Looking great wonderwhiskers!

We are progressing both outside and inside!

Front peaks still need stone, but it's getting there!

Columns are in:

Master bedroom fireplace is built- there will be cabinets and a window seat coming here:

Doors and trim on in conservatory:

Paint has started upstairs:

Everyone's builds look fantastic! We are out of town at the moment and it is so hard to be away. I think they are setting roof trusses today, so hopefully I'll get a picture from our builder. I will try to post some earlier pictures of our lot and the few I have since the ones I posted above later today. We are on five heavily wooded acres and it was even a bit of a surprise to us how up in the treetops we will be on the second floor!

Thanks All for the compliments on the stone and color choices.
Wonderwhiskers, looks awesome. I love the fireplace and kitchen cabinets.
Beagles, you have an amazing looking home. I love the color upstairs...mind sharing the name?
Curvygrrl, I love your stairway!
Thanks

Sure, JM. It is Sherwin Williams 7601 Dockside Blue.

nutherokie asked me to post some of the projects I have designed in the past so I'll try to do that here.

This is a 4,000 s.f. house in the traditional Shingle Style with bleaching oil stained white cedar shingles, Andersen Woodright windows, 9 ft ceilings and mesquite flooring. It was a struggle to get the builder to use the more subtle exterior trim of the Shingle Style instead of his favorite heavy-handed PVC Classical/Greek Revival Style trim but, fortunately, the house proved strong enough to withstand it.

Here is another Shingle Style on Cape Cod but it is a renovation of an old 70's Yankee Barn house. We added a floor above the living room so the LR and MBR could both have the view of the water without expanding toward the side lot line (which proved wise because the house next door burned down and a huge new one is now being built near the property line.)

The builder got the exterior trim right because I made mock ups of it. I don't blame the builders for finding this difficult because it took me many years and a lot of research to figure out how the masters of the Single Style did it.

The original house:

The owners loved the site of this old small gambrel roofed house and wanted to build a substantial addition. Expansion to the front and back would destroy the original architecture so we extended each end about 10 ft and turned the attic into 2 bedrooms.

The original house:

This is a small addition and kitchen renovation for a growing family that wanted to be able to gather in the kitchen and be able to access an outdoor deck from it without removing the existing stairway.

This is a "French inspired" house with very formal interior spaces connected by a long wide gallery/corridor across the entry side. The owner remarried and moved before the house was finished so I never got photos of the interior. The new owner recently asked me to come over to discuss some modifications and the battery of my digital camera died before I could photograph the interior. Bummer.

The forward projecting wing on the front left is the garage. The exterior finish was supposed to be cement stucco but the owner substituted synthetic EIFS which has stood up well.

The previous owner had tried to renovate this Greek Revival house himself and finally gave up and sold it. It was a real mess and in a strict historic district but the new owner was willing to spend enough to restore it and we even got permission to add solar voltaic panels on the roof.

This is a small addition, kitchen remodeling and restoration of a Shingle Style house in a historic district. Most of the work was in achieving authentic detailing and public presentations to the city Preservation Committee. Even the window glass had to be single pane divided lights. The architects from that period make us all look like amateurs today.

We FINALLY got some work done on the outside of our build. They started putting up the board and batten last week. I'm attaching a copy of the back of the home and one side, which is what they've gotten finished in the few days they were able to work on my house! The gable over our deck will have Nichiha shake siding. I think the batten strips are from nichiha and the rest of the plank siding/soffits are Hardie.

Whoa! Ask and ye shall receive! Thanks Renovator 8. I was hoping you might have interior photos of that gambrel roof house. I fell in love with the photo you posted of the front of the house ages ago and always wanted to see more. It's as beautiful as I'd imagined. And I love the Cape Cod house too, but I can hardly believe it's the same house you started with.

Thanks for posting these. It will be fun to study the details. You know, on my NEXT house ... Kidding. I'm not sure we'll ever finish the one we're working on now.

Thanks Renovator8!
Lots to take in - We just bought a craftsman style home in Amhearst Va.
We need to do an addition and renovations and your work is inspiring!

