Friday, February 17, 2012

Stoning the Fireplace

I am so excited about today's post!
 Gene and his mason crew got about half of the master closet stoned yesterday. 
 They are moving into the house to get the fireplace finished before the sheet rock guys appear, since as soon as the insulation is done,
 They are almost done prepping the fireplace for the stone. That wire mesh is some sharp stuff!
 No wonder they need a grinder to cut it away! Look at those sparks fly like it's the Fourth of July!
 
Then Gene and his crew laid out the stone to get started...

...and then got to work. 
By lunchtime, they had made quite a bit of progress...
...and by evening, we had this amazing fireplace to look at. WOW! They can really churn out that stonework!
The cellulose insulators have finished insulating Tommy's room...
 ...and if you peek through the walls in his room you'll see that...
 ...the playroom still needs insulation in the ceiling. There's a LOT of insulating that has to happen! It's crazy!
I got to watch them blow cellulose into the walls in the girls room. 
Some of the insulation snuck out of the black plastic and Gene had to tell them to secure it better or he wouldn't be able to finish the fireplace. They secured it better and Gene was able to get the stone up on the walls safely.
The floor guy came back to show me some floor samples to choose from and then walked around the house marking all the studs onto the floor so that when trim gets installed, it's easy to know where the stud walls are without any guess work. What a cool trick! :)




Our sample floor to look at - they are different grades of wood and in looking at them, it isn't super easy to tell them apart unless you know what to look for. There are basically 3 levels we are interested in choosing from. Grade 1 is the highest we would consider using and has no knots or discoloration in the wood, grade 2 has a couple of very small knots and some discoloration in the wood, and grade 3 is Tavern grade which basically means that the knots and cracks you see in the framing lumber are what a sample of that wood would look like. Grade 1 and 2 are about 30 cents apart in material cost and labor would be the same for either. Tavern grade is definitely less expensive in material cost, but more expensive in labor cost since they are basically reject boards that vary in size and are typically fairly small boards. We're going to be getting a quote so we can make a better decision what kind of floor we want in the Great Room, Dining Room, Kitchen and Pantry.  Aren't decisions fun?
Outside on the front porch, the masons that weren't needed for the fireplace were installing the mesh on the front porch. I can't wait to see what that will look like!
Already the stone and brick look great together, and with the colors I've chosen for the house, I'm hoping it will look awesome!

Not much is left on this house! Just the stonework and the siding on the garage. 


Everything is looking so good!
The kids came back out with Tom and I to see the house changes again in the evening. 

Tommy is super excited about the new light saber he got for Valentine's day...you know how light sabers and love go hand in hand, right? 
Here we are checking out the stove vent. Apparently, the best way to vent the stove outside was through Tommy's closet, so that's what we are doing. Thankfully it's a large closet. 
Nikki loved watching the mason clean up the mortar from the stone. 
She was also drawn to the giant pile of insulation in the corner...MUST...KEEP...AWAY...Whew, she did!
The spare room in the basement. 
Our little monkey wanted to climb the scaffolding. 
I can't wait to paint the ceiling in our storm room. I'm thinking something bright and cheerful?

A final look at our house and we're going to go inside for supper!

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