Harry Burd stopped by for the almost final building code inspection on Friday and was completely impressed with the work the crew had done. His only complaint was that the exterior doors need to have easy access (meaning stairs), so after the final grading is done, the crew will install some stairs for the two doors at the bumpout. The final grading will bring the grade up for the main entry, the rear entry, and the breezeway rear entry doors. For those doors we may need to add a stone tread so that the step up to the concrete stoop is not so high. At least Harry gave us the OK to start moving furniture into the new house. He will return to give a final inspection and issue the certificate of occupancy when we have the exterior door access issue corrected. This is important because we need that certificate to transition from the construction loan to the mortgage.

Friday saw more cosmetic touchup and adjustments. Friday evening the cleaning crew arrived to give the house a final once-over. They arrived too late to see well so we had to vacuum the closets, drawers and several corners.
Over the weekend we cleaned up several pieces of furniture that had been stored in our garage for the past 3 years. The furniture was, surprisingly, in good shape and after some vacuuming and washing down to get rid of cobwebs and dust, we moved the pieces into the dining room, great room, and loft. Jonathan's fox holes are now filled with blocks of several varieties and trains.

The drop in oven is now wired up and ready to go, only need the wiring for the cooktop and down draft vent to complete the electricity in the kitchen.
The chandelier over the dining table is up but we'll have to decide on the length of the chain now that the table is in place. This fixture needs a switch which will be located just to the right of the kitchen cabinets. The electrical short in the lighting under the catwalk has been repaired and the replacement wiring has been hidden with some wooden wire chases, so without knowing where the new wiring has been placed, you just can't see it.
The powder room sink has been installed but Jeff, our plumber, found a hairline crack in the faucet, so a replacement faucet is on order. The mirror was moved up and centered on the sink. The light fixture can be installed now that we know how high the mirror hangs on the wall. The claw foot tub is installed; Jeff will make final adjustments to the legs to get the tub to sit so the water flows toward the drain.  This weekend was ArtsFest so I took a picture of the installed daffodil sink to the vendor for his portfolio.

In the basement the electrical circuits for the air exchanger and its programmable controller were installed. The controller can modify the percentage of the time the exchanger is operating and the final setting for the exchanger will be determined, based on the results of the energy audit.

Jeff worked on the all three bathrooms today, the shower in the master bath, the vanity sink in the powder room, and the claw foot tub in the loft bath.

Dwayne and crew got the emergency electrical generator fired up and running today for the first time.  It is fairly quiet and will not present a noise problem for sleeping in the rooms on the west side of the house.  Dwayne installed a hook for the pendant light in the loft bath, closet lights in the two bedroom closets, lights in all the knee wall (foxhole) closets, and ran another electrical wire to correct the short under the loft catwalk.  All the outside lights are now installed and functional, including the lanterns at the basement door, the two bumpout doors, and the rear entry door which has a hanging lantern similar to the front entry.  The breezeway rear entry has two small but strong spot lights.
The paint crew was active today and now the door to the kitchen and the door to the garage are the same color as the breezeway walls.  The window seat and the knee wall closet doors were given a nice finish coat.  They also applied touchup to minor dings around the house.

Doug and Chris were hard at work finishing up the insulation and aluminum panels on the basement walls.  With the panels in place they also applied interior trim to the basement door and one of the two basement windows.  The door trim was complicated by an intrusion sensor from our security system, but Doug called the security company and got them to ignore the warnings from our sensor until it was reinstalled on the new trim board.  This was Chris' last day on the job as he heads off on vacation tomorrow, so that's a sign that work is quickly coming to an end.

Doug installed the main entry brass oak leaf door knocker from the 2009 State College Arts Festival, how appropriate that this is the week of the 2010 Artsfest.

We told Doug we were going to the Peoples Art Fest in Boalsburg. He suggested we look for Dave Ferree, a Centre Hall wood crafter whose house he worked on.  We talked to Dave for quite a while.about how much respect we have for Doug and the team at Envinity.

Walnut brace in the kitchen has been installed.  It's a decorative brace, only penetrating the walnut tree about 1/4" with 2 pieces of walnut laminated to simulate a limb with heart wood and sapwood.

