Interior finishing work is in full swing...

Heading into this Memorial holiday weekend our construction crew has its hands full with finishing work, and the orchestration needed to keep several trades in sync and not stepping on one another!

As expected, tile work has begun, while interior trim installation and priming of the installed woodwork is being completed where possible (still much to do!)

Floor tile being installed in what we've been calling the "tub bath" guest room

The tile "rug" in the master bathroom has been temporarily laid out and a wooden jig was constructed to guide the crew during actual installation... smart!

All areas have been prepped for tile. This is the shower in the master bathroom, shortly after the floor shape was formed with cement to create the necessary slope for the drain

This week also saw delivery and installation of cabinets in the kitchen and pantry, laundry and master bathroom, quickly turning these areas from empty boxes into living spaces!

We were able to see the cabinets in person before they were covered in protective wraps, but it was in poor light due to heavy rains and cloudy weather outside, and evening approaching. Now covered, we'll look forward to seeing everything again a few weeks down the road!

Poor light resulted in a dim first look at our cabinets, but it was great to get a feel for the functional layout, as the kitchen transforms from paper drawing to an actual work space!

Hey! No peeking!!

For our guest bathrooms we chose furniture-style vanities that we're sourcing separately from the other cabinets, and when attempting to place an order learned they were on backorder! While trying today to determine if delayed availability will be an issue, we saw an update indicating they are now back in stock, so hopefully we can get an order placed quickly before they disappear again!

Our interior doors were delivered this week, as well, and installation had just begun when we visited the site on Thursday evening. The doors have a nice heavy feel similar to solid wood, but are made of a composite that should be resistant to changes in humidity and temperature over time. We're happy with the simple two-panel design in keeping with the rest of the trim.

First few interior doors installed, with about a dozen to go. Doors on the main level are 8' height, with traditional 6'8" doors specified for the upper level in keeping with a lower ceiling height

Now we need to choose door knobs... it never ends!

In the background, we're finalizing details for our countertops and plumbing selections. We stopped by the granite dealer this afternoon to see that our slabs of stone had been reserved for the kitchen and bath, and we selected a piece for the laundry room, so we should be done with this once we see the final specs and approve. 

When they said they had our name on our granite slabs, they meant it!!

We've also settled on the first few pieces of furniture based on selections we recently viewed in Atlanta, including two terrific sofas and four chairs to serve to as the foundation for our great room seating.

Tonight we're headed to Charlotte and will spend time looking at additional furniture choices (to confuse us further!)

Still, it's great to know we're making progress!

Dining room? Or storage closet! The study, opposite this room, is also being used to house materials and the interior doors that have yet to be installed

Work on trimming out the pantry and other closets is under way!

Despite a lot of progress on trim, our "wood pile" doesn't seem to be getting much smaller! These are 16' boards!

That's our update for this week. Have a safe holiday weekend!

Ron and Bonnie

Interior trim work has begun!

Quick update this week...

Interior trim work was the focal point this week, as 4,700 lineal feet of poplar boards (weighing 5,400 pounds!) was delivered on Monday. Carpenters wasted no time setting up shop and getting started on Tuesday, and made terrific progress through the rest of the week.

This is what nearly 3 tons of poplar trim looks like!

From what we've seen so far we couldn't be happier with the results... 10" baseboards on the main level (8" upstairs), passageways and windows cased with 4" sides and 6" header boards. It all combines to create a substantial but simple, elegant, classic look.

View from dining room into foyer. We may add a small crown molding at the top of the walls here to complement the full crown that will be inside the tray ceiling (not seen in this photo)

Here you can see the clean, simple lines of the Shaker-style casing trim

The trim for this extra-wide passageway in our bedroom was an on-the-fly design inspired by a beautifully-restored designer home we visited in downtown Charleston for a recent fundraiser. We happened to be on site when carpenters were working in this area and we said "let's try this"

We mentioned in our update last week that our tile had been delivered to the site and we had an issue with an incorrect product. The trouble was due to an error by the supplier, who quickly accepted responsibility and placed the correct tile on order. Despite the quick response, this has set back the start of our tile work, so we won't be seeing any meaningful action in this area until next week.

