JG,

Yeah, a keg with a bunch of youse guys and rollers and brushes, . . . thanks but we'll just take our time. The top two photos are from over a week ago, so most of the trim has been painted on the front and garage. Gonna' paint inside this weekend so the cabinets can be set up.

Rocket,

The front porch and other sidewalk concrete has small exposed aggregate. As soon as we finish exterior painting, the concrete guy will come back and acid wash and seal the works, and that will be the finish. The deck on the back of the house, 8' wide, will be Trex. We have a cedar deck now. I'm not getting any younger, so I'm thinking about minimizing future maintenance.

The posts will get a wood wrap, with the lower half being thicker. Truthfully, I just have the design concept in my head. I'll figure it out when I get to it.

The house is cross shaped, with scissor trusses gable to gable (10/12 pitch) on the east-west axis. The north-south axis has regular truses, 5/12 pitch on the north for the master bedroom, closet, bath, and powder room, and 10/12 on the south, which is the dining room.

Andy,

I used Wood Deck (with the duck on the label) stain on the shingles, natural shade. Pretty good stuff around $50 a gal. My goal, maybe unrealistic, is to keep the cedar shingles looking like new for as long as possible. Apparently that is gonna' take a lot of stain, maybe a second coat this year even, and definitely annually for a couple more years. I'm really pleased with the appearance of the shingles after I got them stained. You can just barely see the porch soffiting, which is T&G pine with cedar stain.

I had to cut down a cedar tree last summer when we began the project. I didn't want to waste it, so I had it milled, and it's been air drying at a friend's place ever since. We're gonna' pick it up this weekend. I bought a planer a while back and am going to turn the cedar into paneling for the kitchen-living room vaulted ceiling. I think I'll just apply SeaFin oil to the cedar and it should be good to install.

The roof is steep - also 10/12 pitch on the garage, but that gives me the 12 X 36 storage attic in it. Otherwise my garage/shop combo is a mini compared to yours. But I'm not planning on any RVs or a boat larger than my Lund.

Hank,

That ladder is Gibralter. It's when I have to use the ladder on the north or south side, where the ground is sloped, that the adjustable legs on my extension ladder come in handy. I have yet to paint the east gable yet. I decided to use Hardi Plank on that gable instead of shingles due to the high and difficult access, and besides, only the deer and other critters see that side of the house.

Castingpearls,

The view off the deck is all forest except for the large mountain to the east. I need to trim one pecker pole fir and 3 or 4 alders in the way back to improve the mountain view. More firewood. I would have done that already, but the burglar stole my chainsaw in February, and I haven't replaced it yet.

Stam,

Fast, yeah, I wish. 2-3 hours after work while the sun shines and weekends. I'm gonna' have a finish carpenter help with some stuff, setting the cabinets and wrapping the interior window and door trim. There's a ton of it, and it would take me 2 months or more. He can do it in a few days.

Todd,

Housewarming is planned but unscheduled, just like the finish and move-in date.

Some day I will go fishing again. Like Westport next month and hopefully the Skagit at the end of July for summer kings. We'll see.

Sg