Stairway to Heaven....

Yes....Stairway to Heaven was the first song I learned to play on the guitar....and this is more like a stairway to the road....but I couldn't think of a better title for this post.  These pictures were taken Christmas Eve morning.  Merry Christmas!

Trim and Paint Work

We are ready to pour the front entry way once we get a few days without frost....the forms are set and ready to go.....

Rod, Steve and Mark have been working hard at the finish wood working.  The arches, crown molding and trim are turning out great.   Asher's paint crew is not far behind!

Here is the master bedroom, converted to a paint shop for the doors!

Here is the laundry room....I am not sure why Collin is smiling so big....I doubt he will spend much time in here!

Interior Trim, Rockery and Master Bath...

Happy Thanksgiving!  Good progress this week on interior trim, the rockery that will terrace to allow for a stairway from the parking area to the house and the master bath tile work completed.....

Main floor powder room....hex tile.....

Hardwoods Stained and Front Porch Poured....

Here are some pictures of recent updates....

Hardwoods Stained....the stain was a 50:50 mix of Nutmeg and Spice Brown.  The final color looks like a warm pecan color.

The house is starting to look more finished outside with the addition of the front porch and completion of the rain gutters.

Deck Finished, Inside Primed, Hardwoods Started....

Lots of activity lately - some of it difficult to show on the blog.  Barry and I finished the deck (thanks to Gloria for finish work sanding!).  The interior sheet rock is textured and primed.  Bathrooms are prepped for tile with cement board.  The hardwood guys are busy installing the main floor.  Here are a few recent pictures:

 Starting with deck with painted railings

Sheet rock primed, hardwoods started and bathrooms starting to take shape.....

Exterior Paint and Sheet Rock (On)!

The painters made good progress on the exterior this week.....we were fortunate to get a few breaks from the rain.  The colors we selected are historic hawthorne yellow with white dove trim and hale navy shutters (Benjamin Moore).  This next line you need to imagine Will Ferrell reading it in his best Anchorman voice .... "You may not have heard this before, but happy people live in yellow houses."

Also the sheet rockers were able to get the sheet rock up.  Next week will be mud and taping....

Building a Deck with Grandad

Barry (aka Grandad) and I are building the lower deck out of Mahogany.  I asked him for some help since he had built a very nice ironwood deck at their Stanwood home a couple years ago.  The wood came from Sound Cedar in Mount Vernon where Robert Desmarais is the general manager.  Blast from the Past!......Robert  was the store manager at Bob's Red Apple Market where I worked when I was 15 - 19 years old.  Robert recognized my name when we were arranging the delivery....it was great to catch up with an old friend who made such an impression on my early work life!  The deck is coming along and has been a fun project.....

Siding Complete, Insulation In, Sheetrock Next

The siders did a very good job of completing the project....the job took longer than everyone expected but we had asked for a detail oriented siding crew and these guys did a fantastic job.  We are pleased with the overall outcome of the project.  Insulation and sheetrock arrived this week.  We also have a crew digging the dispersion ditches to handle the runoff from the gutters (Logan was checking out the equipment tonight).  We are looking forward to progress on the inside of the house now that the weather has turned in Seattle.

The kids were checking out their rooms tonight with the insulation in and the sheet rock delivered.  They had a good time talking about where their beds, desks and whiteboards ?? would go.   They also talked about rotating rooms each evening to chat before they went to bed.  It was fun to hear them anticipating this next chapter.

Finally, Logan and I went down to the lower yard to check out the dispersion ditches.  Logan had to check out the equipment, too.  Every kid needs one of these!