Oops! (I did it again.....)

As anticipated, this past week was big.

As it stands right now, the house is painted, with almost all of the finish plumbing and electrical done, almost all the flooring installed, and almost all of the finish mechanical done.

Tomorrow, the quartz countertops and carpets are supposed to be installed. The plumber can then tie in the kitchen sink and dishwasher, and the electrician can wire in the dishwasher. I can then install the range/oven.

The mechanical guys need to place the A/C condenser outside, wire and plumb it, install the humidifier, and install and program the zoned heating controller and thermostats.

And oops? That's the clean version of what I said, when I whacked the end of one of the beautiful kitchen cabinets while putting in the refrigerator today. Cut me some slack, though - I had to take off the front door, and the door handles on the refrigerator, just to get the thing in the house. Getting a big refrigerator seemed like such a great idea, at the time. Hopefully, the painter can work another miracle and fill/finish the nice gouge in the cabinet. :)

The fun continues.......

Big Week!

This is shaping up to be a big week.

The painter is moving out on Monday. He's been painting our house, and has one set of custom cabinets in the basement that he's been working on, and has another set in the garage. He's going to finish our pantry door, move out the other two sets of cabinets, and do some touch ups tomorrow.

The countertops go in tomorrow, and the wood floor guy, plumber, and electrician are scheduled to show up on Tuesday. AT&T is going to show up Friday and get us hooked up to UVerse. Carpet is scheduled for next week Monday. WooHoo!

We're getting there.....

Color!

Well, there's finally some non-drywall colors on the inside of the house. The staining is done, the interior doors are painted, the trim is sprayed, and all of the interior walls have their first coat of paint. The painter is planning on finishing up on Wednesday and moving on out. The paint/stain work is going to turn out very well. It looks good.

The countertop/tile/flooring guys start on Wednesday, and the plumber and electrician will be in next Tuesday and Wednesday for their part of the finish. I should be able to put in the appliances next weekend.

The holdups at this point are siding (yeah, it STILL isn't completely done), and mechanical - there's a temporary furnace in right now, we need to get the right furnace and A/C in there, and finish up some of the duct work.

Not Much to Update

Short update.

All of the staining (including the doors and drawers) and laquering is done. The walls are primed, and the door casings/baseboards have two coats of primer on them. On Monday, the painter will fill the nail holes, sand, and spray another coat of primer. The interior doors are finished.

Outside the house, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather this weekend, and am working on the retaining walls on the North side of the house. I made good progress today - Katie's brother dropped by and helped me out for awhile. If I can get 2-3 hours on it tomorrow, I should be able to wrap it up next weekend. That'll be nice - less work to do next spring. Installing the rest of the landscaping/grading and tilling the clay/spreading topsoil/seeding the 3/4 acre lot will be enough work.

The journey continues......

Michael Newenhouse - Motivational Speaker

Progress, progress, progress.

The exterior of the house is pretty much done. We ran a little short on siding, so the South side of the garage remains pretty baby-blue styrofoam. Other than that, the siding and shakes are up. The deck is finally done, and the front columns are built. Maybe my little pep talk with the builder last week helped move matters along. Maybe it just pissed people off. Regardless, things are getting done.

On the inside, the cabinets are stained and clear-coated. As of tonight, the main floor drywall is primed, and the painters are in the process of masking off the cabinets so they can spray the trim. They're spraying the doors in the basement, and will be working on the cabinet drawers and doors in the garage.

Paint is scheduled to be done at the end of next week. Then we need to get the finish plumbing, electrical, mechanical, countertops, and flooring done.

Egad, that's a lot.......

Things Are Ch-Ch-Ch-Changin'!

Quick update!

• The painters moved into day, and started masking and prepping. They're still working on another job (for the last couple weeks, they've had the entire basement masked off, and have been painting cabinets and doors for another house), but in-between spraying coats of paint in the basement, they're prepping our main floor. I'd imagine that they may get to do some staining late tomorrow or Friday.
  
