Update 11/2/2010

Hi everyone, its Sarah!

I wish that Brett and I had more pictures for you today. Here is the status of things:

Drywall, taping and sanding is 100% finished.

Last Friday morning, we met the trim carpenter at the house to review closet shelving, pantry shelving, laundry room shelving, fireplace mantle details, and check out the cabinets. The cabinets look beautiful!!! The reason that we don't have pictures for you today is, unfortunately, we are LOCKED OUT! Yes, locked out of our own house. I guess this a good thing, since none of the building materials will be stolen...but it also means we can't really see the interior. We need to get a key once the deadbolts are in, and/or visit before the contractors leave during the day.

Our cabinets, by the way, are knotty alder. This is true for both bathrooms and kitchen. Here is a picture that I found online of knotty alder. As you can see, its somewhat dark and rustic - the wood is very smooth with interesting grain. This was an easy choice for us!

The knockdown ceilings are also finished. Knockdown is quite a bit different than popcorn ceilings - knockdown looks like this. Apparently its extremely labor-intensive, but we think its worth every penny.

Rounded sheetrock corners are in, as well. Once painted, they will look like this (but non-textured and in our paint colors - latte through main living areas, khaki in bathrooms, and deep sage in master.)

Let's see...the dirt around the house has been graded, so the lot looks less "construction-heavy." 

Up next? Trim carpenter will be in this week and possibly next week. Stain on trim next week. Paint walls, followed by floor coverings, tile work, light fixtures. Oh, and a huge chunk of cash leaving the bank. HAHA.

Our builder expects to close first week of December (builder's agent mentioned possibly Dec 8) and we are ECSTATIC!!!! We both plan on taking a couple days off work to move, unpack, decorate and settle into 8309 Candlewood Circle!

Drywall Finished (10-25-2010)

Well....essentially finished. A few spots need to be sanded, especially around the rounded sheetrock corners.

I decided to give you all a tour this time around, sorry if it is a little shaky, it was taken from my phone...

The knockdown ceilings where done today, so that is why the ceilings look a LOT more textured than they will be - they were still wet. Hopefully the cabinets and trim show up this week...we are getting close!

Let us know what you think!

Drywall Taping in Progress (10-15-2010)

Hi everyone, Happy Friday!! Brett went out to the house again today and looks like they're well into taping drywall. Up next will be "mudding" the drywall.

Today the builder confirmed that when the trim goes in, we'll receive our estimated close date. Last week he told us we should expect to be finished mid-Nov to first of December. That means we need to get PACKING! 

This is my KITCHEN! 

Moving to the living room:

Looking from the living room towards the stairs; there is a little block of drywall and the open section will have wood railing.

On the left: the art nook leading into the master. This will have closed storage on the bottom. A good place for photos, vases, etc. On the right: walking towards the second and third bedroom, or to the second bath.  The open areas under the ceiling vault are "plant shelves", and they are purely decorative. They both have outlets on a switch for Christmas lighting, etc.

The office! This room will be so relaxing. Lots of light. I spend a lot of time in our "home office" now whether it be on the computer, organizing files, recipes, etc. 

The entry way. This will be tiled, and there's a nice-sized coat closet on the right. I'd like to have some sort of cute little table under that window. 

The master! Love this room. Love love love it. As my mom pointed out, yes that's a window seat! I imagine this will be our cats' favorite spot!

See the 4-plug outlet on the left? Thanks to our brilliant realtor Terri who told Brett that it will save a lot of heartache if we're not fighting over outlets in the morning...!! 

Leading into the master closet. It was so fun for me to run between rooms before the drywall was up, and step from the closet to the living room. No more!!!

That's all for now! Its so amazing to know that we will have our first home in just a matter of weeks. I've already ordered adorable moving announcements and I really am going to try and start packing a couple boxes this week!!! 

Drywall Hung (10-13-2010)

Just like the title states, all drywall has been hung! Well, almost all, the workers were finishing up the garage while I was taking photos. Also, the house has been painted and the back slab has been poured since our last update. They were carrying in the mini-bullnose sheetrock corners tonight as well - so my guess is we'll have it all taped and mudded by the weekend. By that point, we will have caught up schedule wise with a spec home that was started 2 weeks prior to ours. Its REALLY exciting to be able to walk through the house and have all of the spaces defined!

