Ok, spent ALL night last night on a hardware site buying hardware. Had to go through the floor plan and double check all the swings for operation, lock operation, etc. The shocker was that between cabinet knobs and cabinet pulls, there were well north of 300...yes 300+. And those things pretty much start in the 5 to 6 dollar range and go UP... Way UP if you want to make yourself poor quick...
Anyway, today they set the septic system tanks, which is about 3000 gallons of water, so they have been filling them with water so they won't float out of the ground if it rains. Anyway, my job here in a minute is to go out there and brave the darkness and check on the fill... So you got me till then...
And no, I didn't sleep last night, so I'm grouchy... look out...
Cantera columns on the back of the house getting their hats finally. Stucco hasnt' had it's colors put on final yet...
Try walking into your house, meeting a wheelbarrow coming through your kitchen, to see this... a huge pile of rock in your family room...being put to good use, though...
The beam is from an old tobacco barn, smells like hay. In this shot they haven't put the top stones on the hearth yet. I still have to cut a hole for the electrical box in the top of the mantle, and then we are going to glue that whole thing to cinder blocks you can't see behind the mantle. Size wise, I think the mantle height is at 6 feet, so it's a lot bigger than it looks.
This was right behind me, the rock on the outer island. They cranked this all out in pretty good time. I like the ladder on the center island, it allows them to get up there and string their work lights out so they can see what they are doing.... (painters)
This particular mason produces some of the best work I have ever seen, or at least what we desire the most. He cut that big center hearth stone in the center with a giant chisel. 100 pounds at least.
Center island stone complete, kitchen is coming together in the background.
Our lead painter took one look at a wooden stool my wife wanted to copy. Never looked at it again for 2 weeks, showed up with some paint, and completely nailed it. This is a red called Sun Dried Tomato, glazed with black, and then lacquered. Underneath everything is distressed.
They call the red "rojo", which it kind of is, more a cinnamon. The powder bath is ENTIRELY this color, ceiling too. It's very bold. If I took a picture with no lights in there, would look exactly like a dark cave...
More Rojo behind where the master bed goes. The black dresser off to the right is more of the painters glazing. They prime white, paint black, scratch and dent, and then glaze, then lacquer.
This is a green called "Sergeant". My wife calls it "flight suit". It took 3 coats to cover, plus two coats of primer.
Tonight I swept the fireplace with a broom, the wall that is... had to say that because it's not something one does often in life. Just another picture of the completed stone. I have to trim this fireplace all out after we get the mantle set, which is just sitting there. There are 8 boxes of parts that somehow go together to make this thing work.
Poop runs downhill, and these tanks are at the bottom of the hill. Earlier today, they were on this truck.
They lifted it with a backhoe, but it was heavy.
Tomorrow, they start "glazing" the walls. These were some samples for us to review, we are leaning heavily towards the bottom one.
Tonight I ran the radiant heat lines over the top of the island, granite is coming Monday, so this needed to be done. No leaks that I know of...
The water comes out of the slab under the sink, then through a 1/4 turn stop valve into the copper, then goes home the same way, but cooler.
Outside on the front, they have started the two arches in the entryway. I caught a tip today from the arch maker... the arch needs to have a rise of half of half of the width to be strong. What do I mean?? 100 inches across would requre a 25 inch rise on the arch... which is half of 50, half of 100. Real trades do this with their tape measure... They just fold the tape in half to find the midpoint... Why hadn't I thought of that years ago??? (and yes, the 100 inches was for simplicity sake... stop teasing me)
I will be happy not to see the "grip tite" logo on my house anymore.
Ok, out to check the water level on the tanks.... Have a great night
