Driveway and Lights Part 1

   We're getting lucky with our warm fall weather with daytime temperatures reaching into the mid 70's F with clear an sunny skies.  The fall colors are popping in the sun make us remember back to spring when Tanja said "The leaves budding now will be on the ground when we move in".  It's not too far from the truth as we tackle a few more stepping stones towards completion, a finished driveway, finished painting, and partially installed finished electrical.  Stone work in the gazebo is also finished with just the rework on the columns and painting left.  We're pushing hard to get everything in quickly but it looks like we'll overshoot the end of October deadline.

   Gone are the days of mud puddles and a dirty car now that the base for the asphalt driveway is in.  From street to house, over 250 ft, was laid and compressed in one day, with cars driving on it the next day.  This is just the base, so visually it contains some larger aggregate, and it's still a couple inches lower than final coat, but after living with a dirt driveway for three years, this is a huge improvement.  The entire motorcoach is laid, and this area will also receive the finished top coat since we also need to install an asphalt curb near the retaining wall.

   The grade of the driveway is significantly higher than the lower side of the ground on some parts of the driveway, with some base stone exposed.  We'll have to figure out how we'll cover this base and grade off the side.  The extra parking is in place, which can probably park a couple cars, and may come in handy if we have a large party.  We eyeballed that we could fit about 7 cars up at the house and two here, with some more on the unpaved section where I'm storing my uncut firewood.  Now we just need to find more friends.


   Here's a shot of the driveway from the laundry room window.  All the bump outs in the profile of the driveway are there to facilitate turning around from backing out of the garage.  I've so far tested both bays of the large garage door, without actually driving into the garage, and found there to be plenty of turn around room, even with my larger vehicle.  The large motor coach also provides a big area for the kids to ride their bikes, which we took advantage of during our visit.


   Three PVC conduits are buried across the driveway to ease installation of any future landscape lighting.  They're marked by a painted stake, which will probably disappear before the winter is over, so we'll need to find a better way to locate these.  Maybe a large rock or something.  We missed our opportunity to lay communication lines for a future gate, so we'll need to have The Sound Vision figure out that aspect of the install.  These will come in handy once we figure out exterior lighting, a topic we haven't even broached in the landscape design.


  A bit of a cross sectional look at the driveway, up near the house.  It's a good three inches of asphalt sitting on about 5 inches of base, with more in some places.  There will be a couple more inches on top of this when the final layer is applied.  I'm not sure what the timetable is for the final up at the house, but we'll be holding off on it up the rest of the driveway until the majority of the back yard landscaping is completed, a few years from now.  For now, this is completely smooth and driveable.  Some people even keep this layer as the final driveway, as it's the same as used on roads.  Residential driveways usually use a smaller aggregate for the final layer, which provides a cleaner blacktop look.

   The front porch landing bluestone was mortared, but the remaining treads still need to be installed on both the front and back steps.  The "urn pedestals" also need to be capped with a piece of bluestone to complete the installation.  After all the trials we had with this, it's almost done and the result is great.  I'm happy with the way the five steps are broken up into two and three and the width creates an inviting entry way.

   The asphalt at the landing and garage slab ramp up to meet the higher grade.  This will disappear when the final asphalt layer is installed but there will have to be one ramp on the driveway where the final layer stops.  This is good for now but it will be nice when the final layer is installed.  There's about a two in drop from the landing to the driveway so the entire thickness of the asphalt will approach five inches when completed.


   There's some evidence of planning or prepping for the railing installation on the retaining wall.  I found marks on the walls limestone top, which should coordinate with the installation location of the safety railing end posts.  The same railing will be installed on the front porch and gazebo, but I didn't find any markings in those locations.  Now that the driveway is in place, this railing becomes more important as it's easier to walk up to the edge.  Bushes in the planing bed will also act as a barrier, but we won't have those in for inspection, so the railing is needed for our certificate of occupancy.

   Exterior lights have begun to go up, even if they're not functioning yet.  The lights that flank each garage door, front and back, are the "State Street" model made by The Copper Smith.  It's made of 20 oz copper and comes with gas or electrical options.  We got these cool LED Weiyan bulbs that simulate a gas flame, and the seeded glass that masks the bulb.  We can't turn it on yet because, while all the fixtures are wired up, the switches are not.  It will be a pretty big project to get all the lighting circuits, including those on the Control4 system, connected up so it might be some time before we see working lights in the house.

