Now You Can Really Peek Inside

The windows started going in today! Two were incorrect (thank you Chris, for taking care of that problem and doing the "yelling" for us!) and the problem will be remedied shortly. They had most of the house taped when we went by at 3:00, so I imagine they got pretty far. I think they're pretty ready to leave this project behind and move on to the next, so I hope they can finish quickly tomorrow and move on. The shingles have been delivered and the valves for the plumbing arrived today. We'll pick up the tubs tomorrow and deliver them to the house for the plumber on Thursday.


Mom and I woke up early and stood at the doors of Tuesday Morning with 20 other chumps waiting for the doors to open (actually, mom went to the store in Rockwall, and I went to the store in Garland to maximize our chances...). Anyway, we were there to get the deeply discounted shipment of Price Pfister faucets that were on sale starting today at 8:00 am. The faucets usually run anywhere from $100-250 plus, and these we got for $50-100. I hope Erik likes what I picked out. I'll feel pretty silly taking them back...a summer morning to sleep in wasted. It was hilarious. Everyone went directly to whatever item they were there bright and early to snatch up, and all the "faucet people" raced to grab the goods. Luckily, the Garland store had a much bigger supply than Rockwall, and I was able to get faucets for the entire house. I will post pictures pending Erik's green light.



Tomorrow, the roof. Thursday, the plumbing top off. Friday...who knows.













They finished the Hardie under the porch, too.

News Flash!

Erik and I went out to the house this evening to take some measurements for the fireplace and see the progress and we disovered that the deckers did come out this morning and work. I don't blame them at all for spreading out the work over several days so they can work in the morning and avoid the 102 plus temperatures here in the afternoon. So now it's completely decked. They still lack the tape along the seams of the zip wall and some of the hardy on the roof of the porch. Then they can really do the hardy and put in the windows.

It's nice to walk inside and have a better sense of space with a roof and the exterior walls in place...with sheet rock it will be even better.

Aside from the "green" energy codes required by the city, we are not purposefully choosing the expensive and trendy route of buying eco-friendly products for our new house, but decking is sold with a radiant barrier on the back, so here's to lower energy bills! I guess new appliances will also fit in the energy saving category...

The Latest

So...about 1/2 the house is decked...not sure if they planned on finishing today or Monday, but Chris will be back on Tuesday to do windows, hardy, etc. Erik and I bought exterior paint today in the color "Cargo Pants" (this pic doesn't really do it justice):

This might help... Now picture it with this brick (with a lighter mortar)...

with "Pure White" trim - Sherwin Williams is having a sale : ) . We also picked a roof shingle color called "Weathered Wood". As you can see, the zip wall is done and we have a bright green house for now.

Better Late Than Never

Things have been a little bit crazy around here with family in town and the baby shower extraordinaire, but here's the latest word....

The second floor is finished and ready for roof decking and the house is wrapped with zip wall and ready for brick. Chris will send his decking guys out tomorrow and windows will not be here until Tuesday which is when he comes back anyway, so that works. Erik's trying to see if the roofers can be working the same day as windows to keep things moving. The soffets (sp?) are up and he should be doing the Hardy on the back of the house today or Tuesday. We'll see....

Tuesday's pic...

Room upstairs...

Attic space above the garage...

Closet upstairs.... Casey in the dormer upstairs...
Thursday's pic....

Big Changes

Went out to the casa late today to find some very obvious developments...

Second floor is up as well as the stairs. They're still working on the roof and are probably finished putting up the zip-wall. I didn't get a good picture of it today, but the house is covered on the back and sides with that green board they started to put up last time. I'll have better pics tomorrow. Chris hopes to be finished by Thursday because he's going on vacation Friday-Monday. If not, he'll finish on Tuesday next week. No biggie.

We've run into some issues with the plumbing we picked. We had to change our order for the tub units to ensure we have a left-handed and a right-handed tub for the two baths. Good catch. We're still working on the right-handedness of the jacuzzi tub and may need to call Bill the plumber about it to make sure it's ok. We also need to make sure Chris plans on framing up the corner for the tub in the master as well as the island in the kitchen. I'm sure he knows, but always better to make sure now. Erik will finish out the frame for the tub probably to match the door casing molding he's planning on doing.

We've also gone through a day of questioning the oil rubbed bronze fixtures, but I think Erik has finally settled it on the ORB. The main issue was that most of the styles we can find in ORB are a little "old world" and too ornate for the craftsman look that we're trying to go for throughout the house. But it's better if everything matches, so if the door knobs must be ORB, so must the fixtures. We'll find something that works. On eBay where they are cheaper. But we must also work out the valve issue that comes with buying just the trim kit. Perhaps those plumbing suppliers will come in handy afterall...

We also need to pick paint sooner than later...Sherwin-Williams is having a sale this weekend, so that might work out well.

No Rest for the Weary

Just because the weekend comes, don't think that we just kick back and bask in the glory of our homebuilding successes (knock on wood). We spent Saturday moving the rest of our junk out of the duplex - the entire day Saturday - and Sunday we (cough) skipped church and spent the morning at Home Depot/Lowes picking out plumbing fixtures. Mom and I had spent the whole day (ok, Erik came at lunch and helped) going to plumbing wholesalers to look at what they had and get quotes and it was pretty much a waste of everyone's time. So we got on the internet Friday night and decided to use the big box home stores and eBay to get our stuff. We picked out a Jacuzzi tub for the master and 2 bath/shower units for the other bathrooms. We also had to pick out shower fixtures so the valves can be installed during top-out. Lowe's didn't have a pic online, but we are going with oil-rubbed bronze, or ORB as the plumbing lingo goes...We also went by the house and swept the street and picked up the trash because that's just the kind of homeowners we are : )

A Tour of the Sticks

First of all, the water department was out this morning and, voila! We have a water meter. Yay!

I hoped to take you on a tour in order (i.e. from front door around to the garage) but that's not the way it turned out, so although a little random, here it is. If you start from the bottom and work your way up, it makes a little more sense. The descriptions are above the pictures.

This is the pantry and desk area in the kitchen (middle, back of the house).

This is the back porch, already zip-walled, and back door installed!

This is the back of the house, one of the kid's rooms with a bit of zip wall.

This is the back of the house, living room with a bit of zip wall.

This is the closet under the stairs and the stairwell as you come in from the garage.

This is the garage from the door to the garage.

This is the utility room, in front of the kitchen/behind the garage.

This is the front kid's room.

The back kid's room.

This is the kid's bath.

The kitchen (island in the front where the pipes are for the sink, fridge along the left wall, stove/oven/micro along the back wall).

This is the floor laid down over the front of the house for the second floor media/game/play room.

This is the breakfast nook in the back of the house.

Back door.

This is the guest room at the back of the house, behind the master.

This is the shower in the master bath.

This is the closet in the master.

The back left corner is the potty room in the master bath. To the right in the background is the guest bathroom.

Master.

In the center is the fireplace in the living room.

This is the entry way from the front door with two pillars on each side, dining room is to the right, entrance to the master to the left.

This is the dining room to your right as you walk in the front door.

This is the master from the outside front left.

Front porch and temporary front door.

Garage, front right.

Day 4 of framing.