Day 73

The hardwood flooring guys got their job done today and even cleaned up the floors. The plumbers put our kitchen and bathroom sinks in. Stainless in the kitchen and white in the bathrooms. Everything is flowing together really well. You never really know how its gonna turn out, until it actually comes together.

Deck materials got delivered today:


If someone has to put a deck in tomorrow, I feel sorry for them because the heat index is supposed to be around 109. That makes me sweat just thinking about it. For real.

We're getting down to the end, the only tasks left that I can think of are:
Deck
Toilets
Driveway
Sod

The rest will be up to us. Like.... fencing, shower doors, garage floor paint... and some other nick nacky stuff.

Day 72

Are you ready for a retinal rampage, a visual assault, an eyeball onslaught, or maybe a pupil mugging?

Jesus, I need to pull it together.

I think I'm losing my mind.

I got a bunch of vented up camera frustration from not being able to get into the house. The flooring guys have been working late hours, which has kept me out for a couple of days, and it was driving me nuts. I was finally able to get in today at 8:00 pm to get some snapshots of their progress.

The hardwood flooring in the Great room/dining area is almost done. That area where there isn't hardwood is where the carpet goes. The reason there's an angle at the bottom of the picture is because it's like a mirror image of the fireplace. I figured it would look better like that, compared to having the floor come to a 90 degree corner. It's the little things people. The little things.


This is the rest of the Great Room and the hallway that goes back to the bedrooms. All hardwood. The pictures do the floors no justice. In person they look 1000 times better, even when they're dusty.


They also have the tiled backsplash done. They did a great job of laying it out, and we did a nice job of picking out the tile.


Our water heater finally has some company.
A nice high efficienty furnace from the good fellas at Lennox.


I wanted to show you our dining room light fixture too, because it's cool. See that little area on the floor that's not done yet? That's all they have to do tomorrow, and then the hardwood fellas will be done.


But, that's all the lighting you get to see. You'll have to come over and visit us to see the rest of the lights that Andrea and I picked out in our 4 1/2 hour, 2 day, light-picking-out-session.


Ahhh... I feel better now that I've shared.

Day 70

I checked the house at 7:30 pm and the flooring guys were still going at it. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to get in their way.

OK, so maybe I didn't want to look like a "Little Camera Fairy" in front of the flooring guys.

There, I said it.

It looked like they were about 30% done with the hardwood flooring. There was no sign of tile or carpet, which leads me to believe they need the hardwood in place first, before they can do the other stuff.

It looked like all of the lighting fixtures had been hung, and the rest of the outlets and switches were done.

On a non-house related note. I was walking back from lunch on the skywalk today and there were two guys walking towards me. As they approached, I overheard a tiny piece of their conversation, and it went like this....

Guy #1 "No way...."
Guy #2 "Yeah, so my mom told me that I was making out with my cousin"
Guy #1 and Guy #2 laugh hysterically.

That sounds like an interesting story.

I'd like to hear it in its entirety.

Day 69

Day 69.

Yup, that's right.... 69.

We are definitely on day 69.

6 + 9.

On Day 69 they put about 75% of the outlets and switches in, as well as the smoke detectors, and some of the ducts for the HVAC. Floor tiles for the entry way, laundry room, and 2 bathrooms was delivered today and sitting in the garage. The builder told me they're going to start the carpet and hardwood tomorrow also. I can't wait to show you pictures of our hardwood floors. It's definitely the one thing about the house that stands out more then anything else. Andrea and I fell in love with them the instant we saw them in one of the spec homes.

The kitchen counter tops:

The countertops we put in were a free upgrade. They're not smooth like most countertops, they're actually a little rough, and a little more durable then regular laminate.

The 2 bathroom counter tops were installed as well, but the lighting wasn't good enough to get a picture that's worth posting.

Speaking of lighting....Tonight we're picking out our celing fans and other light fixtures. I think we have around 20 different lights to pick out, and the theme is going to be "Brushed Nickel". All of the light fixtures are supposed to be going in tomorrow as well.

