Renee M:

You got the better sink, trust me. Symmetry is overrated, particularly when you're doing dishes.

Everything looks so nice. I love that entrance tile, @Renee M

Chanderlin, i feel your pain. In that case if you do close it off, it gives the space a real craftsman style look.

I will be living with the dust catchers in our 9' ceiling, or extending cabinet panels up there. I don't want the catchers OR the dated look of that box soffit around the kitchen. At least with panels I can break it up with trims and joints.

Still waiting for permit, I went over to my friend's place and unloaded two semi truckloads of his log cabin package. This is what I do, operate equipment.

His place is moving right along. We will trade labor when my place gets going.

I helped with his foundation and ICF basement walls just before the snows flew last year.

@izzieo, the cherry cabinets are what the cab company considers its "natural" finish, so a minimal stain, and the sheen is 20%, which is the lowest sheen that was available. The cabinets are made by Decor (not Decora--a lot of people get those confused). They come from Canada. Thank you for your thoughts on the handle sizes! I went to the HD Design Center and ordered some samples (they gave them to me for free!), so I'll see whether I think they seem too small. Some people seal the bluestone, but since it continues out the back door and around the patio, and we're not sealing it outside, we want it to look the same, and the sealant makes it shiny and can darken it. Having lived with glossy looking slate, I don't want that. It will get a patina outside and inside from dirt and oils, etc., will darken a little bit, naturally (like the cherry cabs and the soapstone countertop), and I'm okay with that, but I know some people might not be.

I can't believe I didn't notice this until now, looking at the photos of those bathroom tiles. I was focused on so many different things when I was at the site last that the only thing I noticed was that the color was wrong. I like this color (I chose it first), but now I realized that the install pattern is wrong! It's supposed to be horizontally STACKED, not offset. It would look more modern, in keeping with the house style. I don't want to make them rip it out, but I wonder if it's going to annoy me every time I see it, or if I'll eventually forget about it??

Made our master bath tile RE-selection this weekend. Returned so many cases of the other stuff that we changed our minds about. I’m glad to be done with tile! I’ll be so glad to not obsess about it anymore.

wow - I’m loving all the photos. Thanks to everyone for sharing.

Renee - the tile is beautiful! You are really moving along!

2rickies - I love the navy, cherry and stone! I do think the shower tile is pretty, but if you think there’s any chance it will haunt you in the future, I suppose now is the best time to deal with it. That mudroom floor - I’d love to see even more of it! Initially I wanted to do a Versailles pattern in our mudroom and master bath, but lately I’ve been thinking about simplifying and doing a running bond instead.

A C - congratulations on your pretty selections! What is that gorgeous slab? I have a follow up tile appointment this week and I will be happy when I can just stop stewing about it 24/7

@TDinNC:

Thank you. I cannot explain the level of absolute miserable hell this tile selection process has caused. I never want to go thru it again. I told my builder that I felt like the tile debacle aged me by 5 years. 😬

The slab is Taj Mahal quartzite in a polished finish. Originally I had my mind set on a leathered finish, but in the end this was the one that seemed to jump out at me. The leathered ones we saw weren’t quite what I expected. Only downside is that Taj is pricey (for us anyway).

Stopped by to drop our exterior garage lights that I had to order from Amazon because the set I chose is on backorder and not in yet 😒.

The can lights are all in, all floor tile is done, they were working on the shower tile when I got there. I noticed that they put quartz in the laundry room, it was supposed to just be a wood top. I'm fine with it as long as it's not gonna cost us extra. 🤷🏽‍♀️

I also finally got to see the vent hood cover paint and I like it (it matches the island on the not-brick side). It adds a pop of color to break up the beige everywhere.

The microwave is in, the dishwasher and vent insert are there but not installed yet.

While ya'all bogged down with finishing decisions I'm bogged down in the Big Muddy agin.

Four-wheel drive no match for the Wetlands.

To the Rescue...again.

Clear!

Another C$600 well spent!

@A C, I like your selections, and that Taj Mahal is beautiful!

@Renee M, the kitchen is looking great!

@TDinNC, next time I'm on site I'll try to get a pick of more of the stone floor. It's mostly covered up at the moment.