Chris finished the trim around the hearth but will put some quarter round on the back splash tiles later.  This softens the edge and toe-stubbing factor.
Mike the painter has filled all the wood work nail holes and is now putting on the finish coats on the windows and the initial coat on the folding doors at the laundry.
Doug applied MinWax Spar varnish and stain to the cherry vanity, shelf, and trim for the powder room.  The pieces are drying up in the loft on the window seat.  The difference in the color of the local cherry and the Ft. Washington cherry is amazing.  We'll have to ask Findley about that. The varnish really makes the end wood darker and stand out so the dovetails show better.
Bill plugged the basement railings, oiled them, and caulked the trim baseboards at the landing.

John and Chris finished off the closet shelving and hanging poles: guest closet with one rod and shelves, laundry with bifold doors, and the master closet with 4 rods and floating shelves.

Scott and Julian have added some more 1 ft tiles in the shower, have applied  the 1 inch glass tiles to complete the 6 inch stripe around the remaining wall and inside the soap cubby as well as put a diamond of glass tiles on the bench seat.

We had a nice thunderstorm here around 1030 with some good thunder; Buddy was shaking so Paul sat next to him and he calmed down. 
Paul put out some fertilizer on the fruit trees and some of the thermal cover evergreens before the rains came and also threw down some buckwheat seeds next to the asparagus.

Daffodil powder room

Doug worked on the powder room sink and shelf.  Once again I had a concept in my head and not much else for Doug to work with.  His design  and execution is better than my vision.  The cherry for the sink base came from Fort Washington.  The live edge piece on the privacy half wall, also cherry but significantly lighter, is local.
John and Chris were at work in the master bedroom closet setting the clothes rails and installing shelves.
A paint guy was at work filling holes in the wood work; he will next address any wall paint repairs.
A bear tried to join us on our morning walk near the upper Dreiecke.  Gambol, off leash, simply stood and looked.  Buddy, on leash, went crazy barking and pulling toward the bear.   We detoured back down the hill.

Jeff was at work today installing the toilet and sinks in the master bath. He also started on the kitchen sink.  
Bill finished off the baseboards on the basement stairwell and put a coat of oil on the railings, newel post caps, and cherry cap rail going upstairs and around the loft.  The colors of the woods really "pop" after the oiling.
Chris and John got started on the shelves and finished off the upstairs linen closet and the guest bedroom closet.  It's a small closet, but with these shelves, the space has been maximized.

They will address the transition from the wood flooring to the tile at the bumpout and rear entry.  There will also be a transition around the wood burning stove's hearth stones to ease the trip potential there.
Day by day getting closer to the end....

Adrian installed the air heat exchanger (or energy recovery ventilator), RenewAire,  in the basement and also put insulation, AC/Accoflex, on the heat pump lines.

 upstairs guest room oak closet door with brushed chrome lever handle and oak window trim

John and Chris concentrated on trim work upstairs, installing doors in the guest bedroom closet, bathroom, and linen closet.  They also trimmed out the doors and applied baseboard trim around the walls.  After the floor has a couple more coats, all that is left to do in the guest room is install the ceiling fan, closet lights and switch/plug plates.  Over in the loft they trimmed out the knee wall doors and prepared baseboards trim.

Reading The Fence my Father Built Linda S. Clare **** another Christian genre but this isn't so in my face proselytizing; the praying feels right.  Conflict between divorced daughter and dead father's rich neighbor in a land dispute.  Christian authors are regularly offered free on Kindle.  I think I should start paying for my reads or find the code.

Sanding the floor

Dan the floor guy finished the initial sanding of the loft floors and applied the first coat of sealer, (Emulsion Satin, basic coatings advanced oil and water wood floor finish, 81619-4312).  He then moved down to the main floor and sanded the master bedroom and the great room.  He applied first coat in the master bedroom late today.  More sanding and more coats to follow.

 Scott and Julian added more tile to the shower walls, including starting the strip of the 1 inch glass tiles running around the shower interior. Originally that was going to be a 4 inch strip, but Scott has decided a 6 inch strip will look better.  We will need some more tiles to complete the strip and to use the small tiles in the soap cubby.

