Fall is here.

Summer is ending here in the Rockies. On the way home yesterday we noticed that the clouds surrounding the top of Pikes Peak were dropping snow instead of rain. The Aspens are also starting to loose their green and there is a nip in the air.

I finally got around to taking the plastic off the windows, but then I put a layer on the inside.


Well its going to be a Martha Stewart house…at least in color. Most of the upper floor was primed this weekend and will be painted the end of the week. The painting of the interior is in preparation for the installation of the tile and hardwood floors which should start a week from today. Marlys spent the entire weekend working on her balcony sealing.

The house is taking on a much more finished look inside, once the drywall cleanup was done.

Last week we ordered all of the tile, hardwood and carpet for installation beginning in 10 days. The kitchen was also ordered, but that will take about 4-5 weeks for cabinet delivery and then the base cabinets are installed a template can be made for the countertop. The granite countertops will take another week to fabricate and install.

We need to get the appliances ordered and on-site by the time the cabinets show.

This next week will see most if not all of the excavation and underground work completed with the placement of the propane tank and water cistern.

There will then be a final grade put on the area around the house and the work on the patio can begin. Right now the patio will be poured a week from Wednesday.

Not much laying around the site any longer.

Once the patio is in the mason will apply the stone veneer to the lower three feet of the walkout starting a week from Friday. We are going to go with a dry stack on the stone vs. a visible mortar joint.

The garage doors will also go in on Tuesday and with that I will install all the exterior door hardware and secure the house. I started yesterday with some of the upstairs entry locksets and deadbolt. I also noted that we have 5 of the entry sets back ordered.

I am going to be on site for the later half of this week so that I can get some of the priority items completed before the flooring starts, e.g. interior painting. I also need to begin the fabrication of the stairway opening railings. The railing will be made with cedar top and bottom rails support antique nickel balusters.

Marlys has ordered all of the exterior light fixtures and those needed for the kitchen and great room. After shopping around we ended up buying them all off of the web.

Friday will also be the day that all of the trim lumber will be delivered, the flooring folks are going to do a walk through and the mason will do a final measure.

It will be a pretty busy place for the next couple of weeks. I will need to get some of the outlets powered up next week and the furnace lit.