Exterior Color

I have been meaning to add these for a while now.

Here are the exterior colors.  I decided to do each "block" of the house a different color but tie them together with a common trim color.  The original house is green.  The two-story addition done before we bought the house is blue.  The new addition in back is red.  The new entry is corrugated metal.  The red trim occurs on all blocks.

Same colors again around the back.  I still have to do the blue on the upper level.  The courtyard in the back will be concrete soon.  There will be a balcony to the right from the upper sliding door on the new addition (red).

Yes, There is Progress...

Been ignoring this blog for far too long now.  We have really struggled to make a lot of progress during the past year.  The problem has been trying to find people willing to work...or even show up!

We got the handrail finished.  I chose four supports and then designed a simple rail with a bend at the top.  The rail is made from pipe.  I got Al at A&C Fabrication to cut and weld the bend.  He then welded in half-spheres into each end.  Finally, he cleaned up the four brackets.  I took all of it over to Jeff at Double R Powder Coating for paint.  The brackets are black and the rail is aluminum.  I am really happy with how it came out.

We have been working on cabinets now.  We added a cabinet to the hall.  It has yet to get a small countertop on it.

The new storage closet got shelves and poles for jackets.  We promptly filled it!

And, yes, Allison is allowed to come out (when she is good).

Our new master bathroom is coming along.  I designed this maple cabinet unit and it was built by Caddis Woodworks.  I helped to get it in and then added the door/drawer knobs.  Next will be the countertop and then the sink and mirror.

Our master shower got done back in the summer, but I never put any photos up.  It is a big shower (3'x6'), but it is difficult to photograph.  It has sliding glass doors, two shower heads and a bench to sit on.  The metallic tiles are to go with our metal theme (don't forget we have metal siding).  We have individual stones in the shower as well as around the toilet area.  The American Standard shower head is a very low flow model that has an air boost to make it seem stronger.  It works great.  Our Toto toilet is also a water saver.  It has a two-button flush system depending on how much flush you need.  The half flush is better than most regular models.

We are trying to get the countertops done now, so we can have a sink in our bathroom.  There are several other things to get done to complete our bathroom.

I hope to get more photos up soon.

Color in the Grey Zone

Here is a better look at the exterior colors.  These will only be on the lap siding of the original "block" of the house.  I love the green ("tarragon").  The garnet is too pink for me, so I am now looking at a darker red called Spanish Tile.  It is grey here half of the year, so the house will have color!  It will be cheerful and fun.

View at front entry.

What about inside?  Here is what got done so far.

Orange Maple up the stairs....yea baby!

Buttered Toffee end walls.

Ceiling and long walls are Navajo white.

Painting all surfaces with drywall primer and then a couple of coats of color is a lot of work.  We were especially lucky to have our friends John and Mary Brown come to help out.  They also brought their Korean exchange student, Jeoung.  She had never painted before and seemed to enjoy herself.  She did get to do the yellow!  Allison and I feel so lucky to have such good friends!  Thank you John and Mary!!!

Heavy Metal Upon Entry

Monday was exciting!  The metal finally went up on the new entry.  I have been anxiously awaiting this step.  I love it!  I know many will not like it, but that is not something for me to worry about.  People that know me know that I do not want anything boring.  If it makes you feel something (good or bad), it is better than not making you feel anything.

Side view with trellis extending through.

View from the other side.

Straight on view.  Paint test on the back wall.

Trellis will get smaller cross pieces and paint.  I love the contrast.

There it is!  Now to add paint and landscaping.

A Downspout and "J" Channel

We are not ready for all of our downspouts yet, but we had two (of five) put up to control the amazing amount of water we have been getting.  We kept with the raw metal theme and used a larger diameter than typical.

Downspout in the back of house.

"J" metal trim that will hold corrugated metal.

Half wall detail at front entry.

The first panel on the front is on!

Metal Siding

I have been waiting for this for a long time...the metal siding going up.  Pretty much everyone thinks that I am totally nut, but I am going for it anyway.  I have been trying to combine traditional and contemporary ideas on this project.  


Here are the first panels going up!

First, the "J" channel gets put on the perimeter of the area where the metal will go.

The metal is on the top quarter of the 2 story addition.  Below you can see the board and batten siding, which is fiber-cement panels with a wood print pressed into the surface.  The lower part will get painted.

The first full wall is done!  I am all about being different, and the metal is different!  I really like it.

I will post more as it goes up.

Drywall

The drywall process has been a long, slow one.  The gypsum board was put up by one crew a couple weeks before Christmas.  That was nailing and screwing the boards and adding metal to all the corners.

The next crew came to tape the seems and plaster the seems and nails/screws.  This is a 4 step process that needs a day or two to dry between each step.  The holidays greatly lengthened this process!

The last 2 steps required another crew.  This crew put primer on all the walls one day and came back a few days later to spray on the texture.  Well, that got done yesterday, and it is still drying today.

Now we can paint!

Upstairs.

Door to balcony upstairs.

Ceiling in Master Bedroom.