Framing: The Insides of the inside

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After the walls are framed, it's still not super easy to see where the walls will go. It takes some imagination...

This is the master bathroom.

This is the master bedroom.

We really wanted fire burning firepaces. Turns out that's a big deal. 

Here, the fire brick is in place. 

And what it looks like with drywall in place but no mantle yet. 

Looking more like a fireplace now!

Slowly but surely.

Almost there...

Our stair builder is an experienced builder who has retired from general contraction to focus on fancy stairs for luxury homes.  Because he's worked with our GC for ages, he agreed to do our stairs anyways.

This is his assistant helping him put the first risers in place.  He had a disagreement with the architect regarding how the stairs should be built, so he built the stairs we needed while we got engineering to sign off on the changes. 

Engineering needed to engage because we ended up with too much floor. 

You can see how we have one joist-worth of floor too much. 

It needs to get cut back to where the post is to the left of the stairs in this photo. 

Some engineering work and some saw work later, and the floor now fits our stairs. 

It really opened up the foyer. 

Drywall starts to go up. 

Here, you can see we've hidden a powder room underneath the stairs. 

Here, you can see we've hidden a powder room underneath the stairs. 

Sliced up like a loaf of bread, this makes it possible to fit an otherwise inflexible straight handrail to the curve of the staircase.

The slices of handrail will be assembled in these guides and glued together. When dry, it will be sanded and will look like one solid piece of wood. 

This is what it looks like when the handrail slices are assembled in the curve guides.

The banister has been fitted and the stair treads placed.

Looking more like a staircase now...

Looking more like a staircase now...

You can see how we have one joist-worth of floor too much. 

You can see how we have one joist-worth of floor too much. 

Not sexy, but solid. 

This is what happens when a contractor leaves the windows open before a big storm moves through...

This is where those choices in the flooring showroom run headlong into reality!

Not easy to do, a curved tile border by the stairs.

It looks better later...

Add backer-board and tile, and it's not so bad!

Like black cars, dark-color floors just show more dust and dirt. It will look good when it's clean.

The deck is looking good.