Well it's been a long hard road. Almost 15 months of hard work since the logs started going up, but we're almost there. It's on to the finish work! Go to the "Our Home - Finish Work" page to see the completion of our project.

*UPDATE* Day 480 (11.15.09) Drywall is up. They should be finishing the taping/sanding next week.

 






Big wall in the Great Room


More Tongue and Groove paneling is up too (this is the Master Bedroom)


The back deck is framed in too


Nils and Diane got us a new sign for our front porch with our farm name cut into it "Timbers Too", Thank You!


Day 474 (11.09.08) Insulation is complete and they've started putting up some tongue and groove on the walls. Sheetrock starts tomorrow so check back for another update soon! Things are finally moving along.
The roof trim is painted now.


This is the great room with tongue and groove paneling going up. There will be beams installed going up the cieling along the seams between the lights (we only have 3 lightbulbs in so far!)


More paneling. It was amazing the difference a few walls made.


Day 464 (10.30.08) We have insulation!!!
This is our master bathroom (12 foot ceilings!). With 3 different types of insulation - Spray Foam on the exterior wall (right), Cotton Batting on the interior walls, and Blown in Dense Cellulose on the ceiling.


From the great room looking up to the second floor


Looking at the front entry (front door hidden behind all those plywood and boards).


An upstairs bedroom (blown in cellulose on exterior walls and ceiling, cotton batting on walls adjacent to attic space)


These are the garage "living space" walls that Rob and I didn't do ourselves.


Another bedroom - this is what it looked like before the cellulose was blown in. 


This is "The Priscilla", an antique stove that my mom bought for us to go in our kitchen (for looks of course). I think it will go beautifully with our black hand rubbed cabinets. It's still in pieces in this picture as we had just picked it up.


One last picture of our garage doors. We brought some stuff over from the house we're in now - including one of our carved bears. You would never know from looking at this picture that the rest of the house isn't done!


453 (10.19.08) Garage doors are painted and we cleaned up around the house. It was a beautiful crisp fall day and a great opportunity for some new pictures!


We are still waiting for some finishing touches to be done on the exterior.


I guess since the cold is coming, and the caulking isn't finished, the 2nd coat of stain will have to wait until Spring. The 2nd coat will make the logs slightly darker, and shiny - like furntiure.


Also still waiting for the deck and porch to be done...


At least I've finished one painting project!


Rob and Nils have been spraying some foam in various places around the house in preparation for the "hired" insulators to arrive.


They've also been working on installing the kitchen stove hood. This is the liner and will be completely hidden by the kitchen cabinets.


(9.22.08) Cedar shakes are on!
There is still one more thing to be installed in those upper triangles...can you guess what it is? :)


I got the small garage door painted. Pretty good for left-handed, huh? (I recently broke my right wrist)


Rob and his dad started spray foaming some spots in the house: bay windows, bathtubs, and


the basement sill.


Day 431 (8.31.08) Our heating guy is wrapping up in the basement and Bruce is finishing up the siding.
Garage Side


Back Side (where the deck will be)


Cedar Shake Siding in the upper triangles


Some of the heating ducts in the basement


We have running water!!!!!


Rob and I have been working on insulating the garage!


Day 419 (8.19.08) Well our plumbing, heating, electrical and framing have all passed rough-in inspection. That means that we are okay to start insulating!
A nice view of the house - it's starting to look somewhat finished. The blank spots in those peaks will have cedar shakes and some decorative cross beams (oh, and I still need to paint the garage doors!)


Furnace #1 - Propane


Furnace #2 - Wood


Rob and his dad have been working on installing an air exchanger.


This is the knee wall for the kitchen island.


Day 368 (6.29.08) It's been over a year since we got our building permit!!! Now that we're pregnant, we need to get this house finished!!! More siding has been going up!




Our tallest corner...


Bruce has also been working on trimming out the bay windows (I just need to paint them green now)...


Our heating guy finally started! Here is the main heating trunk. It's a good thing we have 9 foot cielings in there. Even with these ducts hanging down, Rob has plenty of headroom!


Rob and his dad worked on setting up the master shower. We will have 3 shower heads!!!


We had our last cedar log milled into 3 inch slabs. We will use these as the counter top for the raised breakfast bar on the kitchen island. They will match the mantles on the fireplace...


Day 340 (6.1.08) We decided that since we are now paying a mortgage that we would get some renters to help pay the bill...They beat us to moving in, plus they never pay!!


Okay, for the real update...Some more siding has gone up! The garage is finally starting to look like the rest of the house!
Front


Closeup of the window trim, pre-painted of course, by me!


Garage Side (Notice the new "eyebrow"over the smaller garage door)


Not much is different but a current view of the back :)


The plumbers have the "Home Run" Manifolds in for the plumbing. This is the main manifold, and the propane instant hot water heater.


Day 327 (5.19.08) Another update, just showing some more details.
They've started to install some of the siding on the garage. Pretty soon, this view will look like the rest of the house...log!


The tub for our master bath arrived. (don't pay attention to the gray logs, I still need to bleach them)


Here is the 3.5 bay garage...


Rob and his dad, Nils, have been working on wiring the house for the Intercom, Phone, Cable, and Internet.


Rob and Nils have also been working on installing the central vac. They are busy boys!


While the boys have been busy at work on the inside of the house, I've been outside putting the first coat of stain on our siding. I'm about halfway done with the first coat. Then I have to start all over again!!


Day 308 (4.30.08) Okay, I know I haven't updated in a long time, so I'll try to make this a good one! A lot has happened in a month. The house is closed in, and some of the electrical and plumbing has been run. Not to mention, our beautiful handmade front door has been installed!!