   All the faux hardware has also been installed on the garage doors.  Hinges and vertical handles make the garage doors look like carriage doors that swing out, while the horizontal handle at the bottom actually allows you to lift the door vertically.  The double bay garage door was also switched out with the correct window arch, which I can't believe I didn't get a picture of.  We really like how the lights mounted on the brackets turned out and can't wait to see the flame affect light up for the first time.

   Here's a closer look at the single bay door on the front of the house.  The top faux hinge sits a little high on the door stile due to a door panel seam, but in all, we're happy with the look of the doors.  Additionally nice is that they should be maintenance free and they're insulated so the garage should never get too cold or too hot.

   The rear garage door got the final installation and exterior lights as well.  With the repairs to the front double bay door, this completes the garage door installation.  There are some extra parts, like the dome lights that are supposed to come on with the opening of the garage door.  We also didn't purchase the web adapter yet, that will hook the control of the doors up with the Control4 system, but we might do that in the future so we can not only control the doors, but check on their status and tie the opening in with the control of the house lights.

   All the riser cobble on the back steps have been laid, but not mortared and some of the bluestone on the landing has been mortared.  The treads still need to be installed but the steps are usable for now.  After the first correction, the installation here has been smooth.  I haven't heard any mention of the addition of another hose bib to the side of the porch, but we have a rough going through the wall there.  We would need to connect it to the interior and run the pipe under the porch.  I'm not sure if it will also be complicated by freezing temperatures since a good length of pipe will run through the unconditioned space under the porch.  That odd corner is the perfect place for a hose reel and it's the only hose supply for this side of the house so it's pretty important.

   The gazebo is complete, minus the counter top for the barbecue.  All of Old Country Stone's mortar work is completed and the results are fantastic.  The installation is solid, everything is clean and all extra stone has been removed.  The only thing I didn't see is weeper holes going under the bench, but I'm not sure if we'll need them.  When it was only concrete, some water could blow its way in and sit on the floor until it evaporated, but I'm not sure weepers would help drain that.  It could be useful when we power wash the floor, but that's the only situation in which I expect a lot of water in the gazebo.

   Here's the finished gazebo from the sliding door in the kitchen.  A thin piece of stone was installed behind where the barbecue will go. filling the gap that wasn't needed.  Everything here is now ready for the stone counter top to be delivered, which is scheduled for later this week on the 27th, so next weeks update should have all installed counter tops.  We won't have the barbecue for move in, but we'll probably get it before next summer at the latest.  No need to have it before we'll need it.  The range top inside the kitchen will have a charbroiler that we can use over the winter.

   Here's how the other side of the back porch looks.  This section does have a slight slope, but you really don't feel it in your feet.  It's most visible with the diagonal cut at the boots for the columns.  The slope is enough to allow a ball to roll, but not enough to be uncomfortable.  Like the rest of the porch, this section came out great and we're really happy to have it in.

   Now that the stone has been installed, the final trim details can be installed on the gazebo columns.  The lower boots have been installed on all the columns and the quarter rounds are going on.  After this, one more round of paint and we'll be ready for rails.  Unfortunately, the completion of all the columns is dependent upon the delivery and installation of the barbecue stone, supplied by PMP marble and granite and they're a little behind, delivering this week on the 27th.  Hopefully the weather will hold out a bit longer so we can still paint outside.

   Lighting installation is about 65% completed on the interior of the house.  These sconces in the foyer were installed, but they're supposed to be centered in the panel.  The electricians were supposed to move the light box before installation, so now they'll need to remove the sconce and move the box before reinstalling.  Not that big of a deal but it will involve some drywall work, and repaint.  Nick the painter was already planning on coming back for touch-ups after the floor is installed, so I guess it's not too much of an inconvenience.  These lights are Framburg Theorem 1157 in polished silver

   The delivery wasn't without its mishaps.  This Framburg Brocatto semi flush in the foyer was supposed to be 22", but they delivered a smaller once.  The exchange is already shipping out but it was realized too late after the electrician installed the light.  I think it's just a swapping of the shade, so the replacement should be easy.

   All the masking was removed from the built in shelves and cabinets in the study in preparation for staining.  Electricians have also installed socket plates in many of the rooms, but there's an issue with those.

  The color of the plates don't match the color of the sockets.  For that matter, the plates are supposed to be Lutron so it doesn't seem like the correct plates were used.  These have a slight crackle appearance, which isn't very appealing and doesn't match with any of the other trims.

   The plates are in fact from Mulberry.  Although they are metal, which is a much more durable choice, they have a wrinkle finish, and they're not what we were expecting.  Mike and Margaret are aware of this and will deal with it accordingly.  I'm not sure if there was some miscommunication or if these were installed as part of a standard installation, but they need to be changed.

