Love seeing everyone's progress. It's been a while since I've shared. We have siding up (pre primed Nichiha), stone work done (camas grey), primed corbels on and copper flashing for decorative roof accents. We are finally dry inside and start insulation this week and sheetrock the following week. Cabinets are starting to be made. Here's a shot of the T&G cedar ceiling that will be in the front porch and outdoor living area in the back of the house (will be pained white): With all the winter delays, we are now looking for a August move in, instead of July. I'm ready tomorrow!

They sprayed texture at our house today. Is it supposed to look scary? Haha I can't tell if it will look better when it dries. Seems pretty uneven in spots. Light orange peel turns into heavy orange peel. And where the wall meets the ceiling is very heavy.. mehh. I don't want to nitpick if it is normal and maybe looks fine painted..?

Is the texture on the ceilings and walls? Usually if you have some sort of texture they go back over it and "knock it down" to even it out.

Yes texture on ceiling and walls but the walls are orange peel and ceiling is knockdown.

Update: Footings poured and a funny pic, pouring footings for the front car port pillars

We were out of town for a few days and came back to find the exterior stone started and insulation being blown in. They are planning to pour the basement and garage concrete Friday, and then next week start siding and drywall. Things seem to be revving up again!

We are plugging along, slow as always. We've been at it since July 30. A few things slowed us down, including one mason laying every brick and stone in the house, one roofer, and tons of woodwork.

Our painter has been priming the trim this week, and we've finalized flooring and paint/ stain colors. We are using SW Alabaster for MBA and our daughter's bathroom, as well as for trim throughout, SW Shoji White at 150% for main living/dining/mudroom/guest room and halls, and SW Mindful Gray in the MBR. I also threw in SW Pewter Green at the last minute for my office. I wanted something different for "work".

We decided on Karndean LVT in Burgundy Oak for everything except bedrooms. It is beautiful!

@cslaughter27 how is the texture looking now that it has set a while? We had to have our guy come back out twice to fix and repair things. It still doesn't look good, but our painter is going to fix it for us. I won't allow the other man back!

Moving fast here despite the nasty weather; today the weather was excellent but no work was carried out; letting the footings breathe bit. Can't wait to see stem walls and a beautiful ratslab. Sounds crazy but will have used at least 150 yards of concrete for the foundation and ratslab alone. This does not include concrete for garages and porch, which is another crazy amount.

I get to post an update in the March thread:)

Wood floors were finished a couple of weeks ago. Appliances are delivered and mostly installed. Our sloped site needed more grading to shed water properly, and prepare for the concrete driveway and retaining walls. Both the construction dumpster and power pole (which hasn't been used for while now) are now gone. We're really close now:)

The floors are #2, 5-in white oak. No stain, oil based poly. I was unsure of how to have them finished, but I'm very happy with the initial result. (I wanted a somewhat matte finish, and chose a satin sheen. These pics were taken right after it was finished, when the sheen is higher than the real, final result).

more here under House 2.0 - https://amytracker.wordpress.com/

Looking great, am_e!

We finally got concrete in our basement. They couldn't do the garage or the porch because the wind picked up and they were concerned it would dry it too fast.

My most exciting news is that we hired a color consultant and will meet with him Wednesday. I've really struggled on the color for our hallways and living room and am relieved to have someone to help figure that out and help with making sure there is flow between the rooms. We've worked with him a little bit before on a project for my MIL and really liked him, and he also comes highly recommended from pretty much everyone we've asked, so I'm excited to have made that decision.

Our windows are in. Some windows are trimmed. More siding is up and most of the roof is shingled.

Planning on a bigger update early April, but I am back in Colorado with DD awaiting the birth of my grandson and will be here until mid April. The side benefit is getting to watch the house progress.

We have a front door now (but no front porch yet, that will probably be a while).

@mojomom what kind/company door is that? It's awesome.

Jimpats, here is the order info

Not the post office: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night ...". Snow and rain halt everything. Finally 60 degree days allowed some progress on the framing.

www.ahomefromscratch.com

We've passed all rough mechanical inspections and are starting up on drywall! This is a long time coming (2 years+) and we can finally start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our awesome new builder expects drywall to completed (hung, taped, and mudded) by the end of the week, followed by cabinets, trim, and interior doors. Both the basement and first floor stairs are in as well as the fireplaces. There are still five months left to our expected completion date and our builder has been accurate with his milestones so far so I'm guessing the devil really is in the details.

Still some stonework to do on the front of the house, but the rest is complete.

Gazebo built in seats and fireplace structure is installed and ready for exterior stone installation.

Rotunda stairs were made in a shop and installed as once piece. Basement stairs are the same, but not floating.

Upstairs and downstairs gas fireplaces are installed and passed inspection. The upstairs has LEDS in the "embers" for ambiance without the flame (didn't know this existed). Downstairs has additional red halogen lamps to enhance the appearance. Technology!