I went to choose stone for the kitchen counters today. Some of you might remember that I've been soapstone all along, except for a brief fling with Montclair Danby. Welp. Went in a slightly different direction...because we got to the place and couldn't say no to this sky blue quartzite, which, to us, looks like it contains the silhouetted Blue Ridge that's outside our window. It will be leathered, not polished, so it won't be shiny, which for me is a requirement. Right now it's still polished, and it was hard to get a photo with all the glare, lots of windows behind me. I think we're using these two slabs:

This is probably a slightly insane choice (luckily not price-wise, since it was similar in price to the soapstone). Going into this, I was all about "we need to do something quiet b/c there's a lot going on in that room" but I guess this will be on a flat plane whereas all the other stuff (cherry cabinets, mixed color natural stone at the entry) is vertical, and I will get a quite/solid color backsplash. Colorwise it goes with everything--it's shades of gray and blue-gray--but I'm going to worry for a few days about whether it's too much.

@2rickies I love those stones. They are similar to our Blue Ijen. (Probably same stone, different label.) We love it. I will say, leathered marble stains and etches more easily than polished because leathering sort of "makes pores". Leathered quartzite won't etch, but since our polished quartzite can absorb water/oil, what will leathering do?

AC I am so glad you went back to the Taj!

@Keen B, I know you must have posted photos of your stone--can you point me to where? I'd love to see it. And good point about staining. They did say it needs to be sealed, and I assumed as much. Are you seeing staining, even with sealing yours?

I thought I'd also post the soapstone slabs I liked--a completely different look. This is stormy black. I can't helping thinking it "goes" better with the feel of the room but that might be in large part because it isn't shiny. It's hard for me to visualize the quartzite slabs leathered when I only saw them polished. I saw other slabs that were leathered, and I really like the look and the feel of the non-shiny stone, which is one of the main things I like about soapstone.

Got me thinking soapstone! In past builds we used granite, quartz and high-end laminate.

I think the dark soapstone would go better with the cherry cabinets... but it all comes down to personal preference. I love the blue also, but I'd put it with lighter oak or slightly gray cabinets.

@2rickies Here are a few shots...yes, now and then we get a water marl, small, like nickle sized. It is sealed with a high quality sealer, but I guess it needs another coat. Nothing has been permanent, and the two I have had were hard to find... But sealing is obviously imperative. I love them so much, it is worth it.

Hahah @worthy - what on earth is going on over there! Oh man.

@2rickies - obsessed! Love that quartzite slab. I don’t think it’ll look too busy as you mentioned it’ll be flat.

@Keen B - beautiful progress! What kind of wood are your cabs?

@2rickies - I think either slab will look beautiful in your kitchen. I lean towards the quartzite as it pulls in the blue of your island. I love the bluestone in your mudroom!
@Renee M I love the entry tile. It looks elegant and grand!
@A C so glad you’ve survived the tile dilemma! I’m a huge fan of Taj, so glad you’re keeping that. Where will the picket tiles go? The niche? Can’t wait to see your finished project!
@izzieo here’s one of my “fun” design ideas. For the most part I’m pretty conservative and neutral with my selections, but this is peel and stick wallpaper so if I get sick of it, it’s pretty easy to change out. This is the dog’s room- it’s got her dog wash and where I’ll keep her food, etc. And we live in a ski town so this seemed appropriate, but now feels a little weird as we are going into spring. The walls of the dog wash will be corrugated metal.

hi everyone, well we are nearly done and I'm looking forward to moving in. It has been a crazy journey and I'm glad I was able to share with all of you, the highs and lows and everything in between. Our inside of the house is done and we are getting ready to move in in few days.

Here's some pics to share with you.

2rickies- I forgot about the blue island.. ignore me, that blue slab will look great!

Kitchen

Master bedroom

Master bath

Mudroom/laundry/doggy shower

@bmanning:

Thanks! We were prepared to let go of the Taj Mahal if we couldn’t find a coordinating floor tile, but luckily we did. We’re putting the pickets on the shower walls, in a horizontal pattern instead of the vertical as shown in my photo. Our shower enclosure is quite tall but it lacks width, so we thought placing the pickets horizontally may help it appear wider. Plus, we want to keep things as traditional-looking as possible. I was a little sad not to find a subway tile in the color I needed, but the husband and I both liked these pickets, so it should be fine. Penny tiles are going in the shower floor. I hope it comes together as I have it in my mind. I’ll share photos once we’re done. We are still quite a way from the finish line.

Others

@Liz888: The floor tile in your mudroom looks just like the one we just picked out over the weekend! I really like it!

Beautiful Liz! I love your bubble chandelier 😍😍 everything looks so good!

@liz888 absolutely beautiful! You’ve been my partner in misery throughout this process so you hitting the finish line is giving me hope that I am close too!! Congrats!! Enjoy your beautiful home.

@liz888 WOW!!! your new home looks gorgeous! We all keep telling ourselves that eventually it will all be worth it. You are so lucky to finally be experiencing the finish line! Best of luck in your new home 🏠

@liz888, gorgeous--everything is literally picture-perfect!! I hope that all the memory of the difficult times just fades away when you start living in this beautiful place you've created!