   These are the switches being installed for all the standard light switches in the house.  These are the paddle style, which I like and a pretty standard installation so nothing special going on here.  Many of the lights are on the Control4 lighting control and have dimming capabilities, but those on these switches won't have dimming for now.  If I feel like we need dimmers I can always swap them out in the future.

   Here's the first look at the French doors in our study, painted and unmasked!  They need some adjustment to close properly, but this is the first time we're seeing the actual glass in the doors.  The left door is the static one with an astrigal latch, so the light switch to the room is on that side.  I'm not sure how often we'll have these doors closed, but it will be nice to shut out some noise, or at least deny some entry when guests are over.  The glass also allows some of the light in this room to get into the darker foyer.

   The chandelier in our dining room has been installed, but extra cable left for a final height adjustment.  This is called Winter from Hubbardton Forge, and one of the splurge items on our lighting list. It's an LED light that illuminates from the rectangular frame.  There's hexagonal metal pieces that look like they're falling through a portal from another dimension, which we thought was pretty cool.  We still have to order the dining room table that will go in here, so until then, we'll need the light height adjustable.

   The installation of the light in the butlers pantry went in without a hitch and looks great.  It's called "Caress" from Progress Lighting and has a texture water glass and polished nickel metal.  We had to move the position of this light so it was centered in the space left by the cabinet and the wall.  It's a good thing we did this, otherwise the cabinets wouldn't be able to open without hitting the light.

   LED retrofits were installed in most of the second floor recessed lights with these from TCP.  They run on 14W at 3000k CRI and replace 120W halogens, so they put out a lot of light.  These will be the primary lighting in all recessed can locations both interior and exterior on the porches.  I have experience with other LED bulbs and know to stay below the 3000k range for CRI or else the light will start to look too blue.  When the electrician's finally get these hooked up, we should have enough light around the house, excluding all the feature lights.  Recessed lights are a controversial topic, but I enjoy the light they put out almost all our other light fixtures are mostly decorative.

   All the walk in closets will get some form of this light.  Some closets are bigger than others, so we went with a slightly larger diameter to those, but most of them are a 10" size.  It's a little nicer looking than a standard flush mount light, but not too expensive.  We'll be getting something else in the master closet that will be installed at a later date.

   Currently sitting in the rotunda awaiting installation is this box of goodies from The Sound Vision.  I didn't look through all the boxes, but many of these are the Control4 customizable switches for the lighting controls.  There were some larger boxes on the bottom, which I think contained the actual light controllers that will be installed in the control panels.  I don't think the expensive wireless remotes or keypads were present in this box.

   These are all the button configurations the switch can take.  You have the option of using all the little buttons if you need lots of functionalities, the large buttons if you need less, and combinations in between.  The nice thing is that you can get the switches reprogrammed, so if you find that you need to add some functionality, it just takes a visit from the installer.  When you think about lighting controls, you need to get away from thinking about "This switch controls the lights in this room".  With this system, "This switch could control the light in any room" or "This switch turns off the over head cans and turns on the under cabinet lights to 20% for a night light mode."  Of course, you could still program with switch to have a 1 to 1 functionality, but you'll be losing some of the power of programmable controllers.

   This is what sits behind the buttons.  There are 6 micro-switches that can be actuated by the button fascias to perform the different tasks.  This controller can also be used to control audio in distributed systems if desired.  We refrained from adding these switches to some of the bedrooms so people wouldn't need to learn how to turn on the light when they visit.  Even still, we have a good number of them going into the house, so installation of the system will take some time.  These all communicated back to the control panels in the basement or laundry room, then turn on the lighting circuits as applcable

   The meter for the geothermal HVAC system was installed by DTE so heat should be working at the house now, just in time for the flooring installation.  Unfortunately, the thermostats on all three floors are throwing error codes, so Mike has to call Porter & Heckman back to troubleshoot the issue.  It's not a good sign that the system is failing before we even move in, but hopefully the issue will be resolved quickly so the wood floor can acclimate to the house and we can keep moving forward.

   The railing in the rotunda was finally unmasked again so we can get another look at how awesome it looks.  The railings and risers still need to be stained, and I'm not sure if that will happen before or after stair installation, but it should be happening soon.  All the balusters will need to be taped off before staining, so when we see that happening, we'll know that stain is on the way.

   The last gray portion of the second floor has been painted, completing the paint inside the house.  You can also see some of the recessed lights with their LED retrofits installed.  They're low profile and the integrated trim has clean lines, so they don't cast any large shadows.  I'm hoping that the 3000k light will be yellow enough to provide a nice bright natural light look, especially in the darker rotunda.

