June 2020 – Primm & Property

Posted on June 28, 2020 by Emily

Day 255

Looking more and more like a house each time we visit!

We headed out this morning to see the progress and were delighted to see that framing is nearing completion.

The wrap covering all of my beloved windows is really killing the vibe.

Also killing the vibe is the master bedroom windows not being centered under the roof ridge. I noticed these were off when they first started framing the second floor walls. Our builder assures us this will be fixed at the end of framing.

I’m counting the minutes.

At least the view is still nice from the inside, which will be our view as we wake up.

(The dirt piles are temporary.)

I’m so excited about all of the dormers and sloped ceilings in the bedrooms. Super Cozy.

This is the view from the back bedroom, through my closet, through Josh’s closet, and through the master bathroom in the middle, master bedroom on the left, and bonus room on the right. I realize this will not be a view once the walls are drywalled, but it helps to get a feel for the layout upstairs.

I call this to your attention because most views upstairs look like this, which is basically a maze of 2x4s.

I did get this shot of one of the critical axes upstairs from the guest room, through the main stair hall, master hall, and into the master bedroom. I’m standing in the master bedroom and my dad is in the guest room. Hi, Daddy!

They have really cleaned things up downstairs. I am standing in the kitchen, looking into the entry and the living room. Feeling good!

We headed up to the office next. Josh approves.

Barry was studying all of the details of the framing.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…

Posted on June 25, 2020 by Emily

Day 250

Hey there!

I stopped by for a quick visit between meetings the other day and saw many interesting things as I turned onto our easement drive:

The property adjacent to ours that has been for sale for quite a while now has a gigantic septic fence in place.
The “For Sale” sign had been taken down, so this sale is likely really happening and we are getting some new neighbors. We were secretly hoping the seller would give up and offer to sell it to us and our existing neighbor for a fraction of the cost.
Due to the odd shape of this lot and the gigantic septic field in the middle of the lot, I have no idea where they will place a house. I really hope it’s not a big factor in any of our views.

On a more positive note, I spot a chimney!

A little imagination required, but can’t you see it coming to life?!

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The chimney was really exciting to see. There is another one on the opposite side of the house that is more for looks and balance. This one here is a wood burning fireplace in the living room, but the dining room and library will have ventless gas inserts.

I love fireplaces.

It’s hard to imagine wanting to have a fire right now because it’s almost 90 degrees and 80% humidity as I write this.

No worries, though, because I can just lay down in the puddles on the floor to cool off.

It’s sort of a panicky thing to see water like this on the interior of your house even when you’re still in this rough stage of framing. The good news is there are no windows and doors on the house at this moment in time so there will be plenty of time for this to air out and evaporate.

There’s that gigantic septic field fence from the other side.

As soon as I saw this, I told Josh we may need to go ahead and put up a fence along the shared property line…

Back to the progress! Check out these dormers taking shape. The bedrooms are going to be so cozy.

Though I know we have to have it for waterproofing, I really detest this paper they are putting on in a somewhat random fashion. It is very distracting and they are covering up the window openings.

I can’t wait until we can cover it up with siding and put in the windows. I’m hoping at our meeting tomorrow, the builder will tell us this is happening very soon.

I like this view because you can’t really see the ugly paper.

Also, it cracks me up that it looks like our house is hiding behind the tree, somewhat unsuccessfully. Sort of like when my cat sticks his head under the sofa and thinks you can’t see him.

I turned around from my vantage point and admired all of our little “volunteer” trees that have sprouted up. Hopefully some of these will make it to be big trees someday.

As I was leaving, I spotted a work truck at the edge of the other property adjacent to ours. It is entirely wooded and we have about 40′ of woods between us, but we haven’t see a soul or any evidence of human life on this property the entire time we have owned our property. A little strange that literally the same day that the other property looks to have something happening on it, this one does too. We went from feeling like we were out here by ourselves to all of a sudden having a bunch of activity.

Looking into that fence tomorrow…

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Emily

Day 247

Hi, it’s me again!

More framing progress to report over the last 24 hours.

We had a family site visit yesterday afternoon while my aunt was in town. It was neat to give the grand tour and walk through each room.

