How will I spindle my weekend....?

Time for the back stairs...

And look the tile is here... How exciting!

Rockwall guy was inside sanding the floor for most of the day.

When a couple of steps were in place and the crew had to run out to pick up lunch I sat down and enjoyed the view. 

The morning coffee view... I only had my water bottle.

And I spotted an eagle high in the sky!

It circled for a bit..... And flew off.

So things are getting ready to start inside on the floor. Here is what is going to happen...

Thinset, mat, cable, connect thermostats, thinset, tile. Testing the cables and thermostats oodles of times.  .... There are many YouTube videos out there on this stuff.... Even Mike Holmes uses it, (I saw a video of him and his daughter instalingl it).

You may rementer the wood floor.... It's been hiding below drywall dust for quite sometime!

And look all the tile is inside now.

All the railings are in place.

And the steps are completed!

You probably can't make it out in this picture, but I had to trim back the apple tree a bit so there was room to walk by without getting a branch in the face.

And before I headed home all the spindles arrived.

That's a lot of spindles. I mean really a lot of spindles, especially when I am the one who is going to stain them all! .... Wowsa...

I will actually start by staining the railings that have been installed first. 

I guess I know what I am doing this weekend!

A walk around front and look the rock work is done... Sans grout.

Okay not all, because we probably have enough to go a bit lower on the wall. 

Pretty close...?

Things to do today so I was not by the site until early afternoon. 

Look.... the front deck railings are up. And uh, I of course meant a bottom railing yesterday, not a halfway up railing. Top and bottom like a fence and the spindles will just get nailed on like fence boards - except there will be gaps between the spindles not like most fence boards!

I think the BBQ will look good over there.....

And maybe a chair or two over there.....

With the front deck done (until spindles arrive), the crew were busy in the back.

There was a consultation again as to where the stairs will be...

The stairs will be 8 ft long... nice and wide. A good friend suggested making the stairs go all the way across, but I wanted some private sitting area. 

Sometime in the future I even may take out half the stairs and build a ramp sideways toward the driveway.... The plan would be to have no stairs needed to enter the house at the back.

The big deck gets smaller when you put railings on it.... I say that because I used to have a huge deck at my last house.... But I am downsizing.

This little corner might have a little bistro table and chairs... maybe... And maybe a lattice to hide the neighbour's trailer... Yes the outhouse will be gone! I was going to build sometype of natural plant/shrub/vine screening into the yard by the rocks, so might not need it on the deck.

There will be plenty of room to sit on the stairs and drink my morning coffee.

Here is the view from inside the door....

Speaking of inside.... Another prime coat on the walls.

Almost time to start the floor.

When the spindles are in place the neighbours can hide.

The outside rock wall is almost complete.... Yes there will be grout and protective sealant, but that can happen after the floors inside, (same guy doing the job).

Once again... My little house on a basement is looking good!

It's pretty close .....?

The bill is in the mail.

Mondays can be good days full of busy worker bees... and today was sorta like that. 

The painter was inside putting on the second coat after a little sanding here and there where needed.

And the usual crew were back on site.. and my posts are starting to go up for my railings.

I was relaxing in the back on my bench under my plum tree when I was called to the front of the house.... Look I've got mail! Okay so one of those is actually my tax bill!

And the rock wall guy was busy working on the front wall. He had actually done a little near the bottom on the left side of the door... but I did not take a picture of that for some reason. And it is beginning to look like we might have enough rock to bring the other part of the wall lower as well.

The crew finished off with the rest of the deck posts and also moved the top section of the stairs over a few inches... someone forgot to centre the stairs between the posts...

Next up will be a railing half way up and a top railing. The spindles will be a while later as they are back ordered. I will stain it all eventually.

yup looks centred.

So before I left the crew were back piling up more lumber on the back deck.... for the front railings and the posts and railings for the back deck, and the stairs for the back deck too.

Not sure how well you can see this in the photo... the cherries on all the trees in the area are just turning red. The big tree is a neighbours, mine is a shorter one in the foreground, next to the plum tree.

Primed, but not quite ready.

I know, I know I did not post yesterday..... There just wasn't much going on other than the slow, but really cool looking rock wall... This was end of day yesterday.

And here is what another day ended with....

More little locks and black rocks in the mix today.

I will have to put some nice plants in the mini front yard.... Plants that deer don't like!

There were other accomplishments today... My contractor and the painter were busy most of the afternoon, as the whole house received its first coat of primer paint. This coat will be sanded a bit and then there will be a second prime coat. Some time later when I am moved in I may have an opinion as whether something other than off white would be suitable.

Rocking it out!

The rock wall was moving along today.

The contractor thinks we might not have enough for the bottom... We will see.

And that is about all that was done today. The rest of the crew were off on another job.

But look I have tomatoes! 

I have never grown tommies before, very exciting.

I like these... Pretty weeds, wild flowers, or just renegade flowers that spread easy.

And oh my I have a yellow rose. 

In the fall or next spring I hope to plant my favourite red rose...a Don Juan.

So despite the slow progress... The house is looking nice!

What will the end of the week bring?

Well the rock wall is coming along nicely. I originally only wanted the grey mixture of rocks, but I think the brownish ones will tie nicely with the decking and trim. I can't wait to see what it looks like next to my fir doors!

Inside it was a clean up day. The drywall crew has moved out and the regular crew will be able to start the trim and all the priming.

I did not actually stick around until the end of the day... so the rock wall will have had more done on it today than you see below. But really that is not what is great about this photo........

Do you see it?

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I put up a mailbox! Its not in its exact spot right now, but mail will come here starting the end of the week. I will put it on the edge of the railings when they are built.

My Stairway to Heaven

It's Monday, time to get back at it.

I stopped by the site about noon to see what had been done so far today.....

The stair supports were anchored in place ready for the treads.

My walnut tree is filling in nicely with the season and almost hides my stairs - or the neighbours, depending on which side you are on.

Here is looking down at my tree.

And looking up at the deck.

Today the drywall boss was on site sanding. A heater/ fan had been brought in on Saturday. My contractor said that it was toasty warm inside this morning, proving how well insulated the place is... and the drywall is finally dry.

A new subcontractor was on site. The front rockwall begins with laying out the rocks and washing each of them. Mixing up the appropriate adhesive and applying the rocks in a timely manner before things set. 

The same fella will be taking care of my floors inside.

Everyone was busy.... This is good.

I will pick up some stain and cover the ends of the treads.

And there you have it.... Led Zepplin completed.

Okay railings are still needed....

Down....

And up...

Things are progressing quite nicely below. I think we will have enough to cover below on the foundation but it's best to do them in two batches, less chances of things cracking with the two sub surfaces.

Yup, my house is looking good!