   These lights are installed in the stairwell to the basement, two in total with a recessed light at the basement landing.  They're a little bit of a departure from the rest of the lights, but we like the look.  They're glass that looks like a crystal and incorporates the same finishes of the rest of the house, while providing a different look.  They almost provide a fantasy look, like a magic glowing crystal that's used as a light source, which is perfect for the curved stairs leading down into the basement.

   The second lighting splurge item on our list is this Hubbardton Forge "Theta".  We need to get an extension kit to lower it down more, hopefully so it hangs just below the handrailing on the second floor.  It's also LED lit, with light emitting from the rectangular frame. As you can see, we designed the coffers in the ceiling with this light specifically in mind, modifying the pattern to accept the mounting plate.  It turned out perfect in its execution, as long as we can extend the length down to the height we want.  The online examples show it in a very similar situation as ours, so we know it's possible.

   Not only are there four cables that suspend the rectangle, but there are two rods that suspend the ring.  Both of those need to be extended in order to get the height we want.  It doesn't cast much light as it's intended as more of an art piece than a light provider.  It might cast enough light to throw some interesting shadows on the fireplace stone

   I braved climbing up on the scaffolding to take a closer look at the light.  We had a few options for the color of the finish, and landed on this bronze and gold combination.  The color should match perfectly with our dark floors.  Hopefully this will be one of those "wow" items that people see and like.  The chandelier in the rotunda is the last interesting lighting element that we haven't seen yet.  I didn't see it on the premises, but I know that all the lights have been delivered save for the great room sconces, which are back ordered until December.

  In-floor receptacle been installed in the great room and study.  They protrude enough so that they'll be close to flush with the wood floor.  Instructions on the cement say "Sandwich between floor and cement", which I think means sandwich the mounting tabs or something.  The two boxes in the great room will be placed right under arm tables so we can have lamps in the middle of the room without cords running across traffic paths to the wall.  The box in the study will be under the corner intersection of our desk and will be used to power our computers.

   If the light isn't installed, then it's ready to be installed.  Here are the pendant lights that will hang over the kitchen island.  I'm not sure if they're going to install these before they set the island and install the counter top or if they'll wait so no heads are getting bumped.  There aren't too many other lights that need to be installed, just switches that need to be wired.  We have two Feiss 3 light globe pendants going above the kitchen island, which I hope will provide enough task lighting.

   The Harlow 3 light semi flush from Nuvo lighting is what we chose for the mudroom.  It has polished nickel metal and a slate gray fabric shade that matches nicely with the colors and materials in the room.  The swing of the dutch door comes within 6 inches of this light, so we have no problems with obstructions.  There's a little natural light from the exterior door, but it's kind of tucked back behind the closet, so this is the second darkest room in the house.  We have some other recessed lights in this room, so this semi flush isn't the only artificial light source.

   These are the two large crates that the Hubbardton Forge "Theta" and "Winter" were shipped in.  They're not solid side crates, but they have a wood frame covered with cardboard, to protect them during transit.  These two are by far the most expensive lights in the house and blew our lighting budget, but we were willing to pay out of pocket to install these showcase pieces.  I haven't seen the chandelier for the rotunda yet, but I think that should come in a large crate too.

   The shutoff switch was installed next to the Tesla wall charger, but I don't think the charger is connected to the circuit yet.  We need to get the circuit installed completed before DTE will come and install the meter so I'll try to press to get it installed.  The dedicated charger is on a 100A circuit at the main EV panel but through line losses, you shouldn't realistically exceed 80A, which is why this switch is 80A rated.  Also, the charger will only run at 72A, which is the max my car can charge at outside of the Tesla Supercharger, so we're well below the max circuit draw for both the switch and primary circuit.

   We have three Feiss tubular vanity lights going on the wall between the medicine cabinets in the master bathroom. They show them as horizontal on the website, but can be installed vertical, which is what we're doing.  These won't be able to be installed until the tile goes on the wall, which will be after the counter tops are installed later this week.  You can see how things can cascade out of schedule if you have one supplier that's slow to deliver.

   No special lights in the laundry room, but all recessed LEDS installed.  They also finished painting the laundry machine cabinets and plate under the upper cabinets.  Once the finished plumbing is installed, this room is done.  There's still a lot of lighting control stuff that needs to be installed for all the lighting circuits on the second floor, but this room isn't controlled by them.

