We are moving very, very fast this month. We are just about finished w/ trim and starting to have more cabinets go in. Our hardwood floors are also going in and the painter is busy painting. Lots going on all at once.

The great room ceiling got the first part of its paint treatment. There is a design being painted on here as well which will be finished on Wednesday.

The dining room is finally starting to get its trim work done:

The pantry got its door:

Floors:

Capegirl - we have loads of them where we live now too (about 2 miles from our new house) and they haven't eaten anything but my hostas that I planted around a tree in the side yard. I think it is a much bigger problem where we are moving though - loads of them because there are acres and acres of woods and a river. They truly travel in packs there - so if you see one running across the road you better stop because there will be at least 4 more behind it.

They are tame too in our new neighborhood and one of our new neighbors said she sat on her screened porch and watched them eat the petals very gingerly off her roses, which falls into the category of prickly . . . but they were expert! I have a local landscape architect who is well versed in all this so hoping for the best - I don't want deer fences ;)

Not much interesting going on with our build yet except the rough-ins have been completed and they are starting shingles. Here are some pics we took today.

Front view: no change really. Still waiting on door.

Great room windows.

Great room.

Master bathtub is in. Love it!

Future kitchen.

Media room (bonus room).

Back view. Shingles have started.

Close up of shingles.

Hey athensmomof3, I would love to know how you feel about your Kolbe & Kolbe windows, since that's what I'm eventually putting in my place. Is the quality nice?

The quality is very nice I think. We compared side to side to several others and it was equal to the high end Marvin quality from a looks standpoint but much much less expensive. We have the Kolbe Ultra Sterling which are clad exterior and wood interior and they are lovely in person. Much nicer than the similarly priced Jeldwen ones. They also appear to work very well - windows raise and lower easily, etc.

We did have some problems with our narrow french doors which are really sidelights - they were made as sidelights mulled together the first time and looked NOTHING like french doors. Since it was over 50k to make them operable, we needed to make this option work! They took them back and rebuilt them and they look great. The other issue is that ALL of my casements were made inoperable. We have two tiny ones in the garage (front and back) and two tiny ones on the second story of the screened porch that were supposed to be inoperable - cheaper that way and would never (and in the screened porch case could never) be opened. I do want to open my kitchen window though :) The tiny casement in one of our baths and the triple casement in my bath were also sent inoperable. The last version of the order I saw was correct, so I don't know if it is a Kolbe issue or a distributor issue. At any rate, apparently this can be changed in the field (they are already installed) and will be fixed without cost to us. Again, don't know if Kolbe, the supplier or builder is paying for it . . .

We'll be closing on our lot (20+ acres, mostly wooded, in central WI) later this month, and getting to work on our plans. I've been lurking for the past year, and have already learned a lot...but will be starting to ask more questions as time goes by.

Everyone's houses look great! I was wondering, though, if Beaglesdoitbetter would you tell me about her (gorgeous!) floors?
Are they birch?

Thank you,
mommytoC

Thanks for the comment on the floors mommytoc. They are Krauss Natural American Cherry from the Niagara Collection. http://www.krauscarpet.com/NiagaraCollection.htm

They are expected to darken considerably over the next 3-6 months with exposure to sunlight.

All of your builds are looking super! I'm so envious about how far along they are. We're still in the "hiring a general contractor" stage. Although we closed on our lot, have our loan, and have schematic drawings plus specs, we're about ten days behind where I was hoping to be by this time. Guess I better get used to that feeling, huh? Good luck to all of you and your builds!

I have almost no pictures and have been otherwise incredibly distracted from the house progress. Unfortunately, our precious dog of 9 years (she was 12 1/2) got sick a few weeks ago and we had to let her go this past Friday. We're devastated and it seems like things with the house weren't so important during that time or even now.

