All Finished!

Apologies for not updating the blog sooner. Guess what we were busy doing? Enjoying the new house, of course! We closed on the house on-time (March 31st), and remaining items including the fireplace were finished within a week. Move-in occured April 7th, and most of the pictures below were taken on that day. The outside/landscape picture was taken in May, after Vera diligently planted 500 pieces of 'purple wintercreeper' ground cover and Mario built a wall of stones that were excavated during construction. We've been using the house regularly and spent a week there around 4th of July. Thank you all who helped and supposed us throught this project. We're always happy to share stories and ideas about log home construction (contact Vera at hendriv AT yahoo . com ).

Part XIII: Home Stretch

The photos below were taken on March 24, 2007. As you can see, lighting fixtures were put in, along with the floors and other finishing touches. The house is on track to be finished by March 30, 2007. The 'major to dos' include portions of interior staining and fireplace:

Note the flexible track lighting installed by the master of the house:


Dining Area (Chandelier will be lowered):


A coat of stain has been put on the railing:


Fireplace is still in-progress (awaiting masonry work):


Master bedroom light fixture:


A peek at the Master Bathroom (yes, it's whirlpool):

Part XII: Doors, Cabinets, and Other Woodwork

Most of the kitchen cabinets got installed this week. Here is our soon-to-be rustic kitchen. All photos in this post with the exception of the last one (outdoors) were taken on 2/23/07.

Another major accomplishment this week is log railing for the steps & loft of the second floor.

Here are some of the doors. This is the picture of the second floor. The doors are for the two bedrooms (side-by-side) and a closet. The small stained rectangle on the right door represents stain color that will soon be used on all interior doors and trim.

Couldn't resist showing you a picture of the local winter-wonderland. The photo below was taken on 2/3/07, but the snowy landscape hasnt't changed much.

With hope (and some work), the whole project will be done in a month. There is still quite a bit of interior work to be done including flooring, plumbing (no toilets at the moment), more staining, and finishing of the kitchen and bathrooms. We are looking forward to moving here in the spring.

Part XI: Interior Painting

Various interior pictures taken during trips in January and early February. We chose to do the painting ourselves and are very greatful to our friends Ruslan and Lyudmila who came with us on two trips and helped us paint.

Master Bedroom 1/28/07

Guest Bedroom #2 (Beige) 2/3/07

Guest Bedroom #1 (Green) 2/3/07


Mario's dad helped out with painting the basement ceiling (photo taken 1/14/07)

Part X: Shingled Roof on Stained House

As you can see from the pictures below, exterior has been stained, the shingles have been put on the roof, and some of the interior infrastructure work has been done. Photos below were taken on 12/22/06.

Main view:

Main entrance (the front door is on order):

View from driveway:

Interior steps from basement (Mario has run the ethernet cables himself):


Insulation and duct work:


Interior view of (part of) master bedroom. The interior is yet to be stained.



Hope you're excited to see all the progress. The whole house should be finished in about a month (or two).

Part IX: We've Got Windows!

These picture were taken on 11/11/06. The main changes are new windows and an overhang/porch by the front door.

View from driveway:

New porch:


Main View (yes, we'll do something about that pipe):

Inside view of the kitchen-to-be:

Part VIII: Second floor and framing

Our visit on 10/28/06 was met with wind and rain, but also a bigger house. Take a look:

The deck is coming along too. This will be the main entry into the house (the railing is not finished):

And this will be the most impressive view:

The second floor with be finished with siding that looks like "logs". This way, there will be less weight and less pressure on the logs of the first floor, which should reduce settling. Soon the logs will be cleaned (with bleach) and stained. The roof should be finished in another couple of weeks and provide easier working conditions. It already snowed up there this year!