Friday, April 30, 2010

Ready for Paint!

The taping is done,

and the texture has been applied.


So, we went over the colors today with Lupe, the painter. He will be using Pittsburg Paints Pure Performance, a no-VOC low-odor paint. In the context of the whole house, painting is a small task with no structural impact, but it will bring us that much closer to completion and will start adding the feeling of a home.

As we were leaving, Tom noticed this visitor:

We think that it is a Texas Brown Tarantula. It wasn't as large as tarantulas that I've seen in pet shops, but you can see from it's proximity to the door hinge that it is large enough! The specs on the picture are overspray from the texture.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Stone and Sheetrock

We were thrilled to see that the stone is almost finished. We love the color. Hopefully it makes our choice of trim color make more sense. I took this at about 7 PM, so the color is subdued because it was in the shade:



The drywall is all hung. Taping will come next. The kitchen cabinets could go in as early as this weekend! The kitchen is almost ready:

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Roof Finished, Insulation Sprayed, Sheetrock Arrives

Things are moving so quickly now that I've fallen behind in my posts. Here is a shot of the finished roof:

The spray foam insulation is in. Don used a closed cell product. This wiki page describes the advantages of closed cell spray insulation. When you walk in the house now, the sounds from outside are almost totally cut off. We were on the deck and a neighbor was practicing on his drums. It was quite loud on the deck, but when we went in the house and closed the door, you couldn't hear it unless you stood right next to the door. Here is the living room after they sprayed and rasped the walls down to be flush with the studs:

We happened to stop by while they were bringing the sheetrock in (you might want to lower the volume before playing) :


The workers were carrying two of the 4X12 sheets--I guess a common occurrence for them, but it looked difficult to us:


The rock for the front of the house was also delivered. The picture colors are a little off because the photo was taken in low light. The facade will be creamy colored overall, with some gray, orange, and rust patches to match the roof and trim. The majority is limestone, with another type (forget the name) mixed in. The limestone is quarried locally, which mimizes the impact of transportation.

I've mentioned the wildflowers and birds before, I have a few pictures to post this time. Here is Kuma, enjoying the bluebonnets:

And, here are a few visitors to the bird feeder:

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Yard Work

Pedro's crew has done some grading and stonework. This short wall will help retain the slope and tree above the rainwater tanks:



Because the area in front of the decks is so steep, we requested a set of steps to provide access:


Don has provided a bed alongside the garage that we hope to use for flowers, herbs, and vegetables:


Speaking of flowers, we've had an unusually good year for wildflowers. The Bluebonnets have been beautiful:

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Metal Roof


The garage roof is almost finished and the house is getting started:


We chose a metal roof for several reasons:
  • It reflects the heat in the summer
  • It is much more durable than shingles -- especially for weathering hail storms, which we experience a lot
  • It is the best surface to catch rainwater from
Don had prepared us for a screw down application, which isn't as nice looking as the standing seam. But, when he got the bid back, the standing seam was in our budget. And, for that we are grateful!

We put up a bird feeder a little over a week ago and have started attracting some of the locals:


We've also seen Cardinals, Chipping Sparrows, Chickadees, and Titmice in the feeder. But, the smaller birds are so fast, I wasn't able to get a good picture.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Bobcat Work for Rainwater Tanks

Tom got this video of the Bobcat. It is just amazing what this little machine can do. A load of crushed stone was delivered and dumped up on the street. They have been moving it bucket by bucket down the hill. You might want to lower your volume before playing it!