But we've got our hardwood in our dining room, all our bathrooms are tiled and have their toilets and cabinets. The cabinet guy failed to mention that the bathroom cabinets (semi-custom) we ordered were actually 22" deep with the full overlay, and the cultured marble we wanted (watching costs) are also 22" deep. So the cabinet fronts were actually further out than the cultured marble counter top, which both looked horrible and could have left the cabinets open for water damage from dripping & splashing. We had to eat the cost of the stupid cultured marble (shakes fist at cabinet guy who has been selling that brand of cabinets for 15 years) and get granite from our granite guy. Luckily he is using remnants, so we got a pretty good deal. Lighting is *almost* complete, kitchen cabinets are in and we go to template our granite counter tops tomorrow night. Driveway is in, grading was supposed to happen this week but LEE has hit and we're just trying not to wash away.

We have hit a few tile snags, too. Our main floor tile came in, but a portion (about 25% I'd guess) of the boxes were actually a bad color. The tiler has no idea how it happened because the color codes were almost identical and should have been *identical*. So they're getting replacement tile with the right color code.

The bigger snag, the tilers pretty much completely messed up the tile job in the master bathroom. The floor was supposed to all be epoxy grout and they didn't do that. Then they moved on to the walls of the shower, which were supposed to be a different color than everything else, and they used the wrong color. And they used that "wrong" color everywhere else, which should have been all the same color as the floor (if they had used the correct grout there). Then they left out an entire row of deco tiles, and they "over" grouted the listello, hiding all the pretty stones and "jewels" by burying them in too much grout. I was so disappointed I wanted to cry. Of course, I was already emotional because of our loss... But the builder said he'd make sure it was all fixed and done properly. He's going to have to sit on the tilers, but he's going to get it fixed.

Despite the snags (which fortunately have been pretty few), the builder still thinks he'll get us in the house by the end of the month. Crazy because we're moving out of here the 22nd and into temporary digs until the house is ready. If we only have to do a week or two in temporary housing, we'll be thrilled.

I'll try to post pictures after our next visit, when I actually get some. Might have granite pictures then, too.

Everyone seems to be moving along here. Hope the terrible storms haven't wreaked any havoc for anyone.

ImaCurvyGrrl I am very very sorry about your dog.

ImaCurvyGrrl. So sorry to hear about your dog. We, too, just had to put down our 15 year old peke. The house is so lonesome without her. But we had 15 great years with her, and she had a good life.

We've been in our new house for 3 months now, but I still enjoy seeing everyone's progress. Such beautiful homes!!

Thanks Beagles & Joyce. It's difficult to concentrate, but at least I have some distractions with all the issues going on. And like you, Joyce, a ton of lovely memories to hold onto.

And Joyce, I'm sorry about your dog...it's such a loss when they leave us.

Curvy girl - sorry to hear about your dog. I still hurt when I think of our 3 dogs (through the years) that we lost. I can't imagine dealing with that while trying to finish up a new build. There's enough stress with the house alone.

Oh Curvygirl...I am so sorry about your dog. I cannot imagine going through that right now. It is a great loss...I am hoping you all were able to pause for a short time at least and begin to recover. Good that the contractor was able to make things right with the tile. Hang in there!

So sorry curvygirl! I know how you feel -- our pets are like our kids! I hope you are able to enjoy the rest of your build!

Curvygirl, I am sorry about the loss of your beloved pet. It is good that your contractor can rectify the mess that was made with your tile.

Beb, I really like the rear elevation of your home. All of those windows look great! I also like that the fireplace is on an inside wall. It leaves plenty of room to enjoy those windows from the inside.

BDIB, the detail in your home is magnificent! Would you share whether your beautiful wood flooring is up and down or left to right upon entering each room?

Athensmom, I love the look of your home with the backdrop of trees. I'm eager to see the painted brick. The detail of the ceiling on the porch is beautiful!

Ratucker, I love the color of brick and mortar used on your home.

Gbsim, that is an outstanding view!

