News Flash!

The plumber texted Erik today (yeah, what's up with that? [FYI, Erik doesn't believe in texting]) and said that he's been out of town and his phone is broken and will only let him text and he'll be out at the house tomorrow. Now that doesn't sound like "My dog ate my homework" at all....

Who cares! Let's pass this inspection!

More Advancements

The ungrouted hearth:

The painter is coming tomorrow! No days off for him, apparently. I'll take it! So he and Erik will be out there working away. Erik's out there right now getting some wood up so it's ready for the painter.

I watered again, today. I got my first, "Welcome to the neighborhood!" from a passing walker today. It felt nice : )

So thinking about the check-offs, the painter will finish the molding, Erik will finish the fireplace and bannister and the painter will finish those off. What else? I hope to finish landscaping this weekend, although I may help Erik tile the kitchen - I think it won't be so intimidating if we do it together. Poor Erik is just so tired of tile. That way we can grout the fireplace, too. We'll see. Refrigerator will come after the tile's down. Then wood and carpet.

If the plumber will fix what the inspector wanted, we can pass inspection and turn electricity on. Then all that's left is final.

I'm sure there's 100 little things that still need to be done that I'm not even thinking of, but the biggies list is starting to get pretty short!

Today's Activities

The painter came out to do the quote. Erik's not ready for him, though, so next week.

Electric is done!

HVAC assumed responsibility for the bathroom fans and installed them today. HVAC is done!

If only we could get a hold of the plumber....

Erik finished the hearth tonight and has the rest of the fireplace ready to go.

A good day all around!

One Step at a Time

The shower door installation guys from Lowe's were supposed to come by today and measure. If they did, they'll order the door and in 7-10 days it will be here to install.



The painter is supposed to come tomorrow and give Erik a quote. He said he can start after Wednesday, so Friday? I dunno.


And the electrician came today and did something, I really don't know what. He did leave a note - a print-out, actually - to give to the inspector to prove that smoke detectors cannot be within 3 feet of a vent. Don't you just love incompetent city inspectors? We do!



Electric and HVAC are avoiding responsibility for the fans in the bathrooms. HVAC installed the vent, electric set in the electric base, so who's supposed to get the actual fans and install them? Maybe we should take a poll here on the ol' blog and then let them know who "won". Somebody, anybody! Just put them in!



Plumber still needs to come. The holidays really do slow things down, huh?



I'm hoping to order grass Saturday (or at least Erik will go get it) and Sunday, once boards are OVER, we can lay it . That's one thing that we KNOW has to be done to pass final inspection : )



Here's his railing so far:



The base board he had for the long side is not wide enough, so he bought another one and will continue tomorrow. He took a much deserved night off tonight. : )

This is before he really lined all the balusters up and secured them. Lookin' good!

I went this afternoon and watered the poor grass. It has been difficult with random 30 degree days with gusting winds. I suffered hypothermia on several occasions trying to keep it wet before a freeze and decided it wasn't worth it. Then we had promised rain that didn't arrive mixed with finals and boards. I hope it will survive the winter.

I discovered today that the gouge in the door was fixed, so YAY!

Stair Terminology

Erik started on the bannister today. He designed and crafted the two "newels" so that they match our "craftsman" style - basically square and linear. Kinda like these. I like to call them posts, but whatever.

Apparently the spindles (at least that's what I call them) are called "balusters". Ok. He's been working on those, too, but apparently it's hard to get the right angle cut on the bottom so that they are plumb. So he's still working on that.

In other news, the bank sent out the inspectors again, just to make sure we are making progress. And we are : ) We have the electric meter hooked up now, so once we pass inspection, the city will call the electric company and turn us on! Very exciting. The plumber did not show on Friday, so hopefully Monday, we'll see some action. Erik also finished trim around the front door, but is still waiting on the back door because he needs to fix the gouge that somebody made, and the door to the garage. Um, so the works in progress right now are the stairs and the fireplace. We're still waiting on gas and fixing the plumbing. The painter will paint all the trim. We need to add vents for the water heaters. I can order grass once boards are over and get on that. Then there's flooring. And putting all the doors back up.