Our greek revival cottage is taking shape!

The office is feeling really good and looking like a disco in the afternoon sun.

As they add the sheathing, it frames the views and I just can’t get enough. I’m all about the views.

The second floor is still quite the maze of framed walls and temporary supports.

Here’s Josh looking out the dormer window in the back bedroom. I’ve always loved dormers so each room on the second floor has one. I might have gone a little dormer crazy in the design, but I think they make the rooms cozy and add a lot of dimension to the exterior.

We have some rain in the forecast, but I’m thinking framing might be complete by the end of the week. Stay tuned!

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Emily

Day 246

I think there has been more progress in the last week than in the last 8 months combined! I can barely keep up and I’ve been out there almost every day this week to check on things.

Yesterday, I stopped by during lunch and ate my salad as I watched them finishing the roof over the garage.

They were also starting on the mudroom/laundry roof that is one of my favorite features of the house.

They were even starting to put the wrap (might have a more official name?) on the house.

The second floor was almost completely framed. I stood where the bed will be in the master and looked out the window at what will be a peaceful view to the east.

(I very intentionally situated the master bedroom so our bed could face east and the sun can gently wake us as it rises.)

(I’m a nerd.)

I also had a moment in my closet (not pictured). By today’s standards, it’s not huge, but it will bring me joy to have all of my things in one place. It also brings me joy that my husband will have a separate closet that I need not set foot in. We have very different closet maintenance strategies. I will leave it at that.

While on the topic of things that bring me joy, this nook here at the back of the office will be Josh’s mancave. I’m very happy for him that he will have a mancave. I’m also happy that it’s as far away as possible from the rest of the house so I don’t mistake sounds from Josh’s movies/video games for an actual threat to our safety.

A little off-topic, but this is on our drive up to the property and it just makes my day every time I drive by it.

Headed out again today to see if the main roof is on!

Posted on June 19, 2020 by Emily

Day 244

Last night after work, Josh and I went over to check out the progress at the house. I had been there just over 24 hours before but it was amazing to see how much had changed!

I spy a some second floor walls!

It was at about this point that I almost jumped out of the moving vehicle to run up to the house.

They finished both sets of interior stairs! Here’s Josh, casually walking in the front door.

Hi, honey!

We walked upstairs and my daredevil decided to sit on the edge.

The closest I got was about 10 feet away.

This explains a lot about us.

Meanwhile, in the opposite direction, the guest room at the front of the house is shaping up to have the best view. Who wants to come and visit?!

…in 2021…

Next we had to go up the back steps and check out the office.

I will be able to look out these windows from my desk and see what the neighbor horses are up to.

Hopefully when I got by tomorrow, they will have finished framing the second floor.

And I hope they add a few more temporary supports on the back porch. I think they are asking an awful lot of these few 2x4s…

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Emily

Day 243

I can barely concentrate on anything else at the moment because I’m so excited about the framing!!!

But, first things first: Check out our driveway that has been graded up so there’s no longer a pond in the middle of it. They also put in a massive pipe specified by my dear husband who does not mess around when it comes to proper drainage.

I had been parking at the very beginning of the driveway due to it being impassible in my short SUV. Next time, I will drive on up and park in front of the house…

… right by the front porch!

They are starting to put in the floor system for the second floor. The room above the front porch is the guest room. Kath (my mom) will be so delighted to see this as she is eager to stay in her suite.

They put in the stairs to the future headquarters of my design firm. The way things are going with COVID-19, it sounds like I will be subletting some of my office space to my husband.

Ok, back to the tour.

My kitchen!

Which will eventually look like this!

But probably not for 6 months…sigh.

This is the living room, which overlooks the front porch and yard. They had somehow missed one of these windows in the first round of framing, but they quickly got it added in after I brought it to their attention.

I’m sure I’m their favorite already.

Though I planned for all rooms to have lots of light and pretty views, I am particularly smitten with the view from the dining room.

I am also a big nerd about sight lines and axes. This is the view looking the opposite direction of the previous photo. Once all of these lovely temporary supports are removed, there will be a sight line down through the hall and out the windows of the library on the back of the house from the dining room table.

