SETTING THE STAGE

House Cleaning Underway

The cleaning crew was on site the past couple days cleaning the floors, windows and various other interior surfaces throughout the Oakley Home 2.0 @ 3874 Isabella. Minus some final punch list items (like adding hardware on the cabinets) and touch-up painting, the stage is now set for staging, professional photos, showings and occupancy. Below are some panoramas showing off the shiny new hardwood floors.

PORCH & PENDANT MODIFICATIONS

Mailbox, Street Number & Lighting Adjustments

On Friday the Mailbox and Street Address Numbers were mounted on the walls of the front porch, which leaves only the painting of the garage door and porch/deck trim along with the seeding/sodding and landscaping as the only exterior related building items needing to be completed (both of which are weather dependent).I also changed out the front porch ceiling light that was previously a CFL with an indoor/outdoor LED flood light, and the reading nook pendant light with a lower wattage LED light so that it is the appropriate brightness for reading. Images of these items are shown below.

FINISHING THINGS

Steps, Quarter Round & Toilet #4

Finishing things up at the Oakley Home 2.0 prior to cleaning and staging to kick-off the new year. Some of the items completed included building out the steps in the garage (which will be painted at a later date), installing the quarter round to conceal any gaps between the hardwood floors and base trim, and setting the final toilet in the walk-out basement bathroom. Pictures below.

INSPECTION TIME

Final Plumbing & Electric Inspections

'Tis the season for inspections at the Oakley Home 2.0 with final inspections for Plumbing and Electric taking place in recent days and LEED and final Certificate of Occupancy inspections scheduled to occur within the next week. Below are a couple images documenting the approval of the plumbing and electric systems in digital and paper format.

A DESIGN THINKING EXERCISE

Prototyping Furniture

I've blogged several times in the past about Design Thinking (you can type 'design thinking' into the Blogger search bar at the upper left hand corner to find them), but wanted to focus on the prototyping step with today's entry as I did a little prototyping of my own to get a feel for how a dining room table might look and feel in the space. Using some cardboard scraps I was able to construct a 5'-4" long by 4'-0" wide table to simulate the size and scale of an actual table. It is my experience that we tend to imagine furniture taking up a lot more space than it actually does, so I was glad to see that was the case with the cardboard prototype and there was still plenty of room in the open living/dining/kitchen area. It will be interesting to see what that space looks like completely furnished in a couple weeks when staged.

RAILS & BARS

Railing & Spindle Installation

Trim progress has continued the past few days at the Oakley Home 2.0 with the installation of the final runs of stair railing along with the iron spindles filling the gaps between the posts and rails as required by code.

CHRISTMAS THEN & NOW

Looking Back & Looking Forward

Last Christmas I posted the rendering below wondering what Christmas 2017 would bring, and while still wrapping things up, it has been an eventful year and I am grateful for everyone that has been a part of this journey. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

READY TO COOK

Microwave & Range In Place

The last of the kitchen appliances were put in place in recent days with the installation of the microwave and range. Below are some pics of the microwave and range.

SCREENS & RISERS

Screen Doors & Painted Risers

With all major construction activities wrapped up at the Oakley Home 2.0, the next couple weeks are going to be full of miscellaneous 'punch-list' items. Among the happenings Thursday and Friday were installing the insect screens on the sliding doors and painting the stair risers white to match the trim work. Images of this below.

ACCESSORY ITEMS

Toilet Accessories Installed

The bathrooms at the Oakley Home 2.0 project received their finishing touches this week with addition of the various towel bars and toilet paper holders. The style and satin nickel finish was selected to compliment vanity lights and door hardware.

CARPET & STAIN

Carpet Cut & Stairs Stained

This week has been full of finish work items as the Oakley Home 2.0 approaches completion at year's end, but the beginnings of the carpet installation and staining of the stair treads and border trim to match the pre-finished Oak flooring stand out as some of the more noticeable transformations. Below are some photos.

THE BOSCH KITCHEN

Appliance Installation Progress

With the hardwood floors in and all the utilities hooked up, work on getting the Bosch kitchen appliances assembled and installed has been taking place the past several days at the Oakley Home 2.0 project. The photos below show the fridge, range, and dishwasher with the microwave and range hood coming soon.

BOWL SEASON

Dual Flush Toilet Installation

With all the faucets and shower heads installed at the Oakley Home 2.0 project, the plumber has been focused on setting the WaterSense certified American Standard H2Option 2-piece 0.92/1.28 GPF Dual Flush Elongated Toilets in each of the house's four bathrooms. Below is an image of what this key contributor to LEED Gold Certification looks like.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Exterior Light Fixtures Installed

This past weekend the electrician was back on site completing miscellaneous tasks such as centering the bathroom vanity lights over the sinks, installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and mounting the exterior light fixtures at the front roof deck, garage, and rear deck. Here are pictures of that work in progress.

COLOR CORRECTION

Rendering Flooring Refresh

While writing about the hardwood flooring installation the past few days at the Oakley Home 2.0 project, I realized that the color of the floor I had been showing in the renderings was off. This has since been corrected on the OakleyHome2.com website and below are the color corrected images.

OAKLEY OAK FLOOR

Hardwood Flooring Installation Complete

The hardwood crew worked extra hours Thursday to complete the hardwood installation at the Oakley Home 2.0 @ 3874 Isabella. Below are some images of the Oak that was put down throughout the first and second floors. The stair treads and trim around the stair openings will be stained to match the flooring color and the dust will obviously get cleaned up in upcoming days.

AC UNIT

Air Conditioner Condenser Installation

With temperatures in the 20's and 30's this week, the HVAC contractor was (ironically) back at the Oakley Home 2.0 site to install the Air Conditioner Unit and piping associated with that system. The supply registers and return air grilles for the ductwork were also placed throughout the house, which are all pictured below.

SADDLE UP

Oak Saddle Hardwood Installation

Wednesday marked the start of the hardwood floor installation at the Oakley Home 2.0 project after the wood was able to acclimate to the indoor environment for a couple days. The wood species is Oak with a Saddle finish that has a nice warm, rustic feeling, which compliments the white cabinets and grey countertops in the kitchen and powder room. The flooring pieces are 3/4" thick and 3" wide and installed over a felt paper underlayment that helps with sound and moisture control. Here are a couple pics.

FAUCETS & SHOWER HEADS

Plumbing Fixture Installation

On Tuesday the final interior plumbing work began with the installation of faucets and shower heads throughout the home. Below are some photos of what was installed at the time of my site visit during my lunch break. As mentioned previously in this blog post, the bathroom faucets, shower heads, and toilets are all Water Sense certified, which will contribute to LEED points as this home targets LEED Gold Status.