The finished product...

Well, here it is...not bad for a first attempt, eh? Just kidding!





After three years of hard work, we finally can say it's finished - well, almost. We now have the interior doors painted and installed, and all the various pieces of hardware are in place in the kitchen, bathrooms, and utility room. All systems are working, and we are slowly getting used to our new digs. There remains a myriad of little details to complete, but we are making progress every day. The biggest danger is succumbing to the desire to let up and not attend to the details. I'm afraid if we don't keep up the pace, some of them will never get done.




Here's the southwest side of the house. We plan to plant shrubs and trees around it this fall. I am almost finished with the tile work in the bathrooms and hanging the old ceiling fans in the dining room and the living room. Then I'll get to work on the fireplace mantel and the cabinets and shelves on either side. George is scheduled to come back up and pour the concrete driveway in front of the garage. Maybe then we can say we're finished...




Last week we were awakened by the unseasonal sound of raindrops hitting the steel roof. We had a short downpour just before dawn, and when the sun came over the mountain, we were treated to this magnificent rainbow. I am taking it as a sign that our Ola experience will continue to be as wonderful in the future as it has been in the past.

Settling in...

We have spent the last week catching up on all the odds & ends that remain to be done. We moved in on July 24 and have been looking for our stuff ever since. Slowly but surely Susan has been organizing things to the point that the house is now becoming livable.



The carpets were installed the week before we moved in. Randy put the final coat on the hardwoods at the same time. When the floor had sufficiently dried, we began moving appliances and furniture into the house. It's really a neat feeling to occupy the house we dreamed about for so long.



Here is the completed kitchen area. I installed the tile backsplashes all around the counters and behind the stove. I'm trying to get used to the new layout, but still can't seem to find anything.



Susan and I wanted to find a neat old light for the front entry. We were discouraged at the prices of new fixtures, so searched eBay for an old one. The types we liked were bringing consistently high prices too, and we were unsuccessful in winning any until I spotted this one. The pictures on eBay were blurry and the angles were bad, so I guessed that not too many people would bid on it. I put in a bid, and to my amazement, I was the only bidder! So, for $24.95 plus shipping, we bought this turn of the century hanging schoolhouse light fixture. Once I applied a little Brasso and elbow grease, it transformed into a really pretty addition to our home. It's nice to hit a home run once in a while.

Sprint to the finish line...

We sold our little house on High Valley Road, and must be out by July 25. We have been working 12 hour days, 7 days a week to get things wrapped up at the new house. Susan has created a timeline of the tasks left to be done, and so far we are pretty much on schedule. Unfortunately we have run out of time, and despite our best efforts, some of the finish work will have to be done after we move in.


The hardwoods have all been installed and have received two of the three coats of finish, We then covered them with cardboard to protect them while we finish up the rest of the house. Randy is scheduled to put the final coat on this coming Tuesday.



While Randy was working on the hardwoods, I completed the installation of the heated tile floor in the master bathroom. I now understand why tile guys charge as much as they do for this kind of work. I don't know if my knees will ever be the same! The good news is that the floor looks pretty good and the heat coils work. I will now move on to installing tile backsplashes around the spa, sinks and kitchen counters.



Speaking of kitchen counters, George did his usual fantastic job installing the kitchen counters and cabinets. I then had my old friend Mike Bales come up and install the countertops. Fitting the sink and adding the hanging lights completed the job.




In order to get our certificate of occupancy, I had to come up with some kind of retaining walls along the west side of the house. The steep grade created a safety hazard by the upper deck and an the possibility of erosion along the foundation. My solution was to build a tiered retaining wall using railroad ties and rebar. There are three tiers and will include a set of steps leading from the upper deck when finished. So far I have used 34 railroad ties, and I still have to finish the stairs.

In the past week we have passed the final inspections for plumbing, electrical and HVAC, and have received approval for our certificate of occupancy. Hooray!

Floor show...

The hardwood floor guys arrived bright and early this morning. They unrolled a paper backing over the existing subfloor and while Ray laid out the oak floor boards, Rich fitted them and began nailing. These guys really know their stuff. Rich started in the main entry hall and worked his way into the living room/ kitchen area.




Here's a before and during shot of the living room. The boards are laid out but not yet installed. After all the boards are nailed down, they will be sanded and coated with two coats of urethane. The third and final coat will be applied after all other construction has been completed, right before we move in.



