Our House

Finally, Another Update

2008-10-01T09:05:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted to this blog so I'll try to remember everything that has happened since August 1st.
We had a very successful house warming party. To everyone that was there I'd like to extend many thanks. I hope everyone had a good time.

Some things with the house: The magnet on the front door was installed so the security system is complete. The bottom of the door was adjusted so wind will not blow through during windy days. While Pella was there we had them look at some scratches on the windows next to the front door. The window cleaner had noticed them while he was cleaning them. They have scratches that go all the way from the top to the bottom of the window. There is also a big scrape in the window at the top of the door. Dave has worked with Pella and new windows have been ordered to replace these.
We purchased two trees for the front yard. I wish I could remember the names of the types of trees but, having slept since then, I don't. One is up by the house, just to the right of the front door and will have white buds for two weeks in the spring. It will stay relatively small.
The other one is down toward the street corner and will be a bit larger, about 30 feet full grown. I do know that it is a type of maple and I believe the leaves will turn red in the fall.

Things to do

2008-08-01T10:37:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I've updated everyone on what's going on with the house.
We have received the lights that were on back order and they've been installed. The knobs and pulls for the cabinets have been installed. In fact, most of what we've been waiting for has been completed. We have a new list started with things that we've slowly been finding. Both Dave and Tom have urged us to begin making a list of things that "aren't quite right" so that they can be fixed. So far the only things that we've found are little cosmetic things like paint next to a door frame that looks mis-colored.
There are a few bigger things that need to be taken care of that we've discovered now that we've moved in:
The magnet on the front door for the security system was installed in the construction door, and wasn't moved to the permanent door.
The front door, during heavy winds, lets air through the bottom. This apparently can be fixed by adjusting the bottom of the door, which Pella is going to come out and do for us.
The downstairs little window well filled up with water that last big storm we had, and then proceeded to leak water into the basement. This happened before the landscaping was completed. The window well was raised back up to it's proper height, the well was dug out a bit more to make it deeper and the ground was shaped to aid drainage away from this window.

Some fun news: I had to mow the yard for the first time this week. It took about an hour and 15 minutes. I wimped out and mowed the back yard on Tuesday (45 minutes) and mowed the front yard on Thursday (30 minutes). I've decided that I need a new lawn mower. The one that I have is pretty old, has a 21" blade and is barely self-propelled. I wonder how long it'll take me to wear Jill down to convincer her I need a new one.

Practically Done

2008-07-04T12:30:00.001-05:00

Front 2008-07-04 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The sod was put down July 2nd. Once the sod was down the sprinkler system guys came back and fixed the malfunctioning heads. Now we have the sprinkler system setup to run three times a day. 3am, Noon and 6pm. The heads are also adjusted to over-water. Once the sod takes, the sprinkler system guys will come back and turn down the heads so that we're not watering the street.
There are a couple of areas that were not covered with sod that will be covered with mulch once the sod takes. The area next to the porch that always seems to fill with water when it rains will be filled in with black dirt/topsoil. We plan on putting a small tree there. We also plan on putting a small tree on the right side of the front lawn.

Something exciting happened the day the sod was put in. We came home from running errands and discovered Al, the trimmer (and assistant to Dave and Tom), at our house. He had come over to assist the irrigation guys with the water access and discovered a small pool of water in our basement. Apparently one of the weld points on a water line to our master bath had broken. He cut a hole in our wall and got the plumber over to fix the leak. He also cleaned up the water in the basement. Basically all the excitement was over by the time we got back home. I'm just glad that the problem happened on the main floor, since the basement is not finished. Had it happened on the top floor we could have had a bunch of water damage to our ceiling and possibly floors before it was found.

