Yardwork!

Rocks moved, dirt moved, now ready to work on the pond and stream! Then plants.

Side cleared up  all the way to the back corner of the house.

House Party Shots

Discussions on the Deck

Great room

Front of the House

Side view of the Deck

Stairs

Final Details!

The Garage is full of our belongings!  We emptied the storage units and found stuff we forgot we even owned! :-)

Step 2 is to move these items into the appropriate room as we finish the trim and clean up.

Speaking of trim, here are two doors all trimmed out.  They turned out great!  The base trim still needs to go in.

Most importantly here is the City of Kirkland Inspection Record with all the Final Inspection completed and signed off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   We can officially move in to the entire house.  Very happy to get that hurdle completed.  Many people hear nightmare stories about dealing with cities and jurisdictions over permitting and inspections and I personally have experienced many painful ones.  Not so with the City of Kirkland!  They have been very helpful and a pleasure to work with through the entire process. 

Now back to work to finish the last details:-)

Final Approvals!

The City of Kirkland has numerous signoffs required along the way to completing a project.  We are down to the last few FINAL Inspections.  We got the Electrical and Public Works Final Approvals Today.  That just leaves Planning and Building Dept. Final Approvals.  I plan on calling for those by the end of this week or the beginning of the next!  Things are looking good! :-)

Cork Flooring

Kitchen Cork Tile floor......Check......Oh yeah it needs a final seal coat and also the cabinet base trim now

Updates

Stairs and Railings......CHECK...Oh yeah, fix a couple of brackets, move light switch, paint bolt heads

Outside

Inside

Front Door .....CHECK.....Oh yeah, finish trim, plug screw holes and prepare and install door hardware

Kitchen.....CHECK.....Oh yeah, install cork flooring, install dishwasher, finish trimming light cables

Kitchen Bar Counter.....CHECK....Oh yeah, sand and stain brackets, trim out front panels, and get one more finish coat on the top.

Moral of this post.........Things are done but never quite done really :-)  There are a lot of little things to actually be 100% conmplete!

Internet at the House!!

Kitchen w/Chef and all the lighting in place!

Shot of lighting at the Island

Lighting in the Master Bathroom

We finally have internet at the house so hopefully more frequent updates will be forthcoming :-)

More Installations

The Kitchen Hood is now in, and not a day to soon as it is raining today and cutting a hole in the roof would not have been good!

Master Bathroom sink and faucet are installed. 

Also the laundry sink, the second bathroom sink and faucet, the prep sink/steamer in the kitchen, the powder room pedestal sink and faucet, and the dishwasher hookups are all getting finished today.  Basically plumbing should be 100% complete by the end of the day :-)

The Meditation Room has the cork flooring down and is ready for finish trim.  Ignore the door on the left it needs to be installed elsewhere in the house.

Also the Front door is back off and is in the good hands of Steve of Foremost Finishes for staining.  Also all the trim is off getting stained right now. 

That's all for now.......back to work!!

More Door, Railings & Countertops

Father & Daughter in front of the Custom Door

Railings from the Living Area

And from the Family Room below

Paperstone counter in the Second bathroom.  Backsplash is not in place yet.

Kirei Counter and Backsplash in the Master Bathroom

Big shoutout to Steve @ Foremost Finishes for staining and sealing the counters!  As near as I can tell he stopped counting after 10 coats!!!  Wait unitil you see the Butcher block Breakfast Bar :-)

Mum Visits

My mum visited with my sister and I got to show them around a bit.  Bamboo flooring is now down in the main room

The Front door is done and ready for staining

Plus we had some great sunny weather so we had lunch out on the back deck.  That's Tif, her Dad Seth, me, and my Mum Sheila

More Image Updates

Front Entrance - Stained concrete, railings etc

Front entrance with the partially finished Front Door

Seth working on the Front Door.  Note the door pivoting on a "pivot hinge" on the right side

Bamboo hardwoods are getting installed in the Living Room

Stairs are in place ready to get stained.  The railings are getting powder coated

Master Bathroom vanity in place.  The counter needs to get stained still, plus we need faucets!

A Quick Update

A quick photo update.  Lots happening and we are now living at the house and my computer is not ;-(

Switched the trim around the stair opening and landing to a metal plate.  It looks a lot better.  The stairs are all fabricated and we will be installing them tomorrow

Handles in the Kitchen are all installed now.  Looks sharp!

Front railings are already at the powder coater.  Here is the railing going in on the back deck.

Another view.

Garage is now a shop for all the different trades.   My Father-in-law is currently set up in here making a custom Front Door for the house.  Stay tuned for something real special!

Bathroom and Laundry Cabinets look the same but are now level and attached properly.  I also went to storage and pulled out a few things to get ready for moving in downstairs in a few days.....................really! We are moving back in over the next few days. Of course everything is partially finished :-)  Here his a big picture overview

Downstairs:

• Doors need hardware
• Need to install closet doors
• Need window and floor trim
• No stairs yet, just waiting for a few more pieces
• Plumbing finish work should get about 50% done tomorrow, waiting for some items to arrive
• Need counters in the bathrooms and laundry

Upstairs:

• Flooring needs to go down
• Some misc lighting needs finishing
• Need to install closet doors
• Need door to garage
• Front door hardware is on the way and Tif's Dad is coming to fabricate a custom door in a couple of days
• Need a few items in the kitchen like; upper counter, lighting, flooring etc
• Fab work for the railings  will begin in a few days.  There is railing on the deck, stairs, landing, Front porch, retaining wall at the side of the drive, and at the stepped retaining wall. Lots of rail = Lots of $

You get the idea:-)  Lots of things to get done over the next month!!!

Flooring and Cabinets

Bathroom cabinet is in the Second Bathroom.  Tomorrow I will level and finish installation.

Laundry room now has the Marmoleum flooring plus I rough fit the cabinets.  I will finish it off tomorrow also.

FREE House tour to whoever can figure out what key thing is missing in one of these pictures.  And I don't mean obvious stuff like doors counters etc :-)

Finally an interesting story.  We got all custom cabinets made by Pacific Bay Wooddesign (206-779-2188).  Talk to Mike.  Great guy.  How great?  Well not only did they take care of all the normal tweaks and finetuning quickly but, origianlly we had ordered maple cabinets in the Laundry and Second Bathroom to save a little money.  Mike surprised us by upgrading them to the Jatoba like everywhere else in the house. How cool is that!!

Stained Concrete.........Luv it!!!

Master Bedroom Stained Concrete Floor, looking from the patio door through to the bathroom.

Master again looking from the end of the hallway.  It's not really that shiny, the light was just reflecting through the windows.

Front Porch Stain is a little more varigated or the colors flow more.  Still looks great to me!

So,  I just love the look and coloring of the stained concrete floors.  They look better in person as the material and color variations pop out more.  They tie in real well with the overall design and colors.  Pictures of the marmoleum in the Laundry Room tomorrow.  I got it down after a little tugging and struggling :-)  One big sheet the size of the room you are putting it in is definitely awkward to get glued down in the right spot!  I did ok with a few minor errors and imperfections but once the room is trimmed out I think it will look just fine.

Main Bathroom

Sealed the Slate tile in the second bathroom.  Judge for yourself but I love the way it turned out.  Ready for cabinet install now!