Maple for Christmas

For Christmas we are giving each other hardwood floors...and that includes the labor to install it!

The process began with several days of preparing the floors. The gypcrete had to be leveled some more in spots, the drywall had to be cut to let the hardwood to slide under, and the floors had to be vacuumed several times to clean up the construction mess.

We were so excited to have the prep worked finished Sunday afternoon and to be able to lay the first boards! Joe was nice enough to help us and rack out the different boards that we should install. That's a stressful job picking out the board order and keeping it random looking! The boards are 4.5", 5.5" and 6.5" widths and range in lengths of up to about 11'.

 

 The second day we made it around the entrance way transition piece (transitions to the black slate tile which has yet to be installed) and up to the edge of the fireplace. By the end of the day we are both exhausted...this is much harder work than sitting at a desk all day!

 

 

 The third day we framed around the fireplace hearth and connected into the kitchen and down the hall towards the master and laundry room. Some tricky spots, but everything still looks pretty straight and tight! The piles of wood are gradually moving into the great room as we select which boards to put in next. 

 

The fourth day we almost made it to the staircase. Andy wanted to finish the goal, but I wanted to go out to dinner and I won :) It's really starting to look like a floor and not just some boards on top of concrete. We made it around each side of the island and need to trim a board for the backside to connect the two paths tomorrow. Those were some long runs from the kitchen all the way over to the hallway by the two bedrooms. Joe was nice enough to spend another day helping. We are getting the hang of the process, but having 3 people sure is nice to get the boards in straight and prep for the next row.

Tomorrow we hope to finish the great room (without the stairs) and then that leaves five more days to do the three bedrooms and remaining hallway. The stacks of wood aren't getting much smaller, so we'll see if we have the correct amount.

Granite

Lalo, the granite fabricator and three of his guys came up from Phoenix on Wednesday to do the install. 9 am was early enough for them, but they stayed until 10 pm to finish the job!

The trailer full of our granite slabs and sinks. 

Working on the seam where the cook top will go.

By lunch time it looked as though they had a good portion of the granite inside, but there was still plenty of work to be done.

 Lalo grinding away to make the piece the right size. We were surprised how much cutting and modifying they did on site.

The kitchen counters are all in. Around the L perimeter we chose Black Pearl with a standard 4" back splash. There is one cut out for the sink and there will be a second for the cook top. The island slab is called Azul Imperial. Andy thinks it looks like a topo map. It has some really cool big crystals and mica spots. There is one cut out for a vegetable sink in the island.

After vacuuming today, you can see what I dislike about black counter tops. Dust! They look grey from all of the dust. Hopefully our house will be a little less dusty once we move in!

The vanity in the master bath is made of Kashmir White granite. I like how the light colored granite looks with the dark wood cabinets. We also used the Kashmir White in the shower and on the tub deck.

We loved the veins and little ruby red spots in the granite. The funny looking wet spots are from the adhesive they used to glue the slabs to the cement board walls...they should go away as it dries. Accent tiles will be used to fill the vertical stripes and add a little texture and break up the granite. The floor will be covered with little tiles that match the rest of the floor tile in the bathroom. But overall, it should be pretty easy to clean with the minimal grout!

Chimney Stone

The stone guys worked hard all last week and made it to the top! The fireplace is quite the design element in the great room. The stone is a nice mix of grey and brown colors. The quartzite stones for the hearth match quite well.

Here are some progress shots from last week to show you how the process happened! 

The electrician has been working to install the light fixtures and outlets so that it's easier for everyone to work.

The pendant lights are up in the half bathroom (the vessel sink vanity will be centered below them).

Installing the floor tile looks like a slow tedious process! Glad we aren't doing it ourselves. Many cuts to the big 20" tiles to make it around cabinets and through door jams. Almost finished the master bathroom and master closet today. He is preparing the laundry room with the Schluter-DITRA (orange plastic mat) and skim coat on top.

 

 Here's what it looked like the day before...

The bathroom floor tile is all laid out and ready for grout. 

 

  The seams in shower are all waterproofed and ready for granite/tile. The pink triangular thing in the corner will be a granite seat...even though it will be way too cold to ever sit on!

The closet bypass doors and closet pocket doors are being installed and the door trim is going up.

 

 

The framers continue to work on the front entrance stairs. We picked out the simple black balusters...there was a big debate between square and round, but round are much easier to install! There's a funny optical illusion when you try to look if they are installed straight or not.

Looked like they had it all installed tonight!

The hardwood is all upstairs now. The heat is turned up to help the wood acclimate to our dry climate. We will begin preparing for the install this weekend.

 

 

 

A pretty winter sunset on Mt. Elden