The L-shaped screened porch that wraps the back and side of the house will have an uninterrupted view of the tree line. Though right now, these temporary supports are really killing the mood.

Here’s another angle showing the screened porch and those library windows I’ll be able to see through from the dining room. I foresee spending a lot of time on this porch. So does our cat, Bu.

And this is the beast from her widest angle.

This house has been in my head and in my heart for so long that is really surreal to see it come to life.

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Still quite a bit left before she looks like my rendering, but well on her way!

Posted on June 14, 2020June 15, 2020 by Emily · 2 Comments

Day 240

Nearly 8 months into owning this property and building our forever home and we finally have some walls!

I can’t begin to describe to you how excited I was to get in there and walk through the house.

This is the garage…

Of course these criss-crossed supports are temporary, but man did I feel like I was in a James Bond movie trying to sneak through a security laser maze.

Josh was trying to catch some shade as he drank his hot coffee. It was at least 10 degrees cooler in the garage than in the sun.

This is the view out the window from Bu’s (cat) room, off the mudroom. He is not going to know what to do with himself once he sees the neighbor’s horses.

Barry, Kath, and Grandmother came out for a tour. Here I am in my element, explaining the layout of the house and which pieces of furniture will go where.

I got pretty toasty during my lecture, so I went down to check out the basement for some relief from the heat. They got the floor poured Friday and it looks great!

John has done some more work on the grading by the garage, but there is still a bit to go before we can possibly maneuver a vehicle into one of the bays.

He was working on the driveway while we were there yesterday until his equipment broke…

But we have walls(!), so I wasn’t going to let the equipment breakdown get me down.

Someone in my family, who shall remain nameless, asked, “Once framing is done, what is left?”

answer: pretty much everything.

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Emily · 1 Comment

Day 238

So, they were supposed to pour the garage and basement slabs Monday or Tuesday. The weather was uncooperative (thank you, Cristobal) so that didn’t happen. I decided to drive out to the property on Tuesday between meetings on the off-chance that it wasn’t raining there and there was concrete being poured.

It was raining heavily. And there was no concrete being poured.

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This photo was taken shortly before I stepped out of the car and my foot was nearly swallowed whole by the mud.

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This was after 10 minutes of cleaning.

There was only so much I could do with a roll of paper towels and a travel size bottle of hand sanitizer.

Also, did I mention I was between meetings? As in, after this I had another client meeting?

Thankfully, I had a pair of flip flops in the car. Hopefully that is the first and last time I will wear flip flops to meet a client.

Moving on.

We had an early morning meeting with our builder today and we were pleasantly surprised how much had happened since the shoe incident on Tuesday.

They were pouring the garage slab as we arrived.

Maybe I should ask them where they got their boots…

The also poured the basement steps today. The basement slab will be poured tomorrow.

At least I didn’t step in wet concrete…

The lumber was delivered yesterday (on schedule!) and they got quite a bit done in one day.

This makes me so happy.

This forecast makes me and my shoes even happier!

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Emily

Day 232

Framing is supposed to start this week – woot!

I can hardly keep it together. I am SO excited.

They have rough graded up to the house (and covered up most of the ugly black waterproofing).

This will be a lovely patio one day, shaded from the western sun once the house is complete. Currently, without the shade, it feels like 137 degrees. Welcome to June in Tennessee.

The exterior access basement stairs are formed and ready to be poured along with the basement and garage slabs. Fingers crossed this will happen Monday or Tuesday because lumber is being delivered on Wednesday!

There is still a bit of work to do on the hill by the garage, but John was focusing on grading up to the house this week. Josh should be level with the garage where he is standing.

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In addition to grading around the house, John worked more on the driveway.

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We have over 200 videos documenting this process…

Still not 100%, but getting there.

Josh, assessing the situation. He says there is another 3-4 feet in elevation to be built up at the low spot.

I told him that’s what I thought, too.

(I actually have no idea exactly what this all is supposed to look like other than the layout. This is why Josh is in charge of exterior items.)

We took a new route from the property to my parents’ house and stumbled upon some of our future shopping options.

I have never been in a “Dirt Cheap” before but I am most curious as to what they offer.

I guess there’s only one way to find out…