Week 29 – Behind The Blue Door (alt. title “Attack Of The Crackheads”)

Week 29 was full of highs and lows.  The Hardie Artisan siding install got started.  It is looking AMAZING so far.  The tongue and groove work finally got finished.  We had a “back flow” issue a few weeks back that flooded the basement and we had to remove about three feet of sheetrock around all of the walls.  We currently have two industrial sized dehumidifiers drying it out.  We finally got to contribute some manual labor to the house, staining all the doors and windows.  The front door finally got it’s first coat of rich, turquoise blue, and the front trellis beams got their stain applied.  Alas, we are now on the radar of some very brave thieves.  More on that later….

The beautiful Birch doors from Baird Brothers got stained by Anne and myself.  I put the first coat of poly on today.  Really gorgeous stuff.  Having solid core door slabs for closet pocket doors may seem excessive, but we want every corner and crevice of the house to feature something awesome.  Going to have to find some quality pocket door hardware soon….

 

A shot of Liam’s blue bathroom.  Not sure why this shot is crooked….

 

The lovely tile work in Liam’s sink area

 

Hard to tell, but the laundry window received a stain treatment this week.  We used Minwax Special Walnut #224 on all interior windows and doors.

 

The master bathroom windows also got stained

 

The actual feature of this shot is the hill slope.  The landscaping guys spent all week clearing it out

 

The master bedroom double-egress windows got their stain treatment courtesy of yours truly.  And yes, they look a little “splotchy”.  “Gives them character” I say.  I think they’ll look better when I get some poly on them.

 

Our architect mentioned that solid birch doors can get “weird” when stained.  Until we got to this door, I really wasn’t sure what he was referring to because all the others took stain great.  Jeesh…I may stain this one ORANGE and call it the “TIGER DOOR” 😉

 

So, the alternate title for this week’s blog is “Attack Of The Crackheads“.  One of my concerns going into this project was that, at any time before our house is secure (it STILL isn’t), we may run into theft or vandalism.  Seven months went by with no issues until last month we were hit.  The tarp was missing off my grill island, located in the back of the lot, not visible from the road, and they got the mini fridge inside.  They also got some rebar, and some mallets and tools the landscaping guys had left in the garage.  We entertained getting a POD but, with a 20′ dumpster in the front yard it was hard to find room for it.  I bought an expensive cable lock and ran it through the grill handle and the bottom of the pallet it is on, and moved the accessories to our apartment garage.  Every weekend I would come to take blog pics and hold my breath hoping nothing else was missing.

A few weeks went by and I was hoping the crackheads were content with their booty and had left us alone when I got an email from my contractor that our trim guy, Preston, had come to work to find his ENTIRE TRAILER missing!  The thieves had backed right up in broad daylight (another trailer in the neighborhood was stolen between 5pm and 6pm), busted off the heavy duty lock, mounted the trailer, and drove off without a single neighbor noticing anything.  The thieves took a calculated risk and performed the act during a thunderstorm knowing most people would be safely inside their homes.  To say this guy is devastated is an understatement.  His entire life was in this trailer.  How he makes a living and feeds his kids was in this trailer.  Of course, he didn’t have insurance, and of course our builder’s risk insurance doesn’t cover subs equipment theft.

Below is the last time Preston’s trailer was seen.  It was in the shot of a blog pic I took on August 9th.

 

Shortly after the theft I developed ulcer like symptoms.  The day I heard the news I was physically ill and felt like I was going to puke.  What’s next?  Are they going to tear out all the plumbing?  Are they going to rip open the sheetrock and steal the copper out of the electrical wire?  Where the going to load up the doors sitting in the garage and sell them to a salvage company?  They still had plastic wrap on them!  Feeling disgusted, exposed, and vulnerable we pulled the trigger on some 24/7 security.  We should have done this after the refrigerator theft.  Heck, our contractor should have set this up on DAY NUMBER ONE. Still though, at $500 a month, that would have added up very quickly.  With less than six weeks to go at least we have SOME sense of security.  I feel bad for the neighbors.  We’ve become this “honey pot” attracting thieves because no-one is living there, making it low-hanging fruit, then they start looking at the neighbors stuff.

