Stone and Stain

The bricking continued over the next couple of weeks and got to where the stone could begin! The bricks had to be done first in areas where it meets the stone since the stone ends where it hits brick, not the other way around (if that makes any sense!).

The back patio and outside of the master bedroom are done:


They used more scaffolding to get to the front of the garage and finish it in about 3 days:

(the remaining green part will get stone here also)

They began bricking the shop too and finished it in about 3 days. The middle of the shop around the windows is purposefully left brickless as it will get a small amount of siding. This is to create a visual breakup of the wall so it looks like a garage and less like a bunker. Day1:
and Done:

After bricking the front of the house was done in the right places, they began the stone work. The bottom foot or two is mortared normally with mortar all in between the stones. This is because this area of the wall will be under dirt or cement when the patio is poured and final dirt grading done around the house. You don't want dirt and water getting in between the stones and allowing water and mold to enter the wallapace so they seal it with mortar.

By day two they had started placing the dry stack style stones on top. This is a time-consuming process because they mix the stone sizes, textures and orientations to create visual interest as well as keeping the lines level. It's skillful and intricate stuff.

The stone terminates into the brick already laid down. You can clearly see where the mortared stone ands and the dry stack begins (also the freshly done brick and mortar next to the dry stuff)

At the end of day 2 (or is it three?!) the stone is about halfway up the wall and looking good:

The front door was one of the last bits done on the house brick.

After the third day or so:

Vivi wears some interesting outfits around the house. Here is one of her "daytime pajama" outfits complete with Webkinz snake accessory (I call it her Boa boa, even though it's a tiger snake).

Notice also the mismatched croc style:


The staining also began on Friday 13th (spoooky!). The color we used is Sherwin-Williams "Walnut Wainscot." It's rather dark brown and shows grain well.
The bonus room:

The kitchen after the first coat:

Laundry room stained

The study with one door stained and one not:

The master bathroom staining:

Vivi's bathroom stained:

Doors removed for staining:

Staining is a multi-day process. After the initial coat they come back with "sand and seal" which adds some shine and can be sanded. Then they come back with another coat and also they will blend in the lighter tones to the darker by staining more in lighter areas. Then a shiny laquer finish. Here are a couple of pieces after the first sand-and-seal application. Shiny already!



Bonus pics!
Life in the country includes wild and semi-tame animals...
Carly is the semi-tame duck, who will get out of the pond and follow you wherever you go (although here she's looking for bread).
"I don't have any bread!"

This is a wild bullfrog (in temporary captivity) conversing with a tame, housebroken tree frog.


Next week we get our countertops (oooh), staining will be done (aaah), and we start on the interior colors (w00t)! We also picked out our lighting last weekend so we're really adding details now and should have lots of exciting pics.

We Have a Brick...House

The masons really outdid themselves - in three days they have bricked more than 3/4 of the house!

Check out the pics:

Joe starts bricking the screen porch (in the shade!) on day 1

Starting on the garage wall day1

The back patio at the end of day1

The garage wall at the end of day 1. Every few rows of bricks they add a corrugated metal piece and nail it to the wall. Our brick bossman explained this is actually to help firefighters - in the event of a fire inside the house, the brick wall will hold on to the burning wood walls and prevent the wood from falling onto the firefighters inside!

They get about halfway up the walls in one day:

The garage wall at end of day 1:

On the second day they finished the walls on the back and garage side already!
The garage wall end of day 2:

The back patio and of day 2:

Joe working on the high spots:

On day 3 the crew was working hard on the longest wall of the house. They had an assembly line of masonry cement and bricks, slapping them on:

Another shot of the long wall on day 3:

At the end of the third day three sides of the house were done!

The long wall done:

Scaffolding almost done:

They even started on the front brick at the end of day 3:

The front of the house is building fast (the stone will be next):


Every night in the summer there are toads on the porch trying to feast on the bugs but the toads are really easy to catch! Vivi likes to catch them and keep them overnight to let them go the next day:

Last week Vivi also went to Zoo Camp to increase her expertise of all things reptilian and amphibian. Her backpack is really not heavy since it only contains a stuffed Webkinz; I think the weight on her shoulders is having to pose for a pic.


Next week is staining of the wood trim and cabinets, and finishing the brick and starting on the stone!

Trim is done!

The trim carpenters busted their behinds and did a great job, basically finishing in 3 weeks.
Here are some final shots of the cabinetry and trim:

Angel's dream laundry includes a fabulous computer desk:

The trim carpenters added crown molding to all of the cabinets (and little footings on all of the cabinets on tile):

Crown molding and finished cabinets on the cooktop wall:

The bar finished (except for countertops):

The master bath linen closet was not premade other than the doors and front - the carpenters designed and built the rest of it:

The carpenters added a cabinet to the master bath with piano hinges and hidden storage:

The doors on each side open for medicine cabinets and also to make a convenient three-mirror configuration (mirrors not installed yet :-) )

The tub is trimmed out:

The carpenters added some shelves above the dresser too!

The laundry and upstairs have smaller cafe doors - these are placeholders so the carpenters could install case the frames:

The ironing board cabinet:

Vivi's bath is done with mirror trim and lighting base:

The shop is now insulated and awaiting drywall too! Those palletes of bags are all masonry cement for the brick and stone.


Well that's it for the carpentry...the bricks are next and painters are almost ready to go now that the trim is done!