Paving Done

The paving was finished by last Saturday when we went down to the house to check-in with our contractor.  The parking pad now has room for a big van or the big pickup trucks that are so popular in Calvert County.  Or if we park our two cars close to the front edge, there is room for a car to park across the pad behind them.  These are all things we have to think about with limited room for parking.

Here is the front porch and walk.  There will be cedar planks covering the posts. The porch light is also in place with some adjustments needed. 

Our contractor filled in the low areas with top soil, and scattered grass seed and straw.  I didn't have the heart to tell him I don't want a lawn there. 

The tile has continued to be installed.  Most exciting is to see the marble tile for the fireplace.  It looks wonderful, with a wonderful grain to it.  Hidden by all the junk is the tile on the floor. 

You are wondering what those square black things are.  They are metal posts screwed into the framing behind the wall which will hold the two mantels.  There will be holes drilled into the back of the mantels, which are then slid onto the posts, and a screw from the bottom to lock them in place.  The mantels will be cut out of cedar slabs, with the lower one as wide as the marble, and the upper one several inches in on the sides and shallower.

Here is a view of the Great Room from the Sun Porch, currently the carpenter's workshop, with lots of saw dust and scattered tools. 

We had no problems driving down to the house and back.  We were not sure how aggressive the police would be challenging people moving around.  Hopefully there will be no need to stop work since there are usually only 2-3 people working at the house at any one time.