Renovator - ditto the thanks. Amazing stuff. That bleaching oil is wonderful. Read about it on Houzz yesterday because it popped up as a suggested picture for me and that is what they used. I dream of a shingle house someday . . . couldn't build it because it was something that would not be approved by the ARB. However, when I retire to the coast of Maine I will call you:)

bb19, they are simple Quality brand Cabinetry http://www.qualitycabinets.com/ Quincey 5 is the doorstyle. Wood is Cherry wood with a Cider glaze. And a lot of the cabinet actually IS Cherry wood - very nice. The cider glaze helped tone down some of the blue-cherry-redness, and gave it a very nice warmth (I think).

Renovator, thanks!!! Loved enjoying your pics......

Beagles - you home looking amazing!

archie123 - good luck in Amhearst.

Our windows just went in! Plumbing and electrical rough-ins are going in this week. Hoping to see some doors soon also!

A couple had asked for some other pics of our lot, etc. Here is one the day we started:

{{gwi:1486942}}

And I'll spare you the play-by-play up until now. However, we left for vacation a couple of weeks ago and our house looked like this:

{{gwi:1486944}}

(sorry it's blurry, but you get the idea)

and yesterday when we got home, we were thrilled to find this:

{{gwi:1486946}}

{{gwi:1486948}}

We're excited to be moving along so nicely. Very thankful for great weather these last few weeks!

beb0622, your rear elevation is lovely! The front too, but the rear caught my attention. Very nice!

cintijen, your pics did not come through. Did they View on your Preview? Hmmm......

www,

yes, they did, but now they're not coming up for me, either. >:-/

Let's try this again (and these are showing up for me in the preview!):

Here is one the day we started:

{{gwi:1486949}}

And I'll spare you the play-by-play up until now. However, we left for vacation a couple of weeks ago and our house looked like this:

{{gwi:1486950}}

(sorry it's blurry, but you get the idea)

and yesterday when we got home, we were thrilled to find this:

{{gwi:1486951}}

{{gwi:1486952}}

We broke ground about 4 months ago. The framing has taken longer than we had hoped but now things seem to be moving a little faster. Choosing brick now. Our home is clapboard and brick (New England coloinal) a relative is addicted to this site and now I can see why! Great site, to get so much information.

Thanks wonderwhiskers! The house is the "Lake Placid" design by Frank Betz, however, we made quite a few changes.

Framing is moving along. Most of first floor sheathing is done. No new pics of the house but here is one of our meeting with the Head house planner!!

He loves being able to walk through the walls of HIS new house!

Dhuston, you might want to check to make sure your engineer there is licensed? He looks awfully young to be a licensed engineer ; )

I have been amazed by the homes being built on this post during the past 6 weeks. They are jaw dropping. I've been lurking, waiting to be able to become a part of the excitement. Our GC began clearing our lot mid last week. We are on 3.73 acres in a small subdivision. Below is a pic of my husband standing in the location of our future garage. We are a smaller build than most on this thread, but we're really excited about our final (we hope) home build.

Right now we are already 3 weeks behind schedule, but my husband expected that. I'm just happy that we're moving forward! We have been living in an apartment since we sold our home at the end of July and moved to another state. Our land is pie shaped and extends to a road that is in front of the homes in the distance.

Pcandlyte - Welcome and congrats on your upcoming build! The framing will more than likely go fast, but don't get used to that speed. It seems to slow down alot after that. Good luck!

Thank you for the warm welcome and the warning downsy. Our real estate agents are probably running from the phone when they see that it is me or my husband calling. We've been really anxious to get things moving.

What beautiful homes everyone has here! Still in the planning process, hope to be in you guys shoes soon.

wwwwonderwhiskers: You have a lovely home, too. I most definitely love your kitchen layout. May I ask, what are your kitchen dimensions and the island dimensions, also. Thanks in advance for the information!

I posted this over in kitchens but in case anyone wants to see that doesn't get over there, here's the first set of (many) cabinets going into our house. They are a custom stain from Dutch Wood Kitchens in PA and they did an amazing job! Anyone around the PA/NJ/NY area, I cannot possibly recommend them more highly:

Thank you for the warm welcome and the warning downsy. Our real estate agents are probably running from the phone when they see that it is me or my husband calling. We've been really anxious to get things moving.

I am so excited to finally be posting to this thread!!! After lurking, joining and getting so much direct and indirect advice and inspiration we are finally moving along. Here is the last 30 days!!

