PUSHING FOR THE FINISH LINE

Here we are opening access for the water to flow into the waterfall feature.

Music will also flow around the pool through these unique weatherproof “rock” speakers.

Colored concrete is due to arrive later today for the home’s driveway.

Back inside, Audiophile is beginning the hookup of all the home’s audio and visual systems into the rack – more on this later.

This is our first look at the beautiful interior doors with their hardware affixed. A stunning combination with the grey/beige carpet in the bedrooms.

You can start to see how the carpet and doors will transition into this amazing Master Shower – great teamwork from Tami at Icon and Sherrill at Woods.

The kitchen pantry shelving is installed – loads of easy access storage.

On my way out I noticed how nicely the plugged and seeded areas around the side of the home are coming in – you can see the grass seed pushing up through the plugs. Another week of sun and water and this area will be predominantly green – all in the space of less than three weeks.

A cost-effective alternative to sodding the entire home site.

SEVEN DAYS TO GO!

We are down to the final week and all is tracking according to schedule. We are prepping and painting the aluminum pergola/Trellis elements through the weekend and will be installing those on Tuesday.

Richard from Phoenix polishes and preps the trellis for the paint shop.

A section of the trellis with primer applied.

The washer and gas-fired dryer have arrived

Five flat screens – Audiophile will be installing these along with the integrated speaker system. More on that next week.

Kyle of Ironshore Contractors begins the installation of the bamboo flooring in the Livingroom - it is a three-step process when installed correctly (when you are starting with a perfectly level floor, as we are here). First the floor must be meticulously cleaned and then a layer of Urethane Membrane is applied to the concrete floor as a moisture barrier – this is critical in ground-floor applications. That is the surface that Kyle is kneeling on in the picture. You can see him here applying the urethane-based glue to the prepared floor.

Note the clamp and strapping system used to ensure a tight fit between the floorboards

BRING ON THE BLING

Lots of great stuff happening!

Justin Uzzell from Cayman Free press photographs the very happy Watts family for the Showhome Supplement which we will appear in the Caymanian Compass next Wednesday. They are two weeks away from moving into their new home – in time to decorate for Christmas – what could be better?

The closet materials arrive from AL Thompson. Super products at a great price – more to come when we have everything assembled.

The fully irrigated planter box under the Master Bedroom windows are now planted – looks even better from the inside! Phoenix has fabricated in-house some really special aluminum doors for the pool equipment and boat storage openings below – this will all come together beautifully.

You have to love this sleek Thermador hood – quiet and powerful.

The Master shower is going to be very dramatic and full of light. This makes a great “before” picture – check back in for the “after”

Exotic gas-fired Tiki Torches from Home Gas will light the pool area with natural flame – and all tied in to the extensive below ground supply that fuels the AC system, the gas dryer, the kitchen range, the on-demand water heater, and the outdoor cooking units. One tank buried in the front garden supplies all these elements!

The pool area is starting to develop some character. Just wait until we add the beautiful aluminum trellis system that wraps the home (see below). We just want to pull up a deck chair!

The Phoenix crew is off painting a completed section of the trellis in another Phoenix workshop. This pergola, once installed, will require no maintenance by the owner and can be covered in climbing vines without worry about rot or repainting. This element will grace the front of the home, cover the outdoor kitchen and run down to the dock. We will be doing installs this weekend so check back for more photos.

THE START OF THE FINISH

The last two weeks of completing a showhome would be stressful if it was not slightly comical! The whirlwind of finishing details would make your head spin, but with a plan and a calm production team it will all come together. The next few blogs will cover a huge variety of details as every day another feature of the home is completed – we will be blogging every couple of days for the next couple of weeks so stay in touch.

This original ceiling treatment guides the visitor from the entry foyer into the kitchen. We will either paint it or stain it – we will decide on the finish once the hardwood stair treads and the bamboo flooring is in. These were fabricated in-house by the Phoenix crew Unique.