Plugging Away

Here's the completely finished shower:

We've been leaving the faucets dripping at night, just in case....

Erik did a great job on the surround for the tub! The painter will take care of the rest : )

Erik's pointing at the access panel he made.

Doesn't the brick look great? Aw, come on, you know we can do better than that! The bricks are just the form and Erik will tile the seat and surround and frame it with a wood mantel tomorrow. But I'm very pleased so far. It's a very comfortable seat ; )

And the garage guys finally came back out and installed the hardware on the door. That wasn't so hard, now, was it?

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, Erik is going out to the house. No kidding. He might even get some help from my cousin, Dan, who is working for a custom home builder in Midland. FYI, we're looking at a finish date sometime mid-late January. I'm saddened by this revelation that I pretty much saw coming, but didn't want to accept as reality. But that's the way it is....

Tuesday's Activities

I picked up Erik from the house and we went to Lowe's and ordered a shower door for the master shower which is now completely finished (fixed tile and all). We also picked up some items for the panels he is building around the master tub. He's also been working on the hearth for the fireplace. I need to actually go in and see what's going on, just in case I have an opinion...we have different ideas about the fireplace. : )

It's just soooooo cold in there and I'm such a wimp. I don't know how Erik does it. I need to go buy him more wool socks. Every morning he gets there and his bucket of water from mortaring is frozen. Hopefully electric will come again today (although it's misting, so who knows...) and then we can pass our last phase and turn the heat on : ) Then I'll give it a go!

Erik's going to give our inspector a call and get a better idea of exactly what needs to be finished to pass final inspection. We are willing to sleep on a blow up mattress and finish out shelves in the closet if we have to!

Quick Update

Before I forget everything he told me:

We had the inspector out today for our last inspection before the final inspection. We knew we would fail, but then again we always do the first time. Really, we just want to know what we need to fix. They sent a different inspector this time, and he pointed out some plumbing issues the other didn't see, so our plumber is coming back out. We also need to put vents on the doors to the water heaters, and a panel on something - see, I already forgot. There are a few other issues, but nothing huge. The electric company came today at 6:00 (?) and Chandler's wouldn't let them in...like they could do much in the dark, anyway. So they're coming tomorrow. Erik needs to call the gas company and see what they're up to. Plumbing is coming Friday, I think....at least someone's coming on Friday. Erik has finished putting up all the trim on doors and windows, so I need to putty and caulk - at least someone needs to : ) I've been a pretty good girl studying for my boards.

His idea to hire someone to do some woodwork has backfired - apparently everyone is in Houston because there is so much work down there after the hurricanes. It's not that it's too hard or complicated, we really would just like some extra hands. Hmph. We'll see where that goes.

Meanwhile, there's always work to do.

Almost Close To Being Finished

Yeah, that's a gas pipe.

Yeah, that's the gas line. At some point, they will be connected and a meter will be installed. Come on, gas company! You can do it! You're halfway there!

Yeah, that's an electric meter. Well, it's missing its guts, but they inspected and approved Erik's conduit and came and ran wire, so I guess they transfer the meter from the t-pole and we're in business? I have no idea how this works.

Erik grouted the shower, but chipped a tile, so he'll need one more evening to fix that. He's been putting up molding and I went out today to continue puttying holes. It really is a lot of holes and takes a lot of time to do both sides of 26 doors. And that's only the holes I can reach without a ladder. Lots to do. Lots of caulking tomorrow after church once I finish puttying. The wood floors we ordered are in, and Erik bought the tile for the kitchen. Floors are a big deal. They're the last thing you put in : )

This Weekend's Work Day

Well, I have no pictures because there was no time for that. Erik's parents came up from Houston and we worked their tails off! The guys cut and nailed up trim on the windows and doors, Evenlyn cleaned and caulked, I puttied holes, caulked and watered grass, and mom caulked and cleaned - whatever her vertigo would let her do (craziness!) . I thought puttying holes was a good job for a dentist. I was pretty good at it : ) We did a lot, although you probably couldn't tell even if I had pictures - subtle but important changes! Thanks for all your help, guys!