Sorry about the abnoxious size. I'll get it right eventually.

Wow!!! Everyone has made such great progress!

mythreesons-Congratulations on finally moving in! I know you're absolutely thrilled. I love those porches!!

beagles-I do believe you could sell tickets for tours of your house--absolutely gorgeous!!

buckheadbilly-I am envious of those beautiful stone steps!

wonderwhiskers-Looking great!

We have made huge progress over the last month as well! We're supposed to be on schedule for a CO mid-Sept. Please cross your fingers for us! Granite went in Monday, painters started today, brick masons are to finish the porch fireplace this weekend, exterior trim guys are almost done (columns started going in today)! Now for the pics...

Front of the house...steps went in over the weekend and exterior trim except for columns has been completed, but I forgot to snap an updated pic--just imagine them for now:

Fireplace in Family Room:

Granite & cabinets are in...I will save the venting on how the glaze on the cabinets is the wrong color & some of the cabinets came in made of particle board instead of plywood (Ugh!!!) The island, rangehood, valance over the sink & refrigerator boxing are all still a work in progress.:

Laundry Room:

Tile is in!! Absolutely love my tile guy!

Kids' Baths:

Master Shower:

Powder Room vanity--can't wait for the vessel sink to be installed!!

dekeoboe--Where are you building in the piedmont? We're building in Asheboro, just south of Greensboro.

mydreamhome - We are in Pittsboro. Your tile looks great. Did you find a place with good deals on tile? That's one of the things on my list. I have a thread over in the bathroom forum regarding pricing. I have a tiny budget and aren't sure where I will be going to get tile.

I guess I should post an update. This week we are on pause until we get the second well drilled. As I mentioned last month, we have a 600 ft dry well. Uggh. So, we have decided that instead of ductless mini-splits (which I really, really wanted) we will be going with geothermal. That way we can use the dry well and recoup some of our costs. We have to wait for the state to approve the geothermal and then we will drill again in a different spot where we have a bit different soil and hope we hit water quickly. Since the new spot is behind the house, we have to hold off on the deck because otherwise the well driller won't be able to get behind the house.

One of my husband's favorite pictures because it shows how a 3' overhang (on the right side) works to shade the windows from direct sun at this latitude. The overhang is 51" on the left, which shows how much about 17 inches of difference in overhang can make. It also shows how we are right on an east to west axis as this picture was taken shortly after noon.

Our framing team is great. Everyone who comes by comments on how straight the framing is.

It was really exciting to get the back fill done. No more having to walk the plank! This picture also shows the clerestory in the family room. The garage will be right in front of where the clerestory is. The roof of the garage will be attached to the house, but there will be a breezeway between the two. The house wrap on the center of the roof is covering where the skylight will be.

We had quite a bit of rain before the roof went on, and the Advantech subflooring did it's job, so we had a couple of inches of water on the floors. That meant they had to drill holes in the subfloor and sweep all the water into buckets in the basement. But that won't happen anymore because we have a roof.

We used the zip system roof sheathing, which is guaranteed not to leak for 10 months. I told our builder he did NOT have 10 months to complete the house, never mind get the metal roof on. We have had rain since the roof sheathing went on, and only got blowing rain in the house. Good thing too, since we expect to get some of the rain from Hurricane Irene this weekend.

dekeoboe-Your build is looking good! Pittsboro is a wonderful community, I am sure you will love it there. I used to work in that area & we recently sold our house in Graham which is just north of you by about 15-20 minutes. Asheboro would be west of you by about 30 minutes. Keep after the GC about your requests--best advice I can give at this point.

Thanks for the compliments on our tile. I hunted and searched for 2 weeks straight in literally every tile shop I could find in a 3 county area. We ended up getting it through Florida Tile in Greensboro. There are many dealers of Florida Tile in the area, but since they have a warehouse/showroom local why deal with a middle man dealer who is going to jack the price up another percentage? I dealt with Brandon there and he gave us our builder's discount + he price matched based on 1 dealer's quote I had gotten for the same tile. What really set them apart was that Brandon was the only tile rep I met with that actually listened to me on what look I wanted to achieve and then went right to a handful of options that were exactly in line with what I had requested. And I actually managed to come in underbudget on this one!