John and Chris worked down in the basement today while the floors were being sanded.  They installed a clothes hanging bar in the closet under the stairs and trimmed out the doors and the bathroom baseboards.

Bill and Jonas completed the installation of the stair risers and treads going down to the basement landing.  Those treads are now covered with cardboard and blue painter tape to protect the new treads.  They also fitted
bull nose trim boards to the top of the stairs, top of the wall going down to the landing, and under the windows behind the staircase.  Jonas also started installing the plugs that cover the hardware that holds the railing
posts firm to the floor.
Doug mounted a plywood sheet next to the heat pump in the basement to hold the air exchange unit.  This exchange unit will have a filter that will need to be changed, so putting it within easy reach will be a big help.  John and Chris installed the window and door trim inside the  breezeway and the interior side of the garage door.  John also installed some trim boards along the top of the laundry and also above the closet wall in the upstairs bedroom.

Doug removed a tile in the laundry and cut a hole in the tile for the dryer vent. 
Dwayne and helper installed a lot of electrical receptacles and switches in the loft level and also in the master bedroom. 
Cody, Chris, and John continued work on the rear wall siding and trim. 
Adrian installed more ducts in the ceiling of the basement.  In the basement we now have brushed chrome/nickle? door knobs on the bathroom and the closet.

The bear left his usual calling cards, this time two of them.
Peas are now in flower but no pea pods yet.

First business for today was the removal of the port-a-potty now that we have a functioning toilet in the basement bathroom.  Even better, Doug installed doors on the basement bath and the basement stairway closet, so those using the bath will can now use the door for privacy, rather than the two sheets of rigid Styrofoam insulation that was temporarily set up yesterday.
John and Chris were busy today cutting and fitting sills for the windows, so that now only a handful of windows are left without sills.  It is amazing how the addition of a door or window sill changes the appearance of the interior.

 Bill and Jonas have finished installing the maple treads going up to the loft.  They covered the treads with cardboard and blue painter's tape to protect the treads from foot traffic.  They then turned their attention to the stairs going down to the basement and put the finish on both the risers and skirt boards. 
Cody got into the trim work and applied finish to the thresholds for some of the doors. 

Water to the house

Jeff installed the toilet in the basement, the water heater, and fixed the valve to permit water to flow in to the basement.

Dwayne hooked up the grinder to the electrical circuit with a temporary extension cord, so now we have an active toilet indoors and the port-a-potty can be returned.

Adrian, Bill, and Paul shifted the island to its permanent position so that Adrian could drill a pilot hole to check the location of the down draft vent system.  It appears that the permanent position of the island will work with Adrian's adjusted ducting in the basement.  We also checked out the outside air vent for the wood stove and found that by positioning the stove in the center of the hearth area, its vent will also fit into the current ducting structure.  There will still be some adjusting for the exact size and shapes of these critical vents, but for now it appears everything will fit without any significant problems.
Roger from Vigilant Security was out to run wires and position them for the keypads that will control the system.  One keypad will go on the laundry room wall near the main entrance, the other in the master bedroom behind the closet door.  Both locations used interior walls so running the wiring was less complicated.
Bill and Jonas moved the maple stair treads from the shed to the house and began the process of measuring the treads and risers.  They were also involved with planning down and sawing the long hemlock boards that will form the risers.
The crew of Cody, Chris, and John worked on the exterior siding finishing up some of the trim work on the west wall and the installed flashing at the base of the west wall up to the rear door.  They also strung lines on the siding fabric to guide installing the siding.
Kohlhepps from DuBois arrived at lunchtime and took measurements for the granite tops.  He used a laser photo system and took with him sinks and faucets in order to exactly fit the cuts to the dimensions of these items.
John and Chris worked on cutting and installing some window sills on the bump out windows.

Bill and Jonas installed several of the maple treads on the stairs going up to the first landing.  They will cover the maple with cardboard to protect it from scrapes. 
It started raining here about noon time and has been on and off, mostly on, all day with temps in the low 40s.
The some flowers have survived the chickens' "care".  It's good to find a few things they don't prefer for dinner.  The lilies of the valley seem to like the north side while the columbine and bleeding heart are doing well on the east side.

