Okay, winter is really starting to get ridiculous now. We were hit with a few inches earlier in the week, then socked in with 7 inches yesterday, 2 today, and an expected 2-4 inches tomorrow. At least the forecast is predicting temperatures in the mid 40s next week so maybe some of it will melt off. Good thing Mike has someone plow the driveway or else we might get stuck in the snow on the driveway up to the house.
This week saw some more limited progress, but all essential steps towards the completion. All the tile in the house has been grouted, completing all the tile installations, also completing all the flooring installation. The second floor paint touch up has been completed and there are a few more rooms on the first floor to complete. The house is getting cleaner and cleaner every visit and soon will be ready for final inspection.
The tile installers returned during the week to grout the foyer and turret bathroom so that's the official end of the flooring installation and the tile installation simultaneously. It's a huge milestone that seemed so far away in the beginning. Now that we've passed that threshold, there are only a few things that need to be completed before we can file for the final inspection. Despite the harsh weather, two cleaners were working on the Saturday that I visited. They were cleaning all the bathrooms, kitchen cabinets, butlers pantry cabinets, and all windows they could reach. I don't think they were responsible for cleaning the wood floor and I didn't see any high reaching equipment to clean the high greatroom windows, so I'm not sure when those will get cleaned.
The grout is light in color, closer to the white tile than the gray. It's the better way to go because you wouldn't want dark lines in the white border tile. Mike said he requested a couple tiles replaced, but I didn't notice any difference from the previous week. I think the cleaners cleaned the tile because there was a bucket and mop near by. I asked Mike about the lack of the Schluter edge, and he said it wasn't necessary since the joints between the wood and tile are tight and the floor was perfectly leveled so the two materials are flush.
There ended up not being an extra pieces of shoe molding installed between the tile and door. I guess the joint was clean enough and the gap was filled with a caulk to allow for some movement. Since the stones are natural, we'll probably need to seal the stone at least once a year, depending on how much we used the front door. We'll generally enter through the garage door so this will be used less, and mostly for guests. It's probably a good idea to seal this on the same schedule as the master bathroom tile.
Paint touch ups have been completed on the second floor, but the first floor still has some locations that need to be retouched, specifically the dining room, shown here, and the mudroom. Next week, Mike the installer will come back and touch up the cabinets and adjust all the doors for final fitment. The painters will finish touch-ups by Tuesday then clear out all the equipment so the final floor finish can be applied. We'll get another walk through to see if all the paint and wall issues have been addressed, but there will still be another touch up in the spring after the house had a bit of time to settle after all the installations.
The stair tread protectors have been removed in preparation for the final stair finishing. The risers and stringer need to be painted white and the treads will be stained to match the floor. This will happen to both sets of stairs, and should happen before the floors are finished. I'm not certain they'll be able to accomplish this before Tuesday so we'll have to see how this plays out. This is the first time I'm laying eyes on the actual treads since they were covered ever since they were delivered and installed. I can't wait to see them finished off.
Most of the painting supplies are being carefully stored on tarps in the greatroom. These should be cleared out this next week as they complete the rest of the touch-ups and will definitely need to be cleared out before the floors can be finished. The fireplace still needs to be finished up, and they'll be back on Monday as well to install the last few pieces and clean up the gas log arrangement. Distinctive Designs will also be back on Monday to install the additional trim pieces needed to fill the gaps in the fireplace surround. I played around with the fireplace controls a little more and found more functionality in the remotes. You can actually remove them from the white cases to find more buttons where you can access the flame fireplace height, control for the secondary lights, and fan controls. I don't think we have blower fans installed since there isn't an intake vent, so it's just a control that doesn't do anything.
The glass bubble tile in the turret bathroom has been grouted with a gray grout that's very close in color to the paint on the wall. I think I like the way this bathroom turned out. The round tile adds a little whimsy to the room and the gem-like glass tile makes it a little blingy. I hope the decision to not install tile on the side wall was the right one. The only concern I have is that, since this is a kids bathroom, excess water will come in contact with the drywall and cause issues. We'll just have to be careful about how they use the sink.
The tape has been removed from all the toilets so the cleaning people could clean them. They'll remain open until we move in. It might not seem like much, but it's just another little thing that's signaling the end of construction. We still need to finalize the door stops and get them installed, but that will be the last thing we need to do.
The PEV meter was installed on the left. I opted for the flat monthly rate of $45 regardless of how much power I use. I calculated that with my daily commute five times a week every week, it was better off with the flat rate, even with higher efficiency summer driving. The bus fuses aren't installed in the garage 14-50 plug, but I opened up the dedicated Tesla wall charger and adjusted the output amperage to the full output of 80A. I confirmed the installation by plugging my car in and seeing the full 72A getting into the car, which is the max the internal charging circuit can handle. That gives me about 45 miles of recharge range per hour. This translates to my daily commute charged in about two hours. Ironic that a Tesla Supercharger is opening pretty close to me.
All the extra tile is being stashed in the basement. There's a little bit from every room and we'll keep them just in case of damage. The stacked stone we used on the fireplace column might be reused in the powder room. We'll probably just end up storing the tile in the storage room in the basement and will hopefully never need to use them.
Here's the pile of unused metal studs left over from the interior wall construction phase. We'll probably use them in the basement when we start to wall it off. They're not 10' tall, which is the height of the basement, but I think they can be combined to get to the full height of the walls. We're not putting up many walls down there, but we'll probably need more than what's here.
That's about it for this week. The painters are expected to finish early next week and the floor installers are scheduled to come in on Tuesday to start finishing the floors. Cabinet and interior doors will be adjusted and cabinets will be touched up. The electrician will come back one more time to tighten up some light fixtures and we might see the plumber come back to examine issues with the sewer ejection pump. Mike estimates that we have about a week and a half left for work, then we can file for final inspection. The clock is ticking down quickly now!
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