We're definitely getting near the end, and every day that passes, makes me more and more excited to move in.

Day 69.

Today.

Day 65

I worked late, and now I'm heading to bike night, so this is what you get.

Paint. It's called Star Home Tan. The ceiling color is called White.


Stone, it's called Pennsylvania. I'm not sure we could have picked out anything more perfect then what we did. Couldn't get a full picture of the house because of the paint trailor, but rest assured, it lookes AWESOME!

Day 64

I knew good stuff was happening inside the house when I pulled up and saw a trailor parked in the driveway that said "Professional Paint Service". But I wasn't prepared for the overwhelming smell of varnish as I walked through the front door. It slapped me in the face like a Rambo fart. I had to get in and out in less then a minute, or there's a good chance I'd still be laying next to one of those fans. Permanently.


They covered the cupboards with plastic, and they taped off all the windows, but other then that, they just let the varnish fly all over the walls and subfloor. Which makes sense, because it will all be covered in paint and carpet eventually.

Paint tomorrow?

I hope so.

Diarrhea in less then a minute?

Most likely.

Day 63

We have garage doors! They're big, and they're white. Finally our house is now 100% protected from the elements. The garage doors will be painted the same color as our siding so they don't blind you when you pull into the driveway.



They also delivered our interior doors to the laundry room.



I can't wait to see what they look like when they're hung and poly'd. I took out one of the 6-panel doors to get a closer look at it, and I could barely lift the thing. They're very solid, and the craftmanship that was put into them is unparalleled.

You don't really think about doors when you walk into someone's house, but these will actually stand out enough to grab your attention, and maybe even bring forth some sort of comment. That's what I'm hoping will happen, anyway. ;-)

Day 58

Storms were a'brewin on day 58. But, the siding got done. You can still see the house wrap where the stone will be. The color of the siding doesn't come through very well on these pictures, but its called Natural Clay, and its a very earthy neutral color that will look really good next to the "bold" stone we picked out.


The back looks bigger to me now that the siding is on.


All of the interior trim work was done too. I figured it would take a full week to get all the trim done. Below is the open staircase. I gave it a shake to see how well it was built, and I'm proud to say, it was solid as a rock.


Almost all the wood and supplies are gone from the garage, so I'm not really sure what's next on the agenda. They hung all the doors in the house too, but they're just filler doors, so they could get all the trim done. Our real doors are custom made, solid oak, 6 panel doors that we upgraded to. It will give the interior a much classier look then the standard doors they offered.

Day 57

They pretty much cleared out 80% of what was in the garage. They got all the cabinets installed in the kitchen, bathrooms, and trimmed every single doorway in the entire house. This is the kitchen and the center island:


The fireplace was looking good.


...and as of 6:30 pm they were still working on the siding. They were 1/2 done with the back of the house and it didn't look like they were going to be quitting anytime soon.

Pretty cool stuff.

Day 56

Day 56 brought lot's of stuff.... but no work.

This is what I saw when I pulled up to the house today after work:
*insert BOING sound effect here*



That's boxes and boxes of siding. I'd love to see them put that up tomorrow, cuz I'm a little sick of looking at house wrap everytime I visit the house.



That white, six panel door, is gonna be our door from our garage to our entry way, and surrounding that is a TON of interior trim.



These boxes are the kitchen and bathroom cabinets.



See those white boxes at the bottom of the picture? That's the soffit. For those who don't know what soffit is: It's the stuff that goes between the siding on the house, and where the roof sticks out. It's like vented(so air can espape) siding, only its made of aluminum instead of vinyl.


So...... boxes of stuff may not be that exciting to look at, but I never promised excitement.
I think its kind of odd that all that stuff is just sitting there, out in the open, available to anyone who wants to get their hands on it.

Either, the builder is a really trusting person, or he just assumes that nobody would steal, given the neighborhood he's in, or he's just an idiot.

