2 Year Anniversary

Moved in!

Moving along and moving in

The final inspection is tomorrow and Dennis says it should pass.

We're moving in Friday and Saturday!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! This year Santa brought us a list of what is left to do on the house. This is a major milestone because until now it's always been "what is next" or "what has been done recently". It may be slightly incomplete, but here it is, in no particular order:

1. Finish putting-in the banisters
2. Put in the cabinets
3. Put in the countertops
4. Put in the appliances
   
5. Finish the electrical
6. Finish putting-in lights, inside and out
7. Put in the baseboards
8. Paint the baseboards
9. Finish putting-in linoleum in the basement
10. Put in carpeting in basement
11. Finish basement window sills
12. Finish putting on siding over the front porch
13. The Dreaded Driveway

The driveway isn't happening until after winter and the soggy spring are over, but the rest will have to be done before we can move in. My mom doesn't want it to get signed-off as "inhabitable" until it's totally finished because she thinks that will mean whatever might get left undone would then take even longer because the project would lose all priority.

Happy New Year! We probably won't be moving in until the first weekend in January - or maybe even shortly after that - but the end is in sight!

Not-so-good news

Apparently the wrong linoleum was ordered, and they're going to have to re-order it. No clue what that means for the time-table, but my mom is not happy.

Getting closer

From my mom:

The house is coming along. With any luck the main paint job will be finished by Sunday night. Friday the hardwood was started and the living room is half completed. Monday the linoleum goes in. Thursday the bathroom marble shower walls go in. Hopefully we will get the carpet started this week also. Christmas Eve the cabinets and counter tops are delivered, and they go in the day after Christmas. We now have all our appliances purchased and they are waiting to be delivered around the 28th. Will we make the big move back by the first week in January? We'll see.

P.S.

The "between Christmas and New Years" goal is back up again. Why do we believe this stuff? I guess you have to believe something.

IT GLOWS

I kid you not. The paint is being done this week and it is PINK peach. It looks pretty subtle in natural light until you turn on interior lights and then it GLOWS like the inside of the peach in the book James and the Giant Peach.

The wood flooring was delivered today and will be put in beginning Friday.

Pushed back again

Technically, I think it should be "pushed forward."

My mom reports that we will not be moving in the week between Christmas and New Years. Apparently the men doing the sheet rock have taken three weeks to do their job rather than one week, and now some of their work has to be redone, which has put off finishing the painting, which moves back the flooring and the kitchen and... you get the idea.

But! She also reports that there is still progress. The electric meter and lines were put in. The primer paint is nearly all done. The sofit and facia and siding are nearly all finished; just the bit above the front door to go. The rock on the front steps that was broken and coming off from all the work has been straightened and re-glued into place, with the handrail going back on soon. With any luck the garage door goes on next week, and the cabinets and counters for the kitchen and bathroom are on the truck and should be here next Tuesday. And my parents - with help from Benjamin and family - have emptied two of the three remaining storage units.

My mom says, "So, instead of ending this year in the house, we will start next year in the house. I'm trying to be philosophical about all this. Can you tell?:

What's new?

Siding is done on the two "cold" sides and almost finished on the south as well.


This was the first interior door to go in - in the basement bathroom! My dad wanted it on first. NO clue why. ;)


The first things to get moved in, from storage, to storage.


Tile walls and floor around where the wood stove is going in downstairs. I tried cropping out that intrusion on the right, and it just looked funnier. Sorry!

The House Today

The latest goal for completion: the last week of the year, after Christmas.

October activity at the house

Attic insulation

Insulation

Drywall going in window

Drywall turning into walls and ceilings!

Backyard brick

Front brick

Front patio-to-be

Front stone & brick

Walls

Bricks!

The bricks have all been delivered and set up in front and in back. Scaffolding going up and the bricklayers are supposed to begin today! They're starting in back so it won't be apparent for a little while, but they are out there laying brick! Woohoo!

Don't ask about the insulation and drywall. Especially don't ask my parents. It could get ugly.

Inspections

The house passed the plumbing inspection last week, and tomorrow will be the other three inspections necessary before things can move on. My parents are confident everything will pass because everyone has been working feverishly for the past couple of weeks to get all the little things fixed up, and all is in order.

The stonemason guys started delivering equipment a couple of days ago, and after much deliberation and comparing coloring, my parents made the final decision on the brick. Six weeks and that should be completely finished.

Next: Drywall

Latest goal for a completed home: End of November

P.S. The reason the front window is still missing is that they need it out to be able to lift some things through there with a crane.

The post you didn't even have to wait 2 months for!

Windows!

These photos are from yesterday. Somebody who will remain unnamed forgot to post them up here and went to bed early.








We were informed that the rest of the windows would go in today, and there are two more windows in as of this evening. Maybe we'll just be wrapping the rest in plastic wrap?

I call a race! Which will be finished first? The house or the chicken coop? Taking bets until Friday evening.

Weekend roundup

The furnace is officially in, and the only difference from the picture is it has a door on the front, a bottom stand, and a top cap. Also the return air ducts are cut out and part of the duct work is in. It should be finished this week - we hope.

The roof will have the last shingles on the back put on tomorrow, and then it will be finished. This is the first "finished" thing on the house and is very exciting.

The windows should be here and installed this week. The doors are ordered. The bathtubs and shower fixtures will be ordered this week. When the doors are installed and we can lock the house, the electricity will go in. This will probably happen while we are in Costa Rica, but we will go over all this with the electrician before we leave. We are working on the plans for the kitchen layout of cupboards and drawers.

Our good neighbor Nancy has offered to water the yard while we are gone. I don't know what we would do without her.

What's new

Behold, the beginnings of roofcoverings (aka shingles)!





And I think this is a furnace:

Update list

• Framing: The main parts are finished, except for a couple of walls in the garage and the family room in the basement.
• Plumbing: The main parts are finished.
• Roof: The shingles are ordered. They will be white.
• Windows: They are being built, and will also be white.
• Doors: My mom and dad spent last evening deciding on some of the outside doors and hope to get them ordered this week. The only hangup is that the company they were sent to doesn't have an outside french door for the master bedroom. They're going to work more on this today.
• Furnace: The furnace man has been to the house and will be ready to start on the 9th of July.
• Baths: Checking on these today, too.

My mom reports that Dennis still says he thinks he can have the house ready to move in by the end of September. Her deadline is to have Thanksgiving dinner in the new house. My dad says his deadline is the 24th of July.

Dog update: Lady has slowed down a lot this week and lost another two pounds. She has decided turkey lunch meat is good and has eaten some the past couple of days, but she is so weak she can't roll over and scratch her back in the grass anymore.

Plumbing progress

Kitchen


Upstairs laundry room


Upstairs bathroon


Downstairs laundry


Furnace and water heater