Before & After

The plants arrive

The front BEFORE

 

The front AFTER

 

The back yard BEFORE

The back yard AFTER (pardon the window screens!)
Mom and dad were VERY busy, and Sheliza, Muniz and I helped some too

WE LOVE IT!

Top that!

The big item today was the delivery of granite countertops for both kitchens.
The granite looks super!  The "granite guys" measured all the bathroom cabinetry so that they can go back and cut those pieces as well.  In a few days we should have kitchen appliances and cupboard doors, and then you'll really get the full effect of the kitchens!

Mom & Dad's kitchen:  cupboards will have white doors, not that blond wood.


Our kitchen:  I was a bit nervous about my decision to have a non-standard kitchen island shape... but I think it turned out okay!


In other news:  Tile upstairs is DONE!  The girls' rooms are so colourful...  that'll be toned down, I'm sure, once there are curtains and furniture items in the rooms

We have some front stairs.  SOME is the operative word.  Sheliza says only uncle Shane would be tall enough to get from the bottom step to the middle step, and then up to the house.  More stairs to come.


Things are moving along...

Wow!

All of a sudden, things have really taken off at the house.  After what felt like WEEKS of tiling the first floor, the main floor is now done and the top floor is about half-finished.  Some of the main floor is grouted, and the rest should be done shortly.


The kitchen cabinets are largely in place.

I think that by the end of next week, we're supposed to have granite countertops in place.

We've got a room full of sinks and faucets (still in boxes, but ready to go!)

Also, baseboards are piled in the kitchen and ready to be installed. 

We've got backyard fences and the better part of a front driveway!

Ah.. there is hope!

October's end

Looks like Dad had a bunch of posts in the works, but they never made it to completion. Some older (and more detailed) posts may show up later!

So, in the last month..

Exterior: from wood to stucco, then a tinted layer of "cabbage patch green", which goes rather nicely with the cedar. Landscaping crew has built us levels, complete with stairs and a paving-stone sidewalk. The only thing missing is a set of front stairs...



In the back:
We have a patio, complete with seating-height wall, a few levels for planting, and then an upper yard, which will have grass for the girls to play on. Another wall is yet to go up, along the back of the property, to contain the much awaited vegetable garden. Plans are in the works, say the dads, to connect our back yard with buddy Natalie's (4 doors down) so the girls don't have to traipse along the "big road." We shall see...

Inside:

laying 4000 sq ft of tile is, apparently, a bigger job than lifting 4000 sq ft of tile was, It's been underway for more than a week, but we're still on the main floor. It looks super, though. Both kitchen floors are done, so that...

... the kitchen cabinets could arrive (this is what they looked like today!) The colours are off because the doors are the part with the chosen finish, and the doors aren't here yet.

Finally, we got lights last weekend. Not sure what happened to my camera here, but you get the idea.

Anticipating fences, more tiling, cabinet installation, etc in the near future.

Gutter Guts...

These guys have nerves of steel - hanging on the edge, leaning over to get the screws in...

Scary BUT a beautiful job in black..

We have LOCK-UP

We finally got the keys, the locks installed and the garage door put in - so we are officially at lock-up.

The work ahead this coming week:
Monday - final on mud and tape for drywall, drying and sanding
Monday - boiler gets engineering inspection and solar install plan
Monday - stucco sample arrives - purple looks good!
Wednesday - landscaping starts on front and back
Wednesday - tile and tile setter arrive and starts work on the showers
Thursday - window service call - fix and touch up all

We have DRY WALL

These guys work hard and fast...and do a great job.