My Birthday Present Arrives

My Birthday Present Arrives

When we were touring re-sale homes we fill in love with the extra-tall and extra-wide doors.

Once, we'd decided to build our home, we knew that entrance would be graced with an 8-foot tall 42-inch wide door.

Although we loved the beauty of a mahogany door - our budget could not tolerate the price.

Even with fireglass doors, there is a huge variation in price and still a luxury to be splurged on.

When I drove up to the house this morning, I was happy to see our beautiful door had been installed. 

Also gracing our front lawn were several skids of stone.

The Great Fireplace Debate

The Great Fireplace Debate

When we first started designing this house, we were working with a builder who who included 3 fireplaces in their price.  Generally, most people build a fireplace in their family room, as well as one in the Master Bedroom and one in the basement.

I wasn't really in favour of having a fireplace in my Master Bedroom, assuming this would throw off the heat balance for the rest of the bedrooms.  So, we opted to put the fireplace in our living room.

We'd toured other "for sale" homes in the neighbourhood and most had a living room fireplace.  I grew to like the idea of having a fireplace in my living room.

During our framing walk through, our Contractor asked if we wanted to build the fireplace in the living room.  He suggested that it would be a good area to cut-back on costs.

We debated long and hard over this.  I was adamant that I wanted a living room fireplace and my hubby was eager to start cutting some costs.  I conducted an informal poll amongst friends and the consensus was that women like a living room fireplace (although not by an over-whelming majority).  In the end, my hubby, as all good hubbies do, agreed that I could have my fireplace (even though I kiboshed his upgraded roof!).

So we moved ahead and framed our living fireplace.

It's too big for the room.  It comes out tomorrow - my idea.  But I love my hubby for letting me get my way :)

Bath time

Bath Time

A bathtub for the Master Ensuite has been a point of contention since we first started shopping for plumbing.

The first bathtub we saw and fell in love with was the Soho Tub from Vanico Maronyx:





I have no idea what it is made from but it is built like a tank.  It has beautiful, clean lines, and a high-gloss finish and a stylish center drain which makes it ideal for a two-person bath.

The store had a model on display that they were looking to clear out - but even at their reduced price on this tub, it was still not in our price range.  I had a budget, and I'm sticking to it - or so I thought.

My hubby and I have had numerous heated discussions over this tub and whether or not we should get it.  I really can't understand his affection for this tub.  It's not like either of us are bath-takers .... the tub is a simple staging prop.  You can't have a designer master ensuite without a bathtub.

I'd put the tub out of my mind and moved on with a much cheaper selection, although we haven't ordered anything yet.  I went by the plumbing store again to finalize some pricing over selections we'd first made last fall.  Turns out that big paperweight of a tub is still there.  Seems like they are a little more motivated to sell this boat to the point where we'd be getting it for about half-price and it falls within our budget.

My hubby's going by to order it tomorrow :)

Plumbing, HVAC, and other stuff.

Plumbing, HVAC, and other stuff.

Lots of activity going on this week.  On Monday, the plumbers and HVAC crew showed up to start the rough-in of all tubing and pipes.

We've done a couple of site visits this week to make last minute decisions and alterations.  Our powder room had to get "adjusted" because they needed to move the toilet forward, or it would have been sitting over a beam (can't run a plumbing pipe through a metal beam).

Looks like the drain for the guest bathroom is going to necessitate a bulkhead in the foyer.  We weren't crazy about this at first, but now we are going to coffer out the ceiling and make it look like a design element (or so they tell me).

I'm meeting the cabinetry designer at the house this afternoon for our first measure.  We need to do this now - to make sure we're plumbing the right spots for the island sink, and all the vanities.

And the roof goes on -

And the roof goes on -

It was a hectic week battling quotes from roofers.  With a big gap - almost $5,000.00 between roof quotes.  Most of the quotes were on the high end, but we really liked the guy who gave us the best quote.  We saw some of his work in South-East Oakville and liked what we saw.  If someone building a $5 million dollar home trusts him with their roof, why shouldn't I?

We were not disappointed.  He and has crew have been doing a great job.  Here is a picture of the roof starting on March 28th.  They made a fair bit of progress working on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and again on Easter Saturday.  Then came Monday April 1st, and Mother Nature decided to play a cruel trick on us and bring Winter back.  It's been bitter cold out there for a few days, so I don't blame the roofers for taking a break.  They are almost done though.

These are pictures from Day 1 of the project.

 

 

 

The roof is almost done now - need to grab some more pics.