   The gray color and satin finish on the laundry machine cabinets was color matched to the Homecrest cabinet door color perfectly.  I wouldn't even be able to tell that the two pieces came from different sources.  The underside of the cabinet is the standard birch plywood color, which would have been fine, but Margaret insisted that we fill the underside with a piece of wood and have it color matched.  It definitely looks more finished with the piece in and painted and I'm glad she suggested it.  We really like how the laundry room turned out and think it's actually one of the nicest rooms in the house.  It has a great view of the front yard, tons of light, and a peaceful pallet.

   The girls room was painted and contains the only non-neutral color walls in the house.  The walls are painted with Sherwin-Williams "Potentially Purple" and the ceiling is "Inspired Lilac".  These two colors are in the same family with Potentially Purple being one shade darker than Inspired Lilac.  To our eyes, the Potentially Purple looks really, really purple right now, but maybe because it's the darkest thing in the room right now.  Maybe when the floors are in, it will look less saturated.  The girls love the color, as little girls do and can't wait to live in the house.

   Here's another angle of the painted turret room in a different light.  It's a little less purple with direct natural light on it but when viewed from the first floor through the rotunda, the doorway to this room is lit up like a neon sign.  I guess it can be expected considering it's the only color in the house.  We've decided to have the ceiling vents color matched to the ceiling color rather than keeping them white. I'm not sure if we'll carry that thought throughout the house since we have white wall and switch plates.

   That's about it for this week.  Next weeks update should include a wood floor delivery, if not some installation.  We should be getting in all the stone counter tops, but I'm not sure if the tile installers will return that quickly to complete their install.  Finished electrical progress should continue with The Sound Vision coming in for some installation work.  I don't know what the time table is for the finished plumbing install is, but it should be on the books.  The last week in October is upon us.  With so much to do, I don't think it's possible to finish it all this month, but we should be safe to file for our Certificate of Occupancy soon.  Better start thinking about hiring movers and getting a big dumpster to clean up the house a bit!

Driveway Foundation and a Nearly Completed Gazebo

   Fall weather is finally kicking in with a couple of cold and rainy days .  Although all the leaves have yet to change and drop, the forest is starting to show signs of Autumn with some of the maples already bear.  I got a chance to visit the site and sit through a quick thunder storm, giving me the opportunity to check where the roof sheds water, and verify any remaining draining issues from the most recent grade change.  Progress was abound outside with the near completion of the flooring in the gazebo, further progress on the front and back steps, and the gravel base for the driveway.  The inside also saw significant progress with the completion of paint on the first floor, hardware planning, and more prep for the finished electrical install.

   The first 15 feet of the driveway is still the base sand, but past that, all the way up to the house has a new, thick layer of crushed gravel for the asphalt base.  One man with a dozer and a roller spread and compacted the entire driveway with another hauling in truckload after truckload of the gravel.  Gone is the low spot in front of the sign, so we no longer have to worry about deep puddles after the rain.  We got to see a little bit of the work in action during our hardware planning visit during the week.

   The gravel contains a mix of fine and large aggregate.  The pieces of large aggregate are not smooth, which I've read is what you're looking for.  The harder edges will create a stronger base since they're less likely to slide off each other.  The roller compacts the base enough to drive on without any sinking.

   A little farther up the driveway at the first bend.  We had some concerns about how low the driveway dipped down on the second curve, but it looks like a significant amount of base was added.  A few inches of asphalt will be added to the top of this, so we should be pretty high when it's completed.  We'll have to address how to taper the grade on the sides to combat erosion and premature wear.  You have to make sure to support the edges or you'll get crumbling should a vehicle drive too close to the shoulder.

   Approaching the house.  They moved the dumpster to the unfinished overflow parking area so the entire driveway could be paved.  It's getting pretty full anyways, so they'll probably need to haul it away soon.  There's not much construction work left in the house, so I'm not sure if they'll need to get another large dumpster or if a smaller one will suffice. 

There are three large white pipes spaced up the driveway that are currently sitting on the sides.  These should be placed perpendicularly under the driveway to act as a conduit, should we need to pass wires from one side to the other.  I'm not sure why they're not in the ground already, or if they'll be placed before the asphalt is poured.  The Sound Vision was supposed to coordinate with Great Oaks about requirements for the gate intercom, but I didn't see any new wires.  It's a pretty long distance for wireless so I don't think that's an option.

   Gravel was placed for the paved overflow parking spot but it looks a little small.  It's not meant to take up the whole space, but you should be able to fit two cars, diagonally from the driveway.  Maybe a work truck was in the way when they were laying the stone, and the footprint will be increased in the next week.

   Here's what the driveway looks like up at the house.  The pallets of blue stone need to be moved so the gravel can be placed and compacted here.  There is a bed to the left of the front steps, but the driveway should go all the way to the steps down.  That extra space is required to give us enough room to turn around our cars.

