Never Thought I'd See the Day

Isn't it beautiful? The first few pics are after one night of laying wood...

We're gluing it down instead of that whole vapor barrier/pad thing and the sound is sooo much better.

Dad, Bret, and Erik are doing the bulk of the work. I'm good at opening boxes and separating the pieces (they come stuck together for packaging). Mom's job was standing on pieces that needed a little encouragement and handing pieces to the guys. We made the process go a whole lot faster : )

This is where we ended tonight:

We picked the carpet and got a great deal because, well, we have connections. : )

We'll go Saturday and fill out the paperwork and get the ball rolling. We also hope to get the mantel painted while we're out there by dad's shop.

And of course, the rest of the wood floor ; ) But we're taking a rest tomorrow night for some margaritas.

The Most Beautiful Shower Door E-V-E-R

Despite all weather media claims of treacherous roads the shower door installer came today and left this:

What a wonderful surprise! We got such a great deal on an elegant door!

Tonight: I study. Erik hangs clothing rods. Dad creates the master closet. Carpet is still in limbo.

Latest

• Lots of baseboards going down
• Master closet is coming along
• Kitchen appliances reinstalled and oven gas leak fixed
• Dining room and entry (mostly) prepped for wood
• Carpet picked out, just waiting for quotes

Kitchen Tile: Done

Erik and I grouted the kitchen tile tonight. Time to prep the living and dining room floors for wood - tomorrow.

We also grouted the fireplace hearth.

We also have 2 carpet guys coming out to measure tomorrow.

Another rather eventless update...

Erik went out to the house early to finish tiling. Yeah, it's a lot of tile.

I went to another carpet place. Both carpet installers are coming Monday to measure, give us a price, and we can pick the carpet and make a decision. That will give us under a week to be ready for carpet. There's a LOT of cleaning to do.

I went out the house around 3:00pm and cleaned a lot and organized scrap wood and tile.

The bank inspectors came for their monthly progress rounds and asked if we thought they'd have to come out next month. We said that we hoped they didn't.

I ran to target and got the rest of the light bulbs we need, some cleaning supplies, and a trash can to put all the wood scraps in. The checkout girl asked if I was fixing something. "No, building a house."

Dad came out tonight to work on the shelves in the master closet.

Tomorrow: grouting kitchen tile
: lots of baseboards going down
: lots of cleaning to get ready to put the wood floor down
: maybe, just maybe some caulking (can you tell I'm putting it off?)

Today

Basically nothing happened out at the house. I picked up a little bit and swept the front walk. We took our work crew out for mexican food and free margaritas instead of cracking the whip again tonight ; )

Erik emailed the ever-so-scary Chandler's HOA and they actually agree that our back fence should match up with our neighbor's and are letting us encroach on their land! That means that we will actually have a reasonable back yard. Great news, indeed!

I went and picked up carpet samples and have one installer coming out to measure the house. I'm going to one more place tomorrow morning and then we will make a decision.

Dust Bowl 2009

With all the saws going at the house at night, a huge cloud of dust fills the entire place and by the end of the night, I actually smell sawdust when I blow my nose...seriously. Can't open the windows because then we'd have neighbors knocking on our door, but I turn on all the ventilation fans in the bathrooms and laundry room. We really should be wearing masks, but as someone who works with them just about every day, I somehow manage to forget to bring some home every day. I'll take care of that problem today : )

If you're worried about the noise of saws and compressors at night, Erik and I did a sound check for the neighbors, and we're good. No complaints and no worries. They probably want us to finish ASAP anyway.

• I painted shelves all night. More painting to do tomorrow.
• Kitchen tile is almost done.
• Porta-potty is gone.
• Baseboards are down except in the master, living room (needs wood), kitchen (needs tile finished) and dining room (also needs wood). I have my work cut out for me.
• I'm going to look at carpet tomorrow and get them to come measure the house.
• Unbeknownst to me, the plumber came back, made the front faucet on the side of the house come to life, and switched the hoses on the kitchen sink so hot and cold are now correct.

Everyone's Chipping In

Erik spent the evening making all the cuts for the kitchen tile.

Dad and Bret finished out the closet shelves and started baseboards in the bedrooms:

And the painter came back to paint the stairs:

Mom and I brought dinner and stayed to clean up a bit. There is still so much left to clean!