Here's a rundown on the tile we chose:

Master Shower-Renaissance Grigio 10x13 wall tile, 3x6 subway, 2x2 shower floor tile on mesh backing, 2x10 Renaissance listello in crema. (Tile is also available in crema, noce and brun which is a dark brown)

Kid's Showers-Pristine in alabaster (also available in beige). They are 9x18 and we set them "brick style".

All Floors-Las Olas Sand Dollar--kids' baths used 13x13, master bath used 19x19. The laundry room floor used a pinwheel pattern with the Las Olas Sand Dollar 13x13 and the Las Olas Noce 13x13 cut into quarters. (If I had seen the laundry floor before the master bath floor was done, I would've had some listellos cut into 2x2 pieces and done a similar pattern in the bath.)

Due to the way the tile edges were made, we were able to go with 1/16" grout joints and unsanded grout both of which give the look of a real stone tile design. (Know that you may have to push your GC/installer on this point if you prefer the smaller grout lines--they all like to use 1/8" or more which to me makes more work when it's time to clean.) We chose Pearl colored grout for all the tile--not intentional I assure you, but it truly blended very nicely with all the different tile colors we had specced.

All the wall tile was $2.00 sqft on special with the exception of the listellos & bullnose pieces. The floor tile ran $1.79 sqft with the exception of the shower floor. The Las Olas floor tile was just discontinued a few weeks ago, so if you like the travertine look & feel, but the real deal is not in your budget, you need to jump on this one fast. It comes in 3 colors-Sand Dollar, Noce, and Sea Oats.
Let me know if you need the name of a good installer. We have been thoroughly pleased with the one we have and I would recommend him in a heartbeat.

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Tile Website

pcandlyte - welcome & it'll be cruising before you know it.

sthomas6978, thank you! I will post our first-floor plan pdf here: you are welcomed to it.
Additionally, the Island stone was 57x113 (thus sayeth the fabricators, who are ROCK STARS: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150257223330983&set=pu.257045400982&type=1&theater)
Under the Island, the cabs are 3 rows each 36" wide mix of drawers & cabs. Those are 24" deep with a "dead space" in the middle where I put that bottle shelf thing on the rangetop end. So, granite overhang is 1", 1.5", or 2", sorry I forget just now. Anything else let me know!
Just kitchen:

Kitchen Area:

First Floor:

mydreamhome - very harmonious elevation - looking very nice! lovely front door with the rest of it - looks good.

mydreamhome - that is a beautiful house! What kind of granite is that on your kitchen island? I am trying to find something in that same color for our kitchen.

dekeoboe - we are building in Sanford, right down the road from you! Good luck!

beb0622-Thanks for the compliment on the house. It's been a long work on progress in our hearts and minds and a VERY quick build. The island granite is called River Valley. The fabricator said it is a cousin to Kashmir White. Looking at the two granites together, the River Valley tends to have more flow, less grey veining and larger clear white to off white areas. The laundry room pics aren't that great due to the lighting, but the counters in there are the Kashmir White that we see pretty standard out there. Each slab is just so different, you really have to go out and look at the slabs in person. Once I saw that River Valley that was it. I actually saw it first in the "leathered" finish vs the polished and I liked that even more, but it didn't go with the vision we had for the kitchen. We got our granite at Schneider Stone in Asheboro-so far nothing but good things to say about them. Don't know if they have anymore full slabs in the polished (pretty sure they do in the leathered finish), but I know our island didn't take up the whole slab (big as it is) and I know I saw some large remnants in the same lot on the granite yard. Hope this helps!

mydreamhome - Thanks for the info! Very helpful. Our builder uses Absolute Stone in Cary for their granite. We won't pick out the granite until our cabinets are in and we look at slabs, but from walking around their store, I saw a kashmir white and an ivory white that I really like. I don't remember seeing one called river valley, but I will have to ask about it!

mydreamhome - Thanks for the tile information. Those are my kind of prices! We aren't having any tile on the floor, but I definitely need tile for the shower walls and I am wanting the bigger rectangular tile like you used. It also sounds like you used rectified porcelain, which is what I will be trying to find. Definitely will be going to Greensboro next week.

beb0622 - Our mailing address is actually Sanford. We are between Pittsboro and Sanford, right between the Rocky River and the Deep River.