Montanapacnw, I just want to touch that metallic tile over the fireplace.

Sherrilea, it is coming along nicely! Where's the end of the house? ;) It looks huge.

We are moving along slowly but surely. We meet tomorrow with our general contractor's boss who is the head of the company. Apparently, he will be taking over from here until the end. It removes the go between and we can talk directly to the yes (or no) man. LOL! All we want is a completely finished home done the right way the first time. I didn't think that we were asking for much. This isn't our first build, but we don't know everything that we want, yet we surely know what we don't want. Anyway here are a few pics...

The footings are in...

Still wet...

The foundation blocks and bricks arrived...

Close up of block and brick color...

Close up of our brick selection...Hanson brick Barringer. We plan to use a dark brown mortar called Bark. Our new contractor is sending a brick mason out to our lot to do a panel of it before we finalize the mortar color.

Framing should begin next week!

Pcandlyte the flooring is left to right. I'd post more pictures of the whole room so you could see better but they've covered up all my floors with paper :(

We continue to make fast progress now! It is amazing how much things can change in just a few days
The great room ceiling is done:

The fireplace is done in the great room:

Downstairs powder room tile:

Upstairs guest bath tile underway (working on the design for the decos!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Whole House Pictures

Beagle:

Your home is stunning!!! Love all the beautiful details, can tell you have spent alot of time making your home very special.

We built a custom home four years ago and continue to add more and more architectural details. Was wondering if you would mind sharing your source for your ceiling medallions?

Thanks, and look forward to more pictures of your beautiful home.

Thanks cerri. For the medallions, some of them I found initially on Architectural Depot but I found the name from that site and did a google search of the name and then bought the lowest cost version since there was a surprising variation in price.

There are quite a few of them and it took me quite a while to find them all, so I don't remember where each individual one was purchased. If you like a specific one, let me know the room and I will go back through my receipts and figure out where it was bought.

montanapacnw,

are your windows frames and sashes black?

also, what color is your artisan siding?

thanks,
steve

Thank you, everyone. We're still coping and I'm trying to keep up with the final things that need to be done before occupancy. As it was, it was all a good reminder that the house is just a house, it's the loved ones in it who make it a home, be they two-legged or four-legged. But it's sad she won't get to share the new space with us.

Went over our granite templating last night with the granite guy, but have not been back to the house yet. Hopefully this weekend to get updated pictures that I can share. With both Hurricane Irene and Lee, we're glad to know there was not one leak or drop of water in our basement. We worried about high water tables, but apparently it was all handled properly, so that's good news.

Thanks again everyone. I'm still enjoying all the progress on your houses!

Wow! There are some beautiful sites here -- and beautiful homes, too. If only there were a gardenweb tour of homes. Ratucker, your house looks great. I remember what a pretty site you have from previous months. Gbsim, what a beautiful view! Good luck with selling your house. Sherrilea, what a neat photo. Your house is so long, it just disappears into the fog. Athens, a classic house in the classic city! Love the window in the screen porch! Beagles, you amaze me! Our house is so simple, but the decisions have seemed endless. You must have amazing patience and attention to detail. Beb, I love all your windows! Your house will be bathed in natural light. Pcandlyte, is there anything more exciting than that first swath of concrete in the dirt? Curvygirl, my heart goes out to you. We, too, lost a long time companion during this build. She was my daughter's "litter mate" and we miss her terribly.

We have had so much going on. We have put our current house on the market, which was a Herculean task. We have been in this house for 19 years and had 4 kids here. So we had so much to be packed, stacked, hauled away, thrown away, etc. In the mean time, back on the old build, we got shutters and out door light fixtures:

I really love the way this little Ikea electric or candle chandelier looks on the screen porch:

Inside, we have gotten doorknobs, as seen here on the coat closet:

And the pocket doors have gotten their knobless knobs, as shown here on the library doors from the foyer:

And we have gotten lots of cabinetry in. Here are the library bookshelves with the living room bookshelves seen beyond (through the second set of pocket doors):

The window seat in the master bedroom is complete:

The window seat in our daughter's bedroom is complete as are the bookshelves, but the built in desk and built in armoire are not yet in.

