Pushin' Along

There was one guy puttin' along inside the house today working on the sheetrock putty. He put the first coat on the arches and it looks awesome. Can't wait to see the finished results. Apparently he'll put a couple more coats on and sand it all down. This should all be done sometime Friday. Cupboards arrive on Saturday. Garage door next Thursday. Driveway in the first couple of days in January. We are scheduled to close on January 30...better start packing! Seriously, it really hit Ted and I the other day: we are moving to our own house...SOON. It occurred to us that after we get back from our Christmas trip the move will be less than 30 days away. There's so much left to be done on the house that it seemed like it was still very far away. I talked to Chad today and it sounds like a lot of things will be occurring on a daily basis over there. We should have some great pictures to show after the new year. Happy Holidays to you all!

Putty

The putty portion of this extravaganza has begun. Looks like they have done all of the seams and nails in the sheetrock. It's sort of a snore-fest to look at, but at least it's progress! I imagine I'll have more putty related pictures next week, but will then be home for a week for Christmas...I'm hoping the more interesting things will begin while we are gone and there will be something to see when we get back.

I'm also including a couple of photos from the other day after they cleaned up the sheetrocking mess. Looks much nicer!

Gugaville

My friend Carrie and her husband Mike are building a house in Chaumont, NY. Check out Gugaville to see thier progress!

Actual Walls

Today was one of the coolest days so far in the building process. When I went over at lunchtime, the sheetrocking was complete in the entire downstairs and they were banging away at the upstairs. When Ted and I went back after work, they were nearly done. I spoke with Chad (who is growing on me now that I see actual progress) this afternoon about the next steps. They will be putting the putty stuff on the sheetrock next (now y'all know why I'm not in the construction biz--I'm not down with the lingo) which will take about 5 days. They will then do all of the moldings. Then all of the subcontracters will come in and do all of their "finishings," which includes everything from electrical to flooring. He said once the putty stuff is done things will move along pretty quickly. They are actually scheduled to be done BEFORE the end of January (eek!), but because anything can happen between now and then, he's still talking end of January for the closing. We will get a more exact date about 30 days before closing so we can start making the neccessary arrangements. Our garage is full of boxes that I've been hauling home from work for months now, so we are ready to start packing!

At any rate, it totally looks like a house in there now. You can no longer see through any of the walls and every room has a ceiling. It's really neat. You can definitely get a feel for what it's going to look like and what the space will be like. Admittedly, it's not a ginormous house, but will be cozy and fabulous for our first home. Hope you can all come visit. Preferably at the end of January. Bring a truck.


Loft view

Living Room

Eilis poses by the window in her giant closet

Ted peeks out the closet window


Master Bedroom

Living Room

Living Room

Kitchen looking into Dining Room

On another random note, as I was waiting for Ted to arrive at the house tonight I was sort of staring at the house and zoning out. I noticed some movement in the woods behind the house...and there were some deer back there! I definitely saw two of them, and possibly a third. I walked to the side of the house and this one just stood there staring at me. When we were up in the loft later on, we looked out the window and would have had a perfect view of them if they were still around. Who knew? Our house in Durham comes with wildlife fun!

No Longer Heating the Neighborhood

Insulation was done today! I was beginning to think that the new supervisor was lying to me because he said they would start it yesterday, but not a soul had been there when I went by at lunchtime yesterday. By the time I went after work today, however, it appears to be pretty much done. It's pretty neat...gives the place a whole different feel when you walk in. You can really appreciate the space of each room now. You can no longer squeeze between the framing of the garage and living room, so you actually feel like you have entered a "house" when you step into the living room. Sheetrocking is scheduled for Monday and I am so excited. Actual walls! Not being able to see through each room! That should really give the place a whole new feel, eh?

Inspected!

The framing inspection occurred the other day and we've got the green light to move on. Insulation will begin tomorrow, sheetrocking begins on Monday. All is still on schedule. Hurry up end of January! I'm so excited for this next phase. It was fun looking at 2x4s and seeing the frame of the house go up, but I want to see me some cupboards and hardwoods!

