Moving Day

Tomorrow we have to be out of the house we have been renting! I am moving the refrigerator stuff tonight. Our bed will be the last thing to go-probably in the rain tomorrow. Several friends have offered a place for us to sleep. I think we will be working late to get into the house. Counter tops go in this week. We need to finish a bathroom, get it functioning and concentrate on safety issues. We will stay in the basement bedroom and finish up the upstairs.

The siding for the house is here and hopefully in the next two weeks we can see it going on the house. I am getting very anxious to see it. We have locks and handles on all the doors and painting is done.

I had only one photo left on the camera this morning and I managed to save it for tomorrow. The curb cutter, Diamond Curb Cutting, from Kiel, Wisconsin came today and cut out the driveway approach. Next C&H Trucking returned and took out a section of walk I poured last fall over the water and sewer lines to get through the winter. They also took out the walk that had been broken last fall when the excavator, crane, and concrete trucks drove over the existing walk. I was going to take a picture of the walk over the sewer line because it was classic. Soil in this part of Wisconsin is red clay and it is settling terribly. The porch is suspended in mid air resting on the pilasters I laid last fall and the pegs I drilled into the foundation. I'll need to address the issue soon! Pictures (picture) to follow tomorrow. Building inspector stopped this evening and said all Nudura forms in the basement need to be covered with fireproofing.

Railing Ideas from BHG

I took some pictures of railings from Better Homes and Gardens. Thought you might be interested...

Counter tops next

We had the consultant come and measure our countertops and one carpenter come and look at the job . The counters should be in in a week to ten days. Next, Ray can come and put the sink in and we will have a functioning kitchen. Step one to get into the house!

Peter is painting this week. He did the hallway and front entry, and our bedroom. I do not know what he got done today. It is gorgeous out, but still slippery goop around the house. The siding will have to wait a bit.

The house we are renting has been sold and the closing day is April 1st! Two and a half weeks and counting...

Finishing the insulation

We worked in the basement today insulating the sill plate. We had stored salvaged insulation for the last fifteen or so years and finally got to put it to use. Our friend and former contractor Rich Campbell gave this to Peter years ago for our future home, itchy stuff even with gloves and long sleeves. We put about ten inches into the voids and placed a ribbon of insulation on the top of the exposed foundation. We have several bags left but will need to get a bunch more it takes a lot. Started to hang drywall in the basement bedroom so we have a room to store some of our stuff out of the way. We saw our first robin today!

Final touch

Andrea insulating the sill areas

Recycled insulation over sill plate

conduit foamed into place

conduit with wires placed in icf foundation

Off to clean up!

Thursday Peter and Larry worked on the downstairs bathroom and bedroom. They wired and built walls. Hopefully this will be our functioning bathroom and bedroom while we finish up the upstairs. I would like to take a trip to Kiel this afternoon to look at countertops again so we can have a functioning kitchen in a couple weeks.

Glass pattern on the bathroom cabinet

Bathroom cabinet attaches to opposite wall

The vessel sink goes here

A hole is cut out for the plumbing. The faucet attaches to a piece of maple on the wall under the tall mirror.

They are level and sturdy

Cabinet with shelves in

I'm not sure if I want these symmetrical or otherwise.

Lower part of living room cabinet

This encloses the t.v. and equipment

The pantry all open

There will be a small closet to the left for broom, etc.

Upper pantry area

The Pantry

Microwave goes here over the stove

Almost done

Lower cabinets

Putting in the upper cabinets in kitchen

Cabinets are in!

Larry Phillips came from Marinette to work on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday was cabinet day. I was excited to be able to see a lot of the process. I was very very happy with the way everything went together. Thank you, thank you Andy!

Peter painting and painting

Andrea painting the cookbook, desk area

Icycles!

More cabinets for the kitchen

More cabinets

Larry and Peter went to get the cabinets

Front Entry

Spraying and priming done-thanks Tony!

This is what Tony looked like!

More

During the spraying

Tony starting to spray the drywall

UP Builders Show

Bill and I did a quick walk-through at the UP Builders Show. We saw the NUDURA guy from Rapid River or Cedar River and we saw the ENERCEPT folks from Skandia. It was nice for us to walk through and not feel like we needed Builder's Show stuff for our house.

Getting Closer

Spraying done!

Tony came back yesterday to check on the finished work and touched up. Peter spent the day and night cleaning up the floors, etc. It looks really good.

Larry is coming down today to build the front porch and to help pick up the cabinets from Andy. I can't wait to see them all. I just got a sneak peek the last time we were there and they were beautiful!

Spraying today

I just came back from the house. Tony is covered with white and the walls are looking good.
He will finish tonight. Yeah!!! I will have pictures later.

Spraying soon

I talked to Tony this afternoon. He will finish the prep work today and tomorrow and spray tomorrow night. He will finish up Monday and apply primer. Yeah!

All set!

This is a view from the screen porch door looking into the living room. Fireplace is in the center, laundry area to the left, pantry next in the kitchen. Hallway goes off to the left to the bedroom side of the house.

Larry and Linda Phillips had plannned on coming down on Friday. Larry was going to build the front porch with Peter. Mother Nature and Snowstorm Julia (yes, we name snowstorms!) had other plans!

Front entry looking toward front door

Open bookshelf

This is in the hallway toward our bedroom and across from the bathroom. It has lights and glass shelves.

Living room out toward screen porch

Cookbook shelf area above, desk area below

Notice nook area cross piece now

Loft area above second bedroom from hallway

Looking from bathroom to living room

Bathroom purple board

We need the stilts!

Bathroom insulation in walls

Almost!

Tony worked late last night and when I went over this morning the taping, goobering, and sanding is almost done. The drywall screws need to be covered and then the finishing begins.
As I walked around this morning, I could really feel how the house would be. Oh, this is how big the closets will be? Here is where the bookcase is, the pantry slides in here, this is my view when I'm washing dishes, and, oh this is cozy! This is not a big house (as we wanted), but it is just right!

Dry wall up-taping begins!

Tony and Peter put in some time on Sunday and now are ready to tape the drywall. I took some pictures at noon today. Things are closing in a bit.

Tony's Complete Drywall Service

Drywall Day

I talked to Tony and Ray this morning at 7:15 (yes they had driven from Marinette!) and they have about 10 more pieces to put up. Peter is coming from Marinette this morning with 15 more pieces to finish up. It is really starting to look like a house! Thanks Tony and Ray!

Tony and his son-in-law Ray

Great workers and up at the crack of dawn!

Looking toward the kitchen and bump out

Standing in front hall

from kitchen looking out toward screen porch