Thursday, July 31, 2008

Cabinets



I visited the cabinetmaker today to approve another color for the master vanity and drop off our recently purchased Ikea door hardware. The trip was worth it....Rich showed us our completed cabinets! They were awesome! Painting starts today and installation should start sometime next week. The house will feel more like a house when they are installed. I hope the kitchen looks good when its all said and done....As usual, I am second guessing myself until the last minute.

Last minute changes to siding






Its been a crazy week with siding again. Originally, the front and back corners of the small box were going to be metal, but when our neighbor Corey (who is doing the roof and metal siding) stopped by to discuss how he was going to put the metal, we quickly figured out that the metal was not going to work. The front area is too small and would look chopped up. So Jay and I collaborated on a concept we think is pretty cool. We are still going to use some metal but its only going to line the inside of the front entrance. To create some texture and visual interest for the front, we are going to wrap the front corner in 12" cement board back to the kitchen windows. Mike, the siding guy, already has most of it done. We are really happy with it but it took awhile to make the decision. The neighbors must think we are crazy since we visit every night and usually just hang out in the front yard pondering the house.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Master Bath





There hasn't been much progress in the interior this past week but today we noticed that the master bath is being prepared for tile and wire for in-floor heat. Despite our budget being really tight, we decided not to cut the heated tile floor for this room. Its a luxury I am looking forward to as fall and winter near.




Friday, July 25, 2008

Siding

Galvanized flashing on corners

Horizontal fibercement w/z-channel and recessed corners

View of siding from the corner

So this week they started the siding. There was a misunderstanding of what we expected and what was on the plan. All along we wanted siding like some of the other Hive homes (modern, flat, using z-channel) but somehow a lap siding detail got onto one of the drawings. Our builders saw that and had me thinking thats they way it was on the plan so it would be hard to change. But Jason and I knew we never agreed to do lap siding. Its was an option we kicked around with Hive but Jason didn't like it. Nonetheless, it somehow got onto our plans.

When we got to the house after the siding sub-contractor started putting the corners up for the lap siding, I knew instantly that is was NOT what we wanted. That resulted in another dramatic phone call from me to our builder Aaron. He suggested meeting at the land the next day with Mike (the siding sub) which was good because I was almost in tears!

Lets just say Mike is my favorite sub so far. He noted that our plans have detail drawings for both siding styles, which only confused everyone involved, not to mentioned wasted time and materials. It turns out the z channel (for the modern look) was already at the site so Mike could get started right away. This way of installing it is much faster. Mike also came up with a fantastic way to finish the corners; he is using a recessed technique with the fibercement overlaying a galvanized corner leaving a small reveal. The reveal looks OUTSTANDING with the z-channel! I am really happy that we were able to work this issue out. It was pretty stressful but seeing the results today made it worth it.

More exterior color options...


Here are some more color options for the exterior....The blue and gray are the same as in the garage photo but the green is new. We requested a few more colors from the painter but they are all in the same green and blue family. Any thoughts?

Monday, July 21, 2008

Exterior color dilemma...

There are way too many color choices and at this stage in the game, making choices is really difficult. We really like a medium to dark gray with a bright or soothing color for accent. I need your help! Other colors we have considered are lime green, orange, yellow. Here are the current choices painted on the garage:


Any ideas?

First Coat Primer

From the living room looking towards the kitchen

Master bedroom - headboard wall

Living room looking toward front entry

The first coat of primer is on the walls. I really like the color white of the primer. Its actually not primer but a coat of paint. I think we are going to keep this color throughout the house except for the master bedroom. It would be nice to have a really light green-blue color in there with maybe a bright accent for the headboard wall.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

More photos

The first piece of sheetrock up...







Painting in progress....

Its been over a week since I last posted...a lot of progress has been made. Yesterday, they were priming the walls with low-odor/low-voc paint. Here are photos of the last weeks progress:
Spraying insulation


Jason installing insulation in the interior walls for sound



Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Next Up:


Nordic Insulation sprayed foam insulation in the ceiling today and prepped the house for spraying the walls tomorrow. All the exterior stud faces are taped off with red tape.
If everything passes inspection on Friday, Aaron said the house will be sheetrocked on Saturday. Jason and I are going to have to sneak in on Friday night to insulate both bathrooms for sound. This will be our first hands on project with the house!
This weekend we also need to finalize tile for both baths, purchase interior light fixtures and bath cabinet from Ikea. Oh, and pick up the door hardware from Menards and a mailbox from Lowe's. We should save a nice chunk on going with a commercial style lockset/deadbolt for both exterior doors.

Full Speed Ahead!

Its been awhile since our last post and with the speed this house is being built, much has progressed. All of the windows are now installed, including the basement windows. Most of the windows are fantastic but there are a few windows - particularly the guest bedroom - I wish we had thought through the placement, size and configuration more. The view of our neighbors isn't partiularly the best view but the size of the window is not going to make it easy - or cheap - to cover with blinds. Its going to be Ikea drapes for us...

Plumbing has gone in. Our watertiles are roughed-in in the master bath. The guest bath tub is in place. Its the Archer tub from Kohler...more modern than I originally thought. I like the lines and the slotted overflow.

HVAC is also being run as well as wiring for our security system and the in-ceiling speakers. Secure-Tec Protection installed both security and audio lines. Joe from Kelzer Electric has been working hard all week installing fixtures and moving stuff all around for me.

The front patio return was built within the last few days. We had some inconsistencies on the plan which caused confusion with the builders but they got it fixed quickly. It looks great and will be nice to hide the mailbox from general view.


Front entrance with return on right side and recessed lights


The mailbox nook in the front entrance


Watertile rough-in's in the master bath


Tub in the guest bath

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Stunning...








When I drove up to the house this afternoon after work, I was absolutely STUNNED. Most of our windows were installed; the front window is SO impressive as well as the 8' full glass doors. At the moment, just the sidelights are in with the construsction but they look awesome! We have seen other Hive homes with similar exteriors but this is ours...somehow its looks more impressive on the single story. Standing on the interior looking out the large front windows is almost like being outside.


Some of the week's progress:

- Electrician started installing boxes and recessed cans (we were going back and forth on compact flourescent recessed for greenstar but ended up with what we originally spec'd)

- Most windows installed

- Duct work started

- Plumbing/water pipes started

- Flat roof portion started

- Air conditioner increased to 15 SEER for GreenStar compliance
- House wrapped in Tyvek