Photos, We Have Photos!

New photos in today!

Just to quickly let you know what you're looking at -- or what you SHOULD be looking at -- here goes:

The walk-out basement floors are all concrete, stained and sealed, with large control joints spaced six-feet on-center. Remember, radiant floor heating has been installed throughout the house, including the basement.

The concrete stain is "Weathered Bronze", although it came out quite a bit darker than anyone expected.

Still, they are quite beautiful and look like marble, as intended and hoped. If the floors were clean -- as a photo of the Guest Bedroom here shows a substantial layer of construction dustiness -- you would surely agree with Howard.

The stairs are now complete, although the first floor still needs paint on the walls, stain on the trim and beams, and... bamboo floors!

Still, this photo shows the two tones of stain used throughout the house -- a lighter one to match the natural cherry finish and Shaker style of the kitchen cabinets, which we have yet to show you, and a darker one to match the mahogany front door, in more of a Mission style.

This photo shows the two stains in conjunction... or in contrast.

The stair treads, the accent panels of the newel posts, and the accent wedges at the tops of the colonnade are all stained with the darker stain.

The breakfast eating nook (or "booth", as everyone likes booths in restaurants, right?) is now under construction. By my "test" this morning, the ergonomics of the seats and table are perfect.

Incidently, you can see a small sliver of one of the kitchen cabinets to the left of the photo, this one containing the oven and microwave oven. Sorry, but I don't want to show you any more until the granite counters are installed within the next week.

I met with the finish carpenter this morning to answer his final detail questions before the granite is to be installed.

The ceramic tile surrounding the shower in the kids' bathroom is being installed this week.

The pattern shown, with the two bands of accent color, was chosen to wrap around a glass block window to the right of the photo, plus the lower band was to run under a shelf to the right of the far corner in the shower for kids to place shampoo bottles, loofas, whatever. For some reason, the framers didn't notice the shelf on my floor plans, so they didn't build it. And I didn't notice until it was too late!

I can't help but wonder where that extra four inches of floor plan space ended up?

The slate in the master bath shower is now in place, though the grout has yet to be installed.

Should be a great place to take a shower every morning.

And Howard would know. He's a connoisseur of long, languorous showers, as they are one of his few indulgences.

Last, the painter has FINALLY moved back outside to take advantage of the terrific November weather we've been having.

As you can see here, he masked off all the windows and trim, and is spray painting the Hardi-board lap siding.

Yup, that's him right there! Heck of a guy, too, though I've yet to see him wear any protection from fumes or overspray. I would guess it's because he's a smoker and figures "what's the point?"