Long Time, No Sea

Isn't that what a landlocked pirate says...?
Anyway, what you came here for. Lots of stuff has been happening with the house. Friday night, all day Saturday, Sunday after church, and all day Monday I spent laying the hardwood floor. Mel helped with most of it as well. She now knows how to operate a chop saw and a pneumatic nailer! It is all finished except for the last three rows in a couple of rooms that I have to hand nail.
The fridge and freezer are in the kitchen- and working.
John hired a carpenter to finish the stairs outside.
The final CO inspection is Wednesday. The bank is inspecting Thursday. And we are supposed to go finalize the mortgage on Friday.
Then we go to Kentucky to visit and when we get back, we move in... YEAH!
Anyway, some pictures:


Hey, we could have a dance!


Awesome transition from living room to kitchen


Front of the house... with grass

To All My Fans...

We got all of the lights installed with the exception of the dining room chandelier, which we are waiting until everything else is done in there so it won't accidentally get messed up. We have installed the kitchen stove and the garage door was installed today. The great room fan was fun to put up. It's about 17 feet from the floor, and weighs about 40 pounds. Lugging it up the ladder in one hand was quite the challenge. But it's up, and after some minor electrical issues, it runs!


The massive propeller- Lift your eyes and be amazed


The fan in our bedroom


The fan in the guest room- Come visit, and this is where you'll get to stay


The cool fan in the boy's bedroom


Stove- ready to be slid into place


The front of the house- Newly installed garage door and some fill dirt here and there that will eventually make up the yard

House Update

Hello everybody. A lot has been happening at the house. I have spent the last several days after work installing electrical outlets. We bought a bunch of lights and ceiling fans. The tile guys are working on the shower and the back splashes. It almost feels like a house now. There are places you can stand and it looks like a finished house.
The upstairs carpet is scheduled to be installed next Tuesday. The garage door is on order, and should be installed soon. The electrical installation is underway, and shouldn't take too terribly much longer. As soon as that is done, we can have the A/C finished and let it run to climatize the hardwood floor. Once that is done, we can install the floor. Other than that, I think plumbing is the only other major thing left. It is definitely coming along.


Our lovely master bathroom cabinets


Installed kitchen sink light... and it works!


Looking into the dining room from the kitchen- Notice the back splash tile matches the border on the floor


Kitchen cabinets and back splash half installed


Master bath shower with tile, but no grout

Dining Room Floor

After about four hours Friday night and about four hours Saturday, I've got a beautiful dining room floor. It needs to be grouted still, but I think it's pretty fancy.

House Update

With everything that's been going on, I haven't been updating very consistently. But here is a run down of progress. Doors, trim, and interior paint have all been finished. The stairs and bridge rails have been built and installed. I have spent the last several days laying tile. I finished the kitchen, laundry room, master bath, and the boy's bathroom. Still to do are the dining room, the half-bath, and the closet in the kitchen. John did the grout in the kitchen the other day, and the laundry room last night. Most of the cabinets have been delivered, and are supposed to be installed over the next couple of days.


Stairs and rails


Tile in the boys' bathroom- ready for grout


Newly tiled floor in the kitchen

More Sheetrock

All of the sheetrock is hung. They are finishing the mudding. They should be finished on Monday. Then we can get on with the trim and millwork.
The big deck has its rails installed and it looks great. Not too much longer.


Upstairs view across the bridge


Rails on the big deck

Front Porch

Well, it looks like the front porch is finally finished, with the exception of paint and a few minor touches, but it looks great!
The drywall is mostly hung. The last load should be delivered this afternoon and hung tomorrow. The tape and mud crew is hard at work, and they said they should be finished by the end of the week. Then we can move on to trim and paint. We're closing in on the end...

Sheetrock Start

Sheetrock installation has begun!


Entering the laundry room


Boys' bedroom


In the dining room


Under the bridge- No that's not a 'Chili Peppers' reference

Have Deck, Will Travel...

Can't travel just yet, but we're almost there. Some rails and stairs and paint- Hey, we'll have a deck.
The painters are through until interior, and then they are supposed to do exterior touch-up at the very end.
The can lights are wired inside the house- thanks to Yours Truly!
There is still some electrical that needs to be done: outlets inside, outlets outside, phone lines, cable lines. There is still a little plumbing that is left.
But it is coming along! And that's saying something!


Looking more like a house every two months!

Paint and Stuff

Sorry for the delay in updates.
Currently, the plumbing is still nearly done. The electrical is still nearly done. The HVAC is done. The exterior paint was coming along, but the painters haven't been there in a few days. I don't know what's up with that. The mason built the piers for the deck on Friday, and the carpenters are supposed to start working on the porches and decks on Monday.


Exterior paint


The deck goes here

Electricity and HVAC

Sorry for the length between posts. Not much has happened since I last posted. This week, however, The rough electric in the house has been underway. Since it is spring break for me, I have been at the job site doing what I can to see this project through to completion. The electric is nearly done thanks to Carl and his guys. The HVAC is nearly done as well. That crew plans on being finished with the duct work and interior unit installation by Friday. The paint crew is supposed to start tomorrow as well. They should have the exterior of the house painted in a couple of days.
I don't have any pictures to post now, but I'll take some in the near future and let you see the wonderful work that has been done.

