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....

Big changes today

Doug, John, and Chris worked on window trim.  There's not much paint showing on the sides.

Scott and Jesse have all the blue stone cut for the base of the hearth.  The cement will set up overnight with a fan on it moving air around.

The Kohlhepps guys installed the countertops--kitchen Madura Gold, master bathroom sink Verde San Fransisco, and guest bathroom sink Paradisio.

Bill has placed the support bracket on the stairs going down to the basement landing and he mortised the hinges for the gate in the loft. It's easily removable, but also folds flat against the railing.

Adrian and Dwayne have installed the fluid manifold as well as the master pump.  Adrian wants to get the heat pump working by tomorrow, for the AC rather than the heat, I'm sure: today was in the mid 80's and humid.

Just as important: no freeranging Buddy today.

Buddy's adventure

Buddy had an adventure.  While Paul was talking to the crew, the front door "blew" open just wide enough for 1 attentive dog who likes to cool off on the downstairs tiles to squeak through..  Buddy stepped out on his own.  Gambol stayed upstairs for his afternoon nap on the cool bathroom tiles. Buddy apparently remembered that he saw lots of chickens just beyond Paul's truck and trotted over to investigate.  Luckily all the chickens were elsewhere, perhaps in the forest or garden bugging or resting under a distant tree.  Paul caught up with the errant dog and all's well that ends well.

Peppers (Sweet)
Paradisium Sarga Sweet
Tepero Rosse Sweet

Peppers (Hot)
Goat Horn Hot
Bulgarian Carrot Hot
Tabasco

Round Mauve Eggplant

Tomatoes
Harvita Plum
Russian Purple
Flamme
Angelos Red
Caramalita Hybrid

Railings just need some minor finish work by Bill tomorrow.  The cap rails are installed and oiled.  The hand railing is in to the basement.  The section of railing from the main floor to the landing will need an additional support; Bill will do that tomorrow. 
Lots of cleanup, including removing all the excess drywall that we had in the garage.  I called Habitat’s Restore and found out  they only will take 4 x 4 sheets, so Doug loaded them up to dispose of them. 
Chris and John worked on trim and then helped clean up for the 4 day weekend.

Start the move-in countdown for the end of June: 7-8 doors still need to be installed, windows trimmed, electrical and plumbing fixtures, granite, appliances, finish cabinets, sand and finish floors, telephone/Internet/security, wood stove, and HVAC.  Just the fact that we can list most of what still needs to be done means we are getting close.

Seamless gutters and downspouts installed with screened caps on the gutters.  In the concave corners, a splash guard was fitted so nothing dribbles out. 

Jonas and Bill are installing the caps on the newel posts and the cap rail over the balusters in the loft.  Caps are walnut topped by maple, cap rail is cherry.  A small peg centers the walnut and maple, then the whole system is glued to the hemlock post. The (baby and dog) gate at the top of the stairs is all walnut in arts and craft style with 90 degree angles.

Scott and Jesse have finished laying out the master bath floor tile in thinset.  Julian, one of Scott's helpers, finished off the breezeway roof with the ridge vent and cap shingles. 
Doug, John, and Chris are working on the siding, finishing the rear wall and also working on the garage where the old window was located.   Once the siding is finished, there will be some final trim work, to include the junction between the garage and the breezeway and the exterior trim for the basement door and 2 windows.

Final loft railing installed

Jonas and Bill delivered the last balusters for the loft area.  Next comes the staircase railing and then the maple tops to the balusters. 

Cody painted soffits and siding boards while Doug, John, Scott, and Jesse installed the siding and trip on the dormer.  Doug painted the trim work around the electrical sockets and vent openings.  Jesse worked the caulk gun on the trim work.  Scott was the saw-man and John was principle nailer.
James has two helpers today on the mudding; they are ready for sanding tomorrow.  That means painting can start on Wed and Thurs, in time for the cabinets' delivery on Friday.
The garage door guy fixed my RTV brake mistake today, too.  Now we have a 2-toned garage door that needs painting.

100% for the hens today: 8 eggs

 Buddy will protect the west flank and Gambol will take the south from whatever is hiding under that chair.

Reading Against All Odds (Heroes of Quantico Series, Book 1) Irene Hannon,  free Kindle book, Terrorists target ambassador's daughter. ***  

Glad I finally finished Swiss Family Robinson:  he has the natural history all goofed up and there way too much God and Jesus.  I don't remember either from previous reading, nor do I remember all the savages saved from hell fire and damnation by the pastor or the growth into a village at the end.  I'm sure the Disney version didn't include that part.

Railing and HardiePlank

Perfectly lined up copper wave

 Perfectly matched color even after 5 years

Geothermal

Drillers have found the water line and all 4 wells have hoses in them.  They will probably use the shale drill filings form a base for the hoses in the trenches.  They brought washed filing to put down the wells--washed filings do not clump up as they get shoveled down the wells and that makes for much better contact to the hoses.

They are now drilling holes into the basement wall for the various geothermal hoses and water line to enter the basement and get connected to the water and heat pump distribution manifolds. There are 2 holes for each well plus one for the water.  If the holes had been moved over just inches they would have missed drilling through rebar. 

Adrian was hard at work on the ducting in the basement.  We will have 2 air exchangers that will exit the front wall--laundry, stove, and powder room vents will be out back, so there was concern about the exchangers taking in air that had just be exhausted to the outside if they were all positioned in the back of the house.  We'll see if we can get the air exchange vents (4" x 4") in metal and painted the same as the siding to make them blend in.

It's easier to see the wave now that we have 3 panels installed.

Jonas delivered the first baluster section with the walnut balusters and the curved copper tubing running through the balusters. Wow! The copper has been lacquered so it will stay shiny.  Walnut, copper and maple hand railing with the hemlock posts and pine floor: it can't get any better than that. He and Bill will continue assembling the rest of the baluster sections as they have all the parts and pieces cut and ready to be put together. He also put on the initial finish coat on the maple treads for all the stairs. He set up outside but the winds yesterday were blowing hard and dusty, so he moved his paint shop down to the shed which provided shelter from the wind and dust. We could have had a problem last night because we left the shed door open and it rained; luckily the storm was very short and had no wind.

Doug, John, and Cody have most of the master bedroom flooring installed. They put down cardboard to protect the flooring in the great room.  I stood in the hall between the master bed and bath when the windows  were open: we may not need a fan in there.  What a difference the west (or down hill) windows make in ventilation.
Adrian has extended the HVAC ducting down in the basement. James and Nick continued to hang dry wall, finishing on the main floor and moving into the breezeway. After the breezeway they will work on the basement.  They say they'll have the scraps for Freecycling this weekend.
Kohl's delivered some of the exterior siding and it is stacked in front of the house. Chris painted the soffit pieces since it's the only HardiePlank that didn't come with factory paint. It might have been closer if stacked along the side the house, but we need access there for the geothermal well driller's rig which arrived today. I thought it was supposed to be the size of a Hummer: not exactly but they promise they can get around back.

Eastern tent caterpillars are chewing on the cherry trees and ticks are evading the chickens. And, I picked some garlic mustard on our walk yesterday as I was hacking fallen branches and roses along the trail.

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.