And the winner is..........

Kashmir Gold Light granite for the kitchen counter tops.  Put the slabs on hold on Friday.  I think this is the last design detail decision, although all the bathroom tile has to have a final "yes" to the plans.  We also the got the bid back on the tile designs we had settled on before, and we have to decide if we want to do any "value" re-designing.  Let's just say the the bid was over the allowance budget.  Just a bit. Just like the cabinets.  And the lights.  Oh, and the plumbing fixtures and appliances.  You get the drift.

We spent a good deal of time with our construction manager Tom on Friday going through the electrical and plumbing installations before the insulation and sheetrock go up (scheduled for next week).  Most of the exterior stone is completed on the house, and the new door was delivered just as we got ready to leave.  Later we went to see another house in the neighborhood that just had its foam insulation put in, and boy was that impressive.  Temp that afternoon had climbed to near 80, and it was a beautiful, cloudless day.  As we walked in from the warm sunshine into the insulated house, instant cool.  And it looked like we were in a giant marshmallow cocoon.  We have plans to make friends with the folks who will be moving into that house, as their intent is to go "off-grid" and they might be good people to know in an emergency! Although they may see us coming first.

Here are some pics from our pre-drywall walk through:

Front elevation

Back elevation:  Great Room windows and two back porches

Stone detail

Tom and one of our tankless water heaters

David and the outside of the Master Bath shower bay

Master Bath with Master Shower bay behind

New front door, still wrapped in plastic (that's a scaffold blocking the view)

Well, there you have it - completion is expected by mid-April. Maybe end of March, but Tom said don't hold our breath.

42%

Well, that's what the bank says is the status for completion on the house.  Money-wise anyway.  Last week during a visit, found that floors had (finally!) been stained to satisfaction.  Unfortunately the first pass was too light and too splotchy, so a re-do was in order.  The floors still do not have their final satin sealant, but you can tell the color from the pic.  Purty chocolate brown.

Going with stained/scored concrete may seem crazy to our friends up north, but since seasons in Central Texas are defined as warm, hot, hotter, and too-damn-hot-to-breathe, those cool concrete floors underfoot are going to be sweet for at least 90% of the time.  And there are always socks for those days when it's actually cool.

As for the house, corrections have been made for the interior framing glitches, and on the days I visited, stucco was started and completed, and the roof was shingled in.  Stone had been delivered, so that should be going up this week and next.  Plumbing and electrical should be in by the end of January, so pre-drywall walk through should happen next week.

In the meantime, I stopped by a granite yard and looked at a few slabs of granite.  We want something with golden tones, so now the big question is how much "movement" do we want.  Ack.  Too many decisions.  We are so blessed to have choices!

Little movement Kashmir Gold Light Granite

Moderate movement Kashmir Gold

High movement Kashmir Gold

Any body with any opinions out there?