No Weekend Rest

Ann took the camera over to the house this evening to get a few samples of the progress being made. Perry and Dan were there most of the day to work on the counter tops in the kitchen. Pictured below, the counter tops for the dishwasher, sink and stove (r to l) are forming up.

A closer look reveals some of the detail.

And the backsplash in the master bath is now complete.

One of those Flurry Days (and I Don't Mean Outside)

From this:

To this:

Virtually overnight.

Here's how it happened:

Dennis steadies the cross beam while Jay (l) and Bob (r) position the vertical posts.

Jay and Bob attach the beams to the island.

Dennis, once again, does the heavy lifting while Jay and Bob get ready to screw the third cross beam into place.

Jay tightens things up and makes certain they're square. Marc flashes gang signs to Perry.

In other news, the powder room vanity made its way into the powder room.

And the guest vanity is in place.

And stuff is going on outside too. It's really cold.

So let the countdown begin! Here's ten, make that eleven, nope twelve, OK, a baker's dozen things needed to complete the job. (We have to count up before we count down.)

In no particular order, they are:

13. Cabinets from original house re-installed.

12. Gas fireplace installed. (late February)

11. Molding installed.

10. Stairs and railing installed.

9. Plumbing fixtures installed.

8. Appliances delivered and installed. (February 20 plus or minus)

7. Flooring completed.

6. Countertops installed. (by February 3)

5. Electric fixtures installed.

4. Glass installed in deck railings.

3. Ground floor ceiling installed.

2. Solar tank installed. (mid-February)

1. Erth clay walls finished. (mid-February)

And about a hundred different little things that I'm not counting. That sounds like a lot of work and it is, but it feels a lot closer to being done than it did last week.

Productive Weekend

A little better view of the front door.

An unretouched picture of the living room floor. I can't get over how unusual this came out--the photo, not the floor.

The vanity in the bathroom is installed, well mostly.

And I may be wrong but I think our staining days are over. And even if they aren't, I'm CLAIMING VICTORY (CV)!

ps--It's the grubbiest, grungiest sweatshirt I could find.

More Pre-finishing Touches

Ann proudly stands by the front door she selected. Looking at the design one might discern a pattern developing. (Don't make me hit you over the head with it. I'm feeling owlly today after the Mass election results. In truth it wasn't the results as much as the gloating at the gym today by those lesser representatives of the 'Y' chromosone.)

The screen porch now has all its screen frames in place. (I'm beginning to think that those dust spots are on my lens. Duh.)

The guest bath on the main floor looks ready for action--almost.

Tracks are Out and About

The snow offers observers a chance to see what kind of critters are out and about. But it also provides designs from wind whipped branches.

I almost forgot. We're tracking a house building project here.
And look what's (ahem) afoot here. Deck railings are installed. The design is reflected in the windows of the screen porch.

Inside and Outside

The tile is about half installed in the guest bathroom.

And this is the progress in the Master Bedroom.
The melting snow cascades off the garage.
An otter, possibly a female looking to 'den up' leaves its tracks on the river and marsh. It looks like it's making a temporary home under the pier.

Posts A'Poppin'

Not exactly Iwo Jima, but it's importance for us is, shall we say, huge. The first of the beams has been placed through no small effort from Dennis (l), Jay (center) and Bob (flag planter).


Dennis and Bob put the finishing touches on the mast, also known as the cat post.

And what does Emma do during all this activity? Waits WITH HER NEW FRIEND, BUDDY!

Buddy is Perry's dog. He's 14 and a half, which is about 1289 human years. Buddy's a combination of about 23 dogs and is a sweet old guy. Emma agrees.


The post downstairs is stained as Perry works on the guest bath.

First Floor

Nice to see the guys back. They've been working on another job since just before Christmas. But they're back at work on the homestead doing their usual great job. Here Jay begins laying the MBR floor.

Another Day; Another Step Toward Completion

We received a photo of the master bathroom sink from our local manufacturer, which we understand will be installed this weekend. The countertop is made up of at least 70% recycled content. (Rich tells us that when people view some of his products, they often recognize the pieces of glass that he has scrounged from the Oneida County Landfill. We anticipate seeing our former wine bottles.)

In keeping with the fact that everyone around here has at least two jobs, Rich does these things on the side. See his website at customconcreteinnovations.com or click here.

In his other life he works at the local paper company where he is a union rep. (My kind of guy.)

In any case what you might see taking place is our disinterest in resale value. Our plans are to stay in this house forever and we're designing it in a way that pleases us. Any criticisms will be met with demands for partial mortgage payments (or full mortgage payments if the criticism is severe).

Palpable Progress

After a brief respite from 'all house all the time', we were back at it today and arrived to these shots, some continuation of last week's and some shots of last week's accomplishments.

The screen porch off the master bedroom is taking shape.


And the ground floor floor nears its finishing wax and buff.


The master bath tiling is almost finished now.



Screen porch from the outside.


And interior.


Outside, nature works its wonders on the roof.

Into a Corner

Our diligent and determined floor staining crew perfectly planned her escape route . . .

. . . which is easy egress up the staircase despite the pathway of drips to her application spot.

She claims victory!

Today's Progress (Well, some of it anyway)

This is a shot from the bottom of the stairs looking toward the guest kitchenette and bath. I include this to show the floor stain that Ann has applied. Another coat will cover tomorrow and, after six hours, the first sealer coat.

But I also include it to show, once again, the particulates in the air that the flash has picked up. I think our lungs will be sprouting something in the days ahead.

Either that or I missed the indoor snowfall today.


A look from the bath out to the bedroom upstairs.
And back. As you can see the glass block is done along with 90% of the tile work.

Holidays Over; Back to Work

A flurry of activity today and for the rest of the week it appears.

First, some more cabinetry was delivered including the vanity base for the master bath. It was temporarily placed in the bedroom where it became a convenient place to stack stained tongue and groove for the screen porch.

The bath itself is proceeding at a good clip thanks to Todd (aka Sleepy).

Meet Perry (Anything but Sleepy) who owns, operates and is CEO of Junkermann North. See their website here. One of the great things about this project is meeting local characters. Perry came through for us in a pinch and I'd like to think we came through for him as well.

And here's Dan and his assistant whom we stole from Perry (Dan, that is) to stain the concrete in the ground floor. His assistant was roped into duty whilst napping.

Big day tomorrow as the stain goes down!