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.