It's All Coming Together....
You saw it here, a sneak preview of the Kreem Farmhouse! The siding folks began on Tuesday, and should be finishing up today. So here's a glimpse at what things are going to be looking like. The masons have finished up on the inside of the house, and will probably be working on the porch columns and front steps soon!
And a look at the garage side... this side is almost finished!
And this is the master bedroom side, dang near finished over here too!
And speaking of the masons, is this way cool or what? They've got the chimney finished, inside and out!
A closer view of the outside, we noticed the rocks were getting smaller as the chimney went up. Mr Hill said they were having a hard time getting the bigger stones to stick so high up. Watching these guys at work, it's like putting together one big puzzle. They try putting several pieces up, till they find the one that fits the spot they are working on. And if they don't have one that fits, they beat it with the hammer, break it up, and pretty much make a piece to fit! Hmmm....... is that cheating??
A view of the fireplace from the inside. You can see the parts of the mortar that are still wet! That's not the mantel above the fireplace, it's a board that will be used for mounting the mantel. Andy and Dad have found a really nice cedar log, that Andy will be cutting and hand finishing to be mounted as the mantel. I'm really excited to see it when he's finished, I know it will be beautiful, not to mention how special it will be that he crafted it himself! This man I married, never ceases to amaze me!!
Last but not least, this is the front to the bar that will separate the kitchen and the Great Room. Okay, I'll give it up to "Fat Daddy". We were going to have a paneled bar face, or sheetrock, like most folks usually do. But Dad came up with the idea to stone veneer the bar face as well. We had to play it down, like we were toying with the idea, you know, so his big shiney head wouldn't swell. But we thought it was a pretty cool idea from the start. Turned out pretty nice, huh?Well, they should be finishing up the siding today, and hopefully the masons will be able to complete their work on the porch soon too. The insulation will be going in over the next two days, the wiring for the security system is in, plumbing and electrical inspections done, and I think the HVAC inspection is completed, or will be completed soon. That means that there's a good chance the next pictures you will see, just might be of real walls going up inside! And then the struggle to decide on paint colors begins!!! Fun, Fun, Fun!! We'll keep you posted!
We're Rockin & Rolling!
Well, it's been quite some time since we've "blogged". And while our blogging has slowed down, work on the house hasn't slowed down a bit. We haven't blogged as frequently because most of things going on inside aren't too easy to show you. But to give everyone their fair share of credit, the plumber, the electrician, and the HVAC folks have been hard at work, and I think they're all shooting for their inspections on Tuesday? Anyway, if not then, really soon! Those guys have been sooo patient with us too, moving things from here to there, and offering their experience and expertise on things that might work better than others. It really is a team effort, and it's coming along nicely! So here we go, notice anything different about the front of this house?? Aha....there's stone on them there walls! Yes, the Mason is stoning away, matter of fact, he's stoned the house, unstoned the house, and this is his second stone job. (No puns intended!) Long story, but there was a little mix up in the color of stone we picked and the color of stone that was delivered. To make a long story short, it all worked out, and we now in fact, have the stone we picked. The porch will have four sets of columns, you can see the beginnings of those in this picture.
This a close up view of the stonework. Nice job, ehh? Every craftsman that works on this house never ceases to amaze me. This guy sticks the stone to the house with mortar, then takes an icing bag kinda thingy, squeezes the mortar in big globs in the middle, then lets it dry a bit. Brushes the big pieces off with a steel brush, then smooths out the seams, kinda like when you spit on your finger to smooth out caulking. Okay, I'm sure that's not the most technical description of how it all works, but you get the picture!!
Here's a view from the backside, I don't even want to think about those guys up on that ladder sticking stone to the chimney! They've covered the chimney with some kind of wire mesh stuff that makes the mortar stick to it. Again, don't let me overwhelm you with technical terms!
Here's a glimpse of the stone going on the bottom of the chimney. They haven't put the mortar in the cracks yet, but there's such a glare on the picture, you didn't even miss it, did you?
Here's a look at the fireplace from the inside. They've got the gas fireplace insert in there. That's the metal lap going up for the stonework too. There's still more stuff to put up, but they're working on other areas right now. See that pipe going up a little above the gas fireplace insert? That's the flue for Andy's woodstove that will be in the basement. Now talk about a challenge, many minds had to meet to figure that setup out. James, our foreman, as usual, let us know it was all worked out! Whew! Hey, by the way, can you buh-lieeeeeeeeeeeeve he and Katie have the nerve to be planning a trip somewhere very warm sometime soon?? Maybe it will snow them in here till this house gets finished.........hehehehe. Well, gotta admit, they've earned any vacation they've got coming!!
And finally, here's what all the rolling is about. The rough grading on this side of the house is well under way. They did a really nice job, again, all those heads going together, figuring out drainage, driveway swing, all the stuff I'd never think of, but really matters. I think my most memorable contribution has been, "I don't want those ugly septic things sticking up in my backyard!" I think they've worked that out too though. Call me paranoid, but I think they tell me anything so I'll go away and let them get their work done!! Now Andy, he's a different story............hehehehe........let's just say he's much more DILIGENT, than myself!Hopefully, once these inspections get completed, we'll be posting some sheetrock going up, the siding should go on in the next week, and there will be more progress on the stonework very soon. Thanks for hanging in there with us!
You saw it here, a sneak preview of the Kreem Farmhouse! The siding folks began on Tuesday, and should be finishing up today. So here's a glimpse at what things are going to be looking like. The masons have finished up on the inside of the house, and will probably be working on the porch columns and front steps soon!
And a look at the garage side... this side is almost finished!
And this is the master bedroom side, dang near finished over here too!
And speaking of the masons, is this way cool or what? They've got the chimney finished, inside and out!
A closer view of the outside, we noticed the rocks were getting smaller as the chimney went up. Mr Hill said they were having a hard time getting the bigger stones to stick so high up. Watching these guys at work, it's like putting together one big puzzle. They try putting several pieces up, till they find the one that fits the spot they are working on. And if they don't have one that fits, they beat it with the hammer, break it up, and pretty much make a piece to fit! Hmmm....... is that cheating??
A view of the fireplace from the inside. You can see the parts of the mortar that are still wet! That's not the mantel above the fireplace, it's a board that will be used for mounting the mantel. Andy and Dad have found a really nice cedar log, that Andy will be cutting and hand finishing to be mounted as the mantel. I'm really excited to see it when he's finished, I know it will be beautiful, not to mention how special it will be that he crafted it himself! This man I married, never ceases to amaze me!!
Last but not least, this is the front to the bar that will separate the kitchen and the Great Room. Okay, I'll give it up to "Fat Daddy". We were going to have a paneled bar face, or sheetrock, like most folks usually do. But Dad came up with the idea to stone veneer the bar face as well. We had to play it down, like we were toying with the idea, you know, so his big shiney head wouldn't swell. But we thought it was a pretty cool idea from the start. Turned out pretty nice, huh?
