Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving Holiday Update - November 24 2010

The past two weeks have been very productive, but the work is difficult to show.  We have completed all the drywall work, installation, mud, texture, and clean-up.  We have traveled to Harrison, Arkansas, twice to check out wood floors and granite for the counter-tops and after a couple of "changes of mind" we have decided on Hickory Floors in the sewing room, upstairs great room, dining room, foyer, and the master bedroom.  We have also decided to have a wood (Hickory) staircase (it's only money).  As for granite, we have found a very unique piece for the master bath, you would have to see it as I can not decribe it with enough detail.  I will try to get a picture on our next visit.  The "big" event is the brick work that has been completed.  The next few pictures will give you a good perspective of the final product. ENJOY the view.

The brick crew started on the west side of the house and had it completed in about two or three days.  This side of the house is the bedroom for the Grandkids (downstairs) and Steph's hobby/seewing room upstairs.


This is a view of the same two rooms from the back of the house.


This view (sorry for the late hour) shows the shop area, the Master Bedroom, and a little of the lower patio area.


This is the most recent photo (about 4:30pm today) of the front of the house.  If the weather allows the brick crew will probably stay and work the rest of the week.  They are from Fayetteville and don't want to make the round-trip for just one day.  We have had 18 thousand bricks delivered and will probably be ready for more by Monday or Tuesday.


Another view of the front with the entry.


In addition to all the brick work today, we now have garage doors.  The large door is 18 feet wide and 9 feet high and the smaller door (for the Mule) is 8 feet wide and 9 feet high.  This will allow us to seal the house for painting, wood floors, and tile work.  The brick work on the east side of the house is also visible in the photo.


This is the pad for the wood burning stove.  The pad will be bricks on all sides and the top and we will have bricks up the wall to where the catheral ceiling meets the wall.  The pad is approximately 4 bricks tall.


This is the shower in the master bath with the frame for the seat.  The shower is about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide and will be ceramic tile. 
That's the latest from the LakeviewDream.  We expect the house to be completely bricked by the end of next week and the next major milestones are paint, wood floors and stairs, tile work in shower, master bath, kitchen, and guest/sewing room bath.  The excitement is really starting to build and we get closer to our move-in date.  Stay tuned for more news in December.




Branson Week-End Nov 12 - 13

Steph and I took a little break from home building and went to Branson, Mo. the weekend of November 12 and 13th.  We joined our friends from Houston, Sharon and Dave Haynes.  We saw three shows, all with a Christmas theme, including Andy Williams, the Twelve Irish Tenors, and the Miracle of Christmas.

Thanks to a wonderful Son, Steph and I had a spectacular room at the Hilton Branson Landing.  Our room overlooked the main street of shops and the water fountain.  Branson Landing is the new outdoor shopping mall on Taneycomo Lake (really White River) and all the good shops are located at the mall. 


The patio for our room (we were on the 4th floor) overlooked the main water fountain area along the riverwalk.  Late at night the fountain shoots water to the beat of the music being played.  We arrived back to the room around 11:00 pm Friday night and the fountain was shooting water to the Star Spangled Banner and included fire coming out of the back tubes in the picture.


When your benefactor has achieved Platinum Status you get Royal Treatment.  We had a "condo room" that had a living room/kitchen, the patio, a huge bathroom, and an outstanding bedroom.


The window at the head of the bed looked out to one of the mall streets and the behind the drapes to the right was a sliding door to the patio.  We had a great visit with our friends, saw some great shows, and enjoyed a great night at the Hilton thanks to Brent.  Keep buying jet fuel for N397DR so that Mom and I can have another mini vacation.  We will get your rooms ready for your family at the LakeviewDream -- Thanks a lot Brent!!!


Monday, November 8, 2010

Another Major Milestone 11 08 2010

 Steph and I spent the week-end in Springfield, Mo. visiting our daughter Laura and her family.  The main purpose of the trip was to look at bricks and take care of the Grandkids, Clara and William, while Mom and Dad enjoyed a night out on the town.  Tom and Laura have 10 acres and recently found someone to bale the hay for them.  They were able to make 10 bales on the 3-4 acres set aside for the trap shooting range and future cattle ranch. 
As I said, the MAIN purpose of the trip was to find a brick pattern we liked.  I never imagined that ACME brick had so many patterns and sizes.  We had considered using the same brick as currently on Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, OK. home of the OSU Cowboys, but the color combination and the smoothness of the brick did not fit for us at this time.  We looked at close to 50 houses in Rogers, Arkansas, and Springfield, Mo. and selected:
This brick pattern is, you'll never guess, Arkansas Rose!!  Hope you like it because there will be over 20,000 of these little fellers on the house and mailbox.  We will also use a few in the house as a pad for the wood burning stove.

After my last post, there were many requests for pictures of the front of the house so here are a few snapshots.  This is looking straight into the front door.


                                         The next view is the dining room and the garage.

The last view is a whole front view.

The change of season is in full swing now.  The trees surrounding the property are colorful and leaves are dropping more every day.   As the leaves fall the view of the hills and the lake improve.  Enjoy the view from the Ozark Dream.


One last shot taken today of the inside work currently going being done in the house.  The workers have completed putting up drywall in the Master Bedroom.


That's it for now.  Next decisions will be to decide tile for the Master Bath shower and flooring for the rooms not getting wood.  See you later!!!
(P.S. Don't forget to double click the photo for a full screen view.)

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Update October 11, 2010 to October 31, 2010

The past three weeks have been very productive.  We are now at the stage that most of the major work is on the inside of the house.  We are taking a road trip this weekend to Springfield, Mo. and Fayetteville, Ark. to make the final selection for bricks.  Our No.1 choice increased in price about 15% and is not available until early December so we are now on a search for a new No.1.  Our two main choices, until we find one we like better, are Acme's Bay Lake and Richland Meadows.

                                      Here's an update of where we are in the building process:

As you can see, all the doors and windows have been installed (except upstairs sewing room).  We are pleased with the installation and only one window arrived slightly damaged.

This is the front door.  It is not finished, we are planning to have it stained.

This is the door to Steph's sewing room from the deck.  Remember in the first picture the door was missing, but it is now installed.

This picture and the next two will show you the insulation package we are having installed.  This picture is in the downstairs family room looking into the media room to the left and the grandkids bedroom on the right.  We are using foam (a product made by Lyondell Chemical) to fill all the exterior walls, both up and down, and on select walls for soundproofing.  In addition, the ceiling of the downstairs and the vaulted ceiling upstairs will be foamed. 

This picture shows the Master Bedroom.


This picture shows the shop/mechanical room and the sound barrier wall between the downstairs adult bedroom and the shop.
The current focus is to have all the drywall installed by November 9 and then start the taping, mudding, and texture work.  When that is completed we will move to paint, trim, floors and appliances. The  often discussed move-in date is January 2011.  Keep your fingers crossed the weather holds and we can find a brick we like.  Stay tuned for the next update in about a week.