Week 65 & 66: Kitchen!!!

Our Kitchen cabinets were finally delivered and installed this past week. It looks beautiful, even without the counter top. Going with Europe Kitchen Center was the best decision. The quality is great, the drawers and doors are soft close. Very nice layout and should be sufficient for our living needs. We are not doing any upper cabinets to keep things nice and simple.
The closet doors from EZJamb were also delivered this week. It looks really nice for the price. Very heavy duty SOSS hinges, those doors are never coming out for sure.

Week 64: Dry Wall & Solar Panels...FINALLY!

This week was filled with activity. Our drywall was completed for all the rooms and ceilings. The space looks completely different with it. We used 5/8" dry wall for all the rooms. It has better sound barrier and also more rigid in general. For Master bedroom, since our bathroom is open, we went with a moister resistant drywall the entire room. We have good vents, but this is a precaution.
We spent this entire weekend painting the messed up container into "Farmhouse Red" from Behr, it's a great paint brand. Covers well, but since we had that horrible white color paint, it took 2 coats to cover it nicely.
Solar guys finally came back to put up the panels. It looks great, gives the house a more "home of the future" feel. It has a low profile, so it's barely noticeable at all. We're very happy with the results.
The finish line is near...at least for the main house.

Week 61, 62, 63: Interior Insulation & a few deliveries

The last few weeks were filled with finishing off loose ends, media wiring, electricals, plumbing rough in. Finally interior insulation was done last week in the ceilings and walls. We used R30 for the ceiling since we have that rigid foam under the EPDM roof. R19 in the walls. Since the house is a double wall, there is more than enough insulation to keep out the elements. Our radiant flooring is on at 65 degrees, it's very warm. I remember we were skeptical at first about using radiant flooring as the only heat source, but now we realize how powerful the heating is. The best part is that you don't feel any force air circulating around causing dry air.
Our 5.8 Kw system is still not yet finished. When they showed up, they realized the ballast system needs adjustment. Another delay.
Adam put up the curtain tracks this past week, it looks great!
Next week is the drywall...we can almost feel the completion coming. Starting to purchase more furnishings and housewares. Can't wait!!
We had a few deliveries this past week. Master bathroom tiles from Porcelanosa, they are great. The custom 12 foot container that our forwarder had his friend help cut down from a standard 20 foot container. The quality was poor, note to self, don't hire chinese people to do construction related work.

Week 60: Front Entrance & Interior Doors

This week the exterior of the front entrance is finished. It looks great, with the massive glass door. All the interior frames were installed and the door was installed. A really nice feature is the magnetic latch, it feels just like a regular latch, but no strike plate is visible. The doors are super clean. They are well worth the price tag.
We went to Bowdoin part which Ken had mentioned that he saw our house across the river. It's a bit surreal to look at our house from afar. The long horizontal line made it easy to spot immediately. Also found the local road on our side of the river with a closer view of the house from down the cliff, Mount Rose Road, which is a deadend road that services the houses down the cliff.
We spent the day in Rhinebeck, checking out Sawkille Co. Decided to submit a request for quote on a custom credenza. Rather support some local artists than big city companies. Let's see how it goes. Walnut with bleached sycamore, with 6 drawers.

Week 58 & 59: Local Artists and Furnishings

The last weeks were filled with furniture shopping. We found the artist that does the wood stumps for BDDW. Visited Kieran Kinsella's studio today in Rosendale, NY (just 30 minutes north of us). It's a perfect artists studio with several works in progress. We've commissions Kieran to make 6 pieces for us in the next year or maybe 2 years time. Kieran's pieces were picked up to sell at BDDW, so naturally he's quite busy trying to fill all the orders.

Matt and Adam finished the TV framing this week, the way the mount is set, I think we can hang a 100" TV and it wouldn't be any problem.
Our Solar system is delayed till end October due to the frame not being ready, but as long as we turn on the solar this year, we can still quality to get the tax credits from the gov't.

Week 57: Interior Framing + Last of the wiring work

This was a rainy week, torrential rain poured down on our site. More interior framing was done. We went up on Saturday to finalize the remainder of the audio and video wiring.
The good news is that we should have some resolution on the slope and non-disturbance issue. The drill sample the engineers took seem pretty stable, so the town should be happy about the results to settle the issue.
Once that is done, we can proceed to get a deck plan approved.
Otherwise things have been slow, we are moving on to purchasing interior items and fixtures. Custom designed a chandelier for the dining area. Going to fill it with Edison bulbs. Can't wait.