However, her funny little vanity got its granite top and sink today. As you can see the plumbing fixtures have been going in, too.

And finally in the kitchen, we have appliances, granite and are beginning to get doors on the cabinets.

Exhausted but happy! We are getting there. Now off to clean a closet before the open house on Sunday!

buckhead - looks great inside and out! Love the close ups - but honey cover up those floors!!!!! They are perfect and you are freaking me out ;)

Don't freak out, Athens. The floors aren't finished, yet. The upstairs only has one coat of Waterlox on it and the downstairs two. That and the touch up painting are still to come.

Everyone's homes look so great! We are still waiting for permits, so hopefully we'll have pics to post next month.

buckhead - what is the granite on your island? it doesn't appear to be shiny - is it honed?

Andi_K, the island is honed Virginia Mist. I was thrilled to find a slab big enough to do the whole island.

The perimeter counters are honed Crystal Pearl quartzite.

AndiThis shot might show the Virginia Mist a little better:

And the perimter Crystal Pearl counters:

wow...they look great! thanks for the extra pics!

Swesna: Our window frames are bronze (Hurd calls it anodized bronze) but are very dark. Our thinking was that window glass looks black from the exterior and this way the rails and stiles pretty much disappear.

We did not use any of Hardie's colors for the siding. Because we are using cedar on the front elevation and Hardie on the other sides (for fire reasons) we started by selecting an opaque stain for the cedar and then had paint custom mixed to match the stain, which we then had applied to the Hardie. The stain was from Sherwin Williams. The lap siding is Tobacco and the board-on-board is Cypress Moss. We made large swatches out of foam core board before choosing the colors. In real life, there doesn't seem to be as much differentiation as we had thought there would be, but we've decided not to worry about it.

buckhead, it's looking amazing! I hope your open house is going well and I'm sending cyber-wishes for an interested buyer for it.

Thanks, Montana. Yours is so cool and is really coming together. So glad you are making good progress before the snow comes. I sure wish I could see it in person.

Buckhead, your house is beautiful and is a lot like a house that my husband and I are dreaming about building here in TN in just a few years. Will you share the plan and architect's name or was this a completely custom build?

Thanks! I'm glad you like it, etr. It is a custom build. The architects are Justeen Oess and her project architect Denise Johnson at Oess Architects here in Atlanta. I'll put the link below. Sometimes an architect will resell an existing plan for less money. You could contact them and see. We loved Justeen's work at the Ford Plantation, which you can see in her portfolio. Her background in Historic Preservation really shows!

Here is a link that might be useful: Justeen Oess Architects

This is the first time I'm posting pictures of our build, so a little behind, but I'm on here enough my husband tells me I'm "obsessed" haha =)

View from kitchen

Brick just starting!

View out back

Your projects all look great! Welcome to everyone who is starting!

Ok, haven't posted because I was at that point where they suddenly wanted everything...plumbing, flooring, tile (omg, I purchased from 4 tile places, and by the end, they all knew me by sight whenever I walked in! I would NOT recommend my tile guy. I actually asked him once whether he was eating the tile, his estimates were so far off.).
We were 'a month away' about 1 1/2 months ago. Maybe by Halloween, and that's for CO. I've almost given up hope of EVER moving in!
Beagles, your place is just amazing, and Buckhead, I keep thinking we are about at the same place in our builds, but now I think you're pulling ahead! Good luck to everyone, and hope we can all realistically celebrate the holidays in our new places!

we've had to redo the main staircase twice! ARGH! Just can't get the design right.

back of house

I posted this because I could never find pix of Bucks County Southern Ledgestone. Glad the coloring came out ok. I was afraid it would be too gray. In real life, it's not this color, but has highlights that match the Nichiha siding (stained Rustoleum Mahogany)

kitchen and breakfast nook, obviously not completed yet. River White granite.

juniork -- what a beautiful home! I love your kitchen. We are also considering river white granite. What kind of backsplash is that? It looks awesome!

