So cold.

It has been painfully cold lately, and even an inch or two of %*#$ing snow fell on 01.28/29.  So work has slowed to a crawl.  Can't really set tile when the interior of the house is 18 degrees. :-(

The front porch ceiling was completed a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot to post a pic.  So here it is.

I'm guessing it was about 20 deg F when I snapped this pic.  Just bitter cold.

But today (01.30), the siding crew was back at it and they completed the first (of three) board & batten sections!  Quite stylish, if I do say so m'self.

Garage side is pretty much complete, including gable vents.

Little gable vent, not really in a gable but who cares.

Oak and mahogany day.

The flooring guys arrived bright & early this morning to prep  the subfloor, put down the underlayment, and stage the bundles of oak for installation.  Can't wait to see it finished!

Oh look!  There's that front door!

Ain't it pretty??  Mercy.  It is still unfinished, obviously.

Defying the weather!

Chugging along in spite of the deep freeze.  But Mother Nature?  Lighten up, please.

Most of the floor and wall tile was delivered by our friends at Lowes on Thursday 1/23.  We purchased certain accent & backsplash items elsewhere, and those will be brought over to the site when the time comes.

Tile setters put all the backer board in place.

Laundry closet.

This is the backer board.  In the showers, it will be taped and sealed up with RedGard to form a virtually impenetrable barrier to moisture.

Here is the PVC membrane in the master shower base.

Our beautiful mahogany front door arrived too!  Here is the spec sheet.

And here is the door!  Crappy pic - it is on it's side in the garage, and I was so excited that I guess I was shaking a little.  It is 3'6" wide x 8'0" tall, solid mahogany.  Four hinges!  This is the inside side, so to speak.

Finishing instructions. We will take good care of this gorgeous beast!

Tile is down!  Here's the Mitte Gray in the master bathroom.  12x24 in brick lay pattern.

Laundry closet.  Gino Gray 16x16.  This is great tile - up close is has a sort of linen-like pattern, really good looking.

More Gino Gray in the guest bathroom.

And this beautiful stuff is Ivetta Black, 6x24.  We're using it in the drop zone and for the fireplace hearth.  It is modeled after natural slate, with lots of color & pattern variation, and a very pleasing rough texture.  It is really nice!

Drop zone still.  They crew laid it down in a very random style, no pattern.  That was Mark's suggestion, and as always, it was a good one!

This end of the drop zone floor will end up covered by a cabinet base...it seems a shame to cover up such pretty tile!

Primed. Siding. Cold!

Last week the interior was primed using base tinted to the colors we chose for the walls (see previous post).
Also, the siding crew is now rolling along, even though it is bitter cold. This is the coldest winter here in more than a decade. :-(

Siding!

One of the four buckets of "primer" (it is actually just lower-grade paint) used on the interior walls.  The finish coats (2) will be SW SuperPaint (the cabinets & vanities will be SW ProClassic).

The crawlspace vents are pretty high-zoot, which tickles me.  They feature some sort of sensor that opens them when the air temperature reaches 70 degrees F and closes them when it drops to 40 degrees F.  Who knew such a thing existed?!?

Siding!

It was sofa king cold today; that poor dude up the ladder had to be hurting.

Sanding...flooring...and some trim work!

Busy end to the week...although I think the crews will be working tomorrow (Saturday) too, so it isn't really the end.

First trim work is going up.

Nice soffit run is in, along with the fascia above.

Oooo!  The pretty white oak floor registers were delivered!  Made in the good ol' USandA, out in Snohomish, WA.

Bundle one of two...3/4" thk x 4" wide x random length solid white oak flooring.  Mark ordered "mill run" for us, which is a combination of graded wood that will offer a really organic (I hesitate to use "rustic" because it won't be) appearance when finished.  Random lengths, lots of grain and color variation, and character like knots and so forth.  It will be gorgeous.

Bundle two of two.  It's a lot of oak!

There are the registers again, and some sort of strip thingy, and the staples for the flooring gun.

This label contains all sorts of info.  Kills my eyes trying to read it though!

And here are the rolls of Fortifiber "Aquabar B" floor underlayment.  Moisture barrier and offers some acoustic benefits as well.

Can't really tell from the pic, but the painting crew sanded and prepped all of the drywall and will begin priming tomorrow.  Smoooooth!

I love that little nook or bumpout or whatever it's called!

Great light in the afternoon.