The garage doors are going in today, and the prefinished pine is supposed to be delivered next week!  I can hardly wait to get the cabinets started!

 

 

 

Sheetrock - Day 2

Mike and his son came out on Sunday and started hanging the sheetrock.  They were able to hang both of the kids bedrooms upstairs and the ceiling to the bonus room.  Today, they came out after they finished a job in Chesapeake and finished hanging the upstairs bath, Hall, linen closet, the main floor hall and foyer ceiling, and at least one round in just about each room.  Tomorrow will be their first full day on site with a full crew and they hope to hang the rest of the house in the next two to three days.  I'm looking forward to seeing the progress!

Sheetrock is going on the walls!

Insulation!

Things are moving along with the house now!  We finally got the punch list of things narrowed down to continue with the insulation.  The first thing on the agenda (and to finish up that punch list) was to finish running all the coax and cat-6 cable so that we could fire-stop all the holes.  Fire-stopping was basically just plugging all the holes that ran between floors with a foam that expands out and is fire resistant.  Supposedly this greatly helps reduce the chance a fire will spread through the walls from floor to floor.  Brabble came in on the 26th of November and did this as part of our insulation contract.

While they were there they also went ahead and put the ridge vents in so that when the inspector came out to check the fire-stopping, he would also be able to see the vents were in.  That same day, they also sealed around all the doors, windows, jambs, corners with a caulking to help seal the gaps and prevent air leaks.

 

After the fire-stopping was put in, we called for an inspection, which passed without issue, and Brabble came back the next day (Saturday) to spray the first layer of insulation on the exterior walls of the house.  Again, this is a wet spray that expands out and seals all the gaps, holes, and crevices that may allow air ($$$) to leak in and out during the year.  I wasn't there during the process, but stopped in around lunch to check on it.  Here is the bedroom mid process:

It took a couple of days for all of the spraying to go in.  It was one guy working by himself on Saturday and Sunday, and after further inspection from Jeffrey they were supposed to come back out and touch up a couple of areas and be done with this part this morning.  Here are some shots of the big wall and the bedroom after day 2:

 

Last night, when I went out to check on the progress, I was surprised to see that most of the batting in the main living areas was already in place, and I expect that the insulation will be completely finished today or first thing tomorrow.  Here is that same bedroom again, still not finished, but with most of the batting.

 Coming upstairs from the main floor to the upper story... You can see the white caulking around the window and stairway headers in this picture.

 Over the loft and kids bathroom...

 My bonus room or guest bedroom ceiling (verdict still out on that one)

 Bonus room again from the doorway.

 

As you can see, the insulation really starts to make the rooms look and feel more like rooms, and brings them back down to size.  I'm sure once the drywall starts going in, things are really going to start taking shape! (And color!!!)  We're booked right now to start drywall in a week (praying hard all inspections pass for insulation and for no more holdups!)

 

 

 

 

Chases being built!

Now that the rough in inspection has taken place, and we're steady knocking the problems/issues out one at a time. It's a slow and steady process, but we're getting there. One of our punch list items was to frame in all the duct work and have that re-inspected before we can get Brabble in to do our insulation. That's what the guys have been working on last week and this week.  There is still right much to do, but hopefully it will be a quick job and will pass inspection!

 

Cabinets

Not the cabinets we're getting, but the look we are going for with the hickory. I love the doors to these cabinets we found at Lowes, and I truely hope the cabinet maker can duplicate these!  They are so simple, yet have so much character!

 

And the Kraftmade drawers as well - I must have this insert for my silverware drawer!

 

 

Thinking about Paint

We're not at the point where we're painting - yet, but it's never too early to start thinking.  Yesterday while we were carousing Lowe's for the final (we thought) vent supplies, we took a few minutes to look at the paint samples and think about the colors we want in the house.  First of all, we are both against white walls and we both love naturals, but we felt light browns and tans will just make the room looked aged and yellow.  We're thinking outside of 'our' box and going bold.... Just not sure how bold yet, lol.

The idea is that the living room with cathedral ceiling will be in the olive or brown family, or possibly the wine family.  All of the trim in the house is planned to be stained a medium to dark stain and the floors will be natural hickory, so they will range from light to dark as well.  The ceiling panels will also be natural (light colored) so there will be a lot of variation in the room.  I think one of these colors will help bring it all together.  The blues and greys are for possibly the master bedroom and the kids bathroom upstairs (underwater mural).  The sad thing is that actual sample cards we picked up and the computer image are no where near the same colors.... I guess it will be a wait and see how it turns out ordeal.