Most of the drywall is hung on the second floor ceiling, with only the tall areas remaining.

Some of the second floor walls have drywall hung. Master bathroom is completed and all the drywall is in the house in their respective rooms. If they can complete drywall in a week, I'll be crazy impressed.

Gutters and downspouts and drainage, oh my! Once we get the back of the house buttoned up, we can add the fill and perhaps pour the back walkway / plinth. Oh, and we installed ll the lift point covers (dots...) I have threatened to paint them either with smiley faces or crazy colors.

And we're starting to see what the finished product of the overhang structures will look like - they are doing a nice job hiding the fasteners on the sheet steel. We SHOULD have spec'd rectangular tubing for the outside (like we did inside) to hide the screws. Now, we're going to have to have the painters back to epoxy paint and then poly ALL THOSE DAMN EXPOSED SCREWS. (Or, just only look up from the direction that is the backside of the "C" - probably not reasonable. haha)

And while I really don't WANT rain - it would be cool to see how quickly the 7800 gallon cisterns fill up!

Granite being installed in kitchen and master bath today!

dazureus - wow! Beautiful!

Wow love all the house progress.

amber--your granite is gorgeous!

Hope everyone is making good progress. Finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Floors and paint are done. We need hardware and finishing touches in the kitchen. Appliances come Thursday, lights going in this week. Carpet on Monday. We are shooting for April 12 to start moving in. Plan to be sleeping there by the 16. We won't have a driveway but I'm ok with that.

We have been in our house for six months. We love it!

Things I especially love

My laundry room/mudroom/office

Love Love Love

I think more people comment on this room than any other. They love the size as do I!!

Our Master bath. It is beautiful and functional

Our custom made dining table. Love it!

this is the extension to the dining table. When added seats 12. Meanwhile it is just off the front entry. Just behind the shoji screens in picture above.

This spring/summer will be landscaping and garage organization time.

We are so happy to be in our home!

Only downside is that we lost our dear Maci to a brain tumor. She never really got to enjoy her screen porch.

Maci on her ottoman

We broke ground yesterday! Thursday we will site the house. So excited to finally begin!

suellen19 - so sorry about your dog. I have been there.

Your house is gorgeous!

Jaimeeap- thank you! Definitely went round and round on that decision but are very happy in the end. We lucked out on the master bath being a remnant!

winonasue - Love you wood island top! We ended up with walnut for our island butcher block. Our current island is hickory which we love, too. Very excited for you that your move in date is approaching so soon! We still have our fingers crossed for the end of April.

sueellen19 - so sorry about your loss. You house looks great - glad you are enjoying it!

congrats, anitaladyrose

We just got out of attorney review today. Drove by our development and this is what I saw. http://imgur.com/a/S44OK. Are those pipes for drainage? I wonder if the gravel means they are ready to start on the development road? Supposed to start on the first home in a week or so...

suellen your house is stunning! The table and the extension - genius! So sorry about your dear Maci - what a hole in our hearts when they are gone. We had to put our Cajun down (he was almost 15) just 5 weeks before we moved into our new home - even though he never lived here he spent so much time here with me while I painted and cleaned that I expect to see him and think I hear him :-(

winonasue you are almost there! Love that wood counter - we did one in our walk through pantry as well.

All the houses and views are such eye candy!

The latest in our occasional series of our now completed home...getting smarter. At least the house is--I still can't post a picture right side up. Anyway, please click on link below.

http://www.chicagonow.com/downsize-maybe/2017/03/getting-smart-at-the-crystal-palace/

Mantle is in and the rest of the built ins are ready and waiting.

I do have to choose my door configuration so they know how to install the hinges.

Amber, I love your wood color. Sometimes I wish I would have done more wood tones instead of white trim. What can you do? I like option 2 for the cabinet doors. The decisions never end. Actually all three look really nice.

amber- I like option 2 :)

Our pantry shelving is in, just needs to be painted. I did a test fit for the drawer units. There will be two side by side in the opening. 8 drawers for snacks, etc. They are the Antonius drawer unit from Ikea, $20 each, which is a steal compared to similar Elfa units.

Thanks, winonasue, I was worried it would bee too much wood but so far we are really happy with it.

my eye was initially drawn to choice 2 but then I wondered if #1 would be better because it is more symmetrical.

cslaughter - nice pantry! Did you get your texture issue solved?

amber- what is the interior configuration of the built ins? If each door is its own single cabinet then #1 is good too. But, if the doors opening away from each other gives you a wider cabinet space I'd do #2.

Thanks! yes the texture issue went away on its own. I think it looked that way because it was still drying. looks totally normal now.