Reading Elizabeth Street  Fabiano **** based on her family's history of Italian immigrants in NY in early 1900's

Drywall

The maple floor covers the kitchen, dining room and great room and looks terrific.  With the hearth laid out we can get a much better feel for what the usable space will be.  I can already imagine sitting in front of the stove, Kindle in hand, dogs at my feet, enjoying next winter's first snow fall.  We haven't measured the dogs to window to see if we'll need paw guards on the sills.

Much of the first floor dry wall has been hung and some upstairs.  We can now use white since we don't need water resistance as we did on the earlier wallboard. Now it's easier to see the real size of the rooms and how much light the windows provide. 
The skylight was a good decision in the guest bathroom; it would be a closet without that additional light. 

Prince Cheeks' visit

We tested the play loft, even without railings:  the trains work very well on the wide open space and the knee-wall provides a wonderful fox-hole diversion, even without the doors. The sun warmed the window seat nicely.  Since today is the first day of spring and we were sitting on the window seat at noon, we have a good idea that the sun will not shine in too strongly in the summer.

Opa and Jonathan (in the Kubuta Orange Chicken hat) move a few rocks with the big tractor.

We played with puzzles, looked for fossils in the meadow, collected chicken eggs, and Jonathan slept in the foxhole (Oma's closet) with his bear-in-the-woods sleeping bag.

laundry area

It seems a bit odd to have the laundry room at the front door, but it will be hidden in a closet.  It was more important to me to have it on the main floor.  So it was roughed in today and the basic plumbing was also.  The machines are stacked so we'll have a small hanging/folding area in the closet too.

 The crew dry-walled around the door and over the old window in the garage.  It is nicely insulated.  It's nice to have the light switches at a normal level now.  Yesterday we had to stretch high over the door to the temporary switch location.

Details are coming together

Tiler Scott took measurements and notes for potential tile pattern designs. We will meet him at Clinefelters on Tuesday to select the color of grout and caulk for the various rooms and confirm and order all the tiles.
Bill Butler has a concept for the stair railings.  The posts will be 4x4 hemlock about 4 feet apart, the individual balusters will be walnut, the box that encloses the balusters ¾ x 1½  would probably be hemlock, and the cap rail (1½  x 6) will be either maple or hemlock.  The curved elements will be soft copper tubing ½ inch in diameter, threaded through holes in the balusters.  The actual curvature would have to be determined as to what would look good but the concept would be to make the curve continuous from one section to the next.  Stairs would have a railing as opposed to a cap rail on top. Perfect!

The stair landing is looking fabulous.  We had some concern that it wouldn't land in the middle of the windows, but Bill and Jonas made it happen. The timberframe elements add a beautiful architectural tie to the bents. The floating design, not hugging the wall, and the light hemlock wood balance the mass.  Design and execution couldn't have been more elegant.  The joints reminiscent of dovetails, as tight as possible, and the faux pegs which will cover the bolts show the quality workmanship we admire.  

 

The bathrooms are shaping up well too. Doug and John have the closet door built to be hidden in the knee wall of the guest bath.  We are considering a skylight instead of a light tube so we can open it; the ceiling is low enough to remind us of our German skylights.We are impressed with the tightness of the plumbing; no ghosts knocking pipes for this house.  The basement bathroom has the acrylic on fiberglass tub surround installed.

Doug suggested the door to the powder room be a 24" door to allow a privacy wall alongside the toilet.  He worked on installing that today.

The loft window seat looks ready for a pillow and a book. We'll have plenty of bedding storage under the seat.  Doug and John finished the front of the lift-up doors with a lip on top to hold the cushion and a lip on the bottom to help lifting the doors.  We'll have a safety latch that holds it open so little (or big) fingers (and heads) don't get smashed.

HVAC begins

The first HVAC ducts were installed.  No big bulky boxy ducts in this house;  these are narrow tubes that fit in the 2x6" walls.
The stairs to the basement are half complete.  We can see how they will fit now.  We'll have a beer closet under the stairs. The dog washing station (AKA utility bathroom) is to the right of the stairs.