While Ray and Rich were installing the hardwoods, I was busy installing the floor in the master bath. We decided to install radiant heating beneath a tile floor, which necessitated an extra step in the process. I first installed cement Hardie board over a 1/4" of thinset mortar, screwing it down to the subfloor every six inches to ensure a nice, level surface. I then installed a grid of Warmly Yours electric heating coils over the Hardie board. These coils are thermostatically controlled, allowing us to set times and temperatures for heating the floor. I'm really looking forward to a nice warm floor in the bathroom this winter. The next step will be to cover the grid with a 1/8" coat of polymer thin set mortar. After that sets up, I'll apply another 1/4" of mortar and set the tiles. A final coat of grout in the cracks and a seal coat will finish the job.



Speaking of finishing a job, I wired the final breakers in the electrical panel last week. What at times felt like a never ending job is finally finished.

Fit & Finish...

The pace is definitely picking up. I have installed Armstrong Exelon tile in the utility room and the downstairs bathroom. It is a commercial grade tile and looks great with a few coats of industrial strength floor polish.



George has been busy installing the trim around the windows and doors. He makes it look easy, and I know for a fact that it's anything but easy. Susan and her sister spent the day priming all the door frames and the two sliding doors in the living room. After they dried, I coated them with the same semi-gloss paint that we are using on the doors. The hardwood floor guys are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, so while they're inside doing their thing, I'll take all the doors outside and paint them.



Back in the early 1980's, I lived in University Park, TX - a suburb completely surrounded by Dallas. My son was riding his bicycle on our block and saw this stained glass window on a pile of junk by the curb. An elderly neighbor was cleaning out his garage and had put this window out for pickup. He was more than happy to let me have it, and after replacing a couple of broken panes and refinishing the wood, it looks pretty good. We are delighted to finally have a permanent place for it in our entry hall. We had Pella make a tempered glass double paned window the same size as the window, so it is protected from damage and has the same thermal qualities as the other windows.




Over the years we have accumulated some interesting old stuff that we hoped we would some day put to use. The large fixture is one that Susan has been carting around for many years. Because of its considerable size, there was really no place to put it. Fortunately, it fits perfectly in the stairwell to the basement.
The other fixture is one I salvaged from an old farmhouse that was being demolished in Boise. I thought it was too neat to be destroyed, so I brought it home, thinking that some day I might find a place for it. It now hangs in our entry hall, and looks great.

Railings & trim...

This picture is of the completed deck that connects the house to the garage. George did his customary excellent job building the deck and the benches.


George then went to work installing the stairs to the deck and the rest of the railings. Note the snow on the hillside behind the house. Hopefully that will be the last of it until next fall. Between the cold rain and the incessant wind, it's been a rough spring to be working outside.



With the railings on the deck and the stairway installed, the house is beginning to look finished. Trees and shrubs and a bit more dirt work will complete the look.



Last week Susan and I finally got all the wiring up and running. With the exception of the furnace and a few fans and light fixtures, all circuits are tested, completed and operational. With that phase of the project wrapped up, we took advantage of the sunny weather to finish painting the rest of the baseboards, door and window trim. I also painted the first two of the nineteen doors in the house.

We have sold the little manufactured home where we have been living. The closing is projected for July 25. This prompted Susan and I to come up with a time line listing all the unfinished work on the house. It's going to be close, but we think we can have the place ready to move into by then.

Time will tell...

Catching up...

The past couple of weeks have been spent finishing up a lot of loose ends around the place. I have been busy finishing all the electrical, including installing the various light fixtures, fan controls, and light switches. I would have to say that my biggest mistakes so far in this project have been not testing all the circuits before the sheet rock went up, and not thoroughly diagramming the routing of the wiring for each circuit. Although I haven't run into any major problems, I have lost some time tracing the wiring by using a 6v battery and a test light. All in all though, I'm very pleased with the way the wiring has worked out.


Leave it to Susan to come up with a novel touch for the living room. I wanted to find a big piece of slate to use for our fireplace hearth but learned that I would have to purchase an entire 6' x 12' slab which would then have to be cut to the 5'5" x 1'6" size we needed, making that idea cost prohibitive. While we were looking around in the stoneyards, Susan spotted a granite remnant for about $100 that would work. We had it cut to size and I installed it in front of the fireplace.