@Keen B, I think I remember seeing these beautiful pics before, such a lovely kitchen! I think you're probably right, it looks very much like the same type of stone. What sealer did you use? Fwiw, the stone place has recommended an impregnating sealer called Miracle Sealants 511 Porous Plus Sealer. I'm also asking a friend who is a stone expert what he would use.

@bmanning, I love that dog room and that wallpaper!

It looks like I'm keeping the guest bath tile in the offset pattern, because the tile guy says I approved it when I was on-site laying out the master bath tile (which took me hours). Apparently he stopped me when I was in the middle of doing that layout to show me a sample layout for the guest bath. I have no memory of this! I was so focused on the master bath and getting that right, which I was sure would be the one to get messed up since it's complicated and the guest bath is so simple. Oh well... DH doesn't care and thinks it looks great. It does look great! It just looks traditional to me compared with the rest of the finish stuff. At least that probably means it will never be dated!

Liz - looking great! So much walnut, drool! Question about the last bathroom you posted, the wood looks different than the others - what kind is it? I like the look!

2rickies - I know what you mean about the shower tile but honestly I would never notice. Especially with the size and style of tile you chose I still think it looks modern.

It is nice to see several of you at the finish line… showing it is possible… I just CAN’T imagine actually choosing tile and finalizing cabinetry etc but I think this will all be happening for me over the next few weeks. Yikes.

@2rickles. We went with soapstone when we built in 2018. I wanted real stone, and mat surface. I might have gone with quartz if the matte stone was available but unfortunately the ones I liked came out after we built. Of course. There are many things I love but mine scratches easily. It’s got patina now so after 5 years it looks more cohesive. I didn’t oil mine either

@2rickies - that stone is beautiful!!
@Keen B - I really do love all your colors :)
@Liz888 - congrats! Gorgeous home. Well done!

@ghatta, I didn't look at quartz because I wanted natural stone, too. We're using natural materials wherever we can in this house. I had decided that I wouldn't mind the scratching/patina on the soapstone. The feel of it was important to me, the softness and the lack of glare. I knew I didn't want to do granite in the new house, and with all the windows in the room, I didn't want anything polished. I saw examples of quartzite without the shine, and it has a different feel than the polished version, more akin to the feel of soapstone. I think I'll like it!

@izzieo, thank you for the reassurance on the bathroom! I'm sure you're right, it will be fine..

@liz888, I'm admiring your mudroom/dog shower! That's my one regret (so far...), that I couldn't manage a larger laundry room.

Thanks everyone. We are happy with the way the house came together. Still lot more work to be done on the outside but that’s ok.

@izzieo the last picture for the bathroom vanity is from Wayfair. We went with inexpensive options with the guest bathrooms.

We spent last few days setting up closet system using container store system for all of our closets. Let me know if you want to see pics. It was a lot of work for my husband but it looks great. They were having their annual sale awhile ago so we splurged on this and spent about 12k but I think it was worth it

@Liz888 we always want to see pics!! lol

@Keen B, and for anyone else who's interested, I checked in with my stone expert friend about the quartzite slabs I selected. He knew exactly which quarry it came from in Brazil. He said when the stone is called Blue ocean or Blue sky, or similar, it's actually White Macaubus, which he confirmed is a true quartzite (not a dolomite, like some white quartzites--dolomite etches like marble). He said it's a very good, tough material. He also said that usually the absorption rate is 0.17%.

I read that this is one of the more porous quartzites, so it does need to be sealed. They're sending me a cut sample and I'll test it. The fabricator has told me to seal it with an impregnating sealer like 511 Porous Plus. Not sure other folks have used?

Here’s few photos. It’s not completely done but you can see what it looks like. I will have a makeup area with chair

Thanks, Y'all for the compliments on the kitchen pics.

@2rickies Thanks for the info. Yes, I tested the quartzite in the shop with glass (and a piece of quartz I had), and a lemon, etc.. I just didn't have a piece to take home and test for water/stain absorption. The fabrication left long swathes of water, but once it was fully dried, it was sealed with Tenax Proseal Nano for quartzite. I think it is doing a good job overall, but I do believe we needed more coats. So we will do another before we move in full-time and clutter up the counters. I had just read that too many coats on quartzite can make it look like it has a layer of plastic on it, so maybe we were too prudent.

@Liz888 I am so glad your home is finally (nearly) finished. It's gorgeous-I'm suffering design envy. I couldn't do every possible thing-I had to choose and I love mine, but I also love yours!

