Day 165, June 29

Lots of work being done.....


Trim:

Cabinetry:

Tile:

More Cabinetry:

Utility sink in back room

Master Bathroom

His/Hers cabinet for master bathroom

Guest bathroom

Laundry Room

"Mudroom" Nook:

Beautiful rendering drawn on the wall next to the nook!

Patio waiting to be poured:

....apparently more to do:

Your family waiting for you to arrive:

Day 158, June 22

There's been a lot of activity in the last 2 weeks.   For a while they were working on mudding and then painting the walls, which had a VERY toxic smell.  We weren't able to be in the house during that time.  In the last week, there have been a lot of crews working on multiple areas, both inside and outside the house.

With all the rain we've had in the last few weeks there have been a lot of trenches and ruts created in the dirt.  We got a little nervous about the section near the deck post, but they brought in a backhoe this week to fix that problem.

Inside the house we love all the rounded corners.  They have plastic pieces that are "glued" to the actual corners, which are then plastered over to make the round edges.

....nice details at the bottom:

The archways look particularly nice:

Mudding takes a long time....

...good thing they have a big (BIG!) radio!

Beautiful late afternoon sunlight coming through the windows.  Either you need good blinds or you need to work in your office during the afternoon!

They've almost finished installing the hardwood floor.  It's a lengthy process, as the boards are delivered in long narrow pieces.  Each one has to be cut in varying lengths from 6 inches to about 2 feet, then pieced together.  Once finished, the paper you see below is put on top to prevent scratches.

The wood is pretty and shiny (this pic shows how much dust is in the house right now!)

(I couldn't get a picture without Owen getting in the way)

This is the tile in the downstairs bathroom.  Beautiful!!

Even the texture on the ceilings is pretty.  They've gone the extra mile by adding curved corners and textured ceilings to the garage too.  If you ever need some extra cash, you could rent out your garage to a tenant.  (Or better yet, carpet it with indoor/outdoor carpet, add a few lounge chairs and a tv, and install a screen instead of a garage door.)

Hopefully we'll be able to get in this weekend to take a couple more pictures.  They should have installed the doors, kitchen cabinets & trim.  Today they delivered a bunch of wood -don't know if it was for the deck or something else. We'll keep you posted!

Dirty and Clean

There's a lot of dirt in your yard...

Good thing they dug a well so you have water...

Too bad the plumbing isn't connected....my kids need a bath.

Rewind: Day 115, May 10

What has been most interesting about the process of building a house is how few people are needed to do a job when they're really good at it.  There were only 3 guys who framed the roof, the roofers (shingling, etc.) were a 3 man crew, drywalling was done by just 2 guys, the mudding team is only 2.... and the crazy thing is that everyone does their job in about 2-3 days.

Most of Gary's crews seem to work for him on the side, going to their primary job during business hours and coming to this house around 4pm and/or on weekends.  Thankfully, it doesn't get dark until 8:30 right now, so there is a good 4 hour work day each evening.  Prior to the drywall going up, insulation needed to be blown in the walls.  There was a team of two young Mexican guys who prepped the entire house for this.

The prep work involved glueing a plastic mesh to every stud, floor to ceiling (they did this over only 2 evenings).  A 4 inch hole was cut in the mesh about a foot down from the ceiling between every single stud.  When they were through, a truck full of insulation drove up to the door, a large hose was attached and the insulation guys blew insulation into the pockets.  Afterward, the prep team returned and cut out the holes covering each electrical box.

Most of the rooms were filled with the synthetic pink insulation seen here.  However, both offices were filled with a mix of materials primarily made up of shredded newspaper.  

Now you know how to prep and fill insulation....you too, could have a second job building houses!

Day 124 , May 19

The day the drywall arrived, the guys tried to bring it up the hill to the driveway.  Only problem is that the truck was so heavy and the stack was so high, it couldn't sit on the hill without slipping.  The guys ended up bringing the large trailer of drywall to the base of the property and loading it onto a different (smaller truck), then drove it back up to the driveway and unloaded a second time.  There were multiple sizes, the largest being about 5x12 feet.