We are, in fact, still building a house! Things have been nutty, so I've let my blog-vigilance slip a bit. I'm even behind on my pictures, so the ones I'll post below aren't the most recent. I'll take more tonight and get them up soon.
It's been 2 weeks-plus since my last post, but you really haven't missed a whole lot. The weather has been holding us up just a bit. The cold and dampness was keeping the drywall mud from curing as quickly as it should have, so that put the drywallers behind schedule. Getting the furnace hooked up and working has helped. So has nicer weather. At any rate, they were supposed to be done last Friday (halloween) but they weren't. Then they were supposed to be done Monday...but they weren't. Then they were supposed to be done yesterday...but they weren't. Now they are supposed to be done this morning...if you see a pattern developing you'll see why I'm a little skeptical. The delay might actually work out in our favor in the long run though...more on that later.
I finally chickened out and decided to hire a painter to do the inside. I haven't really been totally healthy since I spent a few late nights working on the house and only getting 4 hours sleep and the stress of not being around Alex and Carol is wearing on me and them both, I think. Anyhow, we got a bid from a second painter that was significantly less than the first bid we got. He comes very highly recommended and is very flexible. He'll even knock off some of the cost if I help out a little. One of the things I was going to do was all the prep-cleaning after the drywallers were done. I was all set to do that over the weekend...then Monday...then Tuesday...So my builder talked the drywallers in to doing/paying for the clean-up since they are the reason we're so far behind schedule...so that's good news.
Anyhow, since we've decided to have the house professionally painted I have to say I'm a LOT lest stressed. As easy as painting seems to be, it is perhaps the most noticeable aspect of the inside of a new house. As much time, energy, heart, and soul as we're putting into this house, a bit of money for a pro paint job makes me feel better. I'm sure I could do an adequate job...but the cost in time and stress and health was beginning to outweigh the financial savings.
So, now the priming is supposed to be completed today/tomorrow. The trim materials, interior doors, kitchen cabinets, etc... are supposed to be delivered tomorrow, and we'll start installing trim on Friday...hopefully. Dad and I are doing the upstairs, while the trim carpenter will do the downstairs, cabinet installation, and stairway.
Last weekend, my 'cousin' Scott and I started installing all of the cultured stone veneer on the front of the house and on the fireplace. I use the quotes, because he's technically not my cousin. He's the son of my brother's step mom. And, my brother is technically my half-brother, even though he has always been a whole-brother to me. Don't bend your brain thinking about that too much. Scott's a great guy, a talented mason, and he's cutting me a great deal on the work he's doing. We got all the wire mesh hung, and all the concrete plastering is done. Next we start sticking the stone to the walls!
The siding is started too. Luke, who is doing the siding is actually a True North Homes employee. He does all the siding work as well as a lot of the loose-ends, running around, miscellaneous odds and ends. He's basically pulled in as many directions as there are houses being built by True North. The progress on the siding has been slow as a result, but the quality is VERY high...so I'm not worried about the speed. What he's done looks fabulous and I empathize with him immensely for having so many different tasks to deal with each day. He's remodeling his own house on top of that... and I know how that goes!
All that being said, with any luck, we'll be in before Christmas! That would be really nice...we're getting sick of our apartment and REALLY excited about our new house!
Here are some pictures. Like I said, I'll have more up-to-date ones soon
Ready for the driveway...as soon as it stops raining! (taken 2 weeks ago)
It's been 2 weeks-plus since my last post, but you really haven't missed a whole lot. The weather has been holding us up just a bit. The cold and dampness was keeping the drywall mud from curing as quickly as it should have, so that put the drywallers behind schedule. Getting the furnace hooked up and working has helped. So has nicer weather. At any rate, they were supposed to be done last Friday (halloween) but they weren't. Then they were supposed to be done Monday...but they weren't. Then they were supposed to be done yesterday...but they weren't. Now they are supposed to be done this morning...if you see a pattern developing you'll see why I'm a little skeptical. The delay might actually work out in our favor in the long run though...more on that later.
I finally chickened out and decided to hire a painter to do the inside. I haven't really been totally healthy since I spent a few late nights working on the house and only getting 4 hours sleep and the stress of not being around Alex and Carol is wearing on me and them both, I think. Anyhow, we got a bid from a second painter that was significantly less than the first bid we got. He comes very highly recommended and is very flexible. He'll even knock off some of the cost if I help out a little. One of the things I was going to do was all the prep-cleaning after the drywallers were done. I was all set to do that over the weekend...then Monday...then Tuesday...So my builder talked the drywallers in to doing/paying for the clean-up since they are the reason we're so far behind schedule...so that's good news.
Anyhow, since we've decided to have the house professionally painted I have to say I'm a LOT lest stressed. As easy as painting seems to be, it is perhaps the most noticeable aspect of the inside of a new house. As much time, energy, heart, and soul as we're putting into this house, a bit of money for a pro paint job makes me feel better. I'm sure I could do an adequate job...but the cost in time and stress and health was beginning to outweigh the financial savings.
So, now the priming is supposed to be completed today/tomorrow. The trim materials, interior doors, kitchen cabinets, etc... are supposed to be delivered tomorrow, and we'll start installing trim on Friday...hopefully. Dad and I are doing the upstairs, while the trim carpenter will do the downstairs, cabinet installation, and stairway.
Last weekend, my 'cousin' Scott and I started installing all of the cultured stone veneer on the front of the house and on the fireplace. I use the quotes, because he's technically not my cousin. He's the son of my brother's step mom. And, my brother is technically my half-brother, even though he has always been a whole-brother to me. Don't bend your brain thinking about that too much. Scott's a great guy, a talented mason, and he's cutting me a great deal on the work he's doing. We got all the wire mesh hung, and all the concrete plastering is done. Next we start sticking the stone to the walls!
The siding is started too. Luke, who is doing the siding is actually a True North Homes employee. He does all the siding work as well as a lot of the loose-ends, running around, miscellaneous odds and ends. He's basically pulled in as many directions as there are houses being built by True North. The progress on the siding has been slow as a result, but the quality is VERY high...so I'm not worried about the speed. What he's done looks fabulous and I empathize with him immensely for having so many different tasks to deal with each day. He's remodeling his own house on top of that... and I know how that goes!
All that being said, with any luck, we'll be in before Christmas! That would be really nice...we're getting sick of our apartment and REALLY excited about our new house!
Here are some pictures. Like I said, I'll have more up-to-date ones soon
Ready for the driveway...as soon as it stops raining! (taken 2 weeks ago)
Fall colors...in the rain...looking through the deck door off the dining area
Our furnace...which is hooked up and running!
This is an ERV - Energy Recovery Ventilator - that takes the heat (or cool) out of stale inside air and puts it into cold (or hot) fresh outside air. Our house is so airtight, we need this to keep the interior air quality at a healthy level without sacrificing energy efficiency.
Siding going up on the back of the house!
All the drywall is installed and starting to get tape and mud (taken a couple weeks ago!)
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1 comment:
I enjoyed my tour of the house on Sunday, but you may want to inform Alex that the potty isn't going in the closet :) -KD
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