Oh So Close

Travis' parents were up again yesterday to help us texture. We got almost all of the basement textured. Most of the bathrooms still need textured as well as a couple ceilings here and there. After a very accomplishing day yesterday, Travis and I went out today to finish up. Unfortunately all the mud we put up yesterday hadn't dried yet today, so we couldn't finish today. We are just using the torpedo heater for heat right now and it puts out so much moisture that the mud takes forever to dry. It made a good excuse for us have a day to rest and relax though:) While we were out today, we did take measurements for how much rock we would need. We are in the process of trying to decide which rock we like best and what price we want to pay for that.

Also on another note, we were out looking at houses under construction and a lot of the newer houses are putting red windows in. I would just like to note that we were on the forefront of this red window fad!

Steady Progress

I don't have any more pictures, but I thought I better let everyone know of our progress. We are still in the taping and texture phase (big surprise, I know). Almost all of the walls are textured upstairs and we have started on the ceilings. We still have some final touch ups with taping downstairs as well as a whole bunch of sanding. Then we can texture away and downstairs should go a lot quicker than upstairs. We are going to have to work hard, but we are hoping by the end of next weekend that we will be finished with taping and texture for the whole house. If all goes well, I can have pictures of paint on the walls in a couple of weeks!

Texture

This is a close-up. I was hoping you could see the texture, but I don't know how well it worked.

After weeks and weeks of taping, I can officially say that rooms were textured today. One of Travis' friends came up to help today, and we owe a HUGE thanks to him. Taping is such a fine art and those with experience make it look so easy. Eric and Travis were able to texture almost all of the walls in the "north wing" and it looks great. Being able to put texture on the walls today actually made it feel like we were finally making progress again. It is hard to tell how the texture looks in pictures. It looks sort of funny because some of the mud dried faster, but I promise it looks good:) Thanks to Eric we are still on track in regards to our timeline...July here we come!

Taping and Texture

We were out at the house working again this morning, but after a long week, we were pretty tired and headed home around 4:00. After a nap, I finally found time to update the blog. Last weekend, we were able to almost complete taping out the basement (with a lot of help). Today we met up with Paul and were able to find a texture that we liked and more importantly that we could do ourselves. We used the hopper with a bigger spray and then knocked it down. It helps to give it the more of the actual hand texture look. We did most of the walls in the dining room and kitchen. After realizing that we could texture and that we could replicate it, we made a plan for the next couple of weeks and headed home. Tomorrow, the plan is to prep more of the house by fixing any nicks or imperfections in the walls and taping off the windows and doors. Once that is done, we will be able to texture pretty quick. On another note, we ordered our cabinets the other day. Doing something different made me that much more excited to finish taping. The cabinets won't be in for another month, but I can't wait to see them!

The Hardwood is Here

We found a hardwood sample that we liked here in Helena, but we ordered it for much cheaper online. It was delivered out to the house yesterday and we were really happy with our choice. This is just the 5" width, but the picture sort of shows the color variations and the look of the hand scrape. On another note, we are still taping. The upstairs is basically done, and we are hoping to have the downstairs completed by the end of the weekend. We created a timeline of all our projects to make sure we finish the house before July. Right now we are on schedule, so here's hoping it stays that way:)

Still Taping

One of the jack and jill bedrooms (almost ready for texture, just needs one more light sand)

Mocha testing out the hardwood sample. After looking at hundreds of flooring samples, I think we finally decided on the floors for upstairs. It is an engineered hardwood and is a handscraped walnut. Although there are lots of variations in the color, it is a darker wood, so we will have to clean the floors quite a bit. With all the windows and natural light, the floors don't look too dark. The handscraped also gives it a rustic feel. It comes in 3.5", 5", and 7" widths which will also add to the rustice feel. And best of all, Mocha likes it too:)

Here's a picture of the soffits on the back of the house.

More soffit pictures - also just a tiny bit of siding left in the back.

More soffit pictures
I apologize for the lack of updates, but I feel like we are doing the same thing over and over. I'm definitely over taping and ready to start on painting and I am sure all you readers are sick of reading about taping and are ready for something new too. We are getting closer on taping. One of the Jack and Jill bedrooms needs a quick sanding, then it is all ready for texture. Actually upstairs is getting closer to be ready for texture. We are hoping to finish with the tools this week so that we can send them back. The rest would just be hand work and floating out the corners.

On another note, Travis completed the siding on the front side of the house last Monday. I was on the road last week and didn't get out to the house until Friday. Travis and I pulled into the driveway and I was so intent on looking at the soffits that it took me at least a couple of minutes to realize all the work that Travis did on the siding! It looks great and it is exciting to say that we are done with all the siding on the front of the house and just need to finish a few places on the back of the house. The soffits are going up pretty good, but it definitely shows that we have to paint some trim still.

Hopefully next time I post, I can say that multiple rooms are ready for texture...

Taping Continued

I didn't take pictures until we left, so sorry it's not very good. We hired someone to do the soffits and fascia. They have some done on the front side of the garage and on the back side. It looks good, but they look pretty light right now because they are only next to trim pieces that are not painted yet.

We had the work lights shining in the dining room/entry way when we were leaving, so that is where you get the pictures. We are getting closer and closer everyday to being done with the taping. A fair amount of the upstairs has gotten the second coat too. The corner to the left of the door will be rock up about three feet, which is why we didn't tape down further. Those corners are all floated out and are maybe one coat away from texture!

Now that we are working later nights, we are really getting to take advantage of admiring our views at night. When we were first looking to purchase the lot, our neighbors told us that the view was great at night, but it is hard to believe until you see for yourself. The view is really great from the second story. After we finished for the night, Travis had me come look at the view from our bedroom. This is the view of the city and Mount Helena and the picture doesn't do it justice. We think the views are best from our bedroom as the views of the city and the lake are so awesome! We will be out working again tomorrow taping as usual, so hopefully we make lots of progress.