Eyegirlie - I like your land and your home looks great.

Juniork - Everything looks really good. Cool house.

beb...the contractors call it my 'racing stripe'!!! Gee, thanks. It's some type of travertine or honed squares, and the listello is a Maniscalco copper/noce/beige tile sheet that they cut up into the strips. Can't really go too fancy with a craftsman-type house.

thanks, bb19! Eyegirlie, your place is gorgeous! In some ways, it's nice that this is your first unveiling, because it went from framing to trim in the space of 3 pictures! No waiting months and months for the next picture. I'll definitely check out gibsm's time lapse photo thing.

everyone's houses look fantastic!

We have had a lot of progress since I last updated, but a lot has been the kind of stuff that is not picture worthy, such as electrical rough-in and HVAC.

My husband did spend a lot of time building a retaining wall on the east side of the house. He had some help from my brother a couple of days, but the biggest help came from our neighbor, who owns a Kabuta. It is so wonderful to have a great neighbor! We also rented a bobcat for the long weekend to help with getting the backfill behind the wall done. Renting on long weekends works well because you get extra days for free! We did loose some time due to the rain though.

The roof has been put on over the deck. The deck is on the west side of the house, but due to all our trees, we will not have to worry about overheating due to the sun. The prevailing winds also come up from that side. Eventually, we will screen in most of it.

Yesterday they poured the concrete for the garage, breezeway and front walk along the house. Today they are framing the garage. This is going to really change how the house looks, I am looking forward to seeing it tomorrow.

We also had a dowser out to help us with siting the next well. (Remember, the first "well" we drilled is a 600 ft dry hole.) Our proposed next location did not indicate water, so we searched elsewhere. He found two potential spots. Then, he crossed over the driveway and found a better spot, so that is now our number one location. The dowser brought along some "toys" as he calls them, so we could try it. My husband has the touch and those wires were moving!

And, we have had our first overnight guests! A juvenile raccoon took up residence in the house. This happened right after the remnants of Hurricane Irene came through the area. We think he got separated from his family. He actually was a bit wobbly at first, but we (and the crew) gave him food and water and he appeared to improve, so my husband and the GC put him in a trash can and took him on the other side of the silk fence. After coaxing him out of the trash can, he ran down the hill a few feet and up a tree. But, he came back after a couple of days. So, he stayed a couple more days, and then moved out on his one. His buddy the field mouse is still hanging around though. He got scared by my husband inside the house yesterday and ran out the front door onto the concrete, got scared by the concrete pourer and ran back into the house. Unfortunately, we didn't get the benefit of natural footprints because this was still when the concrete was very fluid and hadn't been troweled to a finished state yet. It would have made for a nice story about footprints in the concrete though.

Wow...I have been gone several weeks and am amazed at everyone's progress! How fun to.see all the newbies and the fantastic progress on everyone elses. Athens...yours is coming along so quickly! We used the same type of masonry paint from SW...there is another home in our hood that used it when it was built several years ago and it looks perfect, still.

We are all moved in! We love our Georgian home, our architect and builder did an amazing job, we couldn't be happier. Here is an exterior shot...I am waiting to shoot the finished interior until my plantation shutters are installed and my photog friend with her big lens can shoot it all proper! :)

Things are moving along nicely. We have roof decking and they are starting to finish up the outside sheathing and house wrap. Then we can start putting up the Billions of hurricane clips, strapping, and threaded rod!

On a sad note, We had to have our beloved 11 year old chihuahua put to rest last week. She was not eating and was just not herself anymore. She wasn't showing any signs of pain which made it even harder.