Moved In

2008-07-01T22:52:00.002-05:00

Moving day went great! We had lots of help. I had told everyone that donuts would be there at 8. They arrived at 8:10. As soon as people arrived we started emptying the first of two PODS. Everyone agreed that donuts would wait until the first POD was empty. I was really surprised how fast everything went. We were done unloading both PODS by 11am. At that time we ran to the store and purchased some pizzas and cooked them in the new ovens. They were delicious.
Now that we are moved in we are only waiting on a few things to be completed. The main one is sod. The graders were here again this evening and the sod is supposed to be here tomorrow morning. I'm hoping that it gets here before it starts raining, which it is supposed to do tomorrow.
While the grader was doing his thing he clipped our gas meter. He shut the gas off and called MUD who arrived about 20 minutes later. They got everything fixed and up and running by 10:30pm. I must be getting old because that seems really late to me now.

Mailbox Key

2008-06-26T13:21:00.002-05:00

One thing that we need to do is get a key to the mailbox cluster. It is located across the street from our house, which is convenient.
I went online to the USPS web site and found the 800 number for their customer service. 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777). I worked through their menu system and found out the local branch that services my area. This was the only place that I could find the local phone number for that branch, by the way.
I contacted them and asked them how to get a key for new construction. First, she had to check to see if my mailbox was handled by a contractor, which it's not. Then she told me that all I needed to do was bring down a proof of purchase for the house and a photo ID.
I plan on doing this tomorrow after lunch.

While I was on the USPS web site I also changed my address so mail is forwarded from my old address to the new one. I had a temporary forwarding of my mail to my in-laws while we were "homeless".

Homeowners

2008-06-26T13:13:00.002-05:00

Yea! We're new homeowners! That means we're living the American dream and are in debt up to our eyeballs.
There are still some things that need to be done by our builder as part of the construction process. It is continuing to rain so we're waiting for a few days of dry weather so that the yard can be re-graded and the sod can be put down. We're hoping that this happens next week.
There is another cleaning crew coming in today to do the final deep clean of the house. The guys were there today touching up paint and other miscellaneous things.
Yesterday our refrigerator, washer and dryer arrived and were hooked up.
The guys did a lot of the cleaning yesterday and the house looks great.
The PODS that we stored all of our stuff in arrive tomorrow and we start moving in on Saturday. Right now the forecast for Saturday is sunny and 81. Let's hope that this is accurate.

Closing Today

2008-06-25T12:54:00.005-05:00

We close today at 4pm. Yea! I ran out over lunch to get the necessary cashier's checks for the down payment and the overages.
I went out to the house yesterday and saw little pieces of blue tape all over the place. All of those pieces of tape marked something that needed touched up. While I was there I walked through the house and could not find anything that they had overlooked. The nice thing is that we have a year to find things that need to be fixed.
Monday night the yard was graded in preparation for the sod. Tuesday morning the skies opened up and washed a bunch of the front yard over the sidewalk. It is supposed to be sunny today and I think rainy the rest of the week so I'm hoping we can get the sod down before the weekend.

2 Days to Close and Counting

2008-06-23T15:03:00.001-05:00

Carpet 2008-06-20 3
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The carpet was installed last week. It looks great. Apparently they were short in the amount of carpet that they delivered so the master closet was temporarily carpeted with a different type. Once the inspections are completed they will come back and replace it with the correct carpet.
Another coat of finish was applied to the wood floors on Friday. I was under the impression that this was going to be the last coat but apparently they are coming back today at 2pm to apply the final coat.
Today:
The sprinkler system is being installed today. I've never seen one installed. It's pretty cool how they bury the line for that.
The balusters for the front porch should be installed this afternoon.
The knobs for the kitchen cabinets should be installed today.
The pulls for the kitchen cabinets don't fit. We're going to have to return them and get something different.
The light in the kitchen that was back ordered arrived today and should be installed.
The quarter round was being installed today.
The final coat on the wood floor should be applied today.
Tomorrow:
The sod is supposed to be put in tomorrow.
The bathroom appliances, like towel rods, will be installed tomorrow.
The cleaners will be there on tomorrow.
Informal walk-through with builder will occur tomorrow afternoon.
Final inspection will occur tomorrow afternoon.
Wednesday:
The front door will be installed on Wednesday.
We should close on the house at 4pm on Wednesday.