   Here are the machines doing all the work on the driveway.  I didn't get much chance to talk to the operator, but he's an older guy and manned both machines.  The dozer quickly spread the gravel and the roller compresses it.  I think the roller has some vibration functions or something to compact the gravel.  If it's just weight, then it does a great job since I had no issues with sinking driving my nearly 2 ton car up the driveway.

   A small gap was left next to the wall to define the driveway.  There will be a safety curb in the asphalt so cars don't easily drive off the wall.  There will also be a planting bed, grass near the boulder wall, and safety fence on top of the wall.  I'll miss being able to walk all the way up to the edge of the wall but the railing is a necessity and the bushes will hide the railing.

   The dimensions on the front steps were fixed and I'm told that the original subcontractors on the job were removed from service.  Maybe too many mistakes were being made, costing Great Oaks money.  It looks like they cut away the excess concrete in front and poured a bit more on the back to bring the lower landing to within specs.  The upper landing was demolished and shifted back to the correct dimensions.  Mike said they had enough footing below to stack the new landing riser on, so I'm not worried about structural integrity.  Cobble stone faces the risers and blue stone will cap the treads when completed.  If the weather holds out, I imagine they'll be able to finish this week.

   These pallets of blue stone are what's left of the material for the treads.  It's the same that's used on the lower landing and the back steps, but slightly more homogeneous in color compared to the gazebo stone.  They have to be moved before the driveway installer can complete his gravel compacting, but since the first asphalt base is scheduled for the 17th, They'll probably move it first thing on Monday.

   Here's a few of the steps from the porch.  You can see the first few feet of the front porch is susceptible to rain but that's about it.  The rain was being blown around pretty hard so I'm happy with how little got on the deck.  The front door should be well protected from the elements.  The actual steps have been installed all the way up to the front porch with example blue stones placed where applicable.  I believe the pedestals that flank the steps will be capped in the same material.

   Hardwood door and bevel sent their installers one more time to fix the various issues we had with the exterior doors.  They sent a furniture repair person to address the unsightly plugs in the casement of the front door and we're satisfied with the results.  They're now flush with the casing and you might not be able to see if unless you were looking for them.  The front door closes easily now and all the binding on the door frame is gone.  It took a few tries and some heated conversation to get it to this point, but it was well worth the effort.  The thing we need to keep reminding ourselves is that this is our house and we're ultimately the client, so if we're not happy with something, we should speak up and not feel like we're imposing on the installers.  It's an odd thing to get used to since we're not usually the type of people to cause an inconvenience, but getting into the final stages, appearance is everything so it's worth it to be annoying.

   Moving inside, nearly the entire first floor is done with painting.  There were one or two places that still required paint, but for the most part everything is done on the first floor.  Here's the gray that went into the dining room walls.  It's Sherwin Williams "Mindful Gray" () in a flat finish.  It's has a little more earth tone in it compared to the other grays in the house, and I think it will pick up on the brown of the floor more.  We were also considering this for the exterior, but decided to go with the more green "Earl Gray".  The detail on the ceiling is painted in a satin and the rest is in flat, so even though they're the same "Snowbound White" color, they look different from the sheen.  I love the effect and can't wait to get our final dining room table and lights in here.

   I was wondering what these things were last week and speculated that they were used as a baseline for leveling the floors.  Turns out they're for monitoring the moisture content of the house and floor for the wood floor installation.  There's normally a concern with the amount of moisture in the air and, in our case, the floor since in a newer house, the concrete would be curing and releasing some moisture.  The paint drying process also adds humidity to the air and there needs to be a certain level of humidity reached before the floors can be brought to the house for final location acclimation. Once it's decided that the ambient humidity is good, they'll bring in the wood floors and let them sit for a few days to reach parity with the house.  This ensures the installation will be tight and not experience expansion or contraction due to a difference between the moisture content in the wood and air.  I thought this effect would be lessened with engineered floors, but it's still enough of a consideration to go through this procedure.

   I think the only room that received final paint on the second floor is the rotunda, since it share the same color as the rotunda below as well as the greatroom, foyer, and kitchen.  The masking remains on the tin ceiling, but can probably be removed and the stain still needs to be applied to the railing and stairs, but I'm not sure if that will happen before or after the wood floor is installed.  The section above the stairs still needs to be painted, but that will probably be finished this week.  The paint is peculiar because it looks much darker when it's next to the primed wall, but once it's all painted, appears lighter.  I was a little worried about the color at first, but now that I see whole wall sections painted, it looks great.