There is a front stile between each door for support but is all open behind the stiles. Each opening is about 20" between stiles and it is pretty deep (about 19") so i will be able to slide board games and whatnot in without having to turn them sideways.

lakeerieamber - I like option 2.

cslaughter27 - Now I'm going to start over analyzing my pantry choices. Yours looks great! Our current pantry is in desperate need of snack drawers to help keep it organized.

suellen19 - your house is beautiful. Love the custom dining table. Sorry about your dog. Sucks to lose our fur babies.

amber-ok, then I still think #2 :)

gthigpen- thanks, our original contract actually had adjustable freedomRail shelving which I was looking forward to configuring later and not having another thing to torture myself over right now.. I am a perfectionist and hate the thought of doing something permanent that I will want to change later. well then my builder said "oh I upgraded you to the painted wood shelving in the pantry". I was worried at first but i was able to design this pantry in a day and went over it with our trim guy the next morning. We already owned two of the drawer things for our closet so I started there and designed around them. the shelf above is 24" deep though so I will either need to put big stuff there or get some lazy susans or stair step things.

Still waiting for it to get dry enough to get the equipment to install the back windows, but beams were installed in our greatroom today and fireplaces going in. Almost finished with rough in on plumbing (even tubing now going into the warmboard) and electrical, so should be ready for inspection very soon. Then on to insulation and drywall.

Beams (sorry so dark), the front door with lots of southern light is boarded up for protection and the visqueen doesn't let in much light:

Our Fp view from the kitchen:

DD's and DSIL's fp view from their kitchen:

Also ordered the stone for exterior and fireplaces:

Telluride Stone.

And still awaiting the grand baby -- any day now!

Still waiting for it to get dry enough to get the equipment to install the back windows, but beams were installed in our greatroom today and fireplaces going in. Almost finished with rough in on plumbing (even tubing now going into the warmboard) and electrical, so should be ready for inspection very soon. Then on to insulation and drywall.

Beams (sorry so dark), the front door with lots of southern light is boarded up for protection and the visqueen doesn't let in much light:

Our Fp view from the kitchen:

DD's and DSIL's fp view from their kitchen:

Also ordered the stone for exterior and fireplaces:

Telluride Stone.

And still awaiting the grand baby -- any day now!

I was up there earlier today. I had hoped to go up to the wood stove place tomorrow, but Massachusetts is expected to have a load o snow... we'll get cold rain down here in CT. At any rate:

This is my house in snow, what remains today:

(PS, two hours south at my home in Connecticut:

"Leaves are Brown, There's a Patch of Snow on the Ground, And It's a Hazy Shade of Winter" - about one foot by one foot, and maybe 6-8 inches high -- the little that remains from the big snow a week or so ago...)

Anyhow, back up here:

Inside, Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away! I hear there were a bunch more when I wasn't around.

I finally got to go out on my future back deck. I'd say about 1/3rd, or a little less, has been planked. It was a great day for my builders to be out there, and they enjoyed it. The dangly thing is the bathroom vent. The windows will eventually be framed in with wood. My first time out here!

To the east... the steps will go down about where the ladder is, and will go about 2/3rds way down. Then there will be a 45 degree turn, flat. Then, another 1/rd 45 degree corner turn down, to the ground.

Those stones off to the right? About where I will have a flagstone/flat stone patio.

Lookin' back to the house.... Exterior color is named "almond", as per the unpeeled nut. The sun side will need a second coat, and it will all need a clear coat/preservative late this spring.

By the way... the windows will only have grids on the top, NOT the bottom. Gonna be removed.

I signed my sig in the basement. We are now adding in the workroom, root cellar, and the basement bath for cleaning up after man, er, woman-handling the livestock.

Though she told me after footings were poured, DW really wanted me to sign something or put a message on the footings; I will do that on the stem walls or slab or something now.

So we are still waiting on the permits to start, but my GC was able to get a demo crew in to start pulling the interior walls down ahead of the full permit.

All the trees that needed to come down are down and we have firewood for years!

Living room window. Finally!

Great progress everyone. If I've been a bit quiet for the past 10 days or so, it was because DH and I took a break from the house and went on a cruise. We had two full days in Cuba which was absolutely amazing. Wonderful and warm people and loved the old cars from my childhood.

Meanwhile, we have the roof, rafter tails, etc. They're cutting and putting up the frieze board under the rafter tails. Balcony is on.

Staircase had to be recut because again the draftsman messed up, although I probably should have asked. He made the stair risers almost 7 3/4" high which is the maximum. Maybe that's ok if young, but as you age, it's more difficult to climb a steeper step. My awesome super, refigured the riser and it's now just under 7". He had to add a second step which jutted out about 3-4" into the walkway from foyer to living room. Thankfully that space was originally 4' wide, so it will now wind up around 42-43" wide after drywall and molding.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, CP, and Cuba as well. I have friends who went there and had a great time. Yes, one does need to take a break from the house building!!!

DC to VA: love all the logs at the ready!!!

Guys! It's like Christmas Eve night! Cabinets will be installed tomorrow

Cslaughter, very nice! I love the pulls. You may want to repost this in the April thread. :-)

yes please repost in April