Too Bad, So Sad :(

It didn't take long to turn the attic upside down again...
He had to tear down the fiberglass insulation & 2x4's to redo the insulation above the furnace room. I know it'll get cleaned up again 'cause I'll do it.
But damn is it frustrating, if I could figure a way to lock the door so the crap doesn't get tracked thru the house I'd do it in a heartbeat & just say the heck with it till the house is done! :(

Installing the mantle

The mantle is being installed!
Make sure it's centered????
Of course they checked-I was standing there taking pics!
They both had tape measures in hand, level at the ready.....

looks just beautiful!

Tom's famous lines

After looking at the colors on the sample piece of mantle, we decided not to stain the wood. The sealer alone brought out the color & natural grain in the black walnut. In the pic on the left you can see the difference between the sealed & unsealed area, the one on the R is done. Look at that grain!

On the 20th, during that snow storm, they really needed more light since the sky was so grey; Mandy had taken a spot light & shone it on the front of the fireplace while she was working.
Wow did that really illuminate the stone work. A light bulb went off in our collective heads (no pun intended),wouldn't it look great to have lights focused on the fireplace???
(Don't you wonder sometimes if Mandy comes up with these ideas so she'll work here until Eva graduates from high school????)
Mandy, of course goes home & now Tom & I are left discussing it. The pressure is on....we need to decide now. This is not a decision I can make now.You all know I need visuals, what kind of light, where will it shine, how bright, yada, yada, yada.
Then come Tom's famous lines:
#1 It's cheaper to do it now than later. OR
#2 Decide now, once it's up you can't go back & change it.
He used them both!
The next thing I know, Tom & I are out shopping. I did have a general idea of what I wanted but finding it is another whole story. I won't bore you with the shopping details, suffice to say Tom is exhausted & I have decided on the lights I want. Hey-Mandy started it!
We'll have lights installed in both columns, recessed in the stone & wired up on a dimmer (well, why not? it's cheaper to do it now than later!).
After trying to drill out the hole in the stone for the light and the first stone cracked,Tom figured better to try & drill multiple holes & just tap the circle out. Worked beautiful! Mandy checked the fit on the column, light fixture fits like a glove.

And I wonder why it takes so long????

This seriously is a custom built fireplace! Tom cut out the hole in the mantle for the electrical outlet, then Mandy sanded it down so the conditioner could be applied. She a was scraping up the sawdust from the sanding & I jokingly asked her if she was saving the dust for something. Actually she was; she said the guy that they got the mantle from told them to save the saw dust to fill in the knot holes in the wood-it's obviously a perfect match & will take the stain!

Busy Day.......

Tom & Mandy got quite a lot done today.... the second window seat came out of it's form without a hitch & went right into place! Looks great!
The form for the hearth is ready. It's been sprayed with Pam,

the rebar went in & it was filled in with concrete-now it just needs to cure.
Tom, unfortunately had to be outside cutting more stone, in the snow, we're over 12" so far today & it's still coming down!

But it sure is looking good!
Says the girl who is inside warm & toasty,
not having to play with mud or stones today!

Did I really say we're making progress????
Hard to believe this will be the family room someday....

The Damn Outlet

Tom, knowing me & how I like to decorate, made sure to incorporate electrical outlets into the stone columns. Of which I am very appreciative of.

Apparently someone else is not.

The stoner had some very choice words yesterday as she had to stone around the outlet!

Now mind you, poor Tom had to stand outside to use his tile saw to cut the stone to fit her demanding specifications, in the freezing cold weather, his water freezing between cuts.
Did he once complain???? No.Did he whine because there was no way he was going to use that tile saw in the house??? No.

So today, I notice that there was no complaining about stoning around the other outlet.
"Must be it was a little easier to work around the outlet" I state.
"Oh, I figured out a better system" she says, "I just stoned over it."
OK-I admit, after yesterday, I had to go look just to be sure! Gave Mandy a good laugh.

Did the Pam work?????

The concrete has certainly cured by now &
it's time to see how well the seats are going to come out of the forms.
Did the Pam work?????
It took the three of us to lift it & flip it over on to the work table.

Didn't even have to pry the form off.......
a couple taps of the hammer & it came right off!
Looks like they pulled it off!
You'd think they knew what they were doing!

We set it into place temporarily so Tom & Mandy could use it
to finish stoning around.

After we set it in, Mandy's first comment was"Holy S#%$, it fits!"

(Hello!!!! Didn't they tell me they knew what they were doing????
Why does she sound so surprised???)

Those curved edges look really sharp....
and all the pitting will really give the stain shading!

Mandy determined it was perfect butt size!

Progress for the garage.......

..........................disaster for the attic.
Tom had some time while Mandy wasn't here & decided to move forward on the garage. The stairwell from the garage to the attic had been partially insulated, so the insulation needed to be finished & the dry wall hung. But first the collection of stuff had to have a home.