   The entire greatroom painting is completed and all the masking is removed.  The back wall paneling got the "Snowbound white" in satin, along with the coffer beams and trim throughout the house.  The ceiling is a "Nebulous white" in flat and the walls are "Passive Gray" in flat.  The nebulous is the second grayest in its series and the Passive is the whitest gray, so they're very close in color.  The nebulous coffers make the snowbound beams pop just a little bit without being too in your face, but it keeps the ceiling lighter than the walls, offering a more airy feeling.  Looking back a half year, I would have never imagined the final product to look this spectacular.

      Here's another shot of the greatroom ceiling.  The scaffolding will remain in the house until the lights are installed this week.  We're getting LED retrofits in all the recessed lights made by TCP.  It's part of their designer elite series with a 3000k CRI, which is a slightly yellow/white light.  Not as yellow as a standard incandescent bulb, but not as white as a fluorescent tube.  We'll see if the 6 cans we have up there are enough to light the room.

   Most of the masking remains in place on the fireplace column but should be able to be removed soon.  The TV back plate still needs to be painted, but that will probably be a brush job.  A bank draw was made to pay the Sound Vision for the initial equipment purchase so we should start to see some of the sound systems rolling in.  Lighting circuits will be installed by the electricians, under the guidance of a Sound Vision installer but primary equipment installation isn't scheduled to start until later this month.

   Distinctive designs installed a small piece of metal on both sides of the fireplace up under the overhang.  We considered using stone on the underside, but it didn't work out well, so we opted for a piece of powder coated metal.  It's not something you would normally see unless you're sitting on the ground, but it's important to have since it's only cement board underneath.  Powder coating should be able to withstand the heat of the fireplace, better than paint but I'll have to monitor this.

   I can't remember if this is new or not, but there are electrical plugs in many places on the first floor.  I don't think they're hooked up to main power yet and they might have already been installed since before paint, but masked off, so I missed the install.  These are interesting because they have an internal safety feature that prevents accidental electrocution.  If you look closely, you'll see that the plugs are actually blocked by a piece of plastic.  It slides out of the way when two prongs are inserted or something, but prevents a single object from entering the receptacle. We should see more of these being installed around the house this week now that the final electrical phase is moving in.

   They finished painting the basement stairwell in the same Passive white color as the rotunda.  It's a nice finishing touch to an otherwise unfinished space.  These lighting sconces that will be installed in the stairwell are unfortunately back ordered until December since they're so new, so we'll have to wait until then to get them installed.

   The guest room on the first floor has its final paint of Sherwin Williams "City Loft" in flat.  This and the adjoining bathroom are the only rooms getting this color in the entire house.  The City Loft is a much lighter gray than the rotunda and kitchen and when combined with the three windows in this room, keep the space feeling clean and light.

   The City Loft works especially well in the guest bathroom, that hints at a Victorian design with the patterned tile floor and wainscoting subway tile.  It's enough color to differentiate from the white tile and wood trim, but not strong enough to darken the room.  Keeping the first floor rooms light is important since we have a large porch overhang on every first floor window.  Lighter paint colors and cabinets help achieve that.

   Our meeting mid-week with Margaret and Mike bore fruit in the form of a count and plan to implement all cabinet hardware throughout the house as well as towel racks, toilet paper rolls, and accessory hooks in necessary rooms.  We met the previous week at our local hardware distributor, and picked out the styles we wanted in each room so this meeting was to record a count and finalize the sizes.  The kitchen was by far the most complicated room so we marked each door with the appropriate size hardware so there would be no question what goes where.  Another finish marked off the list!

   The mudroom is finally getting its unveiling now that the room is painted in its "Repose Gray".   For some reason, the gray stained locker has a green tinge in this picture so maybe I should perform a white balance in every room before I take pictures.  It also might be form the exterior lighting of the mudroom door, which is also unmasked.  The mudroom bathroom, which is much too dark to photograph without artificial lights, is the same color as the tile also carries directly in.  All we need are finished electrical and door knobs and this room is complete.

   Although most of the second floor still needs to be painted, they did make their way into the spare bedroom, painted in the same Repose Gray as the mudroom and office.  The natural lighting in this room is better than the mirrored one below it on the first floor and will be reserved for a future kids room.  Floors and finished electrical is all that's needed in this room now.

   The adjoining bathroom is a little less traditional than the guest bathroom, and replaces the zero threshold shower with a tub/shower.  The hardware in here will be more masculine but the towel hardware will be the same as the other non-master bathrooms.  We probably won't have shower doors for move in, and opt for shower curtains to help with child bathing.

