Stucco and flagstone are complete and work progresses inside

The stucco color coat is complete. A sealer will be applied to the stucco and flagstone to repel moisture. This will darken the color slightly.


This is the view from the east end of the house looking at the master bedroom portal and the east guest bedroom portal.


This is the view from the west end of the house looking at the garage, kitchen portal, and the west guest bedroom. The second garage opening is not visible as it is set back from the first opening.


The entry door from Santa Fe Doors and the flagstone work by Little Guy Masonry. Copper drains pipes will be added to the front posts and and a doorbell then this area will be complete.


Jenny's efforts at site restoration have paid off!! The native grass and wildflowers are up and getting taller everyday.

This is the tile pattern in the laundry room.

This is the utility sink in the laundry room. The brown coat has been added up to the grout around the tile work.

This is the powder room vanity. It is the wildest of the color schemes. We found this sink several years ago and have been dragging it around in anticipation of building a house. It has finally found its place.

Flagstone work
Little Guys Masonry wrapped up work on the Portals and around the garage this past week. As with all their work, they did a wonderful job. We had them add some additional stone details in the interior which turned out nicely. The exterior stone will get sealed when we seal the stucco.

Stucco color coat is complete

The stucco crew returned on Friday, May 8th and finished the exterior color coat. They had already applied the color coat to the walls that did not have flagstone details (which had not yet been completed) but we kept them at bay until all the stone work was completed to assure that the two tied together well. The completion of the color coat completes the exterior of the house and we will now bring in the excavators to complete final grading around the house and dig the trench for the patio wall.

John and Griffin finish the brown coat

All the interior walls (with the exception of the guest and master bath) have a brown coat of earth plaster and are ready for the color coat. The brown coat took almost 4 weeks to complete. Griffin has been working with Jenny in mixing and selecting colors for the final finish coat. I picked up a load of Kaolin clay in Albuquerque while on a tile buying trip. We are ready to begin.

Tile and sinks

Since the earth plaster must butt up against the tile on the cabinets, I have been focused on getting the tile set and grouted. I completed the laundry room, powder room and guest bath vanity and tub. Jenny found several beautiful Talavera painted sinks for the guest, and master bath as well as the powder room. I set them after the tile was in place and then grouted around them. The faucets she selected are perfect. These rooms will be stunning when we are finished.

Lael is working on the granite tiles in the kitchen and I am setting the Saltillo tile on the stairs. Lael was part of the original Earth Block crew, who I have hired to help with other miscellaneous task. He is a very skilled craftsman who is versed in many trades. The master bath tile is delayed because the factory in Mexico that makes them was shut down with the swine flu outbreak. I did plumb and set the master soaking tub. We were missing a cabinet for the master bath vanity and, after waiting 4 weeks for it to arrive find that it was destroyed in transit. Getting things here in one piece has been a challenge. The tally to date for damaged items shipped to net one good item is as follows:

2 geothermal heat pumps

3 geothermal hot water storage tanks

2 geothermal pump systems

4 toilets to net three

2 vanity cabinets (assuming the next one is in one piece)

Appliances and the garage doors have yet to arrive... I have my fingers crossed.

Heading towards our CO (certificate of occupancy)

We are focused on wrapping up work required for a CO around the end of May. There is still a long list of tasks to complete but we will continue to work seven days a week until they are finished. The house just gets more beautiful everyday and all those who work on it or come visit have said how much they love it. The local paper used three color pictures of the interior work for an article about the spring green living expo in early April. The reporter wants to do a more in depth article once we are completely finished.