tile update and other stuff...

After a very busy Saturday, I am very happy to report that the tile crew have made excellent progress and are doing an excellent job!  They started early this morning and worked until at least 7pm this evening. 

The upstairs bath shower and floor, utility floor, master shower, and powder room wall were completed - to be grouted tomorrow.  The master bath shower floor and the rest of the master bath floor will be completed tomorrow and I guess they will come back to finish the kitchen backsplash when the tile arrives. 

The head boss of the tile guys has been excellent to work with - he suggested grout colors and showed us how the grout would look next to the tile and also worked with us to simplify the upstairs shower tile design (which translates to less expensive to install...).

Everything is moving along quite nicely.  Below is the Master Shower - it is a glass and stone mosaic mix and is quite handsome! 

Next is the streamlined upstairs bath tile - I really like the clean lines and how well the colors work with each other.  I cannot wait until the tiles are grouted - I was so excited to post some updated pictures that I could not wait.  So, after the grout is complete, I will post new pictures.

And, unrelated to tile, the pantry was finally, begrudgingly painted!  I think it looks quite awesome!

 
Will keep you posted as to the progress.  I think that we are getting to the point where lots of stuff will happen very quickly that before we know it, we will be all moved in. 

But, until then, stay tuned!

countertops are installed...

Wish I had more to report - some small, but really important, things are being completed at the house.  The electrical work is being completed including all of the outlet covers and light switches, the inside part of the A/C has been installed as well as the vents and thermostat, most of the paint has finally been completed (still quite a bit of touch up to be done - plus many wall patches have to be fixed, including the large holes/squares resulting from improperly placed light switches and such), the sidewalk and driveway forms have been built awaiting concrete to be poured, and we have been waiting for the tile to be installed since Monday...

We are told it will be ready for a mid July move in.  I just do not see how that is possible, but I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed!

There is exciting news to report!  The counter tops and sinks have been installed!  And, they are beautiful.  Sorry for the image quality.  The island is Staturario marble and the perimeter cabinets are soapstone.  When we oil the soapstone it will have a deep, rich gray color.  And, the plastic will be removed once they no longer need to be protected from any paint and stuff.

The picture doesn't do the island justice - and, the exhausting search to find a single slab of marble (over 10 feet) was totally worth it!

The apron kitchen sink is as awesome as I had envisioned!

Soapstone will look much darker once we apply the mineral oil.

Stay tuned...

paint progress update part 3...

Another week of painting, and all of the walls are still NOT finished!  Progress was made though, which at this point, we will take what we can get. 

Funny story about the slowest paint crew in the world...our builder told us that the painters couldn't believe that we wanted our pantry yellow...which kind of makes sense because it took SO long for them to paint our garage yellow.

Since it has taken them SO LONG to paint everything else, I just thought that the garage was an anomaly.  Not the case.  I think the painters are actually prejudiced against Beach Ball (the yellow color on the garage and pantry)!

Now, I think it would somehow be different if the painters were fast.  I would be more willing to give them a pass and assume that they are unwilling to embrace colors other than white!  But, it is somehow just incredibly ridiculous that they are so slow AND prejudiced against yellow! 

Regardless, they were able to push through and finally painted the shelves in the pantry yellow... 

I mean, for real, you would think that they should have gotten a nice introduction to the color when they painted the garage door!

And, hopefully the color is growing on them, because they still have the front door to go!

The photo below is not the most recent - they have trimmed in now and there is no cabinet color on the wall anymore.  Hallelujah!  But there is still much to be painted...

Stay tuned...

goodbye terrible awful...

The retaining wall, affectionately known as the terrible awful, is finally gone!  The grading crew readied the site for the pouring of the concrete sidewalk and driveway.  The next couple of photos just prove that the wall wanted to come down - it was an eye sore...

They also graded the back and the side as well.

paint progress update part 2...

After two days of productivity, we are starting to see paint on the walls, cabinets, doors, and trim.  The fumes were so heavy, I only viewed the progress from the front door and was able to snap a quick photo:

Stay tuned...

paint progress update and exterior photos...

Well...it is unbelievable that the painters have been onsite for so long yet it only took a day to get most of the walls and ceiling painted with the Thin Ice color we chose.  Today, we have been told that the trim painted will be painted...  I doubt that includes doors and cabinets...I'm sure if the painters stayed past 3 o'clock a lot more could get painted...I'm just sayin'. 

But, at least I do have progress to report...so I will pull back on the nag wagon until they slip back to their old ways.  We complained once before and they had a productive day and then two weeks later we complained again and they had a productive day.

The positive side is that we are getting closer to the finish line...if this project were a real race though, I know a couple of painters that I would not want on my team!  Sorry...I guess I haven't pulled back on the nag wagon yet!

Now on to the exterior pre-landscaping...and, if you have not seen our lot, there is an overwhelming amount of landscaping. 

The pictures below were taken post dumpster removal and I have to admit, the house looks amazing (although as you can see in a few pictures, touchups are needed...which we hate to pile on top of the already lengthy list of things for the painters to finish...). 

Looking good.  Stay tuned for updates...

wishing that i could watch paint dry...

Since I get daily requests for updates to the blog, here goes nothing.  And, unfortunately, there is nothing much to update.  We had the cabinets installed on May 8, 2012...these cabinets were installed on unpainted walls which today are mostly primed, but still unpainted.

You know that saying that some folks say when they are doing something that they do not want to be doing...well it goes something like "I would rather be watching paint dry..." 

The crazy thing is that day after day I visit the house actually hoping to watch paint dry...and day after day I am greeted by the same mostly primed, but still unpainted walls. 

To be fair, the cabinets to be painted have been primed.  And, the cabinets that were to be stained have been stained and they are beautiful!  But, my goodness, with the amount of time that has passed since delivery I would hope that they would be...

Here are pictures taken of the cabinets...notice that the walls remain mostly primed, but still unpainted since May 10, 2012 (apologies to those of you who saw the original post, I have since corrected the incorrectly rotated photos...so you no longer have to tilt your head to the right):

Kitchen Cabinets - Stove Wall

Utility Cabinets

Entertainment Cabinet

Kitchen Cabinets - Fridge Wall

Kitchen Island Stained and Cabinets Primed

Stained Island and Drawers

Sanded Entertainment Cabinet

Lacquered Island

Sanded Upstairs Bath Vanity

So, that is my update.  You are probably frustrated just having to tilt your head in order to kind of see the pictures...imagine how frustrated we are going to the house in hopes of seeing just a little bit of gray on the cabinets...

And there are still a LOT of walls that do not have paint on them...  We have been promised that the trim will be painted tomorrow and most of the walls will be complete by Friday...if that happens, I will jump for joy.  But, I can promise I am not holding my breath!

Stay tuned...