   Another fix performed by Hardwood Door and Bevel is to the master balcony door hardware.  When they last left it, the two door handles weren't aligned to each other and the dummy handle on the right was missing the top screw.  I'm not sure what was involved in the correction, but they're not even and the screw is in place.  As a note, you can tell the level of installation when the screws are all indexed in the same orientation.  Good electricians like to align the flathead plate screws either all horizontal or all vertical and it means something when you pay special attention to the small details.  I'll probably index these myself since that detail wasn't done.

   The laundry room hasn't been painted yet, but it's prepped for paint, which will be happening this week.  The laundry surround will also get painted the same color as the cabinets so it will be nice to see the final product in this room, which was the first room in the house to actually have walls.  The electrical lighting control panel should see some changes too this coming week with the installation of the finished lighting.  Big changes coming!

   Moving back outside, the gazebo and back porch stone is near completion.  Almost all the stone has been set although mortar needs to be filled.  I think we're looking at one more week until the stone is finished, then the carpenters will have to come back to complete the columns.  Hopefully the weather will hold out to get some paint on the pillars.  Then we need rails and the back porch will be complete!

   The section coming out of the mudroom turned out really well.  There was a slight slope in the concrete to shed water, and they lessened it a bit but couldn't completely remove it, which is fine.  You don't feel it when walking and it's only visible if you get down low.  Since the mudroom door was finally unmasked, I took the opportunity to try out the new porch, walking in and out of the house multiple times.  I think we made the right decisions with accessibility to the outside as the house feels very livable.

   This area in the gazebo is the last section that needs to be set before mortaring can begin.  After the mortar is set, Old Country Stone is done on our house (for now).  We might contract them to install our gate pillars at the end of the driveway when the time comes, since they did such a great job on the rest of the house.  We'll need to figure out what gates we want before we can spec the pillars, so there's some work to be done before we implement that.  OCS should be able to make short work of this section early in the week and hopefully finish with mortaring before the weekend.  If the mortar work on the house is any indication, they're pretty quick with the work so I'm hopeful to be looking at a finished gazebo this weekend.  Maybe I'll light a celebratory fire in the fireplace.

   Progress on the back steps continued with the removal of the erroneously placed blue stone and the installation of the stair structure.  They used a solid cinder block for these stairs as opposed to the standard hollow and concrete filled up front.  All that's left is the cobble stone facade on the risers and side, the blue stone treads, and all the mortar work.  I'm hoping this will be done this week too and we'll be done with our Great Oaks installations for this year. 

   Here's a close up of the back steps.  Some cobble and blue stone was placed to indicate which material goes where although these cobbles will probably have to be replaced with the corner cut cobbles.  The treads will be the same kind of bluestone as the landing. which will offer a smooth walking finish.  I love that we have access to the backyard that doesn't involve going through the kitchen.  Between the kitchen slider and the mudroom door, I can't decide which will be the primary access, but imagine it will be conditional.  This will be great for the kids and their friends, when they want to come in to use the bathroom or grab a quick snack.

   One more detail that will need to be installed before OCS is done is drilling some weep holes through the gazebo bench.  Should any water make its way into the gazebo, it will need to either evaporate or drain.  Since the bench occupies almost half of the perimeter, there should be some holes for the water to drain out of.  The likely hood of excessive water is low, but I could see an instance when we power wash or something.

  The gazebo is really starting to shape up and once the pillars are completed will be an amazing space.  There's plenty of room and shelter from the elements, and I'm imagining many cool nights by a fire.  Now that the weather is turning cooler, I'm really itching to try out the fireplace.  There's plenty of firewood harvested from our own felled trees to last us a long time. 

   One more shot of the entire gazebo space.  We're expecting to have some kind of outdoor dining table towards the back of the gazebo with a few chairs to place around the fireplace.  Overflow fireplace seating can be on the benches or from the dining table.  I think we sized the gazebo to accommodate an 8 person rectangular table, although it might be outside of the octagonal footprint.  Since the porch is eight feet deep, we still shouldn't have issues with traffic bottlenecks.

   That's about it for this week.  Next week should see some major installations in the form of finished lighting, an asphalt driveway, completed exterior stonework, finished painting, and maybe the delivery of the wood floors.  Still don't know what the time table is on the finished plumbing, but considering we'll be waiting until the 27th for our stone counter tops from PMP stone, I don't think it will wrap up until after their installation.  With only two more weeks left in the month, I think this build will push into November before we can get our certificate of occupancy.  Hopefully the snow will hold off just long enough for us to move in, but you can never rely on Michigan weather.