Then there needed to be a storage area for the 2x6's that will be used for the scaffolding across the stairwell, the insulation, the many, many sheets of drywall, the screws, etc., etc. Lo and behold......isn't there now a considerable amount of visible floor space in the attic since it's been cleaned and organized??? (I did not say usable, I really did not want to share!) If there is a clean area that is a flat surface Tom will find a way to fill it & he did.

The stairwell looks great, bright & neat, still more work needed but it's progress.
The attic on the other hand now needs another cleaning.
Do and Redo is going to be the inscription on my gravestone.

Window Seats & Hearth

It actually feels like we're making progress!!!!

The stoning under what will be the window seat has begun!

And in front of the hearth.........
tile border looks great doesn't it?

Shot looking down from the loft

And under what will be the second window seat .........

8" Screws!

The backer board & wire mesh have been installed to continue stoning under the mantle, which is only temporarily placed so they can determine spacing. In order to make sure the wall is going to hold the stone they need to drive 8" screws thru the backer board & the drywall past the 2x6 studs to the plywood on the other side.

Just need to check & make sure your not going thru (OOPS!) the chimney-
too late-just nicked it.

Mandy is hanging her head out the window
(not in shame, mind you) now to call out directions.

Here's our 8" screws-good thing he has a power screwdriver!

Starting the tile surround

Nice Job! Looks Great!

Window seats are poured........

The window seat forms are done, concrete mixed, the rebar installed in the form, they've done their homework & are sure they know what they're doing.
They have decided on Pam as the release agent......plain canola,
not the butter flavored, or the olive oil.
We'll see how they come out & if they slide right out with the Pam.

Concrete door

Those small concrete blocks were nice but really not large enough for me to get a true visual of what the concrete staining will look like. So in their ongoing attempts to humor me, Tom & Mandy nailed some edges on an old door & filled 1/2 of it with concrete! When they flipped it over you can see the indentations. Now that's a sample size! I'm looking forward to seeing the concrete stains.

Jill Fudo, our architect & her husband built their own house & finished off the concrete floors & stained them. What a beautiful concept. At first I thought it would look strange, but check out these web sites-some of the floors are gorgeous!
I'd like them in our next house. (What! Did I just say that????)
http://www.kemiko.com/
http://directcolors.com/ConcreteStain/Acid_stain.htm

Roof icing evaluation #2

After the last post on the blog back in January about the ice problems, we got some great input from one of our neighbors Bruce; in addition to the constructive & informative facts he provided, he also added this little gem...."Maybe you can sell tickets to ice-climbers to try out your frozen waterfall?" Thanks Bruce!
We also got a phone call from our architect, Jill Fudo, (how cool to know she's still reading the blog & watching the house evolve!) she suggested insulating the roof above the furnace room area, which is the source for adding heat to the attic. Tom had only insulated the ceiling of the furnace room.
By insulating that section of the roof over the furnace room, it should prevent all that hot air from rising directly thru the furnace room ceiling to the uninsulated roof & divert it to the ridge vents.
That furnace room gets quite hot, it's not unusual for it to be 90-95 degrees. Tom actually cut a hole in the floor last winter & installed a fan to vent the heat into the downstairs hallway. Hey no reason to waste all that hot air!
The original energy audit crew came today, NY Homeowners Const. Co., this is the same company that came on the 14th of Jan. They apparently contract out with the guy with the infrared gun and he drove in from Albany. So 4 men arrive ( how many men does it take to hold an infrared gun???) to continue this energy audit, the 3 originals & the consultant. The only one who really did anything was the consultant, he & Tom explored quite a bit of the house. The other three just hung out. They were here for about 2 1/2 hours, he had some tips for Tom and they weren't finished-they'll be coming back in a couple of weeks..... The consultant came up with the same suggestion as Jill, along with a couple of other points.
-He found a cold spot above the upstairs guest bath, so apparently heat is leaking up there from somewhere that wasn't insulated well or was missed.
-Tom needs to make sure the exhaust fan for that bath is really vented outside.
-There is some heat leakage from the ceiling can lights & those that can be, need to be insulated.
Looks like Mandy's going back up into all that blown in insulation!
We'll let you know what they have to say in a couple of weeks.....
disclaimer: this is of course my Reader's Digest condensed version. Should you want or need (Curious Bruce) a more detailed in depth explanation please don't hesitate to call Tom. I'm sure he would love to explain it to someone other than me! Especially someone who understands & whose eyes don't glaze over when he goes into too much detail!

Roof icing

The second "Energy Consultant" (I use that term loosely) from the company called "Classic Cozy Energy Improvement Solutions" came today. Tom contacted this company because they too had an infrared gun for detecting heat loss. This "consultant" did not bring the gun with him today, but he did do an energy improvement inspection. He apparently isn't a fan of Tom's choice of insulation, which is a combination of spray on & fiberglass. He will though, be happy to cut holes in our walls & blow in cellulose insulation for a rough estimate of $15-20 thousand dollars.
Yep-Tom's jumping right on that offer!

Color samples

I got my color samples on the concrete blocks Tom & Mandy made, assorted base stains for the concrete, along with assorted stain choices for the black walnut mantle. The tile is going to go around the fireplace between the unit & the stone. Now I just need to make some decisions!