Front Bedroom:

Center Bedroom:

Master Bedroom:

Living Room:

Living Room...looking into dining area

Dining Area:

Kitchen:

Now to the outside, can finally park in my driveway!

Back side all painted:

And our concrete landing poured:

That's all for today, and probably the week. Hopefully we'll be fully taped and mudded by the weekend. After that, it'll get trimmed out and cabinets installed. Then trim painted, walls primed and painted, Tile work and light fixtures installed, then flooring...then Finished! We're getting close, a little more than a month out!!!

Ready for Drywall (10-07-2010)

All the rough in is finished, and everything has been inspected and passed! SOOOO we are finally ready for insulation and drywall! Also, we spoke with our super and we AHEAD of schedule. We are set to be finished mid November to December 1st.

As always, updated pics!

Our Deck - FINISHED

Walkout Pit - FINISHED

Still waiting on the house to be painted.



Inside all roughed in.

Basement.

Driveway and front steps/porch poured, brick - FINISHED

One last one of the deck.

We should have all the drywall hung next week!

Electrical Started (9-28-10)

Hi everyone, its Sarah! Its funny that to-date, I've only made two of the posts on the house blog...and one of them is the electrical update today! It would make more sense for Brett to post this, but he's too busy eating dinner :-) 

Below is where the electrical panel will go in the basement.

Here is looking from the kitchen, into the pantry area (on left) and dining room (on right.) You can see where some of the outlets are being installed.

This is standing in the kitchen, looking over the bar top, to the fireplace. The outlets here will take care of garbage disposal, kitchen lighting, etc.

In the kitchen, looking through the wall toward the stairs. This will be more counterspace, and thus, more outlets...

Starting to get a feel for our kitchen here...the sink (see the plumbing?) will be in perfect position to watch tv while cleaning up dishes. In retrospect, maybe Brett did this on purpose so I would complain less about washing dishes....? Anyway, our counterspace will wrap around this entire area - its a LOT of counterspace!

Our brick and stone work is 100% done! Its beautiful, and we adore it. The paint color we chose is actually somewhat similar to the color of the siding up top - a neutral/tan, to match the stone accents.

The east side of the house. The house is now 100% done with siding! The window on the far right is the window looking out of our laundry room, and the high window slightly to its left is the window in the pantry.

There will eventually be a deck in front of this sliding glass door off of the dining room.

Full view of the back. 

And finally, the front of the house! That little stone in the center that looks loose? It will actually be engraved with our house number (8309) and a light will be installed above it. 

HVAC and plumbing are 100% finished and have been inspected.

So, what's next? Well, this week they will be finishing the electrical work. Brett plans to go in this weekend to run his low-voltage speaker and theatre wire. 

Next week will be the framing inspection, after which they'll begin drywall. I know it all seems to be moving fast, but everyone keeps reminding us that this is when it seems to sloooowww down.... we still have painting, trim, cabinetry, ceilings, lighting/appliance installation, the deck needs to be built, carpet.... 

Still hoping for end of Nov/beginning of December. 

Can't wait to finally have the keys to our first home!!!

Plumbing and HVAC started (9-20-10)

Like the title says, the plumbing and HVAC have started being roughed-in. The house is also now fully shingled, so hopefully weather won't cause any more delays.

Also, we had the electrical walk-through last Friday. Everything went extremely well! A few of the "extra's" we are having installed are receptacles high on the walls for flat-panel tv's, switched receptacles on the plant shelves for rope lights/christmas lights, 4 recessed cans in the kitchen, 4 recessed cans on the exterior, a switched receptacle in one of the eaves of the front from christmas lights, a ceiling fan for the deck, and undercabinet lighting in the kitchen!

Starting with the master bath:

Shower in master bath

Hall bath shower

Water distribution manifold

Sump Pump installed

Furnace in place

Main HVAC trunk



I love open webbed joists...no soffits for ductwork needed at all...

Our walkout pit slab poured!

Fireplace installed.

Siding started

Our address posted, update your address books!

And finally, we have a sold sign!!

The HVAC contractor should be finishing up tomorrow and Wednesday. Then, the Electrical contractor can begin work. I'm hoping I can get in on Sunday and run all of my low voltage wire....

Well, that's all for today, leave us some comments and let us know your reading this! Also, check back later this week, I'll probably make another update Wednesday.