Week in review

We saw a lot of progress this week. The cold roof is on the whole front half of he house and the extended soffits are on the rear roof. One course of the plywood sheathing is on the rear as well. The roofers were here on Thursday doing some prep work installing the rubber fabric and the vapor barrier on all the sheathing on the front of the house. Kohl delivered the shingles; they are staged on the fork lift for potential work tomorrow (Saturday).

John and Jonas installed all the second floor windows, including bedroom and loft windows, the four dormer window, and one of the transom windows on the bump out today. Dwayne put in the electrical conduit between the garage and the basement of the house and the backup generator conduit from the side of the garage to the basement too. Tressler and Fedor did all the excavation work for the electrical conduit and they did the hookup to the septic lines too. They did a nice job covering up all the utility trenches, especially the generator conduit that ran across the driveway entrance to the garage—you cannot tell there was a trench across it on Wednesday. The tongue and groove flooring for the loft area was picked up and delivered  and is stacked inside the house in the great room.

On Monday we had Kevin from Whitehill Lighting out; he reviewed the interior lighting plan and didn’t see any major issues. He did mention that we would need some kind of lighting for the basement stairs (probably surface mounted wall sconces) and he pointed out that just inside the master suite there were two boxes in the cross beam and suggested that one of those was probably for a smoke detector. We have talked about some fixtures for the dining room, great room, and the lights for the rear entry, the stairs, and the loft area. We are closing in on those decisions. Dwayne suggested we go with a low voltage monorail system over the kitchen island and that will work as far as Kevin is concerned. Today we went with Bill to visit the Glick cabinetry shop and got them started on working up something for us in hickory. As we get closer to having all the interior walls roughed in over the next week or so, Glick will come out to make some measurements, particularly for the pantry, butler, and linen closet. All the cabinets will be in hickory, similar in style to our current kitchen, with a recessed flat panel style cabinet doors and simple round wood pulls.
Leslie met with Mike at Mike’s Appliances today and got more information on the stove/oven options for the kitchen island. To make the cabinets fit we need to know the dimensions of the appliances. The stove/oven in the island presents a major issue. To keep the space open we don't want to use an overhead vent, so we hope a downdraft style vent will work. There are still some decisions on that, but we are getting close to locking all that down.
Paul put down 4 new bales of hay on Tuesday, but with the excavation work and the fork lift moving over the thawing ground, we had a lot more mud showing, so he put down another 5 bales today. It isn’t covering all the mud, but it is holding it down quite a bit. Leslie found a farmer on Craigslist who is outside of Unionville and offers bales for $2 each. Paul can get 5 loaded up in his pickup with a roundtrip time of about 30 minutes.
We are headed out to Johnstown area tomorrow morning to Salvage Heaven. They say they have 2 small claw foot tubs in good condition so we’ll take the pickup and perhaps bring one back.
All-in-all it was a very productive week, even though short staffed. The crew was working in some pretty nasty conditions the last few days, especially with temperatures in the mid-teens and a heavy frost on Thursday morning, so we are sure they are looking forward to working indoors soon. We do appreciate all they are doing for us.

Panels staged, windows and doors delivered

The crew staged the roof and dormer panels so the crane can lift them tomorrow.  Forecast to be low 30s and windy with light snow.  Not great for our Crew.

Also, the Anderson windows (Sandstone color) and doors with screens were delivered and placed near their holes.

Jerry says we have 2 weeks before interior walls are started so we have to make a decision about a small closet and stacked laundry convenient to where the clothes go or something else.  I'm going to be very disappointed if we can't have a first floor laundry.  Have to think of alternatives.

First Floor

Rain and drizzle slowed up the work today but the crew was able to install the 4 metal support posts in the basement which will hold up the two main floor trusses.  The trusses were installed in pockets set in the top of the basement walls.  Afternoon showers made the work area too soggy to do much more on the main floor decking.
Additional work today was performed on the old garage man-door opening, strengthening the newly installed wood post consisting of 4 2x8s to support the Carriage House second floor I-beam, and relocating the door opening and assorted electrical wiring.  Part of this work included jacking up the I-beam about 1/8 inch in order to properly position the new post.

 

Reading Sarah's Key Tatiana de Rosnay ***** WWII France Holocaust; Jewish family is part of Velodrome d'Hiver; sister locks little brother in closet so he'll be safe.