Week 56: Correct Interior Doors & Tree Auction

Interior Doors! Take two - finally has arrived from Modern Doors (again) this Wednesday and the measurements are good. The old set of doors with the incorrect measurements got returned with the same trucking company that dropped off. These doors are so nice and truly fits the modern aesthetic we were looking for. It's too bad that they do not supply closet doors at a better price. We went with 8 foot high doors for all interior doors, the height of it makes the ceilings appear even higher. It's not some many people focus on and they normally end up getting the standard measurements, but it can really make a difference to the overall look of the interior. Finally, we can proceed with the rest of the interior framing. Matt and Adam had wanted to wait until they arrived to ensure the most accurate fit possible. We love our GCs, they are so meticulous, they've really affected the outcome of this home and our love for it.
We have an area in the front of the house where a lot of water gathers, Matt and Adam spent this week building 2 beautiful rock ponds where the water would run through. It looks..dare I say...AMAZING (inside joke on the word Amazing..because I dread using it because of my work).
We went to the MANZA family farm (Montgomery, NY) this Saturday to bid on some trees. Never again will buy full price trees and plants, they were practically giving it away. Bought several Maples, Cherries, and Plum trees to start us off. Plum tress for $25.00 each and they were about 10 ft high. $65.00 for Japanese Maples!!! We would need a whole lot more. Just haven't worked out the plan yet.

Week 55 : Sealer hmmmm

We had decided to seal the cedar slats to avoid it going grey in the near future. It was a beautiful color to begin with. We decided on Sikkens Cetol 1 as the sealer, it has pretty good reviews. The lightest color is Natural Light. There was also a Cedar color choice, but it makes it very red. Since the Natural Light color was delivered late, we just received it Friday, we didn't get a chance to test it out. Went out to the site on Saturday and started applying, it really makes the wood look much darker, which we do not like because it contrasts so much with the cedar ceiling. I was very disappointed and really hope it lightens up during the next few weeks after it dries out.
The last small window above the Kitchen got delivered and now the house is fully secureable.
The correct interior doors should be delivered coming week.

Week 53 & 54: Leach Fields, gas tank and Space Pak

We missed 1 weekend to go on labor day holiday. The last 2 weeks were full of activity. Leach fields were assembled, gas tank was installed and filled. We finally went with a 500 gallon tank since our swimming pool is no longer in the picture. Space Pak AC system is done in the main house. There were tube after tube of smaller pipes, it was quite a lot of work for our plumber Devan. Majority of electrical rough-in has been done.
Cedar ceiling is almost completely up in the courtyard, it looks incredible!
Our tomato harvest is picking up speed, we missed 2 weeks and this time we were up there, we harvested about 1 full pound of it.

Week 52: Floor Polish and Septic

Our floor polisher finally finished with the last stage and got the courtyard polished and sealed. It looks unbelievably luxurious, completely feels like another room in the house. We are so happy with the results of the floor. There are some lighter spots but that's the natural concrete look, if we wanted a more uniform it, it would have required a lot more sanding to bring it down even more. But the inconsistency is quite beautiful.
The Septic tanks went in this week while the floors were being polished. It was good timing but met with rainy weather. This was the rainiest week all August.
Today we also met with Barry at European Kitchen Center, the company we decided to go with for the kitchen. He's a total kitchen dictator, but that's why we clicked. We also stopped by NYKB last weekend, what a joke that place was, I can't believe anyone uses them.

Week 51: Slat Wall Done!

Slat walls in the courtyard are done. It's so beautiful. Matt decided to go with white aluminim behind the slats instead of Kynar just in case of future rust issues. He also slatted the mechanical room door which was such a surprise. We have to move the outdoor outlet and audio cable to prevent interference with the clean lines.
Cedar Ceiling is going up now, we can tell it's going to be AMAZING!!!
Also, we found out this past Monday that our door company Modern Doors made a mistake on our received door order. Instead of 8'0" height doors, we got 80" doors. Unfortunately, they had a new assistant and placed the door production order entirely wrong. We should be getting replacement in a about 1 week. So it all works out for us, but we feel bad about Luis, the owner of Modern Doors since he didn't make any money out of this at all.

