Even with the disappointment of moving the completion date two months back to the end of October, it feels like we have a little more room to breath and get everything done perfectly. Before I was told of the shift in timing, I was still holding out hope that something would have kicked into high gear and all the final finishes would be installed before the end of August. Looking at it realistically, there's no way this could be accomplished with all the fine details we're installing. Those details are finally starting to come to a close with respects to millwork and the exterior finishes. Especially on the exterior, we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel as the list of things to complete shrinks well into the single digits.
A lot of changes to the exterior this week. The columns are painted and the gable pediments have been installed above the laundry room window and on the end of the garage. The barrel vault at the front door and the gazebo ceiling were also stained by Nick, the exterior painter. I didn't take a close look around the house to see if there was any touch up paint needed, but I think the exterior paint is completed.
Here's a shot of the front of the house from the end of the garage. I really like how the painted posts came out and they really add a nice clean pop to the front of the house. The completed fascia below the deck should add a nice weight to the bottom and the addition of the black railing shouldn't detract from the bright look. The 1/3rd deposit has been paid to Great Oaks for the retaining walls and driveway work so they should be starting that work soon.
There was a 4x8 and some small post trim pieces on the front porch, which I think should be for the gazebo. Distinctive Designs is working on some brackets for the posts in the round part of the deck to match the arches on the rest of the porch. There's still some trim on the two front posts at the front door but those will wait until the end when that section of the porch is installed.
Here's a look at the side deck with all the posts painted. Some mortar needs to be installed at the base of the cobbles and the railing needs to be installed, but those are the last two remaining parts that need to be completed. Even with them missing, the deck is an awesome place to walk on. We had a good rain while we were visiting this time so it was nice to see where the water was hitting. First off, it was such a nice place to be when the hard rain was falling. The water really only ever wet the first foot of deck on the back corner. I'm sure it's dependent upon which way the wind is blowing, but it's nice that we have the water channeling installed in that area anyways.
Here's what the front gable pediment looks like installed. On the ground, they look huge, but I guess the scale of the house makes them seem a little smaller. The one above the laundry room on the front of the house looks like it could have been a little bit bigger to fit the scale properly, but the one at the end of the garage looks proportional. They're both the same size and were sized to the width of the windows below them, but I think the laundry room has more gable above the window than the garage does.
A closer look at the front gable pediment. I think it looks a little smaller because some of the framing is lost behind the roof fascia. I think for it to look proportional, it could have been taller by a foot or so. I also think that if it was bigger, it would look like the house was smaller since the decorative elements were sized up. Keeping it like this doesn't diminish the size of the house.
Here's the gable pediment that's on the end of the garage. It's not visible from the front of the house, but once we have the deck installed on this side, it will be a nice feature to look like. This side looks more proportional because it takes up a larger percentage of the vertical height of the gable. Hopefully we won't have an issue with birds making nests in the contours, but if we do, I'll just have to get up there to clean them out.
Here's the stained barrel vault at the front door. We were a bit surprised at how dark this and the gazebo ceiling came out. Nick the painter said Mike discussed it with him and decided to go with two coats and a clear poly urethane. The sample Nick initially provided only had one coat on it, but Mike felt that it was too light and, although it matched the deck, with the white beadboard ceiling, the light stain would wash out and lose impact. This darker application closely matches the front door and the stain will only lighten with time, so I'm not worried about it looking bad in the future. Once the paint masking is removed, we'll be able to make a better judgment about the appearance.
Here's a shot of the side of the house with all the columns painted. We went pretty quickly from metal posts at the base to columns from ground to roof! We're still a little undecided about what we're going to do with the uncovered post. Since the actual post footing is deep under ground in the retaining wall, we can't install a stone base. We can't put down a piece of stone at the new grade and install a post on that since the winter ground heaving might destroy that post or push up the deck. It would be ill advised to just run the wood post covering down to the ground because then you would have to worry about the wrap rotting away. It might be possible to make a wrap out of mostly MDO, then the base trim out of Azek or something, but that will probably have to be something we do on our own. The plan of painting it gray and having it hide away in the landscaping is probably a good option right now, and we'll see if it bothers us enough to change later.
