For the Little People

Our doors arrived this afternoon.  However, this one is only four foot tall.  It is a dutch door (split into a operable top and bottom) with a shelf.  Hopefully the little people in our life will enjoy their special space behind this door.

Floor and Shower Update

The reclaimed oak wood floors are now down in the kitchen, dining and great room (shown above).  Hopefully we will start applying the finish next week.

The tile in the master shower is grouted and ready for the marble on the bench top and tub deck.

A Beam of Any Other Color

After extensive sanding (and much fine dust) the painters have started staining the beams.  We have chosen to have the beams slightly lighter than the other woodwork.

Wood You Like To Come For Breakfast

The reclaimed oak floors are being installed in the Kitchen-Breakfast room (shown above and below), Dining room, Great room and Powder room.  Although hard to see there are 5 different widths.

We plan on using a clear stain (which will actually make the wood darker than shown above) which will give the wood the same appearance as if it were wet.  After paying for the floor we decided to go with the cheaper blue chairs shown above.

How Efficient

In an attempt to make the 'big-box' fireplace in the Great room more efficient we added this glass lined screen door.  Hopefully we won't loose very much heat when it is not in use.  We have also piped outside air into the combustion chamber.  In the foreground is a stack of reclaimed oak which is getting acclimated to the home's heat and humidity.

Mosaics in Progress

The last two bathrooms to tile are the master (shower mosaic in picture above) and the English (mosaic on floor).

Variety is the Spice

We have decided to use quite a variety of stone (tile) patterns in the home.  The picture above shows the laundry room.

The downstairs bedroom has a Native American theme and a slate ledge shower.

Master Slip and Slide

We decided to go with a polished marble for the master bathroom floor.  Sure looks slippery to me!

Out of Africa

Hopefully the pebble lined shower for our Africa bathroom will feel good to sore feet.

These two windows are locate in the shower.

Going Dutch

We brought some Windmill tiles with us when we returned from the Netherlands.  Perfect for a Dutch themed bath and bedroom.

Versailles Pattern Travertine floor

The basement floor is ready to be grouted and sealed.  The blue tape and plastic is to protect the woodwork during cleaning.

Its Getting Hotter

The boiler room, located about 100 feet from the home is complete.  The large green box is a wood boiler which transfers heat to the panel (also green) on the wall.  The two white boxes are on-demand propane fired heaters.  The propane heaters will be both backup and top off heat for the radiant system.  

This is the boiler room with two vents out the side for the propane heaters and a tall stack for the wood fired boiler.  If you look close you will see the solar panels in the trees in the background.

Behind the Sheetrock

I decided to add a couple of examples of what is behind the finished walls.  This radiant heat manifold takes in hot water from the master manifold and distributes it to several of the zones in the entry and great room.

This wall in the master bathroom shows plumbing, electrical (yellow) and audio-video (black) cables.