Because of the holiday, we hadn't been to the job site for a few days. We saw Brad at the job site this morning and he had us sign some paperwork for the city to hook up our gas line. Brad really wants to heat the house so the paint will dry better and so the hardwood floor material can acclimate to the house.

Over the long weekend, the plumber installed the water heater.

The tile installers started applying mortar for the showers and tubs yesterday, and they continued that work today.

And Troy is almost completely done with the basement mouldings. Here's a picture of the window in the craftroom with all of its casing.

He's now working on the second floor. Brad's thought was that by having Troy work on the mouldings for the second floor, Phil can have easier access to paint the basement without getting in Troy's way.

Brad told us that Dana will be coming back on Monday to put in the kitchen cabinets. Brad also told us he needs us to choose our exterior and interior paint colors soon.

This afternoon we ordered our kitchen and craftroom sinks. We should be receiving them sometime next week.

We finally decided on a french door for the doorway leading to the family room. It will be a pair of stain grade walnut doors with a single, seedy pane on the top 2/3 and a panel on the bottom 1/3.

Today we went to Da Vinci Marble to pick up our accent tiles. We also went to Cornelia's to pick up the two models of our Kohler Caxton sinks (for the granite fabricator to use as templates). And we drove down to The Wood Floor Company to pay the deposit for our wood floors.

At the job site, Troy and Rob started working on the crown mouldings in the basement.

This afternoon, we placed our order for the exterior shutters at ArchitecturalDepot.com. We should we receiving them in about three weeks.

We met Brad at the job site this morning and made some important decisions. We chose to go with the American walnut for the floors because of its rich grain and color. We also finalized the interior stair railing design.

While we were there, Brad received a fax from Sousa's Garage Doors showing a sketch of the design. We asked Brad to make a couple of minor changes and fax it back.

Troy and Rob were at the job site, and today they started working on the baseboards in the basement.

The contractors from European Lathing & Plastering were also there working on the finish coat for the few remaining walls.

Brian was there too, hooking up the ducts to the two furnaces.

And Dana showed up to adjust and center the toe kick on the master bathroom vanity.

In the afternoon, we drove down to Bedrosians to look at granite slabs again. The one remaining selection we need to make is the kitchen counter. We found a few we liked, including: Juparana Light (below), Ivory Chiffon, and Santa Cecilia. They're all lighter colored, with small dark spots, and not too much movement.

Many of the same sub-contractors were working today.

Troy and Rob finished installing all the doors (except for one in the basement that was supposed to be a right-hand door, but was ordered as a left-hand door). The material for our molding was delivered this morning.

Now they're working on the casings around the doors in the basement.

Brad has asked them to finish all of the molding (casing, baseboards, crowns) in the basement first. Once they're done, Brad will bring in the painters while they move up to the first floor.

Brian was also there continuing his installation of the two furnaces in the basement utility room.

Dana finished installing the vanity for bath #2.

When I arrived at the job site around noon, he was working on the master bath.

Then later in the afternoon, with his son there to help, he put up the wall cabinets in the craftroom and laundry room. If you click on the last picture and look closely, you can see the faint red laser beam marking a level line for placing the wall cabinets. Sheesh!

Today was another one of those days, where the job site was bustling with activity.

The contractors from Tile Plus were putting up the wire mesh and backing for the mortar.

Once they're done, Brad will have to call for an inspection before they can begin tiling the showers and tubs.

Dana was there installing his cabinets. By the time I showed up, he was already done with base cabinets in the craftroom.

And he was just starting to move on to the laundry room.

Finally, Brian was there installing the last two furnaces in the mechanical room. There's already one in the attic space, for the second floor. These two are for the basement and first floor.

In the early afternoon, we drove down to Marblus and met with Lucia to pick through her remnant pile. We found everything we need for the granite counters using her remnants (which include some full slabs), except for the master bath and the kitchen.

By the late afternoon, Brian was almost done with the furnaces,

and Dana had also completed the installation of the guest bath,

bath #1,

and bath #3 vanities.

In the evening, we received an updated quote from Esmeraldo with some very aggressive pricing. Now we're in a quandary. After our meeting with Lucia this afternoon, we were all set to go with Marblus. But now Esmeraldo has beat Lucia's price by about 20% because he's thrown in almost all the remnants and slabs (including the kitchen). The only slabs we will have to purchase are the labrador antique we want for the master bath.

The finish carpenters Troy (left) and Rob started putting in the doors today. First they moved all the doors from the living room to their respective locations, then they began installing them.

We met with Brad and Jeff from Coyne Stair and discussed the stair and railing design. He's going to send us two quotes -- one with American walnut and one with cumaru -- because we haven't decided which wood we're going to use for the floor yet.

I drove up to Imperial Marble this afternoon and met with Esmeraldo one more time to go over the choices for the slabs. Now he has nearly complete information for each of the rooms and can give a more accurate quote. Tomorrow we're meeting with Lucia from Marblus to make sure she has complete information too. Then we'll be able to best compare the two quotes.

We also went to Sunnyvale Lumber to take a look at front door locks, interior door handles and french doors with divided lights (for the main hallway).

Late this afternoon, I went back to the job site to check on the progress. Most of the doors in the basement have been hung. Also, I could tell Dana had been there because all of our cabinets (except for the kitchen) have been delivered.

Here are the basement cabinets for the laundry room, bath #1, and craft room.


The vanity for bath #2.


And the master bathroom vanity.

I drove by the job site around noon today. Phil and his crew were painting the ceilings white (actually Swiss Coffee).

I noticed that Frank Sousa's installers had already been there, because we have a temporary garage door now.

Soon Brad will be able to lock up the house, and store material inside.

We were supposed to meet with Lucia at Marblus this afternoon, but when we called her to confirm the meeting she said she had to postpone the meeting due to the weather. Hopefully we'll be able to visit her shop tomorrow afternoon.

So instead, we went to Kelly-Moore Paints and picked up samples of two exterior paint colors we are considering.