Below is the newly installed security system from Pro-Vigil.  It is recording 24/7 and is monitored by professional guards during monitoring hours.

 

The Artisan Hardie plank has arrived!  Three different colors, two different sizes.  The colors are: Chestnut Brown, Timberbark, and Cobblestone.  All smooth finish.

 

The huge 3″x10″ trellis beams FINALLY dried out enough to stain

 

Another look at the ultra white trellis beams

 

A big load of brush pulled from the back of the house, and the drainage easement

 

The guest bedroom egress window received a stain treatment

 

Liam’s big bedroom window also received some stain.  Notice the smudges all over the casing.  All avoidable, if our contractor would just let us stain the windows BEFORE the casing is installed

 

Basement is blocked off to dehumidify

 

Pro-Vigil sees all….Crackheads beware!!!

 

Since the West elevation was receiving a LOT of Hardie board the Architect requested we break it up with a mix of sizes and colors.  The Chestnut Brown and the Timberbark look GREAT together.  Very earthy…
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Another shot of the west elevation getting a Hardie Artisan treatment

 

The saga of the messy garage continues….

 

The messy garage DID finally get the rest of the T&G installed.  Nicest garage ever?  Maybe?  The garage was definitely not an afterthought of the architect.  We LOVE the big windows, and our cars will too 😉

 

Tongue and groove install is finished and we still have a bunch left.  We may try to sell some off, but we’ll definitely keep about 20 or 30 boards for repairs down the road

 

The dining room/playroom sliders got stained over the weekend.  BIG JOB!

 

Trim guys have been busy ripping all the trim for the ceiling

 

So the wife FINALLY got her BLUE DOOR.  I’m still not sure about it, but you learn to pick your battles and this was one I want no part of.  The color will probably look richer when we get the poly on.  So cool how you can see the grain through the color.  We used a custom mix of Sherwin William’s “Nifty Turquoise”

 

A close-up view of the Hardie install on the West elevation.  The boards are installed straight-as-an-arrow.  That curve you see must be distortion from my camera lens.  We decided not to use any trim around the windows.  The Architect wanted some cedar or other rot resistant wood there, but we didn’t want the maintenance, plus the Hardie guys were concerned with movement in the wood.  Hardie trim would have been too bulky.  Because of the huge profile of the Artisan, the ends protrude over the windows slightly in areas but I LOVE the minimal look AND the minimal maintenance.

 

Liam’s bedroom door get’s a nice deep stain of the Minwax “Special Walnut”.  No polyurethane on the door yet

 

The skylights got their well trim this week.  Once they are caulked, primed, and painted, they should look great!  1″x4″ square trim will frame out the ends.  Just like Eichler did it!

 

A shot of the private hallway skylight trim

 

The Artisan Hardie starts creeping up the master bedroom wall.  Can’t wait to see more this week!

 

A cool shot of the mitered corner of the master bedroom.  We are really putting Bob Fehr’s carpenters to the test, but they are some of the best in the business, and one of James Hardie’s top installers.  Notice the metal going up the corner.  The contractors can’t rely on the corner being square for the delicate miter work, so they have to install a sure square metal piece on the frame

 

Another shot of the mitered corner.  We LOVE the look!

 

Another shot of the Hardie next to the window.  The corners will be touched-up with paint, and caulked so we are not concerned with the edges hanging over the window

 

Because most of the venting and plumbing connections are made on the West side boxes have to be created around everything so the covers of the connections will be level and flush

 

Next week:

More Hardie install!

Electricity to the house!

HVAC will be connected and possibly turned on.  Windows will be covered with Tyvec

Most of the ceiling will get trimmed out

Landscapers will continue clearing brush

Crackheads will keep on cracking, though hopefully not in our neighborhood!

The first of the cork “may” get installed in the kitchen, but I seriously doubt it.  A LOT has to happen before we can start on the floor