The color goes on the Hardiplank siding. After the first coat we will fill any pockets, sand, and add two top coats to enrich the color and fully weatherproof the area. You can also see the the sod has begun to be installed in the front yard – watered daily for the next two weeks we will have a beautiful front lawn with no apparent seams!

Tami and Keith Miller discuss the installation of the main kitchen faucet – these often have a couple of mounting options to the countertop. Note the plastic protection applied to the granite counters during the final kitchen installation.

IMPRESSIVE HARDWARE

The kitchen alone is going to be reason enough to visit the showhome when it opens the first weekend of December. The kitchen hardware, supplied and installed professionally by the polished team at Bon Vivant will be a professional chef’s dream! Bon Vivant carries some of the greatest names in kitchen gear, including Viking, Bosch, Gaggeneau, Best, Franke, Liebherr and Smeg. They can also supply a fill line of Thermador, which is what the Watts family specified for its dream kitchen.

Proprietor, Cynthia Hew at Bon Vivant, now at Governor’s Square but relocating to Camana Bay in time for Christmas

Cynthia supervises the installation of the Thermador products being installed at the showhome.

The luxury of a 48”Thermadore fridge! We will come back and take a closer look at these products once they are fully installed. We will also have a look at the new Bon Vivant at that time – stay tuned!

AN EYE FOR DETAIL

“Commitment to Quality" has become such a generic phrase that it has been literally rendered meaningless! How often do you find a firm that is COMMITTED to quality? A firm that will refuse to leave the jobsite until you are 100% happy and ready to tell everyone that you know all about the experience? Well that is what Paint Pros is all about and that is why Phoenix uses Paint Pros. When you visit the showhome next month look at the quality of the paintwork and stain work! You really will see the difference.

Jonathan DaCosta shows me the level of detail that Paint Pros go to identify the smallest imperfections in every corner of the home, fill them (the light yellow areas) prime and sand them prior to applying the two top coats! Remember that we are using top quality lumber for all the millwork in this home and you get the picture – Jon is a detail guy’s detail guy!

“We are about developing completely devoted customers” he tells me as we walk around the home and he shows me the level of preparation that he insists on as ‘standard’. “The key is the preparation” he says “It is hard work – every one of your staff has to understand that it is not ‘finished’ until it is ‘perfect’”.  It has taken time to develop the team of “Painting Professionals” that he has grown to a group of over 30. Every member of the paint team brings with them years of professional experience and that has allowed Paint Pros to establish a reputation well beyond Cayman’s borders, as they have worked Caribbean-wide on a variety of specialty projects. The crew is adept at Venetian plastering, gold leaf ceiling and wall coverings, staining, high-traffic floor coatings and other specialties – applications that take training and precision teamwork. “It sounds corny, but we really do treat each customer like they are the only one we have” adds DaCosta.

 We believe him!

Paint Pros is also handling the staining of the interior doors for the showhome. It is a process that involves seven steps of sanding staining and sealing to make the doors glow. “Not too many people understand how to do this correctly” said Jonathan, “Again, it takes patience and commitment...these doors will be fantastic, this poplar is a beautiful wood to work with and these doors well be treated so that they last forever”.

Works for me!

COOL POOL

Now doesn’t that look inviting! We finished the Diamondbrite finish on the pool over the weekend and filled it yesterday. All it needs now is the chemicals and it will be ready to use. Nice job Oasis Pools – on time, on budget, and it looks great! We are looking forward to the waterfall, which will be installed in the aluminum pergola and will cascade into the cutout on the left hand side of the pool.

The little water jets are programmable, as is everything in this pool, and the water volume can be preset so that you get just as much arc as you desire.

It’s so straightforward that you can program it with your eyes shut says James from Oasis! This is the gear that runs the pool – it is housed underneath the planter below the Master Bedroom (and yes, it is very quiet!)