It's a small world!

We are building in southern Sanford, near the Tramway area!

beb0622-While Schneider had a significant number of samples in the showroom, they had a much bigger selection in the granite yard. River Valley wasn't even on display inside, but they had 5 polished slabs & 3 leathered ones in the yard. Definitely make sure you select your own slabs and depending on the unique characteristics of each one you choose, you may want to be there when they template to help with placement of cutouts. I'll try to get some better pics of the island and the granite top in our oldest son's bathroom to give you examples of what I mean on the templates. From your post, I take it you have already selected your cabinets & finish. Definitely take a sample of your cabinet doors with you when you select your granite. You also might consider calling the granite place & asking when they typically get new slabs in--I got the impression at Schneider that they get theirs all at once and once they've sold most of it another round comes in. You'll want to go when they have the best selection available.

dekeoboe-The tile was not rectified, but it was darn skippy close. Brandon at Fla. Tile said he thought we could get by with 1/8" but that was too wide for my taste. My Dad has done alot of tile work when he was doing renos and he advised just getting with the installer and insisting on the 1/16" joints. When the tile showed up and we met with the installer, he took a look and said 1/16" with unsanded grout was not a problem at all based on the edges even though it wasn't truly rectified. That's why I mentioned that you might have to push for the tighter grout lines if that's the look you like. Some installers may be set in their ways and tell you that you have to use sanded grout and have to have wide grout lines and that's just not true. What type of flooring are you going with in your baths?

Thank you for the welcome and reassurance, wonderwhiskers!

I'm in NC too. Sanford was on our list of areas to build, but we went with the Hope Mills area.

Our GC put our build on hold this week to wait until Hurricane Irene passes by. We were hoping to see footings this week, but hopefully next week.

Mydreamhome, your home is beautiful. I love the shower in the master bathroom, and your selection of brick for the exterior.

Dekeoboe, I enjoy seeing the details like the overhang of the roof and pointing out the straight lines of the framing. This helps me too. Thank you.

wow, looks like there are a number of us building in NC.

mydreamhome - Thanks for the further TM information. Wish I could go today, but we decided not to venture too far because we aren't sure how bad the winds will get.

We are doing Marmoleum or Armstrong's Marmorette for the bathroom and laundry room floors. I have a bad back and tile is just too hard for me. Kind of a bummer, because tile would definitely be less expensive. Since real linoleum is not too popular here the prices aren't very competitive.

IMG_1437 testing to see how picture turn out

Hi,

I have been lurking but finally learned to load pictures. We are making progress, have hole dug, foundation completed and rough plumbing.

Lot uncleared

{{gwi:1486999}}

Foundation from front

We hope to get the septic, sub-floor and start framing. Its great to final be able to post after learning so much from this forum over the last year.

Mel

Second Floor walls went up yesterday. Hopefully will have a roof by next week!!!

I feel so badly for JMPhoto. Hope she gets some good advice soon!!!

After going to the Dr. last week, I have not been back out to the house. I swear I thought I was gonna stroke-out or have a heart attack. The only levity was when this sweet young guy looked at me sincerely, and asked "so I've heard about your own stresses, and I'm sorry, we can help you with that, but let me ask - have you had any thoughts of doing harm to other people?"

Thought I was gonna wet myself laughing. Then I realized I probably shouldn't laugh quite so hard - he doesn't know me, and doesn't know that the answer is "Seriously? No." But I'm building. When I yell at people in my head, it is not serious. The dichotomy is wrenching. LOL.

I wish everyone the best of luck. Hope to see you all early September, and wake up from this totally un-necessary, ridiculous dream.......

Wonderwhiskers, I no longer go to the house during the official "work" hours, only am there when no one is working. I think that it's helping me deal with the stress of this project but I was there Thursday when the templating for the kitchens and bathrooms was being done as I had to get my 2 cents in about the location of seams in the kitchen, he seemed extremely competent (he was there for 3 1/2 hours) so I hope that turns out well, I'll know Tuesday for sure when everything's installed. Of course on Tuesday, that's the day when ALL the hardwood floors are removed and will be redone, that's another stressful issue I won't get into.

Good Luck on your move!