• Last I checked (at noon-ish today), the siding looked like it was on the way to being finished today.
• The brick guys were there, and built the columns on the porch. They look great.
• The countertop guys were there today, and made patterns for the quartz.
• They did a little clean-up today - all the siding scraps are out of the yard, and the house is cleaned out.

We're in the home stretch......

Now We're Getting Somewhere!

It's shaping up to be a big week around the site.

Today, the trim carpenters moved out. The cabinets are built, the closets are finished, and the trim is all hung. I'm pretty impressed at the work these guys did - I can't find a joint on any of the cabinets that isn't tight and rock solid.

Tomorrow, the painter moves in.

The siding guys have the sides and back of the house sided, as well as part of the front. If the weather holds, they should be able to wrap up the siding and shakes tomorrow. DTE was there today, ran our gas line, and tied us in. The HVAC guys set the furnace and ran the intake and exhaust lines to the outside of the house. The masonry guys dropped their tool trailer off tonight, so it looks like their going to start on the front columns tomorrow.

The house should look quite a bit different by the weekend.....

Enough With The Rain, Already!!!!!!!!

Well, today was pretty much a bust.

As I've mentioned before, the building site is all clay. Also, recall that clay retains water - it doesn't drain well. The site hasn't dried out in a little over a month, and today made a real mess.

I discovered last night that the siding crew left all of their tools out, and left boxes of siding, as well as their supplies, sitting outside. I had a little clean-up to do when I stopped by tonight, because they didn't work today, and the wind got ahold of things.

One of the trim carpenters was working today. On the inside of the house, they need to do about 20% of the kitchen island yet, about 25% of the laundry room cabinets, 25% of the staircase, build the shelves in the pantry and a cabinet over the toilet in the master bath, and hang the baseboards in about 75% of the main floor. They're planning on being done Tuesday. The painter is planning on starting Wednesday, and will take approximately two weeks. Another week or two for carpet, countertops, tile, and finish plumbing/electrical, and we're in.

On the exterior of the house, the siding is about 25% of the way done, the stone pillars need to be built on the front porch, and the deck railings built. Sounds like cake, right? We'll see - I'm more worried about the exterior of the house than the interior. It's taken us 90 days to get siding started, so I think my worries are pretty reasonable.

We are also still waiting for DTE to come and hook us up to natural gas. We called to place the work order six weeks ago, and they assured me it would be done by Wednesday, so we can paint. The siding guys have already sided where the meter goes, so they'll have some rework to do. Fortunately, I had the foresight to bury a piece of conduit under the retaining wall on that side of the house, so they can get their line from the side yard up to the meter (otherwise, they'd be digging down about six feet, and under the retaining wall.)

When we originally broke ground, the builder was pretty optimistic that we'd have the project done in three months. Our goal of being in by Thanksgiving was a slam dunk. However, due to all the rain and associated delays, we're looking at roughly a week or two after Thanksgiving. You're probably able to tell that I'm not really thrilled with that, but there's not really much I can do about it, so we'll deal with it.

On we go......

Exterior Progress!

As of the last blog update, the exterior of the house was still blue styrofoam. As of tonight, the back of the house, and half of the North side, are covered in siding. The deck stairs are done, and the posts and railings are cut, waiting to be installed. The stone for the front columns also arrived today.

The trim carpenters will be done mid-next week, then the painting begins. The cabinet openings are all built, so we're able to order the cabinet doors - a two week lead time.

On we go......

Bumping Along......

A little more progress today.

On the outside of the house, the deck stairs got finished, and the posts and handrails are cut. I would imagine that they'll be installed tomorrow.

Miss-Dig was also out today, and marked where the electric/telephone/cable lines are buried. This is a precurser to DTE coming in to lay the gas line. FINALLY!!!!!!!

On the inside of the house, the trim guys have the kitchen island almost done, started on the cabinet above the refrigerator, and started installing the stairs/newell posts/handrails.

We'll see what tomorrow brings......

More Rain?!?!?!?!

Yup. More freakin' rain.