Week 50: Big A** Front Door

Our custom size front door finally arrived from Solar Innovations. It took about 3 months for this custom order. Size 9 feet x 5 feet, double pane, argon filled glass. The locking mechanism is something I've never seen before for residential applications. There are 6 closure points once you lock it along with 6 hinges that make it smooth to operate. The hardware is not our style, but I think we rather not mess with that serious lock.
The slats in the courtyard is almost complete. Devan, the plumber has started the rough-ins for the bathrooms.
It's all coming together now. Meanwhile, I received a letter from the town about renewing our building permit for 1/2 year. Apparently only 2 half year extensions will be granted for $100 each. Our permit expires in September, so half year extension should do it.

Week 49: Courtyard Slats

Our decision to put cedar slats in the courtyard proved to be the best decision ever made. Even in it's current unfinished state, it gives a totally new dimension and feeling to the house. Looking at the slats and large sliders give the house a very modern and expensive feel. The slats + workmanship added another 10K to the project but it's well worth it. This house may be the most expensive looking LVL/LVM. Next week the cedar ceiling is going up. Can't wait!

Week 48: Framing and Harvesting

This week, the LVM interior walls went up. Walk in closet, Bathroom and Mechanical room. This allowed us to continue our wiring. Speaker cables, Ethernet cables all were tested and they work! This whole wiring process was much easier than expected. We're no longer afraid and need to rely on "experts" to do these kinds of things.
We're full force ahead with the cedar courtyard slats...costly but we're going to build only 1 house in our lifetimes, so why not!! We chose the clear expensive grade of cedar, they are beautiful and knot free.
Our home security system arrived this week, it's very cost effective but requires a bit of deciphering on the manual. It's so cryptic, can't understand it at all on the first read. The forums have been very helpful and we hope to attempt testing this weekend.
On another note, our watermelon and squash (first ones) was harvested yesterday. Going to bring it to work tomorrow and finally enjoy the fruit of our labor.

Week 46 & 47: Framing & Farming

Some interior walls have gone up this week, the Utility Room, LVL Guest Bathroom, LVL master toilet room and closet. Getting a feeling for the overall space already. Once the walls go up, everything actually starts to feel bigger.
We've also put in coaxial, ethernet wiring which took 1 entire day of Han's intensive hole drilling labor. Minus a small injury on his shin, everything came out well. Note to self, get a first aid kit.
Other fruits of our labor: Our water melon and squash is doing very well, we're most likely going to harvest the few fruits next week.

Week 44 & 45: Windows!!!!

We have windows, massive ones. They said it was too heavy, too big, but we prevailed with the design. It's beautiful and gigantic. Sticking to our guts was definitely the right thing to do. They did cost a pretty penny, but worth every single cent.
We also finished Speaker wiring on July 4th. It was the hottest day of the year so far, we both had stomach virus, but nevertheless, it was done...nothing is going to stop us.

Week: 43 Frames & Harvest

Exciting week! The Windows were ready. The frames are in!! Looking at the window with the frame truly defines the scale and size of the design & layout.
On another note, the first batch of potatoes are done.
We also laid out the entire electrical lighting layout for the electrician, this will help us save time and hopefully that translates to less money.
Next week, home audio wiring!

Week: 39, 40, 41, 42 Potatoe Harvest & a new electrician

Weeks have gone by quickly as more siding goes up. We found a new electrician to start where Frank had left off. We've sent a few letters to Frank hoping to get a reply, however nothing had come of it. Steve the new electrician is not officially licensed, however had years of field experience, so it should be ok.
We've harvested the first few potato plants that flowered. The plant was still in the early stage of development, so the harvest was small.
The concrete on the courtyard is finally done, it looks great and feels luxurious.
We have to decide if we should keep the courtyard siding as corrugated or change it to wood slats.
We've already changed the front of the entrance to wood slats, the extra costs are starting to add up.

Week 36, 37, 38 : More Siding and a small potato farm

Additional siding has gone up these few weeks. Meanwhile our missing electrician has finally appeared on the video finishing some exterior lighting work. However none of us can reach him via phone, email or mail. It's getting really worrisome as he's a very good electrician and we would ideally like to keep him on the project.
Our Potato farm is coming along. We also planted watermelon, carrots and beets.