Settling In

The living room now has sofa and chairs and rug.

Done!

The bank says its a house, so except for signing some paperwork next week, we are homeowners with a mortgage again! The house isn't done, of course. It still needs lots of outside work, and a thing or two inside, but at least we can take a break. Just in time for the fall semester to begin!

kitchen pantry and coat closet

Putting in the kitchen pantry and coat closet:

Starting at the bottom (because I still haven't figured out how to position photos the way I want them): The frames went up first. The struction in front is the coat closet; the view is from the living room into the kitchen. To the right of the coat closet is the entrance. Once again, IKEA cabinets. Final photo later.

Front of the House

There is some debate about what side of the house is actually the front. Is it where you enter, or the side you first see, or the side that faces the road? This is a shot of each, so you can see the confusion.

Color inside

Choosing interior wall colors can be a challenging experience. Also, since i'm not a professional photographer, hard to photograph. But here's a shot of the hall bath -- green.

Why house builders hate rain

The soon-to-be courtyard, front entrance and how it looks now when it rains. Mud for days.

Since June 25

We have been hard at work laying floors, painting the outside and inside, putting trim around the windows, and other stuff. Our goal is to convert the construction loan to a mortgage in mid-August. The bank, needless to say, would like more of a finished house than the county is willing to let you live in. Here's a few shots.

Occupancy!

Ok, this is late, but on June 25 we got our official certificate of occupancy. That means we can live in the house, but it does not mean that the house is done. Basically, we had a working bathroom, kitchen countertops and sink, all the outside doors and some of the inside flooring. But at last we could move out of the trailer and spend the night in the house! It is amazing what hot water and cool air can do for one's attitude (not to mention an inside toilet). That's the construction outhouse going away after 1 year and 2 months.

Update

Things have been very busy the last 2 weeks and we are indeed getting closer to occupancy. Most of the work however, doesn't lend itself to interesting photos. The electrical and final are complete, and we are now waiting for the electric company to come dig a trench and connect the power. We are beginning projects that go beyond occupancy but are needed to finish the house. Were hoping to get this all done before the summer heat but it looks like we're not going to make that. The last couple of days have taken a definite summer-sultry like turn.

Here's a shot of the kitchen sink and dishwasher installed! And a shot from the south porch on a misty summer morning.

wildlife

We haven't had many problems with flying insects getting into the house but there is the occasional wasp, etc. Today we had the biggest dragonfly we've ever seen! I don't think this shot does it justice but it's wingspan was easily 6 inches. Fortunately the screens in these windows come out very quickly which means they can escape easily.

Bathroom floor and light fixtures

here's a shot of the floor in the master bathroom, which is the one we are finishing first to get occupancy. Also a shot of one of the light fixtures on the back porch - I really love these fixtures - there is one on either side of the doors.

Progress

In the last week (the first full week that we have lived in the trailer on the house site) a lot has been accomplished. We've just about finished sealing the crawlspace/basement, putting handrails on outside steps (temporary), getting the bathroom floors and light fixtures in, and the kitchen countertops. After deciding that the corian we had was too difficult to learn how to work with, Tuck found a place that makes wood countertops and bought maple ones. He and Mike Rolleri did a beautiful job of cutting,sanding, etc. and the large is now in. The island countertop will probably go in tomorrow. Here's a shot of the cooktop -- you can't really see how beautiful the countertop is in this shot. Also a shot of the wall oven now in.

Cabinets

Here is a shot of the kitchen with the cabinets just beginning to be set up. In the top shot you'll notice that the high cabinets on the left are shorter than the high cabinet on the right. That is Tuck's first IKEA "hack!" That means he trimmed the cabinets to fit our space. There is a great website called ikeahacker.com where people post all the projects they did using IKEA pieces. We made the cabinets shorter to fit our space.

Kitchen

Sorry to have not posted for so long but things have been moving quickly and very hectic. Here are some shots from a week or so ago of the floor and kitchen cabinets beginning. The flooring is an oak veneer that is a floating floor, which means it attaches to itself and isn't nailed down. This shot is of Tuck beginning the first course of the floor.

at last -- DRYWALL!!

All of our friends can come out of hiding now. We hired professionals for the drywall and they have been hard at work the last 2 days. The brown OSB interior that we have been staring at for months is gone and the walls are now very solidly there. It's beautiful!! Here's the results: the breezeway, the living room, master bedroom, and kitchen (avec Tuck).

Electrical and Mechanical Passed Inspection

The electrical and mechanical rough-in inspection happened late week - passed! Feel like its quite a feat to make these inspections on the first go-round.

A New Home

Tuck reports there are chickadees building a nest in our bird house! This was probably our first housewarming present -- from Michael, Trish and Leo. We hung it near the driveway a couple of months ago so its great to see somebody using it.

March Rain

We've had quite a few days of almost monsoon-like rains but cold temps, making for really miserable working conditions. Here's a shot after 3 days of steady rain. That's our electrician trying to make his way through the muck.

Update

Plumbing passed rough-in inspection, and electrical is almost completed. HVAC should start any day now, and the dirt has been moved to form what will become a retaining wall as soon as we can start building it.

Plumbing, Electric and Septic

the essentials of course -- water into and out of the house. Here's a shot of our electric box and meter location on the outside, and a shot of the lines going out to our very high tech septic system -- three tanks and a monitoring system that turns on a red light if something goes awry.

Progress but not much visible

I didn't realize it had really been more than a month since posting! We have made lots of progress but it doesn't make for interesting posts or pictures. The month of January was spent on interior framing, plumbing and electrical rough-in, finishing the south deck, and finding an hvac contractor interested in trying something new. Oh, and we did take a couple of days off to attend the Inauguration in Washington DC which was as amazing, exciting, and momentous as a thousand other people have reported. Here's a shot of us with the Shepard Fairey artwork on display at the National Portrait Gallery, me in front of the Capitol before the big day, and a shot of the Mall early that morning. Yes, it was very cold.

Outside Color

Some shots of the outside color we're looking at and have probably decided on. Plumbers have finished rough-in and electrician is close to finishing. Just mechanical then and the drywallers can start. Here's Willow Rock on the last day of 2008.