Patio

We had a mortared brick patio with a failing curved wall before.  We were presented with an opportunity to use cement pavers by the sub contractor doing the re-grading and seeding of the yard.

On the one hand, we didn't want to tap into the reserve budget nor did we want to make another decision now - we're "decisioned-out".  On the other hand, if we address it now then when the big reno is done, so will this - so went for it:

...the kids exploring the crawlspace.  Note the closed-cell foam used on the walls with ties into the 6-mil film underneath the gravel.  This conditioned space will have an HVAC supply and return

Heated flooring and tile

I decided to tackle the tiling myself.  This was a bit more difficult than other project because 1) I installed radiant heat floor and tiled over top in one step (without self-leveling) - doable but tricky. 2) The tiles are 8"x24"Sant'Agostino Light Series and are very unforgiving for "less-than-perfect" walls exascerbated by the fact that I not only morter-seamed the joints with fiberglass tape but also painted the joints and the lower 4' with RegGard for additional strength and waterproofing.  Of the 100+ tiles in the shower, only 6 did not need to be cut.

Radiant floor heating in family (left) and master (right) baths.  I did apply two batches of levelling cement on the family bath and may have someone else tile in the interest of time.

Catching up

Its been two months since we last posted - busy lives I guess.  Never realized how many choices we would have to make from the coordinating colors of everything (floor, roof, siding, walls, cabinets,...), to the placement of everything (switches, lights, outlet, plumbing fixtures,...), to the style of everything (molding, hardware, hinges,...).

A lot of great progress has been made.  On the top floor we decided to remove the exterior walls so they can be studded, insulated and drywalled.  Then, to address the squeaky floors, we ended up removing the existing hardwood and putting down new T&G (Tongue and Groove) plywood that was glued and screwed down and then new hardwood:

 

Subfloor insulation (especially over the garage), and the finished floor.

The great room is coming along nicely.  We decided to go with Silestone for the countertop.  Even though it was a premium over granite, Silestone is non-porous, maintenance free, stronger, and rather heat tolerant - though granite will shine here.  Countertop installation is scheduled for Tuesday by Counter Intelligence, Inc. 

One challenge we had was that since a custom microwave cabinet was not available, we were provided a kit to build one on site. The one shown is the second iteration at 24" rather 27".  That 3" difference allowed us to get a single slab of Silestone rather than having 2-pieces with a visible seam - we needed 120" and the slab in our color came in 118" lengths.

Our Silestone color will be the one in the middle, Blanco Capri (aka Capri Limestone).

The 48" wide refrigerator weighs about 600lbs!  5 guys bought it up from the garage.

Here are some picture of the great room in progress.  Before the spray foam, I wired the room for Dolby 7.1 surround sound but had to modify it with two headers so I could remove the stud that would have run have run through the center channel speaker.  I also took the opportunity to wire in cable (coax), network (Cat6), and telephone (RJ11), and a HDMI and Coax bridge so it will be hidden behind the TV.  I bought 12 guage speaker wire, wall and ceiling speakers from Monoprice.com