The glass block on the mechanical room window was finally installed. It's a pretty large opening, and I don't think I've recently seen such a large glass block installation. Glass block makes sense here since we'll never need to vent the room and security is better with this material. It allows a good amount of light into the otherwise dark room while providing privacy.
The last column wrap on the bottom level was installed and painted. There was another one sitting on the corner of the house but I'm not sure where it goes. Everything looked complete, so maybe this one is extra.
The columns on the master balcony were re-wrapped to fix an out-of-plumb issue and make them look similar to the other columns around the house. It's really awesome that they did this since the original wraps really didn't match anything. Now the look from the lower porch to this balcony is continuous and everything looks plumb. The actual load bearing inside the column couldn't be moved since it's tied to the deck structure, but it shouldn't cause any issues. Glass railing will be installed up here.
As I mentioned earlier, the gazebo ceiling was stained. This closely matches the exterior wood door color and since there's no Azek in the gazebo, we don't have to be concerned with matching the floor. The darkness brings the ceiling down a bit, making the space feel a little more cozy. I'm sure I'll appreciate the darkness when dust and debris starts to accumulate.
Here's another look at the whole gazebo with the columns unpainted. Once the masking is removed, we'll get a better look at the final product. The columns will probably be painted once the stone is finally installed, which should be happening this week. After the stone is installed, they need to add the bottom trim, along with the panel detail, then paint. A bit more work in this area, but it should be completed in a couple weeks.
Moving to the inside, Distinctive Designs has installed the lower part of the rotunda railing and newel post. The balusters have yet to be installed and will probably be done after stain is applied. There were two balusters on site but I didn't see a huge stack of them anywhere. The stairs were marked for baluster placement but the railing was still being supported with temporary supports.
Here's how the bottom newel post attached to the stairs. The fasteners are once again drilled through pockets and plugged with the same species wood. This is done on two places on two sides for a very secure attachment. I didn't crank super hard on it, but there was very little to no wiggle at all. The lowest tread was cut to fit the newel post so the screws probably attached directly to the laminated stringer. During the last paint design meeting, we decided that the stringers and risers will be painted white and the treads will be stained to match the floor. We might hit the stringer with a flat white and the risers and detail with a satin just to set them apart.
These two balusters were stashed in the rotunda to provide an example of what will be installed on the stairs, rotunda, and greatroom overlook. They're both solid stainless steel, with one being a straight pole and the other flaring to hold a round faceted crystal.
Here's a close up of the crystal. We're placing them one every sixth baluster, which works out to one every two steps on the stairs. The baluster with the crystal has the crystal closer to one side than the other so if you wanted to, you could alternate the height to give a staggered effect. Since we're placing them more sparsely, we'll have them all at one height. It seems like the balusters will need to be cut a bit to fit the height of the railing. From pictures I've seen online it looks like the balusters are installed by drilling a pocket in the railing and base or stairs and placing the rod in to set, so unless they mask off each baluster, they'll probably stain first then drill and install the balusters.
Here's a look at where the stair railing meets the top landing newel post. As expected, the railing needs to transition to the rotunda railing though a height adjustment. You can see the pockets for the attachment screws but those will be plugged. I think the railing makes a very nice transition and I'm happy with the implementation. Temporary spacer blocks are placed to ensure a uniform height.
Here's how they finished off the underside of the upper newel posts. A piece of trim was attached to cover the bottom edge. The trim sits a little proud of the post and adds a nice detail to the bottom of the post.
A pieces of the corner bead was added around the rotunda on the bottom of the halo. I was wondering how they were going to finish off this edge. The addition of this piece keeps continuity with the panels installed on the rotunda and great room. The edge of the wall outside the rotunda won't be trimmed with any extra pieces so this is basically the final implementation.
All the corner beads were installed in all the panels in the rotunda, completing the installation. Distinctive Designs just used the standard wood corner beads for the curved parts of the wall since the radius wasn't too tight to bend the trim pieces. I think we decided at the paint design meeting that we'll paint the panel and frames in the same white satin finish. I've seen some pictures of wainscoting that uses a different color panel vs frame, but having a single color will provide a more traditional look. It's only paint and we can change it later if we want something more modern.