And all this was done while a nice fire burned in the fireplace. Thanks, fireplace company!

Were you wondering whatever happened to the wood flooring? It's just hanging out in the guest room until we're ready for it!

I now have lots of caulking to do since more baseboards are down. The only thing left upstairs is some cutting in and filling in of holes that someone made in the wall (?!?!) I also really need to grade and grass. A must to pass inspection!

That part about applying for inspection today? Well, I meant Monday.

And for your viewing pleasure:

"Shelves in the closet? Happy thought indeed..."

(Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice)

Ok, so Dad didn't start hanging doors, he started cutting shelving and he and Erik are hanging it at the house right now. It's $0.59 taco night at Taco Casa, so Mom got the tacos and I ran to Sonic and we took dinner to the guys. Here's the progress we found:




This is the mirror for the kid bath:


Mirror for guest bath:
This is the mirror I love that's too big for the master, but will go over the mantel:

These are the mirrors that are winning the ever so coveted spot in the master bath:

I don't think they're too gaudy.

The continued tiling efforts:

Gas logs: tomorrow

Painter: tomorrow

Garage door people: tomorrow? I think...

Applying for occupancy: tomorrow (I know we're not ready, but this is how we do it. If you fail the inspection, they tell you what you need to pass. See?)

Erik ordered the shower door today. We got a great quote from a place in DeSoto, so we got to upgrade a little ; )

Erik called the porta-potty guy!

Erik also called several fence people...one has already come out and another is coming.

This week will be warm, but the weekend will be unfortunately cold. I'm going to have to take advantage of Friday's warmth as I will have the day off, and do some outside stuff.

What Did I Accomplish Today On the House?

Well, Erik called and asked me to look for our closing documents (from Round Rock) so we can move ahead on the closing on this house. Now just about everything that we own that is not clothing is in boxes, either here at my parents' or in storage. I looked in the boxes in my closet upstairs (not an easy task). I looked in the file boxes in the study and found the contract but not the closing papers. I looked in the 20 boxes shoved under my old bed upstairs. I looked in the boxes under our bed downstairs. I looked in my closet upstairs again.

Then I called Erik back and told him that I just couldn't find them. The suggestion of looking in the storage unit was not something I wanted to hear. But if I want to move, we have to have them.

When he got home, he went in the study, looked in the file boxes, and pulled them out.

I therefore accomplished nothing.

Erik is still tiling. Dad will be going out to hang doors tomorrow - ya know, now that we have heat : ) Thanks, Dad!

Long Day's Work

Erik left for the house early this morning while I stayed behind to do laundry and clean up as the maid was coming. When I got to the house, he was in the midst of laying tile in the kitchen!

By the end of the day, he had laid all of the non-cut tiles in the breakfast nook and entry to the hallway. Tomorrow will bring the rest of the kitchen, and probably the start of cut tiles. We can clean the tiles and grout next week.

I was upstairs caulking the baseboards, cleaning a bit, and yes, I left to go look at mirrors. And I found one. At Walmart. A beautiful, plain, traditional brown wood mirror the perfect height and width for the guest bath. (clouds part, light shines down from heaven, and the angels sing). So now 2 bathrooms have beautiful mirrors. One to go. After we went to dinner tonight, Mom, Dad, Erik and I went to Kirkland's and Garden Ridge just so Erik could see what I actually have to work with. I am now officially letting Erik look for mirrors on his lunch breaks to see if he can find anything better than what I bought. May the force be with him.

This Weekend's Forcast

Warmer than the past few days which is splendid. It will also spill over into over 1/2 of next week, so I need to get a jump on grading the side yard and maybe plant that last bit of grass.

On Erik's to-do list:

• Call a fence guy
• Call the porta-potty guy
• Pick a shower guy
• Call about final inspection (I really should just do this...maybe next Friday when I'm off)
• Tile
• Paint mantel (this will happen next weekend because Polo hasn't prepped the paint up at the shop yet)
• Wood floors
• Put the rest of the doors back on the hinges and put on door knobs

My to-do list:

• Caulk baseboards
• Touch-up paint
• Help tile
• Find mirrors
• Clean
• Landscape

Subs' to-do list:

• Painter comes next week to finish stairs
• Gas logs come Wednesday
• Surveyor has to come back (I'm not holding my breath after our wall fiasco - and 2 of his phone numbers are disconnected)

We also need to pick out carpet at some point. Once the kitchen tile is down, we'll buy the fridge.

