WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!!!

It's been a long time. Keep an eye on this space for some updates. Pictures of the finished house (yes, its actually finished. or, well, livable.) to come. Also, a new format and other exciting updates...
Stay tuned.

Floating Stairs

The "floating stairs" are done and they turned out great.

a little more about the counter tops

you may be able to tell from the photos, and maybe not, we poured these concrete counters ourselves. they are for the master bathroom, and there are several pieces. a tub surround, a vanity counter, and two sinks. more pictures to come. we did it for several reasons. one of which was cost. i cant really afford to outsource too much at this point, so this was a cost effective way to do it.
we set up forms made of melamine covered particle board in the master bedroom, so we wouldn't have to carry the finished product too far. probably spent 60 bucks on the melamine at home depot. we then caulked the corners and edges to keep any concrete from seeping out the gaps. added foam insulation blocks where we needed voids.
concrete was mixed in the room, with a rented mixer. $28 for 4 hours at home depot. used sackrete concrete (about $30 bucks worth, like 10-11 80# bags) and a little extra portland cement for the mix. we mixed it dry enough to hold in your hand. put in one inch deep first, then vibrated underneath with a $20 electric block sander from disposable tool depot, harbor freight. then, we laid in the .5" rebar, and added another inch of concrete on top. vibrate again, sides and bottom.
after about 2 weeks, we pulled off the forms, and flipped them over, exposing the finished surface. it looks awesome. color is very similar to soapstone. (we added no color to the mix) very very smooth, and almost no voids. i sanded the finished surface with 100 grit sandpaper, and then again with 220, and it came out almost as smooth as glass, with a little matte finish. used some grout and solid surface sealer (30 bucks for a pint) from home depot. 2 coats. and then 3 coats of liquid floor wax (3 bucks a can) and it all soaked in nicely, penetrating the surface and leaving no residue.
the suckers are heavy. but they look super nice, and for less than a couple hundred dollars, definitely the most cost effective way to go. i'll post more pictures once they are all finished out and in place.
master bathroom is almost finished, and the other upstairs bathroom is about 98% finished as well. pictures to come on both once they are finished.
-kk

Concrete countertops

Want to see how the concrete countertops we made turned out?

Pretty much they rule!

heat!

well, we have heat. the radiators are all working, and just need to be fine tuned. took a little while to get all the air out of the system and get it working properly, but now that it is, its very warm, quiet, and seems to be a nice even heat.
the upstairs bathrooms are both being tiled. should have all the tile finished in both of them in a week or so. i'll post some new pictures when they are finished. we have three of the 4 toilets installed. went with the toto aquia dual flush toilets in all 4 bathrooms. so far, they seem to work pretty well. the light flush is plenty powerful enough to get liquids down, and a kleenex or two. i haven't had the pleasure of doing much more than that at this point. sorry.
upstairs rooms are painted and most of the doors in the house are hung. about 95% of all the electrical is finished. just have some plates to put on switches and plugs, and a couple of lights to install.
basement concrete floor has been covered with a very light grey epoxy. at this point, that's all we'll do to the floor in the basement. laundry is hooked up and working.
started a small gabion wall between our property and the south neighbor. he gets a pretty steady stream of mud into his driveway from our back yard when it rains. this should retain most of that soil and allow us to level off the back yard under the deck.
so, we've accomplished a lot. dad's been over there most every day for at least part of the day working on stuff. we still have plenty to do, but we're making great progress. by the end of the year, we should be looking more seriously at being able to finish up. hopefully early in the year.
pictures to come.
-k

drywall

so its been a little while. drywall is finished. interior is all primed and painted. some of the rooms are finish painted. electrical is operable and most of the lighting and ceiling fans are installed. still waiting on some of the stuff we ordered from the web. its really starting to shape up.
the hope is to finish out a bunch of the rest of the siding on the weekends, and work on interior finish work during the weeks. the siding is getting pretty close. its looking nice. i want to get the rest of it up before the weather starts again for the winter.
more pictures soon.
-kk