I'm gonna go with D, all of the above.

Day 55

Not much excitement on Day 55 as far as house pictures go, but they did manage to spray on the wall and ceiling texture. I'm really not sure what the next step in the process is. If I had to guess, I'd say that they would probably get the HVAC ducts in, and the furnace. I know flooring and paint is somewhere towards the end, and the finish plumbing is after that. So, the cabinets, countertops, and trim needs to take place sometime. It's pretty much a guessing game for me here on out.

You know how you see people on commericials walking along on a rainy day, then all of the sudden out of nowhere, a car comes by and completely soaks em in water. I used to think that was some sort of made up scenerio that only happened on Hollywood sets.

Until today.

It had been raining all day, and I was leaving work, minding my own business on my 1/2 mile walk to the parking lot. I was walking on a sidewalks next to a street that is rarely travelled on because its right next a county jail and an "adult store". I saw a car coming at me, I saw multiple puddles between us, I thought to myself "If that car hits that puddle, there's no way that water is going to make it clear over here and get you wet, you're safe". Then, I saw the car hit a puddle about 20 feet in front of me, and that water shot across the sidewalk like it was coming out of a firehose. There was another puddle right next to me, and as the car approached I thought to myself "Oh my God.... it's really gonna happen", and I froze, like a deer in headlights.

The car hit that puddle, and the entire right side of my body was completely soaked in muddy water. I kept walking like it didn't happen, but out of my peripheral vision, I saw a group of 4 people across the street unable to hold back their laughter. Pretend you have a mouth full of beer or pop and someone just said something insanely funny, and you try to hold it in. That's what these people looked like.

I looked at them, shrugged my shoulders, and said "That sucked". I'm not sure what I expected them to do, maybe I was looking for a little sympathy. Instead, I got several outburts of laughter.

I understand where they're coming from. Had I been in their place, I would have done the exact same thing.

I also wanted to add that I really do have a 1/2 mile walk from my parking lot to my building. There's an 18 month waiting list to get into the parking ramp right next to our building. So, I'm SOL unless a lot of people get laid off, or end up dying in the next few months. Let's pray for a little of both. Kidding of course. Kind of. ;-)

Day 53

Finally.

Finally.

Finally.

Finally.

Finally... they put those two basement windows in.
They were also working on the mud today when we stopped in. 2 diligent hispanic fellas were sanding and reapplying mud, and walking around on those cool stilts.


For some reason, having those two windows in feels like a giant step has been taken in completing the house. Maybe it's my OCD acting up, but it just bothered me that all the windows were in, except those two. It's not systematic to do a few windows here, and then do a few there. I like systems, and I like to stick to the system. When people stray from the system, I feel uneasy. Like when someone gets into my truck with dirty shoes. That's the kind of uneasiness I was feeling. I know Chad is with me when I say that. Having those missing windows probably drove him nuts. It drives him nuts knowing that we have a washer and dryer that don't match. No... I'm not kidding. Apparently, I like my friends to have a little OCD in em too.

Day 52

Day 52 was Round II of mud and tape.


They also dug up the front yard to hook up the water, but a picture of a pile of dirt would be as boring as.... well.... dirt.

Day 52 also means, we're officially past the half way point, and I'm pretty sure that the house will be done within the 100 day goal. It feels 80% done because all the big stuff is in place, but there is still a TON of interior work that needs to be done. When I start to think about siding, soffet, interior trim, cabinets and flooring that still needs to go on/into the house, that's when I realize we still have a ways to go.

Day 48

Can you say Drywall? The drywall process actually started on day 46, but it really wasn't worth showing because they only had the garage, and some of the great room ceiling done. They obviously kicked it into high gear today, and finished the rest of the house. Drywall is officially 100% done, and it only took em a day and a half to do it. That's pretty unbelievable.

This is the great room.


And this is a view of the kitchen, from the great room.