The Great Stone Face!

 No, not Buster Keaton, but the face of my house! Yeah I know, Thomas is funnier, I can deal with that!   Things have been a bit stagnant but here's a giant leap towards the end of the ride! No more staring at house wrap. The stone masons have been busy the past 2 days.  They were still working when I took these but I grabbed a quick picture while they were taking a smoke break. I figured nobody even remembers the outside of the house by now. The columns for the porch are queued up in the garage so I'm sure they will be installed soon.

Watch your step!

While traipsing around in our socks feeling out the new carpeting, we noticed an issue with the transition from the Family Room carpeting to the hardwood flooring. The hardwood sits quite a bit higher than the carpet due to it's thickness.  You don't notice much until you actually step on it. It's like a ledge. If it were any higher one might want a "Watch your step" sign at the threshold.  I contacted RiteRug and found out the solution is called a "Baby Transition" strip and it is made in the matching color of the floor by Bruce Flooring. I am going to to find out if this can be done. I guess if you bought really thick carpeting you won't have this issue.

Example of Baby Transition strip.

Saddling up to the Peninsula!

    I'm back with a fresh set of pictures after the cleaning crew did their thing. The interior is looking awesome! I feel the excitement of the new house building now! My closing was supposed to be a week away but as I mentioned I had some bumps in the road so it's pushed out a bit. That's okay though, the anticipation is fun and more time to plan stuff!  The drywall guys did an excellent job in fact we were hard pressed to find any nits on the drywall. The Saddle hardwood floors look excellent. I will show them a few punch list items on the floor but nothing major. At this point I am waiting for exterior work so hopefully stone and brick coming soon. I wish the power were on so I can see the place lit up, so I have to rely on natural light for now.  So once again, for your viewing pleasure, and completely randomized by the blogger editor, here ya go!

Foyer and Front door. The room on the left is officially a dining room but  here it will be a den / sitting room. Probably have a couch and recliner in here, coffee table maybe and of course a nice HD TV to watch House Hunters and Storage Wars.

Standing in the Front bedroom. In the Verona this can also be a  living room  This is why we are making the dining room kind of like a living room. Here the guest has a convenient attached bathroom. 

This is the study. I am not sure what I was thinking but chances are it was about another HD TV.

Standing in Family Room looking into the Dining Room (which will be a den) 

Family Room

Morning Room side windows. These are optional.

My favorite room, the Bonus Room. This room will be quite busy with computers, exercise equipment and of course an HD TV.

Yes another picture of the bonus room closet.

Well if you don't know what this is, you aren't following my blog.

Looking into Master Bedroom

Looking out Master Bedroom. 

Morning Room.

Another Morning Room angle.

I will be putting some Parker counter stools here, most likely copying Rachel's (she gave me permission).

That would be me at the center island!

In case I didn't mention it, I am sooo excited about these massive counter tops!

Admiring the Saddle Hardwood floor.

I'm Still Standing Yeah Yeah Yeah....

     I said it was going to be a turbulent thrill ride, but wow, it feels like the car jumped the tracks in the past week. Last Saturday the buyers of my current home changed their mind in the final hours before closing. Unfortunately I already went thru all the trouble to move my furniture and belongings into storage because their closing was supposed to be  before my new house. So now I'm still in my current house using cardboard moving boxes as furniture. It's like I'm camping indoors. But wait, there's more! On the same day my buyers crashed the deal, Jenn decided that the new house build and the loss of the buyers wasn't enough of a challenge, so she decided to turn her Kia Soul into an accordion. She walked away unscathed. The Kia will be in intensive care for a while. Additionally, due to unforeseen circumstances, my new house closing date will be moved out a bit. I'm not sure of the new date yet but that's okay because things are turning around!  With my current home on the market just a couple of days, new buyers snatched it up! They will close well after I'm in the Verona so no more pressure to get out. It's all good! So here's a completely randomized set of photos current as of today. Since I've posted last the carpet has been installed along with the dishwasher and oven. Final grading has begun and "Pointing up" the inside can now begin. Still waiting on the stone work to begin on the front, I'm anxious to see that done.  Hopefully they will save some caulk for Thomas' Ravenna!

That's the Stainmaster Carpet Cushion. It's water proof so spills sit on top of the carpet
 and can be cleaned up before they soak through to the floor.

Haven't done the barefoot test yet, but this feels pretty nice! I like the new carpet smell!

Stone and brick coming soon!

All the appliances are installed.

Sneak a peak at the Great Room carpet.

Morning Room fixture. I also had a ceiling fan rough-in installed here  if I decide to install a fan.

Someone left the seat up.

Handrails painted to match the Saddle hardwoods.

Here you can see the attic access and the light which had to be offset to accommodate the  access  door.  By default the attic steps normally go in a bedroom on the Verona.

Thats a reflection of the window in the tub that you're seeing in the mirror.

What to do here!

Mowing the front should take roughly 60 seconds.