Today, on the outside of the house, the deck stairs got almost done before the rain started up. They're going to turn out a little better than I expected. With today's rain, it's pretty much a given that we're not going to be able to put up siding this week, and the weather forecast looks like rain every other day (at least) for the next 10 days. That, folks, isn't good.

Inside, the trim carpenters built our master closet, started the kitchen island, started on the baseboards, and got the drawer slides mounted in the cabinets.

We had a snag today with the island - we ended up doing a redesign on the island, as it would've required an awkward seam on the quartz countertop. Disaster averted!

It's safe to say, at this point, that we're not going to hit Thanksgiving. We're a good week to two behind. I guess we'll have to make it work.

Rain, Rain, Stay Away!!!!!!!

With about a month to go to move-in, we're entering crunch time.

This week, provided the heavens don't open up, and re-soak the lot (remember, wet clay = slippery mud pit), we're hoping to get the house sided this week, and finish the deck stairs and railings.

After pulling some strings, we got bumped up on DTE's list, and should have our natural gas hooked up by the end of the week. That allows us to get the water heater and HVAC units installed, and have non-kerosene heat (which will be nice - it gets a little "thick" in the house with the kerosene fumes.)

The trim carpenters have the interior doors hung and trimmed, the two side bedrooms' closets are finished, and all the windows are trimmed out. The cabinets are built in the bathrooms, part of the kitchen cabinets are built, and the upper cabinets are built in the laundry/utility room. This week, we need to get the island built, the cabinet above the refrigerator, the lower cabinets in the laundry room, and the pantry and master closet done. While the guys think they might get it done this week, I'm not that optimistic.

In any case, by next weekend, the house will change quite a bit more......

Schedules, schedules, schedules!

Quick update:

The trim guys will be done in the house next week. They're about 1/2 to a full week ahead of schedule. The painters have turned our basement into a paint booth, and are refinishing somebody else's cabinets, while they wait for the trim guys. So, the inside is ahead of schedule.

DTE is set to run our gas line next week. The deck stairs got started today, then the rain came. The siding is scheduled to go up starting Monday. So, the exterior is well behind schedule.

We're on schedule for a week-of-Thanksgiving move-in......

Cabinets, Doors, and Trim, Oh My!

It looks like it was a big day at the site today.

J ran some 4" pipe to the corners of the house, and tied them in to the footing drains, so that we can run the downspouts into the pond in the back yard. He then did a rough grade on the lot. No more big dirt piles!

There are two guys trimming out the house - one of them is doing closets/doors/casings, and the other is building cabinets. As of tonight, Clayton's room and the spare bedroom had shelves in the closet, the windows were all trimmed, and three interior doors were hung. The main bathroom's vanity and linen cabinet are built, the upper cabinets are built in the laundry room, and the vanity is almost done in the master bathroom.

I learned today that the trim guys have three jobs lined up after ours, so they're probably going to be done quicker than the original two to two-and-a-half week time frame.

The siding also arrived today, as well as the lumber to complete the deck stairs. If the weather holds the rest of the week, there should be some more progress on the outside.

Slow and Steady.......

This week, the trim carpenters moved into the house. One is trimming around the windows, and the other is building cabinets. I'm amazed by these guys' work - you can't feel the joints on the woodwork, the miters are so tight. Pretty cool.

We're still waiting for the siding to come, and the deck rails and stairs to be completed. With the the weather being pretty nice this week, I'm assuming these two tasks are on the radar.

The house should look different this weekend.....

A Big Weekend

A lot happened around the site on Friday and Saturday.

Bright and early Friday morning the concrete flatwork guys and the painter were there. The painter painted the ceilings, and the flatwork guys set up and poured the back patio. In the afternoon, the interior trim arrived, and the electricians came to install switches and outlets. We have lights!

On Saturday morning, our appliances came. In the afternoon, the concrete guys came back and knocked the forms off of the patio, and the trim carpenter came, and loaded his tools into the house.

And I busted my butt (and hands) some more on landscaping.