Getting Close

2008-06-18T14:55:00.001-05:00

Back 2008-06-13 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The picture shown is of the lights on the back of the house. As I stated before, all the light fixtures are in (except the ones that are back-ordered). We actually have electricity to the house so we can turn on the lights and visit the house after dark. The outlets and covers have been installed as have the door knobs.
We've picked out a color of our front door, Sherwin-Williams sw6335, Fired Brick. The rest of the door is colored with a shoe-polish type product so it looks like wood (it's fiberglass). Our painter actually recommended that we paint the outside of the door because scuffs in paint are easily repaired, the other finish is not.
Our carpet is set to be installed this week and then the finish coat on the wood floors will be applied. There are a few more miscellaneous things that need to be completed as well.
We are working on a June 25th close date. Hopefully everything lines up to make this possible.

A Moment Of Silence

2008-06-12T20:43:00.002-05:00

Last night a tornado swept through the Little Sioux Boy Scout Camp killing 4 scouts and injuring about 40 others. I was a Boy Scout. I like to think I still am a Boy Scout in many ways. I achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank achievable in the Boy Scouts. I can't tell you how many times I camped at Little Sioux over the 6 years that I was a scout. It would be safe to say that I camped there more often than any other campground.
As I watched the news of the tragedy and they showed pictures of the camp, memories of camping trips flooded back. It's been about 18 years since I've been camping and some of my fondest memories were made at that camp.
I'd like to take this opportunity to offer my condolences to the families and friends of those boys who were killed last night. As a father I can, thankfully, only imagine what it would feel like to lose a child.
Here is a link to an Omaha World Herald article with details of each of the boys.
I hope that this tragedy does not in any way discourage someone from allowing their son to join the Boy Scouts. I know that it shaped my life in a positive way and I am thankful for both the moral guidance and life skills that I learned as a Boy Scout.

Weathered the Storm

2008-06-10T15:42:00.003-05:00

Front 2008-06-10 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

There was quite a big storm that swept through Millard early Sunday morning. Fortunately for us our new house was pretty much unscathed. The only thing that happened was the port-a-potty was knocked over. Ew. Thank goodness we don't have to take care of that.
Link here for a story from the Omaha World Herald and pictures of the storm.
Our old neighborhood got bumped around a bit but nothing major happened. It is located on 132nd and Center and it looks like the tornado hopped right over it. We talked to some old neighbors who said that they had some damage to their detached garage from a fallen tree limb but the neighborhood overall fared pretty well.
Fortunately, there were no deaths attributed to this storm. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families affected by this storm.

Electric Fixtures

2008-06-10T15:34:00.002-05:00

Kitchen 2008-06-09 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The Electrician finished installing the appliances and electric fixtures today. The ones that had arrived, that is. We found out today that the pendants and breakfast nook light are back-ordered. Unfortunately, this is the first we heard about it. We were a little disappointed that United Electric didn't contact someone to notify them of this. We ordered these a few months ago, which we thought was plenty of time.
The painters are finished painting the exterior of the house. It looks great.
It looks like the lines have been run for Electrical, Natural Gas and Cable/Phone.

Wood Floor

2008-06-06T15:09:00.001-05:00

Floor 2008-06-06 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Everything but the final coat has been put on the wood floor. They started on Tuesday by sanding the floor and then putting a sealant putty down to fill in any seams or imperfections in the wood. Then that was sanded off. Wednesday and Thursday they put coats of the finish on it, allowing it to dry throughout the day. When everything else is finished and people are done tracking dirt through the house, they will come back, clean it, de-dust it and then put the final coat on it.
As you can see, we went with a natural clear-coat. This is to juxtapose the dark trim and cabinets.

