Merry Christmas / Happy New Year. I should be doing something productive house-wise but alas I’ve spent Christmas Vacation being a decidedly unproductive member of society. Monday I, of course, had to spend the day playing with all the toys Santa brought me. I at least stopped out at the house and changed some light bulbs. Today I didn’t even make it down there. In all fairness though I had the pleasure of watching our youngest whilst the mom / wife team member was out and about shopping. Were I a good brother I’d have run down to the job site and helped to unload the cement board which will eventually become the foundation for all the tile and stone used inside the house. And if I were a good homeowner I’d have installed 1/4″ fan board in all the knee wall spaces. Alas I’m neither of those, nor am I a good whatever it is I am in relation to you….unless of course you’re my youngest boy, in which case I’m a pretty cool dad. At least for a few hours today.
Things we’re accomplishing since we last blogged together…..let’s see. We’re holding at about 60-70 degrees for inside temperature so trades are re-emerging on site. My brother has been working out at the house this week. First on the list is sanding down all of the OSB sub-flooring to level out the seams. With the house being open for so long the sub-flooring started to lift at the seams. The sub-floor needs to be relatively flat before the wood, tile and carpet can go down. Failing to sand the seams will lead to creaky wood, cracked tile and carpet that wears un-evenly. He used a simple hand-held belt sander; very loud so wear ear protection if you do it yourself.

Our Mercier hardwood flooring is getting acclimated to the house's environment. To be less harmful to our environment it's Greenguard Certified. This means it won't off gas harmful chemicals into our super tight house. It's also sustainably sourced.

Siding is almost done on main house. Awning over my studio is still missing. May be a Spring project I guess. Victim of dragging heels and cost overruns.

Go Car by Kid O Products. Simple design captures the essence of car-ness. Large handle makes it easy for little hands to race across wood floors, living room carpet and coffee tables. Packaging is 100% recycled paper. Car is BPA free molded plastic.

Automoblox once again capture the essence of the car shape to create a really fantastic toy design. The parts are interchangeable so the kids can use their imagination to create all kinds cards. Kinda pricey but well thought out and appear to be good quality. Wish they had this stuff when I was a kid.