Despite the lack of any actual tile work being completed this week, we spent a good hour with our builder this afternoon trying to figure out how the tile "rug" in the master bathroom will best fit within the large 12x24 field tile that will cover the rest of the floor. It was quite the math exercise!!!  We'll see if our designer approves!

We were also expecting to see kitchen cabinets delivered at the end of the week, but this is now scheduled for Monday. This is probably a good thing given the current lack of available floor space, which is being consumed on the main level by lumber, a woodworking station, and boxes of tile awaiting installation!

For the time being, this is ground-zero for carpentry work

We appreciate the builder's efforts to make things right... this is an area of floor that has an elusive but persistent squeak. Measures taken now extend to installing countersunk bolts! Unfortunately, there's still a trace of squeaking, from somewhere, so the crew will be ripping out a section of ceiling in the garage below to investigate!

Stucco has been completed on all but a couple of the concrete piers that support our home

Looking ahead, we'll regroup with our designer at the house on Saturday to review a proposal for furniture based on what we saw together last week in Atlanta.

Next week the interior carpentry work will continue, along with the tile work. Hopefully, in the process we'll see our interior doors show up, which will have to be installed to allow for finish of the casings and baseboard trim.

Time permitting, we just might be able to look at some boats, too!


That's our update for the week!

Ron & Bonnie

Another cool field trip!

Shopping!

That was the highlight of our week, as we headed to Atlanta on Wednesday night to spend a long but productive day with our designer to consider some really outstanding choices for our home furnishings.

On Thursday we visited some of the region's custom furniture showrooms in Atlanta's upscale Buckhead neighborhood, focusing on the primary furniture pieces for the family room, study, dining, and master bedroom (focusing?)

We shopped in three different locations in one day! Most impressive of these is the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center; a campus consisting of 60 showrooms, serving as a one-stop shopping venue and almost endless source of inspiration.

The Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC) is a campus of more than a half-million square feet of designer and manufacturer showrooms

Thankfully, our designer visits this area a few times a year and is familiar with the vendors and their product lines. She was able to swiftly and effectively guide us with suggested starting points as she helped narrow down the bewildering choices based on our design preferences.

One of the inspiring pieces that Ron is thinking may occupy the Study

Several of our stops included time spent studying leathers, fabrics, arm style, back style, cushion construction, and other details. We'll need some time to digest everything and weigh our options, but we came away with some really solid choices and direction!

So, what did we buy? Nothing!

But, we left with some solid options that we'll be evaluating and refining over the next week or two as we consider individual pieces, construction details, fabrics and, of course, cost. Once we finalize our selections and place some orders, the process will continue as we address other design details, including window treatments, accessories, and various odds and ends... maybe a few vintage pieces from some local antique shops or yard sales will find their way into the mix!

Construction progress was a little slow, as planning shifts toward getting started on finishing details. Our builder put together a design for shelving in the pantry and master closets that we're happy with, and this afternoon the stucco contractor returned to begin work on the concrete piers, which should be completed in the next few days.

Master closets flank the hallway between the bedroom and bathroom. "Her" closet is designed to incorporate a window that was placed more for exterior appeal than practical use, but it should end up being quite a nice detail in the end! "His" closet leaves open space to allow for a dresser if desired, or just some extra elbow room

Concrete piers are in the process of receiving their stucco cement outer coats. The two piers to the left are completed while the one on the right is a work in progress. A few down, many to go!

We also received our tile shipment this week, and it looks like there was a mix-up in one product that we'll have to sort out. Hopefully this won't slow things down much!

Wait, what? Tile shipment arrived but there was a mix-up on tile size for one area that we need to get straightened out ASAP!

Outside, finishing work continues at a steady pace. On this upper porch you can see that the trim has now been coated in its warm off-white finish. Porch floor still need some attention all around 

Next week we expect the crew to begin tile work and get started on the interior wood trim. We're looking forward to a busy week, capped by the planned delivery of our kitchen cabinetry on Thursday!!


That's it for our update this week. Hope you've had a good one!

Ron and Bonnie