Exactly nothing happened at the house last week thanks to six days of below freezing temperatures, snow, sleet, and ice. The ice was no joke. We’re talking inches of it on the roads.
We ventured out yesterday as things started to melt to check on the house. It looked lovely in the snow!
Two of the three HVAC units were installed since we were there last.
This is definitely the least attractive wall of the house with all of the utilities, but we will paint the boxes on the wall after inspection and put in some shrubs to hide the units.
Apparently we have an artist in one of the crews…
We remember to take pictures of us together approximately twice a year. This is our first one of 2021.
The floors were finished the week before last but this was our first time seeing them!
This makes me feel like moving in could become a reality!
I’m in love.
We had our first casualty…little birdy must have gotten trapped in the house. Josh escorted him to his final resting place.
A peek of the foyer floors!
And perhaps most exciting of all, we have garage door openers.
Let’s hope we make up some lost time this week and can call in for a final inspection!
We were all set to head out to the new house and see the progress this morning when we discovered black ice at our current house.
Better safe than sorry – but I really wanted to see the hardwoods all finished!
This is the stain sample I approved earlier this week. Classic. Timeless. I love it.
Painting is inching along…I’m loving the richness of the trim color. So much better than stark white.
This is our builder, Walt. He’s a good guy.
He does not know that I have this blog.
I cannot wait to get rid of all of this plastic and tape! Though I do appreciate the thorough prep work.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, packing continues. I’m trying to stage most of the boxes upstairs in the middle of the house. Consequently, with the furniture against the wall, the dining room looks like a waiting room.
Bu is waiting for us to tell him what is going on.
We have officially entered the stage of interior finishes.
Translation: pretty stuff is going in.
The library is packed with all of the interior doors that they started installing today.
We have a lot of doors.
Master bedroom and closet doors…and master bath tile waiting patiently to be installed tomorrow…
And my Dutch doors! Can’t wait to see these in the mudroom. The trim guy sent me into a panic this morning when he called to asked where “the doors that are cut in half” go. I was about to tell him “back to the supplier” until it occurred to me that he was talking about the Dutch doors.
The trim guy and I also went over my transom details today. I’m *so* excited to see these go in. Major new old house detail.
They are getting ready to start on the trim, an element that can make or break a house. This, my friends, is not an area to skimp on. Case in point: we are doing 9 1/4″ tall baseboards downstairs and 7 1/4″ tall upstairs. Merry Christmas to me!
Other exciting things: floors!
The hardwoods are in (though they won’t be sanded and finished until the end (which is a good thing because I would be the floor scratch police otherwise)).
A peek into the kitchen from the rear hall. Cabinets coming Saturday! This view will look quite different in a week.
I can barely contain myself.
The mudroom brick floors are in. The grout will really take it over the top, but that won’t be happening until there is heat in the house (which is still a few weeks a way thanks to county electric nonsense).
Last exciting thing for the day: guest bath floor! I am a sucker for a classic basketweave.
I’ll be back out to Meadowcrest tomorrow to meet with my door hardware guru and to see other developments on the door, trim, and tile fronts.
Stay tuned for rapid fire updates over the next two weeks!
It has been another week dedicated to electrical wiring, plumbing piping, and HVAC ducting.
Are you still there?
Just thrilling.
They used the template provided by the tub manufacturer to cut out the tub deck.
Unfortunately, they did not consult me on placement before they did this and the cutout is too close to the windows. But that is easily fixed.
Though I’m glad we will have adequate ventilation in the house, I cannot wait until it’s time for drywall and all of the ducts and returns are out of sight.
I’m sure it’s all very efficiently run, but this ceiling looks like a hot mess to me.
Meanwhile, outside, part 1 of 27 of the electrical to the house has been inspected and approved so John has filled in a section of the ditch wide enough for a vehicle to pass over. He also started spreading gravel up the rest of the driveway while I was there. It was exciting to see the beginnings of the circle drive!
We’ve also been working hard on finalizing orders this week as raw materials seem to be skyrocketing in price.
We’ve been trying to pick our spots and make some trade-offs to stay in budget. The herringbone brick floor in the mudroom and the heated floors in the master bath are on the chopping block. My dear husband offered to start driving for Uber Eats so we don’t have to give up these features. I’m sure he’ll have no problem squeezing that in between working a full-time job, getting his MBA, and building a house.
We decided on #1 red oak instead of select, which has no knots and less tone variation from board to board. Josh and I agreed that we’d like a little more character in our hardwood floors and this was a good area to save some money. This showroom sample has no stain on it so it’s much lighter than our floors, which will be stained dark walnut.
Though the hardwoods will likely be installed in the next month, they will not be stained until the very end of the build, so it will be a while before we get to see the full effect.
Our builder and I had a long meeting yesterday to finalize exterior trim, siding, columns, and garage doors, as well as interior trim, doors, transoms, stair parts, and miscellaneous millwork.
As I was double-checking the door quote today, Bu decided to make himself a little napping Bu-rrito in the house plans. He stayed like this for over an hour. I’ll take it as a sign that he’s excited about the new house.
Primm & Property 