Nuthin'

Well, the inspection never got scheduled, so we are still waiting for that before anything more can take place in the house. I'm fairly irritated because the guy in charge made it sound as if he had the inspection all set up for this past Wednesday, but in reality it was never even scheduled and they don't know when it will be done. I'll check in next week and see what's up. I'm not sweating it--they assure me it's all still on schedule and we have enough on our plate right now to keep us occupied. At any rate, next stop after inspection is insulation and sheetrock.

It's Electric!

The wiring has been completed. We met with the construction supervisor today to go over some details and introduce ourselves (he took over for Chris Cooper recently). He's hoping to get the inspections completed next Wednesday. That will lead to insulation on Thursday and sheetrocking Friday or Monday. Everything is still on schedule for moving in the end of January!

Siding

The vinyl siding was added this week! It really only took the guys a day, but it appears that there is a pair of shutters that haven't been put on the front yet, so we need to look into that. The colors we chose look adorable, however, and all I can do is daydream about hanging a pretty christmas wreath on the door and stringing lights on some bushes out front. We'll have to wait a whole year to do that, but it seems to be the first thing that comes to mind what with the season fast approaching.

We head home tomorrow for a family wedding and early Thanksgiving. I'm hoping some progress will be made while we are gone and we'll have some wiring or something to check out when we get back. On a progress note, however, everything is on schedule and we are hoping to be moving in at the end of January!

News for the Peeping Toms

The windows were installed yesterday. It was so exciting to drive up and see them all in place. It looks a little funny with no siding, but I'm told that should go on in the next couple of weeks, then it will really look like a home to live in! They worked a bit more on the plumbing and air system as well. Electrical is the next step and then we will wait for inspections of those things to be done before they can move on. I'm told that all of this should happen in the next two weeks. Here's the latest pics, including an artsy attempt to show my excitement for the windows. There will be so much wonderful light coming into the house. Mmmmm...

Rough-Ins Begin

The heating/cooling and plumbing installation has begun. We hadn't been by all week and were able to see quite a bit of progress when we stopped by the house tonight. The roof has been completed and the plumbing almost completely installed. The bathtubs were even in place (and full of water!). The duct work for the heating and cooling has also been installed, so it was pretty neat to see how it runs throughout the house. I have no idea what the next step is. It looks like they have a little bit left to do in regards to the plumbing and air system. I imagine electrical is next...
I personally can't wait for the windows and siding to be done so I can get the real effect of a "home." Ted claims he won't be excited until we're actually moving in, but I know he's secretly giddy about the progress so far...

Framing Close to Finished

We both went over to check out the house on Saturday. No one was around so we went inside to check it all out up close. The entire interior is all framed--we were able to visualize where every room, door, closet, and window will be. It was pretty exciting! We have ordered every possible window we could have in this house, so it was really neat to see some of the big beautiful windows we will have, especially in the living room, master bedroom, and loft. We think we might have caught a mistake in the building too, so we were glad that we went inside to inspect everything up close (a door that we were expecting to have leading into the master bedroom is not framed up--seems to be an oversight or misunderstanding because we have those extra french doors ordered for the master bedroom as well). We went down to the main office and discussed everything with the sales rep, and it should be taken care of soon. Next step is the "rough-ins"--wiring and plumbing and such.

Framing Continues

As my Aunt Patrice would say "Holy Toledo!" We have a house! It was sprinkling when I pulled up at noon today to take these pics, but the guys were still working when I got there. They broke for lunch at 12:30 and I snuck in and got some close up pics. It's really coming together! It was pouring rain when I left work tonight, so I'll have to swing by tomorrow to see if they have been able to finish. Here's some pictures to tide you over!

Framing Begins

Whoa! The framing started this morning and by the time I drove by during lunch they had the whole first floor framed! I was amazed! I went back again at 4:30 and they had two walls of the second story up. One of the workers told me the framing will be done tomorrow! These guys don't mess around...