Tomorrow, the painter should be there first thing in the morning to prime the drywall, and the trim carpenter will start trimming out the house, hanging interior doors, and building cabinets. The house should be sided this week, and the deck stairs and railings should be installed. If we can work a miracle, we'll get DTE out there to hook up the gas line, so we can stop using kerosene heaters. As aggressive as the Consumer's site manager was, the opposite is true for DTE's.

We'll see. At any rate, the house won't look the same in a week. :)

Juice!

Today brought a pleasant surprise. Consumer's was out this morning, and tied in our electricity, so we've got power in the house. They were supposed to come out and tie us in next week, but the site supervisor must have gotten us pushed up the list.

Electricity is big for a couple reasons. First, it means that the electricians can come back and wire in the switches and outlets. Second, when we have switches and outlets, the guys can quit using generators. Third, the contractors aren't limited to working during daylight.

The next big step is to get DTE to the site to tie us into the gas line, so we can get the furnace installed. We need to get the house heated, so the trim carpenter can start trimming out. We can hang interior doors and start roughing in the cabinets and closets until the furnace is installed, we need to get the house a consistent temperature before any miter work is done (we don't want the wood expanding and contracting overnight and creating gaps.)

The drywall finisher is done, and the house will be cleaned tomorrow. The electricians are coming on Friday to install switches and outlets, tie in the garage door openers, etc. The flatwork guys will also be there, laying out and pouring our back patio.

The trim carpenter is moving in next Monday.

WooHoo!

Activity!

Finally.

Things are dry enough to get working again.

The garage doors are being hung today, and the concrete guys are there putting in sidewalks and the driveway apron today. There's some more sand sitting on the lot, so later this week, they'll put in the back patio.

The driveway finisher is still working today. Hopefully, he's finished by the end of the week, so we can clean up and get the trim carpenter in there.

The place should look a little different tonight......

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Due to the rainy weather of last week, this needs to be a big week. Since the lot isn't graded yet, and it's clay, it doesn't drain well - rain just sits on it. It's finally starting to set up a little bit - yesterday, I was finally able to walk in the back yard without my feet sinking into the mud up to my ankles.

This past weekend, I worked on burying conduit for the utility lines. Because I'm building retaining walls on the sides of the house, Consumer's and DTE wanted to run their lines through conduit. Easier said than done - I ended up digging 2 trenches 12' long, and 3' deep in wet clay. After 7 hours of digging on Saturday, I went home with (literally) bloody hands. Sunday, I bent and installed the conduit, and started filling in the trenches, and made some progress on the South retaining wall.

Today, we got two truckloads of sand hauled in to go under the driveway apron, sidewalks, and back patio. The drywall finisher did some sanding. The trim carpenter took some measurements. Overall, not much progress - we've got to kick it in the next four days in order to get back on schedule.

We'll see how tomorrow goes........

Today, the painter put two coats of paint on the garage walls and ceiling, and removed the tarps/dropcloths from the floor and doors. The garage looks really good. Garage doors should be installed either tomorrow or Friday.

The drywall finisher is working his tail off. His goal is to be able to spray texture on the ceilings on Saturday morning, so he can be done by mid-week next week. He's doing a great job.

J got a deal on some Trex deck material, from the same company that cut us a pretty sweet deal on the Koma exterior trim. I guess one of the up-sides to building a house in a crappy economy is that the supply houses are looking to offload slow-moving premium materials.

I like the house and the layout more every time I walk through it. There's a lot of natural light that filters in during the day. It's pretty sweet.

The only real hangups with the whole project have been financing-related, and I encountered another one today. I deposited funds into the bank last Thursday morning, and paid the builder on Friday afternoon. The check I wrote to the builder cleared the bank yesterday, and my deposit still isn't cleared. So, for the first time in my life, I've passed a bad check. Nice. I found this out when I checked my e-mail tonight and found a NSF notice from the bank - I promptly called J and apologized profusely. The last thing I need to be doing at this point is pissing off the builder and/or damaging his reputation, since he's both a friend of the family, and is putting a lot of extra effort into a house that's much more modest than those he typically builds.

Oh, well. I'm pretty sure I can get this ironed out with a friendly phone call or two in the morning.

On we go......