Plumbing Fixtures

2008-06-06T15:01:00.001-05:00

Kitchen 2008-06-06 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The Plumbers and Electricians are on site today installing fixtures. They have the plumbing fixtures installed in most of the main floor and should be able to finish the upstairs this afternoon.
The Electricians are installing the outlets and wall switches as well as the ceiling fans that we've purchased up to this point. We still need to purchase 2 more fans, 1 for the Master Bedroom and 1 for the Hearth Room. The other light fixtures had not been delivered yet as of noon today.
Something that we learned through this process is that the plumbing fixtures are purchased "through" the plumber. They get special rates from the fixture stores and will guarantee the item and the work. If you were to purchase a plumbing fixture from a store and have a plumber install it, the install rate would be higher. The reason behind this, as it was explained to us, is the plumbing fixtures through the plumber are a higher quality fixture. The ones in the store have plastic insides instead of brass.
The situation used to be the same with the electrical fixtures. Nowadays, all fixtures are the same basic quality, although you get what you pay for. You don't have to buy these through the Electricians any more.

Well, Well, Well

2008-06-06T13:57:00.001-05:00

Well 2008-06-06 3
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The geothermal well diggers arrived on site Tuesday evening, about 3 days early. They had another job that apparently wasn't ready for them so they came over to our site first.
They are going to dig 5 wells and then test them to make sure that they are capable of handling the load. Each well is approximately the equivalent of 1 ton of cooling. The house is sized at about 5 tons. If the 5 wells are not enough, they'll drill a 6th before they pack up and leave.
They use water to drill the wells and each well is approximately 300ft.

Exterior Color

2008-06-05T13:46:00.002-05:00

Charlotte called me Tuesday and said that she had figured out what color the house that we liked was. She said that in the Sherwin-Williams color wheel it was "Universal Khaki". That was one of the colors that we had already picked and was too peachy when it was painted on the house. When I told her that we had already tried that color she came back with another color that she was sure was the color. It was Sherwin-Williams "Colonial Revival Stone" SW2827. Sure enough, this was EXACTLY the color we had been searching for.
Whew!
That was an exhausting process. Now all we need to do is come up with an accent color for the front door.

Why I'm Not A Designer

2008-06-02T12:59:00.002-05:00

Painting 2008-05-31 6
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

This weekend we were supposed to have a color picked out for the exterior of the house. We were waiting for the stonework to be completed so we could have Charlotte help us match a color to it.
We went over a bunch of colors with her last week and finally picked one that we thought looked good. We asked that a sample be painted on the house so we could see it for final approval.
I have a general question: Why doesn't the paint look the same when it's on the house as when it is in the store. We held up 8 1/2" x 11" samples up to the stone, in the sun, and agreed that the color looked good. It was a shade of beige. Which is fine. When it went on the house, it looked more of a muddy color.
We spent the rest of the weekend trying to find colors at Sherwin-Williams that matched what we wanted. We found a house in our neighborhood, several streets away, that has the same stone as our house. We really like the color on that house so we've told Charlotte that somehow, some way, she needs to figure out what that color is.
Hopefully it won't be too much trouble and it'll all work out.

Famous

2008-05-29T13:31:00.003-05:00

Since we've started building the house I've been out on the Internet reading a few sites that deal with Craftsman/Arts and Crafts style houses and products. One of these web sites is The Constant Craftsman.
I monitor this web site daily for new posts. I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see a picture of the bath tub that we put in our house up on this web site. It wasn't just a picture of a similar tub, it was a picture of our tub. From this blog.
I had commented on a post on his web site a few weeks ago and listed the URL of this blog as my website. He had several good comments to make about this site.
It was nice to get some good feedback about this blog from someone who also does it.
Please visit The Constant Craftsman. It is an awesome site with a ton of great info about Arts and Crafts style products.

Paint

2008-05-28T14:56:00.001-05:00

Paint 2008-05-28 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Painting has begun on the inside of the house. They put down a primer coat the color of the final coat. Once that is done they will walk through with a light and fix any "ding and dongs" as the painter put it.
We went out there this afternoon to meet with Tom about the front porch.
The upstairs was completely painted and they were taping the woodwork on the main level.