Erik has finished the shower minus the grout, and the hole is all dirt free and ready for inspection (thanks, Bradley!) After the trim is ready, he'll probably do the kitchen floor and by the time that is done, the wood floors should be here (Dec 22). He's trying to find someone to do a few woodworking jobs he won't have time for and someone to paint all the trim. We also need to get HVAC back out here pronto and the gas company should come this week, so we can finish putting grass in. Now that it's freezing again. I'm so grateful that we had a pleasant weekend to get some work done! Erik took off the entire week of Christmas to work on the house. I have to study for boards, but I should be able to put my fair share of time in, as well. Erik's new favorite phrase is, " I wanna live here!" You and me both!

Christmas Wish - Green Grass in the Spring

Please pray for our plants. It actually snowed/sleeted a bit last night and the temperatures are hanging around freezing. The pansies will probably be fine, and we're keeping the grass wet (which is what you do when you first plant AND what you do to keep it from freezing to death). It's just really hard to water your yard when it's this cold and windy. It's worse than a really long day skiing after you've fallen a bit and even your socks are soggy. Lesson learned. Spend the money on a sprinkler system.

Note: It was completely pitch black dark by the time mom and I really got started, and we had the halogen mega lights out front so we could see.

There's still a lot of landscaping to do. There's a bed in front of the master, and we'll put shrubs along the back under the kitchen/kid bedroom windows. I still haven't figured out where to put my rose bush. She'll probably have to wait until spring - I'll just leave her in the pot for now. She survived last year - she can survive anything.

I also need to draw all this up and turn it in to Chandler's. We've been slightly worried they'll say something since we're not approved, but how can you not approve dwarf hollies, pansies and boxwooods? Come on. And I think the rocks look nice. Don't you? Left over from the retaining wall. It was good for something.

Pictures are Here!

I'm going to go put these in right now, hopefully before it rains:

Grass!

Doesn't it make a big difference?

Well, not down here. Those trucks were taking all the dirt mess away on the side of the house to my Uncle Steve's house where he's building a boat ramp (or something - he lives on the water) and needs lots of dirt.

Here's the bowling green in the back yard - oooh, horse shoes....

And the little bit of the ginormous pile of dirt that was left before I went to school today:

They left the rock for landscaping and the brick for the fireplace:

And here's the conduit all connected in the trench:

And the crazy hole that is now filled in a little bit, but you get the idea:

The Grass is Kinda Green

Pictures will come tomorrow as apparently you have to charge newly purchased rechargeable batteries before you can use them.

This Saturday, I woke up at 9:00 am or so and Erik left for the house. I had him walk off the yard and report back so I could call and see how much grass we could order. 4,000 sq ft = 442 sq yards. I called Miller Grass and that would cost $1400. So we decided to go for 1/2 of that which is around 3 1/2 palates. Amazingly, they delivered some actually good looking grass (for December) only 40 minutes later and it was time to get to work! I picked up 30 bags of compost at Lowe's and spread a thin layer over the front yard and beds. Then mom brought lunch and we got to work. Nanna and Grandaddy brought the tiller, and Grandaddy tilled the flower bed by the porch. Mom and I started laying grass in the front. We pretty much can't move without feeling the pain right now. Unfortunately, the gas company hasn't connected yet, so we had to leave the first 8 ft of yard by the street just in case they have to dig. But the rest of the yard is done in front, the side is done, and most of the back. The side by our neighbors will have to wait until the electricity is connected. Which is another update...

Erik spent yesterday afternoon digging a bit and most of today trying to connect those two holes. The hole is now about 7 ft deep, 4 ft wide at the top, narrowing to a point where it finally connected under the retaining wall with the trench. I had brought Dad with me to get his truck and he stayed to help Erik get the 2 1/2 inch pipe through that hole. All the conduit is now connected with the tape through it, ready to be inspected by the electric company!