Our renter's insurance on our storage is up at the beginning of February, so that's my new goal. Think we can make that? Still a lot to do....

Today's News

According to Erik, the last time we picked out 2 mirrors for our house in Round Rock, it almost ended our marriage. Now that's not even remotely true, but let's just say that decorating a home with my husband is challenging. It's character building. I have bought and returned so many mirrors, my arms and upper back are sore from carrying them around. And he doesn't like the mirrors I just bought tonight for the master bath that I actually like. I'm not returning any more mirrors. I will buy new options, but I'm done hauling them all over town for now.

On a happier note, we now have a garage door opener. Erik's parents were so great as to "give" us one for Christmas in the form of $$. Erik found one at Home Depot tonight. It was the last one and wasn't going to buy it because it was open, but the lady gave it to him for the price of the model a step down, so that's great!

He also called the company we got the fireplace from to buy some gas logs, and they told him that our fireplace came with logs, they just need to deliver them and turn on the unit for us. Sweet!

I think Erik's tiling tonight.


At least I have one mirror at the house that actually works....3 to go.

The Heat is On...

The very early planning stages of tiling the kitchen have begun...

The stairs are finished....

They get a fresh coat of pain on Tuesday....

It's starting to kinda look finished, huh?

Ready for carpet!

Just need some shelves in here...

HVAC turned on the heat!

I spent a ridiculous amount of time looking for mirrors today. I get to keep 1 and have 4 more to return tomorrow (besides the 3 I've already returned today). I think I know what I'm buying tomorrow, though. Erik went out tonight for a little bit, to try to turn on the water heater that the gas company did not light. Sure hope that works out ok. We also need to work on the oven.

This weekend will be a big work day!

All Lit Up

The electric company came through and hooked us up with a meter and some flowing electrons. Then they left the garage door open when they left! You win some, you lose some.

I drove straight out after class to water the grass because it's going to be super cold tonight. I got to flip the big breaker and ran around the house turning on lights like an excited kid on Christmas morning.

I also got to see the finished staircase and the huge stack of wood flooring piled up in the guest room just waiting for the heater to get turned on so it can acclimate before we lay it. There's also a huge stack of tile in the garage waiting to go down in the kitchen.

Totally forgot to look at the baseboards he's been working on upstairs....oops. And my camera's battery died so I have no pictures of any of these things. Next time!

HOT Water

Erik called me from the house tonight to tell me that we have HOT water.

That means that the gas company came out like they said they would and hooked it up AND lit the pilot lights on the water heaters!

Out of Grass

Erik went out to the house early to get a start on the other hand rail on the stairs. I came out around 12:00 and brought lunch. Now that I could use Erik's truck, I could load it up with grass, drive it to the backyard and lay it. I did this (1+ pallates) until around 5:00 when I started watering. Erik finished the rail, met me and the family for a burger, and went back to rehang all the doors upstairs and start the baseboards. Tomorrow, he'll finish baseboards and do the shelves in the closet, and the upstairs will be ready for carpet (after a good clean, of course).

I still need another pallate of grass. It's pretty disappointing. But, it will go on the side of the house that still needs to be graded, so that has to happen first.

Next, the tile in the kitchen. We'll start in the breakfast nook because the we will need access to the stove/oven to light the pilot for the first time. The gas company comes on Monday : )

Note: we're going to paint the mantel. It may disappoint some of you, but it's faster, and there's no matching stain colors involved. Erik wants to spray it at the shop.

Electricity on Tuesday - then HVAC has to come light the pilot before we can turn the heater on. I won't mind cleaning up, painting or caulking out there so much once we have some heat ; )

In order to pass final, one of the requirements is to be rid of the porta-potty, and since our potties work just fine, Erik's going to call to get rid of it. Our neighbors will be excited, but the local lawn maintenance workers who use it regularly will not. Next time we call for trash pick up, they won't need to bring the bin back ; )

I'll post some pictures tomorrow...

2 Beautiful Days to Lay Grass

But I still have some work to do.... *that was 2 full pallates*

Our beautiful 2-toned front yard:

Erik's going to finish up the stairs this weekend and I guess they'll get painted next week. Done!