RIP

Dhuston - sorry to hear of your loss and having to deal with that while building. I hope you were able to bury her on your new property. Your home is taking shape!

I feel for you, dhuston. Just went through that 3 weeks ago with ours. It's a terrible loss and my heart goes out to you.

For those who saw my message in the other thread about granite, tomorrow is our re-install day for the island...in ONE SLAB. We'll see how it goes.

Otherwise, we're coming to an end soon. Still waiting on new info on our first floor tile (pull out all of it and replace with new? get matching color code tiles? who knows!) and they're still working on grout issues in the master. But the remainder of our appliances are due tomorrow, too (damaged upon arrival last week...sheesh), then it's inspection after inspection. I have been very lax on pictures lately, but will try to get updated tomorrow. Kitchen is mostly what has happened since last pictures, so I will try to post this weekend.

Everyone has such beautiful houses and property. It's been a lot of fun watching all the houses go up. We might be in our new place the first week of October...fingers crossed. Closing on our old house was today and it was a fiasco. Can't believe how rude some agents are. I wanted to smack the buyer's agent so bad, I had to actually leave the closing before everything was completed. DH had to bring final papers outside to the car for me to sign! But at least we are sold and don't have to carry two houses...just have to live in temporary digs for a couple of weeks.

Good luck everyone!

What wonderful houses being built on this forum! Congrats to everyone.

juniork: Can you provide me your kitchen dimensions and your island dimensions? My kitchen will be 14 x 16, including an island that is 3 x 4, so I'm trying to visualize an island of that size in it or may larger. Your kitchen looks very spacious with the island in the center.

dhuston, so sorry about your 'baby'. What a gorgeous one!

sthomas, it's roughly 14' along the fridge/range wall, and about 14'+ up to the peninsula. The island and the peninsula are both 4' wide. The island is 6' long (towards sink) and the peninsula is about 12' long. Your kitchen sounds about the same size, so you may want to consider a larger island. I have no problems with approx 4' aisles on either side of the island (which is 4x6). I wanted a eating-peninsula, and our current one is 3' wide, and sometimes we have to move the serving dishes around so everyone can access them (we eat family-style).

I finally get to post in these threads! :) I guess I should've put my first post in here a couple weeks ago with pics & a bit of back story...I'll link it below if you'd like to see it.

Anyway...the foundation is complete! After almost 34 years of dreaming :) It will be a fairly small house. We are doing just the foundation this year & hopefully will finish in the Spring/Summer. We are doing this out of pocket so, depending on how the wallet cooperates! :) We already have 'termination dust' on the mountain in back - the peak disappears into the cloudy sky.

The taller poles sticking up are 'tie-downs' for earthquake stability. Old Valdez was destroyed in the Good Friday '64 9.2 magnitude earthquake.

Here is a link that might be useful: My first house building post w/pics

Laundry room cabinets went in. Yay!
Grooming tub will be on the far left. Fridge will obviously go in the fridge cabinet. There will be a small sink on the far right:

Towel rack over grooming tub:

Built in desk area. There's a pull out printer and fax machine going in the cab and the top will have a charging station:

Cubbies. Dog crates slide in and fit perfectly underneath:

melaska congrats! We have the same type of tie downs in california!

Beagles, your house is just astounding! Every time I look at it, I am in awe. These last pictures had me laughing, though. Your dogs' cubbies are wayyyy fancier than my kids' cubbies!

The builder staked out our house footprint yesterday, but it's wrong - he didn't allow room for the half-circle drive in the front. Oops. So, we're waiting for him to call back so we can get it re-staked. It doesn't look like we'll break ground until next week, so I'll get to post more in the October version of this thread.

juniork, the dogs might share some of the cubbies w/ us since there are only 2 puppies and 4 cubbies (1 per person, 1 per pup) but I'll have to check with them ;) If I ever have real non-fur children, I guess they won't get any cubbies at all, LOL