All around a great week that included a short visit from snowbirds Mom and Dad as they made a stop on their springtime journey home to Ohio. Once our new place is ready for guests it will serve as a good stopover point during their semi-annual migratory trek!
We capped off the week today with a Friday afternoon review of interior door options, and a field trip with our builder to visit a really neat lumberyard and local brick manufacturer to select materials, including beams for our kitchen ceiling, fireplace mantles and surrounds, and shelving for a couple of locations including the butler pantry and bookcases.
Ashley River Lumber Company is a one-of-a-kind lumberyard filled with slabs of lumber and reclaimed planks and beams. Upon arrival it took just one look to believe we had an overwhelming task ahead of us, but our builder had clearly been there many times before! He quickly and efficiently led us through dark barns and a dusty field to track down the perfect bald cypress beams and cherry planks that will be milled to our specifications, and soon become part of our home.
On the heels of our successful lumber excursion we made a quick stop at Boral Bricks in Summerville and chose a rustic worn brick to serve as the surround for our family room fireplace. The fireplace chase will be wrapped in shiplap, and the mantle and flanking bookshelves milled from the cherry planks we found at the lumberyard.
Back at the house, terrific progress was made this week by the drywall crew as the transformation into living space accelerates. With just a few areas remaining, the main and upper floors are nearly fully sheathed in sheetrock, and the tedious process of taping and "mudding" has begun. Ceilings on the ground-level garage area were also hung today, leaving the elevator shaft and shower surrounds as the main surface areas remaining to be covered.
Outside, trim work continued, including the finishing details of the metal roof installation today. Meanwhile, the exterior stairs continued to put forth challenges. Thankfully, the staircase to the rear porch now looks great, and can be checked off as complete. The front... not so much! After struggling with the original layout, and a meticulous builder who wasn't satisfied with the first attempt, the crew ripped out the material, including all of the porch decking and framing that surrounded the staircase, and started over! We're confident they will get it right, and the extra effort to make it so is appreciated!
This coming week we'll finalize plans for our furniture shopping trip in mid-May, and decide on our interior door style, while the construction crew works to complete the drywall surface prep and exterior details.
That's it for this week. Hope you enjoyed our update!
Ron & Bonnie
We capped off the week today with a Friday afternoon review of interior door options, and a field trip with our builder to visit a really neat lumberyard and local brick manufacturer to select materials, including beams for our kitchen ceiling, fireplace mantles and surrounds, and shelving for a couple of locations including the butler pantry and bookcases.
Ashley River Lumber Company is a one-of-a-kind lumberyard filled with slabs of lumber and reclaimed planks and beams. Upon arrival it took just one look to believe we had an overwhelming task ahead of us, but our builder had clearly been there many times before! He quickly and efficiently led us through dark barns and a dusty field to track down the perfect bald cypress beams and cherry planks that will be milled to our specifications, and soon become part of our home.
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| Just one small section of the Ashley River Lumber Company "showroom" |
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| These cherry planks will be milled to create a beautiful fireplace mantle and bookshelves |
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| The size of these cypress beams is not apparent in the photo. They are more than 16' long, and will be rough-sawn into eight smaller-dimension beams that span our 16' wide kitchen area. A single smaller cypress beam will serve as mantle for the outdoor fireplace on our rear porch |
On the heels of our successful lumber excursion we made a quick stop at Boral Bricks in Summerville and chose a rustic worn brick to serve as the surround for our family room fireplace. The fireplace chase will be wrapped in shiplap, and the mantle and flanking bookshelves milled from the cherry planks we found at the lumberyard.
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| As we settled on the brick selection, it occurred to us that this may be the one item that actually comes in on budget, so it will be something to celebrate!! |
Back at the house, terrific progress was made this week by the drywall crew as the transformation into living space accelerates. With just a few areas remaining, the main and upper floors are nearly fully sheathed in sheetrock, and the tedious process of taping and "mudding" has begun. Ceilings on the ground-level garage area were also hung today, leaving the elevator shaft and shower surrounds as the main surface areas remaining to be covered.
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| Just a cool picture looking into our family room! |
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| The coffered ceiling in the study begins to take form |
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| Leftovers! The trash container is full and not scheduled for pick-up until Tuesday, leaving some temporary messes to manage inside |
Outside, trim work continued, including the finishing details of the metal roof installation today. Meanwhile, the exterior stairs continued to put forth challenges. Thankfully, the staircase to the rear porch now looks great, and can be checked off as complete. The front... not so much! After struggling with the original layout, and a meticulous builder who wasn't satisfied with the first attempt, the crew ripped out the material, including all of the porch decking and framing that surrounded the staircase, and started over! We're confident they will get it right, and the extra effort to make it so is appreciated!
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| This is what you call a do-over! |
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| We'll have to remember to tie our ladder to the house the next time we plan to ascend a 40-footer on a windy day!! |
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| This is the first aerial photograph we've seen of our construction project! We discovered this drone shot in a real estate ad for a building lot that's currently for sale around the corner. Neat! |
This coming week we'll finalize plans for our furniture shopping trip in mid-May, and decide on our interior door style, while the construction crew works to complete the drywall surface prep and exterior details.
That's it for this week. Hope you enjoyed our update!
Ron & Bonnie
Lumber yards and shiplap....you guys are like Chipn and Jo! :)
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