We're Stoned

2008-05-26T21:39:00.001-05:00

Stonework 2008-05-26 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The stonework on the outside of the house was finished this weekend. I can't believe how quickly they finished it. It only took them one day to complete it. There is still the stonework on the fireplace to be completed and the columns on the porch.
The varnishing of the trim was also completed. The next steps with the painters are to prime the walls, fix any imperfections in the drywall, and then paint.
Now that the stonework is up our decorator, Charlotte, can select some colors for the outside of the house.

Granite Arrived

2008-05-21T14:18:00.001-05:00

Kitchen 2008-05-21 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The granite was delivered and installed today in the Kitchen and the Master Bathroom. They have it covered so it doesn't get paint and varnish all over it.
The painters applied the varnish to the woodwork today. What a difference that makes! The painters said they'd be back tomorrow to sand everything down to make it smooth. I'm not sure how many layers of varnish they apply but one of the painters alluded to multiple coats.
The stone for the outside of the house was delivered today. I can't wait for this to get up because Charlotte needs to see it up to recommend exterior house colors.

Staining

2008-05-18T19:54:00.001-05:00

Staining 2008-5-17 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Jill and I agreed that the woodwork in the house should be stained the same color as the kitchen cabinets. We realized that this would be a challenge because the wood types are different and the cabinets have a black glaze on them. I went over to the house right after they had started staining the wood in the master suite and my heart dropped. I really didn't like the look. To me it didn't look like a craftsman style color, it looked more like something out of the 70's. I went home really disappointed and told Jill that we needed to go back out and hear her opinion. We went out the end of the next day and saw that they had stained the majority of the house. Now that the stain had a chance to dry and it was on more things, it had started to look like it was supposed to. Now I can't wait to see what it is going to look like with the varnish on it, and with paint color next to it. The painters are only supposed to be there for 2 weeks but I'm guessing that they'll have to be there into a 3rd week, based on the fact that they didn't get the stain done by the end of one.
We'll see. I'm hoping that the rest of the work will go faster.

Concrete. Finally.

2008-05-17T10:53:00.001-05:00

Concrete 2008-05-15 5
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The concrete guys were finally able to come out and pour all the cement for the house. They poured the Front Porch, Back Patio, Driveway and Sidewalks. The neighborhood covenant says that the sidewalks are supposed to have a curve in them, instead of being straight. We were really leery of this because that is the one thing we didn't like about the neighborhood. A lot of the sidewalks look like they zig-zag. I brought this concern up with Dave and he laughed. He said that he completely agrees with me that they look horrible. And besides the look, they would be a nightmare to shovel. He assured me that our sidewalks would have as little curve to them as possible. When I went out to see them after they were poured I was very relieved. They look great.
Jill and I went out last night to look again and Jill said that she needed to stand on the front porch. We've got a great view of the pond and the playground. The stone for the base of the house is supposed to be delivered soon. They said that they'd be right on the heels of the cement guys.

Bathtub Installed

2008-05-09T16:32:00.001-05:00

Bathtub 2008-05-09 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Went out to the house today over lunch to look around and saw that the bathtub in the Master Bathroom has been installed. We had seen this tub at Lowe's and picked the faucet out from a catalog with the hopes that it would look as good in person as it did in the pictures. I was happy to see that it looks even BETTER in person. According to Tom, the bathtub weighed a hefty 400 pounds.
The trim work in the house is complete and the painter starts Monday. The painter will be there for 2 weeks.

Stairs

2008-05-07T16:09:00.001-05:00

Stairs 2008-05-07 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Jill and I went out to the house over lunch to figure out some placement of bathroom accessories and saw that the trimmers were about done with the steps. They look just like they're supposed to.
We also saw that the bathtub for the master bath had arrived. It is currently in the middle of the master bedroom waiting to be installed.
The front yard looks nice now that they've taken out the old muddy dirt and replaced it with dry dirt and packed it down. Of course, after they had finished doing all the work yesterday, it rained. Only the top part of the soil got wet though so they shouldn't have any problems delivering the cement for the front porch.

