Railings complete!

John took these pictures of our newly installed railings. They look great! One of the deck builders plans to build the stairs at his place and then bring them to the site. I am really looking forward to a way into the house that isn't a ladder.

Railings!

These are just two of the railings our deck builders were able to complete -- they'll be up in no time! We love their simplicity. No doily railings for us, thanks. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Beautiful bricks

A load of handsome red bricks was delivered to the site today in preparation for the brickwork to begin on Monday. The bricks will cover the front of the house and a portion of the sides, about 12 feet back. The bricklayer anticipates that it will take him about two weeks to finish the job.

Dear trim manufacturers

My husband and I spent some time roaming the halls of a popular hardware store this evening in search of trim for our new home. We found a vast selection of trim designs. Big bevels, little bevels, ornamental designs, and geometric etchings abounded. Completely absent from this vast selection was one beautiful shape perhaps unknown to you: the rectangle. I have included a rough interpretation of this shape above for your reference.

The plain, unadorned rectangle is perfectly suited to baseboards, window frames, and other trim applications. It would be inexpensive to make, and the amount my husband and I need alone would support a small start-up product line.

Try it. We'll buy it!

Up on the rooftop

John ventured up the ladder through the skylight in the third-floor bathroom to check out the progress on the roof. Things are looking good. This photo shows where our little rooftop patio will go, way up there among the trees. Most of the roof will be planted with sedum (soon, we hope), absorbing the sun's rays in the summer, giving us a little extra insulation in the winter, and reducing stormwater run-off. The green roof will be a beautiful feature when it's installed.

Next stop: BBQ!

We dropped by the house today and found some wonderful progress on the second-story deck off of our kitchen. It's tempting to seal the untreated cedar and preserve the new-wood look, but we are determined to let it age gracefully. I love the look of silvered-out, aging cedar, too. It reminds me of the fences at my grandfather's farm. This deck will be a beauty, especially when it grows some railings.

Fruits of a sunny Saturday's labour

John and I were impressed to see our deck builders on-site this sunny Saturday, and it looks like it was a productive day. We were on our way to Kingston to pick up a tub and sink donated by our dear friends to the Boucher-Thurston cause (our builder wasn't able to do this after all), and stopped in on the deck crew to say hello. This photo doesn't show the platform that leads out from our office, but does give an idea of the effort put in so far. The decks will be constructed mostly of untreated cedar; the supports are made of pressure-treated lumber.

We're behind on a few fronts -- electrical, front porch, brickwork -- but we're hoping for a good week this week.