@Chandllerin You will be right behind her, any day now!

@izzieo The cabinets are knotty Alder, finished as closely as I could get them to look like wormy chestnut. (If chestnut hadn't been so expensive, that's where we would have gone.)

Re: countertop sealers for natural stone… copied from another source:

“None of the sealants for cool- or light-colored stones like white marble are natural or free of VOCs, and the majority of these sealants are fluoropolymer based. Fluoropolymer is a type of per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS). It is possible to find a silicone-sealant based, like Stain-Proof Waterborne Dense Stone Sealer, that is free of PFAS, but re-sealing light-colored real-stone countertops will always involve synthetic sealants that give off some VOCs.

Dark or warm-colored stones can be finished with an all-natural walnut oil-and-wax finish like The Real Milk Paint Company’s Soapstone Sealer which is durable as well as healthy.”

PFAS = forever chemical, a well known carcinogen. The people selling the stuff are not required to educate you and likely have no idea what they are selling as they are in the countertop/cabinetry/construction business rather than health experts.

@izzieo, I definitely hear you about VOCs and noxious chemicals. We are using low/no-VOC paint and other materials when they're available and affordable. There were some things we did not have a choice about (like the engineered wood floors; they're not super smelly, but they're not VOC-free, either). The VOC's in stone impregnator are a temporary problem. It would be used at install and with good ventilation (which is easy in a room full of windows and doors) and not again for a long time. The impregnator that was recommended to me does contain VOCs. It does not appear to contain PFAs. My friend who gave me advice on the stone is not someone who sells countertops; he's an artisan who has worked with natural stone for decades. He told me that the 511 solvent is no more problematic for the end-user than water-based varieties. I did read about some water-based varieties that contain PFAs. Ymmv, as they say.

I'm not concerned about getting PFAs in my food from the coutnertop because I don't eat off the countertop or cut directly on a stone countertop (or on plastic). I'm much more likely to consume PFAs directly from food and water, where it's frequently found and there isn't much that can be done about that at the moment. But also, an impregnator is different from a sealer. Sealer makes a protective film over the countertop and sits there until it dries, and I can understand concerns about what that might be made of and whether it can come off on things. An impregnator does not sit on top; it's absorbed into the pores of the stone.

As far as a product that calls itself a "Soapstone Sealer" that sounds like a rip-off! There is no need to seal soapstone; it's impervious. It won't absorb a sealer or anything else. That's why it's used in science labs. It scratches, and a sealer won't prevent that. Nothing will prevent that except getting one of the harder varieties. I was focused on getting soapstone in part for that reason, but DH really didn't like it.

The last of our tile is done!! 👏🎉

Our tile has been grouted (? is that a word? )🤣 I'm glad I decided to go with a solid backsplash tile in the kitchen. My husband chose the dark shower tile, it's his dark spot since I vetoed black countertops.

Appliances are in except the dishwasher. Toilets and most faucets are in. Light fixtures are all in. Carpet has been placed, not fully installed.

Kids bathroom shower is lighter.

it was a couple of months coming, but the engineer finally sent me the final finished stormwater site plan, and i uploaded it to the city tonight. I had originally planned on a sewage ejection pump system to a main above our house.

I have negotiated a side sewer from the developers next door. I may also get power from them, depending on the timing.

One of the nifty details in the plan is our low Impact Design (LID) driveway.

My plan is to build the subgrade and run on it and get all the construction done. Then I'll tune it up, and pour a truck at a time of the runners.

We'll get color and stamps, and make it a couple of roman paver runners with grass in between.

Something like this x 2.

Finally starting building after 3 years of nonstop saving and planning. We drew our own floor plan and IMO perfected it over those years as well. Today we sign for our construction loan with the bank, sign with the builder, and finalize our exterior siding, garage doors, etc so we can get those ordered. I can’t wait to have a big hole in our yard! We’re building on our own lot and tearing our ‘70s double wide manufactured home down once we get moved into the new home. We can’t wait to watch the build progress through our window! And also post progress in this thread!

Ours is almost finished. Topsoil is being delivered and next week we'll have a finished driveway! Inside just needs a few odds and ends (stained railing, sealed basement floor, some backordered lights). We broke ground in August and doubled the square footage of the house.

@D Michael, I'm jealous that you'll get to watch your house be built daily! We're 30 minutes away from our build so we only go out there once or twice a week to check progress. If we we closer they'd probably get tired of me and ban me from going. 🤣🤣

@Emgelo, I like that dark moody exterior.

@Renee M, thanks! All the houses on our street are white and ours was mint green 🤢. It's more colorful inside.