This Looks Familiar

2008-05-06T19:43:00.001-05:00

Front Yard 2008-05-06 4
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

They are excavating the muddy ground from the front yard today and replacing it with dry dirt. They also graded the back and street-side yard.
On the inside, the stairs are coming together. Al, the trimmer, was going to be working late tonight to get them done today.
The painter is supposed to be there tomorrow.

Hearth Room Cabinets - After

2008-05-04T12:25:00.001-05:00

Hearth Room 2008-05-03 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

This is what the Hearth Room cabinets look like after they were changed. There is a huge difference in usability. While I did like the old look, they were just not functional for what we needed.
As of Saturday they had all of the baseboards installed and the crown molding in the Living Room and on the Kitchen cabinets.
We're hoping that they finish the stairs and the crown molding in the Master Bedroom the beginning of next week.
Jill worked with Charlotte and picked out the carpet, interior paint colors, and designed what the kitchen back splash is going to look like.

Front Porch Issues

2008-05-02T14:12:00.001-05:00

House 2008-04-23 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Our front yard is apparently too muddy for the cement truck to get up to pour the front porch. They've tried a couple time now and get stuck about half way up. The theory as to why this is happening is as follows. The dirt used to build up this area was frozen when it was moved and was loosely compacted. It has also been raining about once a week for a while now. The combination of this, and the pressure of the heavy truck is crating the perfect storm to create a muddy mess.
The solution is going to be to excavate a large portion of the front yard and replace it with dry soil, compacting it a bit as they fill it in. This will do a couple of things. First it will allow the truck to get up and pour the concrete. Second, it will create a hard-packed surface to facilitate water run-off away from the front of the house.
Not sure when this is happening, all I know is, soon.

Hearth Room Cabinets

2008-04-28T11:52:00.001-05:00

Hearth Room 2008-04-23 3
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Fox Cabinets is doing our custom cabinets in the house. The primary ones being the mudroom lockers and the hearth room cabinets.
They showed us drawings with measurements before they started and everything looked good. After they were done Jill looked at them and said, "Are you sure the TV components will fit in those?" She was right, of course. A digital cable box is just over 17 inches. The cabinets are 15 1/2 inches.
The cabinets are fitted with adjustable shelves so I believe the solution is going to be to take out the top middle portion and just put in an adjustable shelf that spans the entire cabinet.

Office Trim

2008-04-28T11:03:00.001-05:00

Office Trim 2008-04-27 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

We had them do the trim in the office in a style that was a little truer to the craftsman style. The trim in the rest of the house is really nice but a little more modern. They are about done with all the trim in the house now but they haven't started on the stair banister as of Sunday. Hopefully this will be done in the next couple days and then the painters will come in and start staining.
The plan is to have the trim stained in the same color as the kitchen cabinets. This will be a bit of a challenge because we'll have to take a sample of the cabinets in and have them do a color match on it. It will be additionally challenging because the trim is in oak and the cabinets are in alder. We've gotten conflicting advice from people so we're trusting Charlotte, our Interior designer, on this one.

Cabinets

2008-04-20T21:14:00.001-05:00

Kitchen Cabinets 2008-04-20 3
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

So much to report on today.
A good portion of the cabinets are in. The Master Bath and Laundry Room cabinets are in. The Kitchen cabinets are mostly done.
The master shower has been tiled.
The window that was leaking in one of the upstairs bedrooms was removed and the source of the leak is believed to be found. Pella is supposed to come out this week to look at this window and the window in the Master Bath that is also leaking.

