My finial is crooked and other updates.

Is there anything worse than a crooked finial?? How embarrassing. I couldn't even take a picture of it - it looked too limp and sad. But my builder reassures me it will be re-installed properly. Excalibur deserves better.

In other news, Febel Bros. finished up the stonework this week! It turned out BEAUTIFULLY. Seriously, we couldn't be happier. Here are some pictures of their lovely work:





And here's my ultimate favorite - the fireplace!



We also poured the stamped concrete on the front porch. It looks a little purple-y right now but they still need to power wash and varish it - it should look a little more gray than in these pics:



And finally - here is what she looks like now! :)

No, I'm not dead.

Sorry for the long period of silence - I was on vacation for a couple of weeks and then work got busy, so I've fallen a little behind. But enough of the excuses - there are lots of cool updates to share!

First things first: the finial for our turret has been ordered. After much heckling from my builder, I decided to go with something a little more ornate. The new finial comes with the very modest, unassuming name of "Excalibur."

:snort:

Behold: Excalibur!!



Okay, enough of that.

So, lots of progress on which to report. The rough carpentry is finished, the roof is (mostly) on, the windows have been installed, and the masonry is in progress. Here is what she looks like currently:



:)

Febel Brothers had a large crew out on Saturday to knock out a good portion of the stonework. I caught a few of them sitting down on the job:



Ha ha - just kidding. Thanks for all the hard work guys. Much appreciated.

Also, Jeff gave me a quick lesson on masonry - I can honestly say it's a lot harder than it looks. Here is me looking confused and embarrassed:





They also put in all the rough masonry for our two-sided fireplace - very exciting! Here is the outside face:



Unfortunately, some hoodlums vandalized it with graffiti:



Here is the inside face of the fireplace. You can also see the rough carpentry in place for our coffered ceilings!



On Monday, they will be pouring the stamped concrete on our front porch. It's supposed to look like gray cobblestones when they're finished.



And finally, here are some interior pictures of the house.

Here is the dining room - you can see how they already framed out the tray ceiling:



Here is a picture of our kitchen/family room combo. The arch will give the two rooms a little separation:



Here is the bedroom in the turret:



It's difficult to capture the height of the ceiling in a picture, but here's my attempt:



The small cluster of wood at the very top of the turret is where the ceiling is going to be. I think it's something like 18 feet high. (!) You can thank my builder for that one too. Originally it was only supposed to be 10 feet high, but he just kept on raising the bar - literally. No complaints here though - it's turned out to be one of the neatest features of the house, I think. :)

Here is the master bedroom:



And finally, here is the bonus room in the attic. Sorry the picture is a little dark - there isn't much natural light in there thanks to our crazy roofline.



I think the ceilings are just high enough to play bags year round. I'll be setting up the bracket shortly - e-mail me if you want in.

Game on!