The metal fireplace surround was installed on both sides of the fireplace in the greatroom. It's a painted metal plate that comes in two pieces, one for the surround around the fireplace and one more at the bottom "hearth". We needed this piece installed before the tile install could progress since the tile returns and terminates against the metal. Now that it's in place, I hope to see some quick progress on the fireplace column tile.
The finish on the metal is kind of a darkened copper/bronze paint, lightly distressed to keep the darkness. I think it will match well with the Hubbardton Forge Theta we'll be hanging above the fireplace. This was created by one of Margaret's metal workers, who we'll probably contract to create the base of the dining room table, powder room cabinet base, and study desk.
The metal is surprisingly thick, at a quarter of an inch. The hearth plate will be proud of the tile but a little bit, but it's not really wide enough to sit on. We could place decorative items on there as long as they're not prone to melting since the fireplace will put off a good amount of heat. I'm not sure what kind of paint was used on the metal, but I'm pretty sure they know to use a high temp paint. I'm not sure how much heat will be emitting from the fireplace on the surround sides, but I think the top and front has the possibility to get pretty hot, so we'll have to make sure people are careful not to burn themselves when the fireplace is on.
Nick the painter was there on our Saturday visit. He wasn't spraying anything, but was up on the scaffolding, prepping the coffers for paint. You can see the caulk he was applying to the joints of the trim pieces. It's a ton of work and it's all above your head, making it more stressing on your shoulder muscles. I really appreciate the time and effort being put forth from our installers, especially on a weekend.
Distinctive Designs also finished off the corner bead trim on the curved part around the rear speakers in the great room. The addition of this completes the paneling in the great room as well. It looks like they used some kind of composite material instead of wood. It feel similar to the curved crown molding material with a grainy/powdery texture. It seems like they had to cut the profile of the trim in their shop, then heat bend it to the shape of the curve, either in the shop on a template, or in the house. The miters created with the other trim pieces are perfect and once painted, you'll never be able to tell what's wood and what's composite.
The master balcony door was finally delivered and Mike's guys will install it. Hardwood door and Bevel has been done with our front door and we're waiting for a response on when they'll install it. If you'll remember, we were delayed on receiving this door because the recorded height was transposed. Instead of ordering a 98" tall door, they ordered an 89" door. It was only discovered when they tried to install it, well after assembly and finishing. Hardwood Door re-ordered the door at the correct height and assembled and finished it. Hopefully everything fits well.
Here are the two french doors for the master balcony. These are going to allow tons of light into the room, but it will be somewhat filtered since we have an 8 foot roof above the balcony. This door faces north and is somewhat shielded by the great room. It's a thermopane glass, but I don't think it's as tight as our Soft-lite windows, so I'm expecting some kind of heat loss in this location during the winter time. We might try to mitigate it with thicker drapes, but we haven't really broached the subject of window coverings.
Here's what the glass block window in the mechanical room looks like from the inside of the house. It looks like they perfectly installed short blocks on the top and bottom and middle with four rows of full square blocks, in order to perfectly install the height. If you think about it, there's no such thing as cutting down a glass block, so the height needs to be accounted for exactly when choosing the blocks. There's no shimming the casement to make up for plumb, so you need to rely on the thin grout line to adjust to true plumb and level. I would like to dress up this room a bit so maybe in the future, I'll finish off the sill casement with some nicer trim.
More drywall was installed in the mechanical room on the server side. The gray box will contain the first floor lighting controllers. To the right of it will be the video and audio distribution hardware rack. I might want to add a data server rack down here too once the dust clears.
Mike's guys also started installing some code required fire blocking on the ceiling of the mechanical room. There are so many wires and pipes up there, it would be difficult to box everything in, but there are some wire chases that can be covered up and brought to code. We just need to provide a fire barrier against the foam ICF so even this particle board will work. Hit it with some white paint and it will just disappear. There aren't many places on the ceiling where we can just close it up, so we still might end up painting it with the fire retardant paint.
