A long haul…

Everyone has been asking me “when will you be in your new house?”  I don’t know honestly what to say anymore as we are four months behind schedule now!  It is indeed frustrating and I’m really hoping things will start moving along a little faster in the next few weeks.  I haven’t written anything on the blog in quite awhile because things have been going slower, but there has been progress never the less.  So we now have granite counter tops but back splash is not tiled yet. The kitchen tile floor is installed in kitchen and pantry/laundry room. The entrance way tile is also now installed. Bathroom tile is mostly installed but not grouted. The vanity counter is also in place but no plumbing fixtures for sinks in bathroom and kitchen yet. The sky light in my studio is almost done but needs stain and some trim. Oak floors are installed in bedrooms and studio but main space will “hopefully” be completed tomorrow. I just found out a few days ago that Rip is responsible for refinishing the oak floors throughout the house.  That was a big shock, and I’m really worried about Rip doing it as he’s never done this type of work before, plus I’m afraid it’s going to be very hard physically for him.  Keygan is working full time so hopefully he’ll be able to help. Mark said he will “advise” so I hope that will be enough as I really want the floors to look professionally done. The cultured stone is started for the interior of the house on the chimney but it’s very slow tedious work and they do not work everyday. The cultured stone was also started on the outside pillars but again…very slow going. The chimney through the roof is not finished with cultured stone yet. There has been some trim put up throughout the house but still much more to be added.  We still do not have a septic system yet so that means water has not been hooked up.  The plumber has started radiant heat in ceiling in lower level which will heat upstairs.

There is just so much to do yet that it boggles the mind but I’m trying to stay optimistic.  I’ve been told that building a house is indeed very stressful and I won’t argue with that!  I’ve had many sleepless nights and I’ve also been told that when it’s all done I will forget all the tough stuff.  I hope that’s true because what Rip and I are doing is building a dream and I can not wait for the day we can finally move in!!!! Wish me luck!Cultured stone is started on interior chimney.
The frig is in place but not hooked up.

Granite counter tops are in place.

Bathroom vanity sink and counter top are in place. Tile floor is laid but not grouted.
Sky light in my studio.

View from our bedroom into bathroom. Toilet will go to the left of the vanity. Shower is not tiled yet.View from main area into bathroom from the second door.View from the front door into the house.
Keygan is working for Mark on his two days off helping install the oak floor.The “other Mark” working on the cultured stone.
Cutting the stone.
Oak floor in my studio.
Corbin and Logan walking up to the house.
The tile in the entrance way.

 

Garage Door…yippee!

So happy to see our garage door installed!  I love it! It looks like wood but is not, so it’ll be much more maintenance free. They have also finished the siding on the highest part of the house. Just a little more to do on the opposite side by the garage and it will finally be finished. The oak for the main floor will hopefully be delivered tomorrow. I’m really getting so anxious to get into our new house. People keep asking us when we’ll finally be moved in and I can only say “I don’t know as the date keeps getting pushed further and further down the road.” I pray to God it’s soon!!!

Front Porch Posts and siding!

The columns or post for the front porch were finished today and they really dress up the front of the house!  I can’t wait to see the stone work for their bases!  Some work that’s been done over the last few weeks you really can’t see but still very necessary… i.e. 1500 gal propane tank was buried in the ground to the right of the house, well pump was installed and water is hooked up, and lot’s of little interior trim work and staining.  Mark’s sister Kim is doing a lot of the staining and she’s very neat and does a great job.  The rest of the Hardy Board siding was finally delivered and the guys have gotten to work finishing that up.  The counters guy came today and started drawing out all the templates for the counter tops and vanity in the bathroom. We already changed our mind about the counter tops and will have to go back to Stroudsburg and pick something else out.  This time I will bring a sample of the wood and the back splash with us so we can get a better idea of what will look best.  So things are coming along this week.  The next issue is Penn Dot, which is giving us lots of headaches about the driveway!  We’re going to have to take out a lot of trees and bushes at the bottom of the driveway so there’s better visibility. Rip is not happy about cutting down more trees!! I wish Penn Dot would pay more attention to the totally unsafe condition of Blooming Grove Road instead of our driveway!

Morgan’s new favorite place to sleep, right outside the front door.I love the way the new columns on the front porch look!Jace and Blocky working on the Hardy Board siding while Logan supervises.Rip is working on refurbishing some old folding chairs he found God knows where.The front porch ceiling wood is finished too.We are already taking time out each day to sit in our rocking chairs and relax!This is the last of the siding to be done on the house.Stairway in stained but not polyurethaned yet so we still need to stay off it.

Kitchen Cabinets are installed!

The new custom quarter sawn oak cabinets are all installed and appliances are going in.  It’s really starting to look like a kitchen!  I love the cabinets that Jay Steiner built!  He’s a great guy and so meticulous with his work, so talented. He also delivered the bathroom vanity which has also turned out great. I wish we had some time to go over and pick out our countertops but with the Boalsburg, People’s Choice show this week and then Audubon and my 5 day painting workshop there just isn’t any time. Rip is leaving Wednesday for show and he said he trusted me to go ahead and pick countertops out on my own, but that’s just way too much responsibility.  We’ll just have to wait. The trim is mostly up and it’s really starting to look finished. I can’t wait to see the tile go down in the bathroom and then the hardwood floors though out the rest of the house.

 Siding is finished on front of house and they’re getting ready to finish pillars and then ceiling on front porch will finished with yellow pine. Stone will go on the bases of the pillars.  The bathroom vanity was delivered by Jay today and we LOVE it!

 The kitchen cabinets are installed and the new frig fits in great!Pocket door is in place.

 

Stairway to heaven…and spice of life.