Finished Siding

With the exception of stapling it down, all of the siding is finished. The porch is done, and it is nearly ready to be painted. I think there are a few things that need to be done before that can take place, but it's close.
Most of the inside framing was also completed today. There are only a couple of things left to do. The plumbing should get finished pretty quick, and then on to electrical, HVAC, then drywall...


All the siding on the house and a finished porch


Upstairs framing in the living room

Porch Finished

They finished the porch today, with the exception of a couple of boards on the inside. Tomorrow, John says that they should be entirely finished with the framing, inside and out. Wonderful stuff.


Almost official on the outside

Front Siding and Porch

They got some of the siding done on the front of the house today. They also did some of the framing on the porch. It looks like tomorrow they can put in the vent and finish the siding. Unless it sprinkles or something, in which case, they won't be at work for a couple of weeks...

They did FINISH the roof! I checked inside, and didn't see any leaks at all- YAY!


A little progress- windows boarded up for the rain

Roof n' Sides

The front of the garage got its siding and windows today. It looks great. The roof is within 90% complete. They should be finished with the roof tomorrow, weather permitting. The porch is supposed to be worked on tomorrow, and the siding is supposed to be installed on the front of the house. If they finish, then the siding will be complete, and there will only be a few minor details before we can get the outside of the house painted. If it does rain, they are hopefully going to work on some of the framing on the inside of the house.
In the first picture you may notice the two window holes above the porch. John just cut the big one, and he is supposed to fill in the smaller one. The small window wasn't big enough for code, so we had to get a bigger one. I was kind of worried that being off-center, it wouldn't look right, but now that I see it, I think it looks pretty good. It will look great when there is a window over it and siding all around it. It will look even better when there is furniture in the room and I can enjoy the view through it!


Roofers hard at work- they don't work half days like certain framing crews do


Love the window in the playroom- From this angle, it almost looks like a real house

Roof and Siding

Lots of stuff happened recently. The roof is nearly complete. They only have a few shingles to go. I think they will be done tomorrow- Wednesday, the latest. The siding is coming along. They are supposed to do the front of the garage tomorrow, and then finish building the porch, then put the siding on the front of the house. After they finish that, they should move to the inside and finish the framing there. It won't be long until we ... well judging from the way things have been thus far, it probably will be a while yet... before anything else happens. I think have succumbed to the squalor of apartment life.


Siding on the back side of the bedrooms- bathroom in the middle


Front of the house- look at the lovely shingles


Shingles on the back- Playroom windows newly expanded and awaiting... windows, and siding, too

More Plumbing and Stuff

The new framing crew started today and got most of the fascia board up on the edges of the eaves. They ran out and are supposed to start back at it in the morning. They also nearly finished the eaves on the porch. The roofers are also supposed to start tomorrow.
We got some of the rough supply plumbing done as well. The Manabloc is mounted, and some of the minor fixtures like the washing machine supply. We will start running the PEX lines out to the fixtures tomorrow.


Nearly finished eaves on the porch, ready for fascia


The fascia board on the front of the garage


The Manabloc, ready for a supply line and plumbing out to all of the fixtures in the house

Plumbing and Stuff

After many days of work, the rough plumbing (drain-side) is done with the exception of two connections. It is ready for inspection. We are supposed to start on the PEX supply lines tomorrow.
The bank has approved us spending money on a new framing crew (the previous one was fired) to finish the framing and siding. The bank also said we could have money to hire a roofer. The framing is supposed to take 8 days, starting tomorrow, and the roofing should start Wednesday and be done by Friday. After all the hold-ups (this set of hold-ups), progress is finally being made (again)... How many times have I said that?


Some of the drains in the laundry room and master bath


The boys' bathtub

Playroom Stairs

John finished the stairs in the playroom today. He also fixed the side door to the garage. The structural lumber around the door frame wasn't installed, so he had to put it in. He said the plumbing will start on Monday. Maybe about a week and a half on plumbing, then on to electrical.


In the playroom looking through the hall into the loft

P.S. It's been a YEAR that we have been in this apartment! A YEAR!

Playroom Hall

John is back from his conference, and back at the ol' grindstone. He fixed the playroom hallway today. The story follows- The inspector didn't like the playroom hallway because there wasn't enough head room. He told John to fix it. John got a structural engineer to come and look at it and figure out a solution. The ridge beam was held up by several 2x4s that formed a post. The post was right in the middle of where the hallway fit. Since the beam has to be supported, the engineer said to use a piece of square steel tubing of such and so dimensions to support the beam. Then make it into a hallway. It looks pretty good to me. John also mentioned the idea of making the ledge at the front of the playroom into a bench all the way across. I though that was a pretty cool idea.
Progress is good. I like progress. Every day of progress is one day closer to me getting out of this hellhole of an apartment.


Entrance to the hallway from the loft- playroom in back


Close-up of the steel header and support posts- note the bolt holding it in place.


This is what it looked like before- Notice how the beam is supported directly below with lumber- the hallway was on the right side of that post. (oh- and there's no roof- old picture)