Inside view...the little squares are called "speak-easy's" and they open up.


Just a new view from outside with all the windows in.


Yes, 2 main electrical panels!

A switch in the kitchen. Exciting, I know... : )


Day 278 (3.31.08) We have windows!!!
The great room windows are in...


Master Bedroom...


Rob and Nils built some temporary stairs so it is easier to get between the floors...


The boys have been busy...they installed this whole house water filter over Easter weekend...


The "inspector" was over the other day making sure the fireplace was built right....I think he approves!


Day 260 (3.13.08) We have a roof and some windows!!!!!








And our garage doors came on 3/7/08. Don't pay attention to the white, they won't look like that for long. I'm going to gel stain them dark brown and the X's will be hunter green to match the shingles and window trim.


And the chimney is finally finished!


Day 241 (2.17.08) We still don't have a roof but there are a lot of little things done so here's some new pictures...


Front...


Garage Side...


Back...


Rob built some walls in the basement so that we could hang manifolds and equipment and things...


The propane lines are run, here's the manifold...


Day 211 (1.18.08) Oh my gosh! We have shingles!!


They also put on the bluestone hearth on the fireplace. Not a very good picture but you get the idea...


Day 202 (1.09.08) The fireplace is almost done! Just a few finishing touches (a bluestone hearth!) and the rock out the roof and it will be finished! It's a beauty...this picture does not do it justice!


Day 193 (12.31.07) They are still working on this difficult roof of ours! If you look closely you can also see the beginnings of the porch!


Another view...


The fireplace is almost out the roof! You can't see it yet, but there are 2 steps at about 9 feet which makes the top of the fireplace narrower than the bottom part pictured. Also, you can see 2 rocks sticking out. That is to hold up our cedar mantle that we cut from trees that were taken down when clearing the lot. There will be a cedar mantle on either side.


Day 171 (12.9.07) Still putting up rafters.  I really love how the house is starting shape up!
Garage side


Front


Back


Entry Inside


A Bedroom


Oh, the fireplace was started too! The large space on the left is the see-through fireplace (viewed in the Great Room and the Kitchen) and the smaller space on the right is the wood storage area (also see-through)



Day 161 (11.29.07) More framing! I'm so excited about all the new stuff going up that I can't help but update again. They put up some of the rafters over the great room today and framed the 3 high windows...


A view from the inside...

Day 160 (11.28.07) Framing second floor roof. From the Front...


From the Back (in more ways than one!)...


Upstairs (closeup)...

Day 155 (11.23.07) The roof is going up! Things are starting to take shape! You can sort of tell what it is going to look like!


Day 148 (11.16.07) The second floor deck is done, now they can start framing walls and roof up there!

Day 144 (11.12.07) The firplace footing has been made. They got all of this done in one day!


Here is a close up of one of the bricks. The masons wrote the date in roman numerals along with a new nickel. how cool!


Day 142 (11.10.07) The second floor has been started!
This is the roof over the breakfast room and kitchen (no second floor over this area)


Here is a view of the kitchen cieling area.


Day 137 (11.5.07) The underground propane tank is in!


Day 133 (11.01.07) Even more framing.The fireplace will be between those two posts.


Day 132 (Halloween) More framing. This is the "tray" (the center is raised up) ceiling in our master bedroom.


Day 128 (10.27.07) It's a rainy day today but we were itchin' to get out to the house to work. We went out for a little bit and brought Jake with us. I think he had more fun than did but we all ended up soaked by the time we went back inside.

Day 127 (10.26.07)We have some framed walls...
(den on the left, master bath in the middle, master bedroom on the right)


and the beginnings of a driveway...(this is on the side of the house by the garage doors)

Day 124 (10.23.07) The logs are done! Now it's on to framing and the roof! Yeay! This is a view from the back...


A view from the inside...


A view from the barn...


Day 119 (10.18.07)  The conduit for the underground electricity, telephone, and cable. This picture was taken before the third and final pipe went in, so you only see two...

Our windows were delivered today. 33 windows and most of them are taller than me (okay, that's not saying much, but they're big windows!!)


Our septic system is going in! This is the tank...


and these are the leach lines...


Day 110 (10.9.07) Rob and Nils installed one of the Bilcos. They made a fancy custom plate for it to sit on with angled edges so the water runs off away from the door. ooooooh  aaaaaah......


Day 109 (10.8.07) I've finished staining the back of the house and any loose logs not put up yet.
I love all my corners (17 to be exact)


Day 100 (9.29.07) They are still putting up logs!
On the left is the den, center is the great room, right is the breakfast nook and kitchen. In the back you can see one of the peaks in the garage.


Day 99(9.28.07) We got our last truck delivery from Lincoln Logs. It included all the interior tongue and groove, log stairs, deco beams and exterior log siding, cedar shakes, etc. There was a lot of stuff! Now we just need our windows and we'll be done with our package deliveries!  This picture is just the interior tongue and groove. Think it will all fit in the container?

Day 92 (9.21.07) Another big wall in the garage being framed.
It's not looking like much of a log house anymore is it? But all of these framed walls will look like log on the outside. Soon! 


Day 91(9.20.07) The garage and some interior walls are being framed. 
This is the door from the garage into the mudroom


Day 85(9.14.07) We have a wall...
Those openings are windows.

Gotta love my view in the den! You can just see the barn peeking out of the trees on the left in the morning light. And if you listen closely you can hear the horses telling me to stop taking pictures and hurry up and feed breakfast!!


Day 80(9.9.07) Logs are going up!!


Day 75 (9.4.07) Started putting up the first course logs today! They have to notch the top of the log in order to nail down those stupid straps. This first course log is square. The rest of the logs will be the typical half round logs you were probably expecting.