Today Homestead Builders worked on installing the staircase and laying the tile in the kitchen. Also Jay, master cabinet maker, came by yesterday afternoon and dropped off the rest of the kitchen cabinets. I LOVE them, and in particular the delightful spice storage area he made for me!!!  It’s amazing and he’d never built anything like it before!  It’s like a secret drawer in an old roll top dest except a millions times better. He really gets Rip and I!  I can’t stop playing with it! I can not wait till the tile is finished and they can install them!!! Today was a good day!!

Antique glass will go into these cabinets once they are installed. 

Is that not the coolest thing??? Looking down the steps.

 Looking up the steps.The tile for the kitchen floor.

 

House is really starting to enter the last stages of completion!

A lot of progress has been made on the house in the last two weeks but as jobs become more complex things take a little longer. The siding is almost completed and looking great. Stairs have been delivered and will be installed this week. Trim is all painted or stained and coated with several coats of polyurethane and being installed. The custom cabinets are all built and ready for installation too. It’s really starting to be very exciting and I see light at the end of the tunnel! This really is going to be a wonderful house/home and I can’t wait to be in it!!!

 The last of the Hardy board siding is going up! I love the dark red contrasting accent siding!

All the oak trim has been stained and Polyurethaned! This all oak that Rip has had for years that he was  able to plane and make into the trim. I love it! The custom oak cabinets in the Arts and Crafts style have also arrived! They were built by Jay Steiner from Honesdale, PA. I can not wait to see them installed but they have to finish the ceramic tile on the kitchen floor first. The custom stair were delivered yesterday and they are beautiful! All the pine trim for bedrooms is all stained and finished and ready to be installed! I think it’s going to look beautiful with the fir doors and paint color.This is our ceramic tile for the kitchen. I think with the dark oak cabinets it will look really great! Plus…I think it will be easy to keep clean!!!

 Fir closet doors in guest room.

All the interiors fir doors are installed. I’m so glad we went with this style of door. More money but well worth it!

We have water!!!

Fritz Brothers came and drilled our water well today! I’m relived that it’s finally done because even though I knew there shouldn’t be a problem with them finding water, I kept having a nagging worry of “what if…they can’t find water and we have this new house all built???”

Also today they delivered the interior fir doors which are beautiful! They are too pretty to paint so we’re just going to put a clear coat on them.  I can’t wait to see them hung.

 

Let there be light!

The electricians were here a few days ago and we now have light in each of the rooms!  I wanted to go up early evening and turn all the lights on to see what the paint colors looked like at night. Even though there are only bare bulbs, it was so cool seeing it all lit up!  I LOVE our house!!  The siding is still going up and it’s starting across the front of the house now. We also found out today that the dark red siding has finally come in and I can’t wait to see how that’s going to look up in the peaks. They also put on the fascia boards on the edge of the soffits too. Mark worked on framing out the French door to the front porch so we’ll have a screen door there….yeah!  He also put the trim boards on the inside of the windows. We talked about all the interior trim for the house and made some decisions. We have a lot of chestnut and quarter sawn oak that we bought years ago from what had been the Lake Ariel Bank. I think it’s going to look great in the house and this will help save us some money which is always good news!  I really like re-purposing materials and I think this trim will really add even more character.Looking in the kitchen area from the driveway.Guest bedroom.
My studio!! Look at all those lights!! SWEET!
Looking into the living room and hall on right to bathroom. The color, Sea Salt, looks really nice in evening light.

Rip relaxing in what will be our bedroom.Corbin and Morgan in my studio. You can see some of the trim that had come from The Lake Arial Bank on the floor behind Corbin. Looking into our bedroom from the bathroom. That opening on the leftt will have an antique stain glass window that we got from the Rip’s Grandfather’s house in Hawley years ago.Rip is coming into the kitchen from the pantry. Lights on in the living room and our bedroom to the left.

Cement, soffits, and paint!

I was very happy when I got home today from work because I can see some real progress being made.  Garry, the painter, had finished all the walls on the main floor.  I love the paint color in the main part of the house, it’s called “sea salt”.  It’s not gray and not green…not blue…it’s Sea Salt!  Tuesday the cement was put in the garage and the front entrance.  Then Wednesday they portaged the chimney.  Today Jace and Blocky worked on starting the soffits and finished some more of the siding.  They are coming back tomorrow so I’m thrilled.

The cement is poured in the garage.

I love the color of the soffits.Jace and Blocky working on back of the house.Rip is talking to Blocky about a block!

Hard to see the finished paint color but I love it!

Painter is painting…

I was hoping the whole crew would be here today but we’re waiting for Gumble Brothers to deliver some Aluminum trim we need before they can continue putting the siding on. I hope it comes tomorrow.  Meanwhile our painter Gary was here all day. He has gotten the guest bedroom done and the ceiling in our bedroom. It’s hard work painting the cathedral ceilings when your holding a big long pole with the roller loaded with paint. I’ve chosen a very soft blue for a nice tranquil space. for the guest bedroom.  Instead of painting the ceiling white I had him tint the white paint for the ceiling  with 30% of the wall color.  It really is a nice look instead of a white ceiling. Gary was a bit dubious about this decision but loved it when he saw it done.  He’ll be back tomorrow to continue painting. I also included a few photos from yesterday when Jace and Blocky were here working on the siding. The whole back of the house is done and now one wall of garage.

My Zen retreat guest room!

Corbin came up for a visit!Gary, hard at work!

Gary, taking a brake. I pointed out to him that he was making me nervous sitting on the wall of “the pit of death” where Logan had fallen in. He was making me very nervous!!Jace and Blocky working on trim.The back is finished. All those windows are in my studio.Jace using a guillotine style cutter to cut the cement board or Hardy Board siding. Blocky hauling siding over to the house.The side of the garage.