Filled In & Painted Over

Our excavator got most of the "mezzanine" filled in, and the painters made some nice progress getting everything prepped on the main floor for the final coat of trim paint. Several of the doors also got their finish coats of paint as well.

Priming the Crown

We were happy to see that the crown molding is now all primed. Still a bit more work before it's finished and taped, but at least we can see steady progress in that direction. We're certainly glad for the attention to detail, as attested by the many red spots. I learned today that this is a special putty that doesn't have to be primed, and is used to mark the little defects before the final painting. The upstairs doors received a finish coat. Our excavator was here late in the day working, and our landscaper stopped by to make copies of the plans and check on the grading process. So each day a baby step closer...

Return of the Taskmaster

We were so glad for the return of our main painting contractor, who seems to have whipped his crew into shape. They're working hard to keep our timetable on track. Today they setup the doors upstairs to be painted, masked the trim in the master bedroom (almost but not quite) completely. Others were at work downstairs getting things masked off. Our excavator also showed up in the afternoon and moved some of the gravel around that had been delivered earlier. We hope for everyone's quick return in the morning.

Grading and Paint Prep

We were glad to have several people around today. The paint crew worked at their usual pace, and did get some of the caulking finished around the entry as you can see. Our excavator was also around for part of the day leveling dirt in the backyard and filling in the driveway edges around front. Dad/Grandpa H. had staked out some of the dimensions in the backyard for the patio in the early morning, and by mid-afternoon our landscaper showed up to help out the neighbors with their sprinkler system which had been knocked out during our dowsing for the drain during the winter.

Rocks, Dirt, and Paint

More pictures today than usual. From top to bottom you'll see pictures as follows: The rock piles are at Uncle Scott's property on the Ashton Hill, and are the specimens we hope to take home to build our retaining wall. If I'm not mistaken it's some of the volcanic tuff rather than actual molten basalt (it's lighter and much softer composite). At any rate, the colors match the stone on the front of our home nicely. The next pictures show the progress with the grading around the house, including a shot of the "Redmond (Utah) Mineral" sealer that Dad/Grandpa H. and I used to seal the area under the bay window where we've had water leaking over the winter. You can also see the blue board we put up to hopefully guard against the expansion and contraction of freeze/thaw water seepage around the driveway. Inside you can see the results of yesterday's priming. Today the painters were at work, but moving at near glacial paces again sanding and caulking...

Priming on the Main

We were somewhat reassured to find our painters still working into the night to get the priming done on the main floor. There's also been some gravel delivered, and the new front door is also in place.

Baby Steps

It's hard to see if the spark of fire set the other day took. We were glad to see the remainder of the cabinetry on the main floor covered, but beyond that and some more masking it looks like little progress again. You'll see that some of the holes were patched, and that is appreciated as well, but no visible painting occurred...