You can see where he's added the molding along the bottom:

Here are some of the decorative elements he's added to the posts:

Here's where the rail will go:

I hope to have a door hanging party this weekend.

The back corner of the yard needs grass, but I need Erik's truck to do that. It shouldn't take too long.

The side of the yard needs grass, but it is insanely muddy. My whole foot sank into mud trying to get back there! We need to get our neighbors to turn their sprinklers. Or just get the grass down there so they can water it : )

I really, really, really want to tile the kitchen this weekend.

Shower door is still in the works. They keep trying to sell us expensive doors. Lowes' called us back and said they found someone who will install in travertine. I'd just as soon go back to them, but Erik wants to wait for one more quote.

I think we're going to stain the mantel.

I also need to buy a bunch of bushes for the front and back yard. And plant the poor pansies sitting in the garage that are still hanging on for dear life.

Green Means Go!

We passed our last phase inspection FINALLY, so we get electricity turned on on Tuesday. Gas? I forgot to ask. The grass came today. After regrading the remaining front yard, I only got down 1/2 a pallate. I'm exhausted.

Here's the mantel. The new dilemma is stain or paint? My friend Courtney says stain, because you can always paint later if you don't like it. What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know! We will tile inside the mantel.

The painter is done for now. Once Erik finishes the stairs (this week) he can come and paint them. Doesn't the tub look great? It actually matches the color of the cabinets.

So, we'll tile the kitchen this weekend. Painter will paint stairs next week. We should pick an installer for the shower door tomorrow. We'll finish the grass. We need to make a decision on the mantel, do it, and put up the tile there as well. We need to hire someone to put up a fence. Hopefully, Erik will hire someone to put in the wood floor we ordered and we can order carpet. We also need to do baseboards. We need to put shelves in the closet. We really need to find out what we need to do to pass final inspection and just do those things. Why haven't we done that yet? Maybe I'll call tomorrow....

Plumb Tickled!

We decided to get the plumber from 2 sides, so I started calling him today since he was not returning our calls. Come 3:00 when he hadn't called either of us back, I was getting angry and ready to call Owner Builder AGAIN to complain about the plumber AGAIN. I called Erik to see what he needed at the store and he said that the plumber had been out and talked to the inspector and worked everthing out! What a relief! I was honestly not expecting a solution to that today! Thank you, Jesus!

We'll have the inspection tomorrow. The painter has been out all week. Everything is primed, and he's started painting. Looking good!

The weather should be warm by Thursday, so I'm planning on stealing Erik's truck for the day so I can pick up some grass and lay it.

On my last weeek off, I've also been working on getting a shower door. I have 2 ok quotes from some local guys - a little higher than we wanted, but what can you do? Lowe's won't install a door in the travertine. So we'll have to make a decision on that, soon. I have one more place to call. I should go do that...

Getting Gas

I drove up to the house yesterday to find 2 big trucks and about 10 guys digging a huge hole in the neighbor's yard across the street. Erik came out and said they were putting in our gas. OUR gas. But they're digging up our neighbor's yard! They must HATE us! What a way to make friends. Apparently, they first dug a hole in our yard by the driveway, somehow sent the line under the road??? and had to connect it over there? They actually did a really good job of covering it up - literally. They peeled back their grass, dug the hole, filled it in, and rolled the grass right back over the top.

They also did this. I really don't know what it's supposed to look like when it's done, but I have a feeling that the end of the pipe on the left is supposed to connect to the end where the meter is on the right. 4 inches? I think the plumber does that. Who still hasn't made it out.

The painter came out and sanded, caulked, and puttied all day yesterday, and came out again to start priming. The pictures aren't all that impressive yet, so I'll wait for the finished product. Erik's still knocking out the molding in the stairwell. Mainly the wood along the walls cut out for the steps. See what I mean - along the back wall beneath the painting?

He still has to "decorate" the newels. In the mean time, he made the mantel, which looks amazing, but I didn't get a picture of it. But it's based on this one (ours will be white):

I'll show it to you once it's on the wall.

Today would have been a great day to plant grass, but seeing as the next week will be uber cold, I don't want to have to water said grass in my ski gear, so I'll wait for a stretch of mild weather, or an impending final inspection day *whichever comes first* to take care of that : )