The plumbers had to move the two in-wall faucets in the master bathroom slightly to the right, requiring the drywall to be removed and the pipes extended a bit. When they initially installed the valves, the installed them with the entire valve body centered to the sink. Without the vanity, it seemed to be okay. Now that the vanity is in and the mirror cavity placed, someone noticed that the faucet isn't in the center of the valve body. If it remained installed like this, the faucet would not have been centered in the sink. Luckily it was caught before the tile went up so the repair is minor. Once it's closed up, it's like it never happened.
The parts for the heated floor in the master closet arrived and is stored in the master bedroom. The system is made by Schluter, and combines the Schluter Ditra tile decoupling mats with the hold down dimples for the heating wire.
I think this insulating material is applied to the floor first, which helps direct the heat upwards instead of into the floor. This is especially important for us since our floor is all concrete and would act like a giant heat sink. The label on the package also says it's supposed to act as a sound control, which I could see. The material is a quarter inch think and feels like a thick felt. I think it's applied with a thinset and helps act as the mechanical break between the tiles and floor. It's possible that the floor will expand and contract. Wood floors can flex slightly and with enough flexing could break the mechanical and chemical bonding of the thinset to the subfloor, causing tiles to pop. This material attaches to floor and tile, but is flexible, allowing the tiles bonding to be decoupled from the movement of the floor. The fibrous felt material grabs on to the thinset better than a flat subfloor, providing a better level of bonding (think gum in hair vs gum under a table)
The Schluter sheets have these octagon dimples that you can feed the heating element wire into. The dimples hold down the wire to which you float thinset into over which you apply your floor tile. The wire is applied in a continuous piece and these sheets protect the wire from penetration and kinking.
The back of the Schluter sheet also has the felt material, but not as thick as the insulation barrier. This helps promote adhesion to the subfloor, or in this case, the insulation substrate, while adding more flexibility and decoupling from the floor.
Here's the box for the heating wire. I don't think this system is meant to be a replacement for room heating. If you get in-floor heating, you don't need any other supplementary heat. This is just a comfort installation, warming the otherwise cold tile, but not purposed to heat the whole room. The cable will run to the water closet, which I'm hoping will have some kind of timer so we can ramp it up and down when we'll most likely be in the room. I'll have to read to see how much electricity it consumes. I have read that some people just leave it running all the time. Seems like a good application for the thermal camera.
Apparently, there's a special Ditra thin set that's recommended or required for the installation of the other Schluter Ditra products. 8 bags are present, which will handle the installation of the floor tile in the water closet and main bathroom floor, but not the shower since wire isn't running in there. We'll have to see what kind of height transition we'll be dealing with after all this stuff is installed. The floor is 3/4" thick and it seems like the hole Ditra system and tile will be more than that. I'm hoping we'll be able to get away with no threshold between the two master bathroom doors (bedroom and closet) since all the other rooms have a seamless transition.
Here's a prototype of the post brackets that Distinctive Designs left for us to look at. These will be place at the top of each post in the curved porch, to carry on the arch look. We could probably get away with not having something there, but it looks a little unfinished to leave it be. I think this will work out well because the height of the soffit is the same height as the top of the curve between the other posts, so all we need to do is soften the corners of the posts and it will give the illusion of continuity.
It looks like they considered some other decorative options for the post brackets, but we don't really want anything more gingerbread. It looks nice, but meant for a more traditional Victorian house. It's pretty awesome that Distinctive Designs is willing to put the effort in to trying to please us and it shows with all the great craftsmanship.
Thanks about it for this week. The next update should see some installed exterior doors, hopefully the installed front door, but I'm not sure when it will come. I think we'll be getting in the garage doors and expect to see more tile work completed. Hopefully Old Country Stone will be coming by to complete the gazebo and final mortar around the house. I'm also hoping that Great Oaks will be moving in to complete the retaining walls, steps, and driveway. There's a huge effort needed to prep for interior paint and the drywallers are returning to repair any dents and pops before paint goes up. Interior millwork should be winding down soon and final electrical should be coming in to prep for their work. The geothermal wells should be hooked up soon so we might see some more interesting progress in the mechanical room. Although we got our completion date pushed back to the end of October, things are still moving forward at a great rate. The countdown is back to 11 weeks!
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