The hardwood flooring was delivered last week. It will sit in the dining room for about two weeks to acclimate to the Ola temperature and humidity. In the meantime, we will begin installing all the interior doors, door trim and window trim. I'm having the hardwoods installed, but I'll install the tile floors in the bathrooms and the utility room.



While Susan and I have been busy inside, George has been hard at work building the side deck, the back deck stairs, and laying the decking on the back deck. I had originally planned to build the decks myself, but I quickly realized that there was no way I could do the quality job that George does. We were originally going to use redwood, but after considering the ongoing maintenance it requires, opted instead for a manufactured product called EverGrain. A white railing system made by TREX will finish off the deck and staircase.

Hitting the decks...

Springtime in Ola is finally beginning to feel and look like springtime. This shot is a panoramic view of the wildflowers in our southeast pasture. The weather is warming up, but it would be nice to get some spring rain. It's been totally dry since the snow melted, and that's not good for the grass needed for grazing.



Susan and I have been busy painting the interior of the house. It has been an interesting, if not masochistic, exercise. I have seen some very interesting colors come and go. I think we finally have it the way we want it (insert prayer here).




While we were busy working on the interior, George Holomshek came back up to help us with the decks and the interior trim work. What would have taken me a week, George did in two days, and it looks perfect. The front entry deck is finished, and George is in the process of completing the side deck which connects the garage to the house. The next project will be the back deck and staircase.

In my prime...

The valley floor is finally beginning to turn green. Here's panoramic view taken from the top of the hill just above the house. It's not the highest spot on the ranch, but it offers the best view of Squaw Butte and the Ola Valley.
Remember to click on the pictures for a larger view.



Susan and I began applying the primer coat to the ceilings and walls. I am using a Magnum sprayer that I have had for many years. Even with a cotton balaclava and a particulate mask, I managed to end up with a painted face. Perhaps you will be able to tell from my expression how much I was enjoying myself. That primer is especially sticky stuff, but I learned a little trick to help clean it off. After donning my protective gear, I sprayed the exposed area of my face with no-stick cooking spray. I know it sounds crazy, but it worked like a charm.


While we are concentrating on the interior, a professional painter is painting the outside. So far it is progressing smoothly and looks great.



Just to break the monotony, I decided to investigate the cause of a minor leak in the chimney flashing. After a particularly windy rainstorm, I noticed a wet spot on the attic floor. I discovered that while the storm collar on the chimney is sealed properly, the steep pitch of the roof combined with the position of the house high on the hill causes the wind to drive the rain up under the storm collar and then down the outside of the chimney pipe and into the attic. The second thing I discovered is that I had absolutely no business climbing up a 10-12 steel roof two stories above the ground. From now on I'll leave that to people younger and crazier than me.

Still waiting for spring...

This morning we awoke to snow gently falling across the landscape. We are beginning to wonder if Spring has been cancelled this year and nobody told us.



Yesterday the insulation for the attic arrived. We opted to have 12" of cellulose blown in to the house and 7" blown into the garage. That gives us an R-38 rating for the house, an R-20 rating for the garage, and completes the insulation process. I'm not going to miss all that itching and coughing one bit.


In between the rain showers and the snow, I have begun removing the piles of dirt created when we dug out the pad for the foundation. My goal is to restore the natural contour of the hillside around the house, leaving a small flat area outside the basement entrance. I am using my tractor's front bucket and rear blade to do the work, which is slowly beginning to produce the desired results. It would be nice to have a small dozer for this, but I haven't been able to justify the expense of buying one.

The drywall installation is finally finished, and we will mask off the doors and windows today in preparation of priming and texturing the walls and ceiling.

Rock on!

What would have taken me weeks to do, Tom Tucker and his brother Damon did in three days. With a lot of know-how and the help of a sheet rock jack, they rocked the entire house without missing a beat. After Tom finishes with the taping & bedding, he'll mask it all off and I'll apply a coat of drywall primer to the walls and ceilings. Tom will then apply a light orange peel texture to the walls and a hand stipple texture to the ceilings. I will then come back through and apply the final coats of paint.



In the meantime, Susan and I have made three trips to Sunset Doors in Ontario, OR to pick up our doors and trim package. While Tom is finishing his work on the drywall, we will be painting doors, door frames and trim.
We also lined up the hardwood floor installer and Susan picked out the carpet and tiles she wants in the house. Once the interior painting is done, the flooring will go in.