The Wood Floors and Stairs are Finished!

Stopped by the house this morning on my way back west to check out the finished wood floors. To my surprise, you can see, they started putting up the slate tile around the fireplace. It looks awesome in our humble opinion. We spoke to Bill Newberry about a mantle. He has some reclaimed lumber that we can use for a very simple mantle above the fireplace. I hope to go by and pick out a neat piece for that spot.
There were big signs saying to stay off the floors until Monday. It was killing us this weekend not knowing how they were turning out. My first impression was WOW! Above is a close shot of the finished newel post and stairs. They are exactly what we were looking for.

This is looking at the dining room area from by the fireplace.

Close up shot of the finished oak floors. Patrick O'Brian with O'Brian Construction and Flooring
(314-223-4691)was in during the weekend sealing the floors. He used a low VOC product from Minwax (http://www.minwax.com/products/hardwood_floor_finishing/super_fast_drying_polyurethane350.html). It was something I noticed when I walked in...the lack of smell from the floor.

This is a far shot of the stairs. They used two differnt types of wood for the stairs. The risers and spindles are poplar and the rest is oak. After agonizing over the decision we decided to just seal both types of wood even though they would look different. Patrick and Jim told us it was worth a try since we could easily paint them later if we did not like how it turned out...easier to go that way than take off paint to stain later. As of right now we dig how it is looking.

Should have some trim work, cabinets, outside posts starting and more tile work done this week. Every day is one day closer to us finally moving in!