Kitchen floors are done!

All the tile in the kitchen is in, sealed, grouted, and sealed again so it's ready for cabinets on Monday next week! Counter tops will go in by the end of next week as well. It looks even better in person than in the picture.

In the hallway the self-leveling compound is in too. The travertine will continue into the hallway, entry way, and mud room, but the kitchen was prioritized so the rest of the kitchen work could get started before all the floors were done.

And sanding in the living room and Spencer's room has started. 

Next week is also an HVAC check and quotes for a fence.

Paint and floor progress

Last week also led to progress inside with painting a couple of bedrooms and beginning the kitchen floor.

We started with painting the guest bedroom. An extra cabinet was removed from this room, so the walls needed some extra prep work where that had been.

Here are a few "before" and "after" views:

 

 

 Then we moved on to the master bedroom. After testing many, many colors, we went with something very neutral and versatile for this room.

 

 Meanwhile downstairs, progress on the kitchen floor really picked up. After some self-leveling compound and an orange layer of something important (I can't remember what...) was put down, the travertine tile started getting installed. The pattern is quite complex, and the tile has a lot of color variation from piece to piece - not to mention there are four sizes of tile - so it's taking some time. You can't rush art, and these guys are artists.

  Here's the view as of Friday, but they were there Saturday working on it too.

And one evening when I was dropping off some boxes, the sunset was really pretty, so I snapped a shot of the front of the house.

One more week for tile floors in the kitchen (it needs two coats of sealing, one before grout and one after), and then cabinets go in the week of June 3!

Some dirty work

We've had some busy days lately over at Ridgewood with the dewatering system going in down in the basement and dry wall work and flooring prep on the first floor.

Here's the dewatering system install in-process. 

And in the back yard, the system requires PVC pipe to route the water away from the house.

And here's what it looks like after everything is put back together and the wall liner is installed.

A new barrier - kind of like a window well - has been installed in the back yard where the electrical comes into the house since it was previously buried underground.

We worked on the shed today and found some old airline tickets from the 50s. $30 would get you from Chicago to St. Louis then. 

...and we found some stilts...

...and still have just a a bit (i.e., maybe an hour or two) of work left. 

Week 5 down

This week was all about insulation and dry wall, and the kitchen is looking very different.

And a random extra door in the mudroom was filled in with drywall.

Where does the other side of that door lead you ask? Well, it's tucked behind some bookcases in the office and can't be removed without taking out the built-ins...so it stays, as a conversation piece. But on the mudroom side, now we'll have more room for coat hooks.

And the master closet got dry wall too.

Next week there will be some basement work on the perimeter drain and dewatering system and hopefully some flooring work on the first floor!

The end of week 4

Electrical and plumbing rough-in happened this week, along with a few other miscellaneous things.

The layout for lighting in the kitchen is set, and the scary hidden window in the basement has been filled in.

We discovered the back porch didn't have a porch light, so one of these is being added above the door.

We also got to see a sample of our cabinets doors with the trim, paint color, and hardware.

This week was a good chance to see many blooming trees in the yard!

Next week is inspection, insulation, and drywall, so it will start to look quite different!