Stairs From Deck + 2nd Floor Insulation

The last full week of October saw some progress, but it is now seeming slowwwwww as I await completion. The stairway from the back of the house down to the yard were started.

I got the bed set up in the master bedroom, along with a small stereo system and a reading lamp, plus a couple of night tables, and I spent my first night in the new house!!











Toward the end of the day on October 26, a load of cellulose insulation arrived on a truck, along with the machine to blow it into the attic space above the second floor. Gerald was the lucky one to go up in the attic with the hose, and Steve kept the hopper loaded with insulation as it was blown in.

A Windy Fall Day

Nothing much to report on today. It was a warm Autumn day today and yesterday, very windy yet still colourful. Not many leaves left, but these yellow ones on the poplars (called "popples" here) alongside my new house are still hanging on- (the garden bench is new-to-me - - - got it for $15.00!!







>>>>>and this shot of the road looking north-east from the end of my driveway.








and 3 small pics if the fall scenery around the Wallace River property!

Kitchen and Hardwood Floors

This will be a series of pictures without much commentary. The progress now is rapid. The kitchen is mostly in except for some trim (all maple cabinets), the hardwood floors are complete and look great (they're hickory), and the bathroom vanity is in.

The kitchen sink is a bit different (round bowls). Next week, we'll see the return of Mike the electrician, plus I have to deliver some more tile for the master shower and some mirrors and medicine cabinets for the bathrooms. So, here we go!

This mosaic tile (below) is about 3 feet across and it's inset into the tile in the front hallway. I'll get a better shot of it after the cardboard is taken up.

Hardwood and Tile

Tuesday October 16 saw me make an unplanned trip up to the house - it seems I ordered insufficient tile for the main hallway and powder room areas- I guess maybe they were bigger than I understood from the plans. Anyway, I got lucky and the store I bought the tile from still had a supply of the same tile and all I needed was one more box. So, off I went and thoroughly enjoyed the drive up in the blue sky and beautiful fall colours.

















When I got up there, everyone was in full hardwood installation mode.



















Dave Reedy, the tile installer, was also on site and has the ensuite shower almost ready for tile. The blue stuff (below) is applied as a liquid and hardens into a pliable rubbery substrate that is supposed be totally leak-proof.

Above, Dave R. is seen on the porch cutting a piece of tile on his wet saw.























Dave Gullens has most if not all the window trim done. This is the guest bedroom upstairs.

















.......and this is the upstairs office/den.

And this shot is a nicely sunlit in-later-afternoon shot from below the house.

Paint Is Done!!

OK, I THOUGHT the blue in the living room-kitchen was too bright, but now that Dave has the white trim up, it looks amazing. I am very happy with the result. The pale blue ceiling looks white. Here are a couple shots of the living room-kitchen -
















The tile is partially down in the front hallway, and it too looks great with the taupe walls......




The master bedroom will also be outstanding. It's painted in Pumpkin, with a light tan ceiling, and the same tan colour in the walk-in closet.





The tile is also partially down in the ensuite bathroom, and the floor of the shower is also ready for tile......

















OK, now for something a little different - the upstairs bathroom (left) is painted in 2 colours - pale yellow and pale green, on opposite walls. Then, the 2 upstairs bedrooms (actually the guest bedroom and the office/den) are painted one of those 2 colours - the bedroom is yellow, and the office room is green. Here we go -







Here's the guest bedroom upstairs - (to the right)..............with the doorway leading out to the second-floor deck/porch.









And here (on the left) is the computer room/office. The trim isn't on here yet, but that'll be done Monday. You can also see the doorway leading out to the second-floor outside deck, that can be accessed from either the guest bedroom or from the office.









Here's what the house looks like now, looking up from the pathway leading down to the river. You can just see the garage on the left edge of the house.

And here is a trio of brief videos - all taken today. This first one is a pan around the master bedroom (on the main floor). That's the ensuite bathroom through that doorway.

And this one is a pan of the guest bedroom on the second floor - - - -




That's it for now - more to come soon!

Painting Begins

October 10th (the week of Thanksgiving) saw the beginning of painting, and Dave says he intends to have it all done (the painting that is) by the end of this week. The oil tank goes in this weekend, and today (I took this as a vacation week) I rented a 5-ton truck to pick up and deliver the kitchen cabinets, vanities for 2 bathrooms, glue for the engineered hardwood floors on the main level, some supplies for the tile guy, and a closet organizer that I had made up for the walk-in closet in the master bedroom.



This is the master bathroom with the painting done, in the bathroom part, and the glass block installed in the wall between the shower and the bathroom itself. The colour is a very pale blue.









The steps the the front porch and to the deck by the kitchen were added within the past few days. They look good!









Here's a shot of the living room. The blue paint colour is admittedly a bit brighter than I had originally intended. But I'll stick it out for now and wait till the white trim goes on (Dave is in the middle of doing that now too). Although it's brighter than I meant it to be, I think I'll leave it this colour at least for now.

Gerald was working upstairs, while Steve, Jeremy and Dave were working on the main floor.

Here's Steve, painting the "taupe" in the front hallway. Do you have any idea how many colours lay claim to the name "taupe"? I think there are 47 shades of taupe. This one is the right one!








This is out on the screen porch. Because this part of the ceiling is not weather-tight (the floor of the open upstairs deck is immediately overhead), Dave had to install the perforated aluminum soffit material here. The rest of the ceiling will be pine.





That is it for today, folks! More to some soon! The worksite was a veritable hive of activity when I was there today, and the crew were a big help getting the kitchen cabinets unloaded off the truck. Thanks, guys! I have no idea ho that many cabinets are going to fit in the kitchen, but the plans says they fit!