Backsplash, garage doors, deck, porches

Work is plugging along. Monday the kitchen backsplash went up. We picked out this tile a long, long time ago and it was so nice to see it installed. Unfortunately we have a light switch location issue so the last bit near the door to the mudroom is incomplete. No grout yet, either, we're guessing the tile guys will do all the grout in one go after painting is done.

Painters have been on site daily doing "point up" which is apparently the fancy industry way to say "spackling, sanding, caulking, and other prep." Not a lot of wow factor but definitely a lot of work and important to get a good paint job so we're not complaining.  They did get all the ceilings painted and those look really good. We are looking forward to smooth ceilings after both of us have lived under popcorn for the last 10 years.

Garage doors and openers have been installed, though they don't work yet. But we could close them if we need to. Only have a picture of the third-car door down - double one has been up all week.

The composite deck went in this week, too - one of the things Matt especially has looked forward to; no annual cleaning and staining! We picked two colors to give the porch and deck a little more definition. The posts and balusters around the screened porch were added today and now it's almost safe to go out there. Feels like a nice space we'll use a lot.

And finally they've been working on the front foundation/porch all week as well. The stone veneer on the foundation is almost all done, except the stairs and I think maybe the back side of the part that wraps around the house.  Today they started laying the flagstone on top.

We're trying to get quotes for landscape so we can get that lined up asap... We still have some work to do on the driveway and grading and septic along with the actual nice looking plantings, etc. The septic people were on site today and dropped off a bunch of materials.

Shiny subway tiles

Little "cofee station" area

Butler's pantry

Stone veneer on the front

Wide view of stone work in progress

Garage Door

Front foundation just about finished

Grilling deck - rails to come soon

Screened porch

View of the porch with the official posts in place

And from inside with the frames/rails and balusters

View from the grilling deck

Flagstone in progress

Still missing that last column, too

Driveway, paint, and counters

Big week, but not without a lot of headaches. The dirt we had added to the driveway got dumped on with rain early this week, before they finished spreading gravel on top. The bottom 1/3 of the driveway turned into a mud hole and made it nearly impossible for workers to get to the house. Painters persevered and trudged through on foot to prep and prime, but we had counters scheduled for delivery today and there would have been no way for the truck to safely get down the driveway as it was. Thanks to some incredibly short-notice help from a local grading guy this morning, the mud got scraped off and topped with fresh gravel in time for the counter delivery at 11 a.m. When we went inside today for the first time all week, it was a huge relief to see all the work that was done.

Paint is going up throughout the house; primer and a first coat of all the colors is already on the walls, though splotchy/thin for now. The upper corner cabinet in our mudroom was brought in (apparently post prime-day, it still needs a coat). And of course our counter tops and sinks are now installed! It makes the kitchen and baths feel much more complete. We're very happy with the white quartz.

Masons have the bigger half of the front porch wrapped in stone, it's looking good. the rainy days have slowed progress on that work, too.  But what's done looks great and we look forward to seeing the rest of it (not to mention the column bases and finished porch columns, ceiling, and metal roof).

Driveway slope has definitely improved, so hopefully that's worth the stress we experienced all week over it. It's a little lumpy-bumpy but we'll get that smoothed out with final grading and finish gravel.

Kitchen counters!

Long view

Apron-front sink

Primed pantry shelves

butler's pantry counter

Dining room in 'Dovetail' with lots of over-spray on the trim
right now; will look better when trim gets painted

'Mindful Gray' in the family room (and in these ceiling boxes
too  -again with over-spray on all the trim for now)

Mudroom bench will have a stained benchtop.
Those are doors for the study cabinets that need priming.

Upper cabinet for our "drop zone" (keys and cell phones)

Powder room sink and counter

Study shelves

Study opening

Playroom cubbies and 'Contented' green walls

Laundry sink and counter, walls also in 'Contented.'
Colors look pretty similar with such low light right now.

Master bathroom counter and sinks

Maggie's side of the master closet

Matt's side of the Master closet

Matt's side from the front

Maggie's side from the front

Master bedroom is also being painted in 'Dovetail'

Basement bath counter and sink

All bathrooms are 'Mindful Gray'

Basement main walls are also 'Mindful Gray'

Front porch - it's done around the side, too, but too muddy
to wander over for photos today

Driveway in much better shape.

Masonry, mantle, driveway work

The stone up the fireplace wall was done last week and they hung up the mantle. Matt also worked out a deal to get some dirt added to build up the driveway. Unfortunately due to a variety of delays, the work didn't start or go as quickly as planned - and this morning we got heavy, heavy rain. They were barely able to get a load of gravel on top to keep the mud down on 2/3 of the drive. Still more to do to get it right, but it does improve the slope significantly.

Fireplace wall

Reclaimed wood mantel

Driveway - post monsoon

Trim day 11

Getting a little closer to done on the trim. Family room ceiling coffers are done. Balusters were installed in the stair rails. Mudroom bench started. Master bedroom closet was in-progress while we were there, so we will try to get pictures today. We received our fireplace mantle from a seller on Etsy (WickedGrain shop in Kansas). We looked at some options locally and even went in person to the ReUse Warehouse in Durham; it's a very cool place but was also overwhelming and we would have had to figure out how to haul and cut and treat whatever we might have bought there. So we went with a seller who could just get us a finished product. It's a reclaimed beam treated with a matte gray finish and it turned out awesome! They should have it hung today so the masonry can go up around it.

We met with the painter and talked over paint details. We have a pretty straightforward plan for that. All the trim and built-ins will be the same satin white, except the bench top on the mudroom built-in, the barn doors/beams in the study, and the front doors (those will be stained). Porch ceilings will be stained and of course the hardwoods, stairs, and handrails will be (but the stair guy does that). We have 3 wall colors: Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray, Dovetail, and Contented. The outside colors are Sherwin Williams Chatroom (majority of the exterior), Hardware, (upper gable accent color) and Moderne White (trim). Painting is supposed to start next week.

We also met again with a landscape designer we hired to help us figure out what to do with the yard and driveway. We reached out to a bunch of places a couple of weeks ago, and Mike was able to see us on short notice and provide the kind of plan we need at a reasonable cost.  He created a beautiful long-term design that we can build on slowly over time. We'll start with mostly foundation plantings around the house but we have a "blueprint" for things we can add later as budget allows.

Mudroom bench

Basement stairs

Main floor stairs

Overlook

Finished ceiling

Overlook from above

Better view of the upper windows, finished earlier this week

Mantel

Closeup