Getting closer

They're still working on the brick but almost finished.

They finally finished the big wall.  

The tile in the breezeway.  All the tile is down, they just need to grout it.

They stained and finished the floors upstairs.

We wanted a light color and a dull finish.  We didn't get it.  

We were so frustrated this weekend when we first looked at it and I think we both tried to like it because its completely finished.  But there's really nothing about it we like so they are going to have to completely sand it back down and start over.  And they can't start until late September.  

This shot shows closer to how dark the color actually is.  So we'll live with this for a month and pay to have them re-do it and we'll keep reminding ourselves that its better than having a floor we hate.

Pottery Barn delivered the sofa for downstairs last week.  I was afraid it would take up the whole room and look overpowering but I think its the perfect size!  And super comfy!

This mess is the septic system,  which I think is finished.

This nice display is right next to garage.  I'm not sure who left it for us, but we thought it was quite interesting.  It looked a little spooky after dark though!

The house isn't near as close to being finished as we wished it was at this point, but next Tuesday, we're moving in.  

Air conditioner, floors, and doors

We have air conditioners!  

The wood is on the floor and, you can't really tell it here, but they finally put the step between the kitchen and dining/living room.  

The tile is down.

And they started staining the basement floor.  It looks better in pictures than in person.....

All of the interior doors are installed.  They still need to be painted, but we really like them.  I had a hard time picking the interior doors and these are not the ones I initially wanted.  But the ones I wanted were like $600 per door so we had to find something else.  I just knew I didn't want a raised panel door and that is really about all we could find and they were the most inexpensive (of course!).  So this is what we ended up with.  We were afraid they would look too country, but we don't think they do.  And keeping with the theme of the rest of the house, they're just pretty plain.  :)

The brick layers are moving along at a decent rate.  Maybe it won't take two months after all!  I like brick and think it looks great!  Brad doesn't like brick and I think he just wants to get some paint on it!  HA!!  But that will be awhile.

I feel sorry for them having to build and move all of this scaffolding.  I can't imagine how hot they must get.  

All of these pictures are from about 2 weeks ago.  I was up there this past weekend but didn't take any pictures.  I think I'm getting bored with it!  HA!   Actually I forgot my camera at the hotel the last day I was there and I didn't want to go back to get it.

Update

It seemed like a lot was going on last week but the overall progress still seems slow.

They delivered the bricks and when Brad was there last week, they had started setting up scaffolding to begin laying it!  The brick layer told Brad it would take them TWO MONTHS to finish!  Sounds crazy to us...we're thinking we could lay it faster ourselves.  And once the brick is laid, we have to wait at least 30 days to paint it.  So if that guy is correct, we're looking at 3 months before it's finished.  

Their sand and mortar.

They had laid the block for the apron.  I think Brad said they had poured it before he left on Wednesday.

You can't really tell from this photo but it's about one brick high on the left side and about chest high on the right side.  

They finished the ceiling on the front porch.

They started preparing the basement to stain the concrete floor so they did this to the stair opening so we wouldn't go down there.  Maybe we listened, maybe we didn't....

The bathtub for the basement arrived.

And the shower base in the master is in place.

We picked up most of the lights in Jonesboro.  The front of the truck was full also.  The electrician was supposed to be there last Wednesday or Thursday to put them in.

And we had another pretty rainbow!  The cloud at the end of it looked kind of like a mushroom cloud!

Siding and electricity

They almost have all of the siding finished.

They were having to wait to finish the back porch because the wrong transom was sent and they were waiting on the correct one.  

All of the lumber patiently waiting for their places.

The posts for the front and back porches.

Floor boards.

We also have electricity in the house now!

Slow and steady.....

These pictures make it seem like things are moving along at a decent pace, but it's really slow right now.

They poured some concrete for the porch posts.

Got some more siding hung.  And they put most of the ceiling up on the front porch.  We really like it.

The little back porch off the breezeway is trimmed and the ceiling is up.

Front of the breezeway.

They dug a trench to bury the electricity to the house.

Concrete for the apron around the garage.

The painters were there again and they painted some, or maybe all, of the trim boards.

The siding is up in most places in the front.  We like the shaker siding on the big peak.

The painters also painted a small section of the siding so we could decide if we liked it.  We do.  It's a good thing too......I'm over choosing paint colors.  I was afraid the color we chose wouldn't be dark enough for Brad but he liked it.  We like the trim color too.  

I'm not sure what I was taking a picture of in this, but it's the only shot that shows the back doors that they just put in.  The transom isn't in yet but I like how the doors look so far.

Photo overload and catch up

A lot has been happening the last couple of weeks......

This is the marble shower base for the master shower.  It looks way to big to fit into the spot, but I'm guessing their measurements were correct.

And this one is for the shower in the basement.

Trim boards for the windows, cut and ready to be put together.

Finished window casing for the laundry room window.  It's interesting to see how big they look when they're just laying on the floor.  The window in that room doesn't seem all that big but it looks huge like this.

Several window casings stacked up in the kitchen.

Sunroom window with the casing in place.  We love the simple style.

***I'm not liking these beige walls at all.  I'm pretty sure we're going to have to paint them a different color.  I think they're the reason I was having trouble with the gray in the master bedroom and study.

Master bedroom.

The doors in the basement.  We love them too!

Same doors from the outside.

It rained really hard while we were there again.  The creek was way up afterwards.

View of the house from the creek.

They painted the interior side of the front door.

And put a coat of stain on the exterior side.  I think they said it would probably take at least five applications to get it as dark as we want it.

Bead board/tongue and groove for living room and porch ceilings.  I LOVE bead board but it just isn't the right look for this house so we'll use the smooth side.  Kind of sad to hide that bead board....

They got the ceiling in the great room put up.  They stained each board with a pecan stain and then painted a light coat of Oyster over it.   We really like it!  But it didn't help me like that beige any more.  In fact, I'm starting to hate it....

For the porches, they mixed these two colors to get the right shade of stain.

We like the color it turned out. 

The cement siding arrived.

And they started putting it on last week.

It looks good but I can't wait to see it painted.

They also got a couple dormers trimmed.

I discovered these two bricks on the front porch.  I wonder if they're what we're going to use.  Our bricks will be painted so it doesn't matter what the bricks they use look like.  They just need to be paintable.  The painter told us that he'll have to wait around 30 days once the brick is laid before he can paint.  And the brick hasn't even arrived yet.