Drywall and Mud

This is shaping up to be another big week around the house.

Yesterday, we had a whole buttload of rain in the area, so the site was pretty muddy. Since it's clay, you can just about imagine how much fun the contractors had getting in and out of the site.

As of today, the garage is drywalled and mudded, all of the ceilings on the main floor are drywalled, and two of the bedrooms have partially hung walls.

Today, J ran some 4" PVC that will tie in the downspouts to the footing drains, and formed and compacted where the driveway will go.

Katie and I need to make up our mind how the sidewalk is going to look, and also the size and shape of the back patio. The flatwork guys are coming on Thursday, so by the end of the week, we'll have a driveway, and possibly sidewalks and a patio.

Hopefully, our exterior doors also come this week, since we had a SNAFU with the front door. I'm a bit uncomfortable with the house being open now that we're drywalling.

We've already figured out that we probably should've made our master bathroom a touch larger, although we should be okay. The ceiling height should keep it from feeling too small.

In any case, the place should look quite a bit different by this weekend.

It's been a pretty action-packed week and a half around the site.

Last week, the rough electrical and rough plumbing was done, and the HVAC guys have been installing lots and lots of duct work. The garage floor and porch were poured, and turned out really good.

So far this week, I've insulated the garage (with some help from B. Fynewever!), run RG-6 (coaxial cable) and speaker wire in the walls (the electricians ran the CAT-5).

Tomorrow, we go through the house with J and L, just to make sure everything is roughed in where we want it. Also tomorrow, the drywallers start hanging drywall in the garage, and the carpenters will trim out the exterior of the window/doors. Thursday, the insulation guys come to insulate the main living area, and the painter comes to paint the exterior trim. Friday, the insulation guys should be finishing up, and we'll dig out the areas where I'm going to start building retaining walls. The only reason that retaining walls are sort of a priority at this point is because the air conditioner compressor is located in an area that will be held in place with one of the walls. Yippee.

I'm just glad I'm done insulating. What an itchy mess. :)

On we go!

Okay, I think it's abundantly clear that I suck at blogging, right? :)

Since the last update, there's been lots of activity.

As it stands right now, the house is framed in, the roof is shingled, and the windows are installed. The plumbing, electrical, and HVAC folks were there today doing their thing. By the end of the week, the rough plumbing, electrical, and HVAC should be pretty much done.

We're having a little issue with the front door (can't seem to find the door we wanted), but that's pretty minor. Hopefully, we can have that resolved by the end of the week and get the doors on, which lets us do the siding.

So far, due to a slight issue with the foundation, and the heavy rains a couple weeks ago, I think we're a week or two behind, but should still be moving in around Thanksgiving.

WooHoo!

It's been awhile since I've updated, huh?

It's been an eventful two months. Here's the bullet point version:

• I got fed up with the original mortgage banker and changed lenders.
• We scrapped the original floor plan.
• We got approved for a mortgage through the new bank...........
• .......which then upped their LTV ratios and qualifications for construction financing (the other area banks are following suit.)
• We came up with a new floor plan.
• Then tweaked it.
• Then found a way to get the house built without a construction loan.

As we stand right now, we're building a ~1,700 square foot, 3 bedroom/2 full-bath walkout ranch w/ three stall garage. There are preliminary plans for two more bedrooms, a full bath, and large family room in the basement.

We've approved the plans, and signed the contract. We'll apply for permits on Monday, and have preliminary plans to dig the hole first thing in the morning on Friday, 8/1 and pour footings the same afternoon.

Here we go!

Today, we got the final floor plans and elevations from J. He and his assistant, who we'll call L, made some minor tweaks to the outside of the house to make it flow and tie together a little better. We were going for a little more of a craftsman style, and he made some tweaks that made it happen. I think it's fair to say that we love what he did.

J's got the plans out for bidding, and L is going to put together a couple exterior color options for us. We should have J's budget number in about a week and a half. Silly J, I've already got the budget number. :)

We're about 30 - 40% moved (I'd guess), and we're going to finish it up this weekend. We close on this house on 6/1, and have three days after to be out, but we're going to see if we can't surprise the buyer at close, and hand over the keys.

The journey continues......

Tonight, J stopped by with the revised floor plans and front elevation. We liked what we saw - no changes.

He's going to get it converted to prints, and we'll see the whole package around the end of next week.

At that point, he'll send it out for bids, and I'll finalize the financing.

We're on schedule to have a hole dug around 6/1.

WooHoo!

Nothing really new to report - J is working on the revised floor plan and elevations.

<--- Here's a picture of the lot.