Once connected, we can fill the ditch.
Then the HVAC guys can come back out and install the outside unit.
Hopefully the gas company will be here in the next week or so and we can finish all the grass.
This Saturday, Erik's parents are coming and we are going to knock out the trim and landscaping.
I need to order wood floors, like tomorrow.

Erik still has a little left on the master shower and then the kitchen floor as far as tile goes.

We're gettin' there!

It's a Mann-hole

Erik spent most of Saturday Sunday after church digging a Mann-sized hole to connect the electricity. This was taken around 3:00. By 4:00 I was going to Home Depot to rent an auger and Dad and Bret were coming to the rescue. After near carbon monoxide poisoning via the exhaust put out by that thing, they gave up and came home to hot showers and fajitas. 1 foot to go, so hopefully tomorrow? So close, but so far....and so cold!

To back it up a bit, our new plumber arrived on the scene last Tuesday to rescue us from certain watery demise after Bill. He brought a crew of 5 or so and wanted to complete everything in a day. They got to work like crazy, installing faucets and toilets and waterheaters and even fixing things they deemed unacceptable work per the previous plumber. Unfortunately, the fiber optics line could not be located and Charlie needed a big back hoe to dig as deep as he thought he needed to, so they had to hold off until today to try to connect to the sewer. Here's what he got done:

Anyhoo, he came back out today with the big guns, and lo and behold, the sewer was only 5 feet deep but next to a $20,000 magic fiber optic line. Bill's 8 ft. No, not even close. So he connected everything and we called the city and they came out and inspected it! Only to tell him to change something that he didn't have the equipment to change today, so poor guy has to come BACK out tomorrow, fix, reinspect, and fill the hole for us. He has been a savior! I thank him profusely every time I talk to him. If our house floods with water when we turn it on, it will only be because he didn't find something Bill did wrong.

Connected to the sewer! (and the super-expensive line)

Grading and Gutters!

I know they're dark, but by the time I fight traffic to get out there, I'm racing the sun. I think you can see everything pretty well. So today we got gutters and Andy graded the yard. I am one happy girl! Erik has to finish tiling the shower in the master before the plumber can come out, so that's where he is right now...tiling away. My wish is that he can come this week and connect to the sewer so this weekend, I can start on the yard. I at least need to draw up a plan and have a chat with Mom about appropriate plants. I spent so much time learning about deer-resistant/Hill Country flora and now I'm in North Texas, so I must begin anew. I really need to dig those trees back out and build up some wells around them so they can breathe ; )

What happens tomorrow? I have no idea. I do know we still need to dig a 5 ft hole for the electricity.

Painting Doors

We went professional and Erik learned from the pro at my dad's shop how to paint doors. He painted all the doors and trim in about one day, with very little help, which is amazing! At the beginning of the video, please note the entertainment center built and partially stained by Erik all lonely and forgotten in the shop.

Andy is coming tomorrow to grade the land. Hopefully that means the plumber can come the next day and solve most of our problems. Erik still has to dig that hole under the retaining wall to run the electricity to the house. That would be a big deal, too. I'm just excited to see a real yard in my future!

Let there be light! Kinda.

You can barely see the new addition to the house here. There are two lights on each side of the garage. Everything else is either in the shadows or inside.

The fluorescent light in the garage:

The light in the closet under the stairs:

The pendants in the kitchen:

The oven that doesn't fit? We'll see about that.

I don't think I ever put a pic of the dishwasher up:

The light over the kitchen table:

The many pendants in the kitchen:

The entry hall light:

The light over the dining room table that is missing one light socket. Something else to take care of:

Potty light in the master:

Master vanity lights:

Master fan and recessed lighting:

Laundry room light:

Kid room:

Kid room:

Kid vanity:

Upstairs fan:

Living room fan:

And there's still a hole: