The Light At the End of the Tunnel!

Well we were given an estimated date for completion this week...Late January, Early February!  We can't believe it!  This has been 2 and 1/2 years in the making.  The exterior stone has been completed (almost, there's a tiny portion of the back corner still unfinished), the inside has been sprayed and primed ready to paint, the shelving is going in the closets, the crown molding is in and the garage doors are on!  Here are some pictures Jose took on Friday.  They still need to add the shutters and stain the cedar sunbursts and posts on the front and back of the house. We chose Sherwin Williams Riverwood for our outdoor stain to match the front door.  It's a really nice rich darker stain with cherry undertones.  It's started to come together and we are beyond excitement.  We're going to have the garage doors painted the same green color of the Hardy.

Sheetrock and Stone!!!!!!

We have been sooooooo busy with work, school, and football...I haven't had time to update the blog in a while.  So I have quite a few pictures.  The electrical is in, the sheetrock is up (they were taping today) and they started laying to the stone yesterday!   Here's the updated pictures...

Sonoma Gold Texas Sandstone (close up)

We really wanted to use local stone.  I just loooooove it!

Apparently they wait and do all the stone pieces that have to be cut (the space between where the Hardiplank stops and stone starts & the base posts on the front and back columns) last.

Men at Work!

I was so happy when I drove up today and saw our stone.  We picked this out 2 years ago and I had forgotten what it looked like.  I've been told that more gold tones will come through as it ages which is fine with me.  We are having this same stone around our fireplace and on the two-tiered bar between the living room and kitchen.

 Jose's Garage Sheetrocked!  

 My Garage 

 Standing in the kitchen looking over what will be the island, over the two tiered bar, and into the living room

 The view from my garage, through the mudroom going into to the kitchen.  You can see the plumbing where the sink will be.

 Jose, standing in the kitchen

 The master bedroom.  The bed will go on that wall

 Master bath

 The kitchen again, looking at the spot where the island will be, both pantry's, the mudroom and my garage

 Master bathroom, Jose's closet on the left, mine on the right, looking at the toilet closet and the walk-in shower to the right.  The best thing about this house is,..no shower door!!!! (I hate cleaning a shower door so we designed one that didn't need a door!)  

 Master bath vanities and toilet closet again

 Dining area to the left of the kitchen

 Standing in the master bedroom looking into the master bath

 Walking down the stairs, closet and kitchenette to the right

 Looking up the stairs from the landing

 Standing in the family room downstairs, kitchenette is to the left, looking up the stairs to the first landing.

And here's the big booboo...This is the wall where our refrigerator and freezer will be, notice ice maker hookup but no where to plug them in...failed to put in one of the most important GFCI outlets and the other two electrical outlets on this wall.   Yes they are aware and that will be corrected.   Would have been nice if they had caught this before the sheetrock and taping...which started today.

Shingles, Windows,& Paint Oh My!!!

Friday we met with Eric Blane, Lighting Reflections in Conroe, to solidify our lighting selections (that wasn't a cheap meeting and Eric has better prices than anyone around, even Lowes or Home Depot!)  We just happen to have a lot of stinkin' lights!  Anyway, we left Conroe for Warrenton/Round Top Fall Antiques Show for the weekend so we didn't see progress on the house Friday or Saturday.  We drove up on our way back in town today and BOOM!  Shingles are done, windows are going in and they've started painting!!!! Here are some pictures...

Our shingles are on! And they started painting the hardy plank!

Our paint color is a sagey green the trim is going to be Texas Sandstone.  The trim matches the tones and mortar in our stone.

 Close up of the paint and trim around Jose's garage

Wonder why they only painted trim around the bottom portion of the garage? 

Close up of paint and trim

Wonder why they skipped around painting?  I find this so odd?  Does anyone know why they did that?  You would think you would start on one side and go all the way around.

Big picture windows and back doors are in!!!

View of the back of the house facing the water...And look they even started painting here!  Go Figure!?!

One side of the house...

The other side of the house...

Close ups of the paint and trim in the shade and in the sun.  It's amazing how different it can look.
We are getting very excited!  Thanks to all for sharing our joy!

Stairs. Plumbing, Tubs, Oh My!

Despite the torrential rains over the last week in Houston...they're making a lot of progress on the house.  The plumbing is in, front windows are on, the Hardy plank is going on, the guest bathtubs are in, the fireplace is in and they were working when we left today on a Saturday.  We had our walk through with the electrician on Friday because they are going to start pulling wires Monday!  While we were out there Jose kept cautioning me to watch my step.  What do think happened when we went downstairs...I stepped on a piece of wood with a nail in it and it went right through my tennis shoe into my foot.  Our electrician pulled it out because he was closer than Jose.  It bled a little and is sore today but, "I Fine".  Needles to say I was much more careful when Jose and I went by this morning to measure and verify the spacing of our kitchen island and bar.

They are working on a Saturday putting up the Hardy plank.  We've got windows!  The Hardy will be painted a sage green to compliment the Texas sand stone that will go on the bottom part of the house. 

In the kitchen looking out through the dining area

The fireplace is in!  Not really sure we need it but I have to have a place to hang our stockings at Christmas!

Enough Said!  

Glass brick window over what will be the jacuzzi tub!

We were standing on the balcony, admiring our view feeling terribly blessed.  I looked at Jose and said..."I don't feel grown -up enough to have this house.  He started laughing and said he felt exactly the same way.  It just seems surreal.  I know I'm turning 49 in about a month but it just doesn't seem like this is going to be our house.  I guess we've just been looking at the land for so long with an empty lot it just didn't seem real.  Today...it was very real and it felt a little weird, but in a good way.

New Pictures from the Build

Here are a few photos that were taken late Friday, September 5 as they were calling it a day.

Our interior doors are here!

Glass brick window for the master bath!

Interior windows

We are sooooooo happy!

In my master closet!  I've never had a closet this big.

An Aggie and his garage!  Jose can't wait to get all of his man stuff in this garage!