Tile Floor

2008-04-19T18:42:00.001-05:00

Master Bath 2008-04-18 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

They began laying the tile floor in the Laundry Room and the Master Bath. They also tiled the inside of the shower.
The entryway now has wood flooring on it, like it was supposed to.
They began unboxing the kitchen cabinets so I took a few pictures of those while they are still in the garage. They look really nice. I can't wait to see them up.
While we were there we saw that there was some rainwater coming in in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Tom said that it looks like the window itself is leaking since the siding is on and the area around the window is sealed. They're going to look into it when it stops raining.

More Progress

2008-04-16T20:05:00.001-05:00

Siding 2008-04-16 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The siding on the house is almost finished. They were putting it on the front of the house today.
The kitchen cabinets arrived today. They were still in the boxes when we were there but they were going to try to unbox them this afternoon and will begin installing them tomorrow.
We met with the trim guy today to discuss everything that he does. We talked about the crown molding in the Living Room, the trim throughout the house, the closet shelves and the stair caps/balusters on the stairs heading upstairs. We decided that on the windows and doors throughout the house were going to get some pretty simple trim but we're going to do a true craftsman style trim in the office/flex room. We're also going to put in a chair rail in the office/flex room.
In the master bedroom the box ceiling was supposed to have a small lip drywalled in for the underlighting. They did not do this so we are going to use some crown molding to hid the underlighting. It should look really nice.

Doors

2008-04-15T11:42:00.002-05:00

Office Doors 2008-04-15 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

It seems like a lot has happened lately. The wood floors are almost done. Almost because there was a misunderstanding about where the wood stopped. It is supposed to continue from the office into the entryway and right now it stops at the office. The wood for this is on site and the rest of it will be finished soon.
All the doors in the house have been hung. The doors upstairs have been framed in and we are meeting with our trim guy Wednesday afternoon to go over some options on the main floor.
We've met with our Interior Decorator, Charlotte from D3 Interiors, to finalize our choices for the kitchen counter top and back splash, the laundry room tile floor and counter top and the bathroom counter tops and flooring. We went with granite counter tops in the kitchen and the master bath. The price of granite has come down recently so we came in quite a bit under budget. We're going to use some of the money that we saved to do something fancy above the gas range in the kitchen.
Speaking of the kitchen, the cabinets are supposed to arrive today.

Garage Paved

2008-04-08T21:45:00.001-05:00

Garage 2008-04-08 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Dropped by the house today after work to see how things were going and found that the garage floor had been poured. We also found the front and back doors were locked so there was no way into the house.
Well, almost no way. I found that one of the windows was unlocked so I crawled in through that. (Note to self: Make sure we ALWAYS lock the windows once we're in the house.)
We were also excited to see that the wood floor is completely done in the hearth room as well as the pantry.

Wood You Be Mine?

2008-04-08T11:34:00.001-05:00

Wood Floor 2008-04-07 4
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

We stopped by the house last evening and saw that they had begun laying the wood floor in the hearth room. It looks awesome!
The wood will eventually cover the Hearth Room, Kitchen, Breakfast Nook, Office/Flex Room and the Entryway. I know that it wounds like a lot of wood but when we decided on it, wood was really inexpensive.
The siding guys are supposed to start any day now. I see that the weather forecast is for rain this weekend so I'm hoping that they'll be able to get some of it done before then.
We also saw that they had begun leveling the dirt in the garage. I'm assuming that is in preparation of pouring the floor.

Lighting

2008-04-07T08:49:00.002-05:00

Kitchen Light 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

We picked out our lighting fixtures this weekend at United Electric. Most of the selections were pretty simple in form and pretty inexpensive. A few months ago, we found a line of fixtures that we liked and mentioned it to our sales guy. He found the line and priced things out for us. Fortunately, they fell within our budget. It is the Tahoe line by Hinkley Lighting.
The fixtures that we picked from this line we placed above our kitchen table, in our entryway and hung the pendants above our island in the kitchen.
I've posted a picture of the fixture that will be hanging over our kitchen table because it shows the detail the best.

New Blog Layout

2008-04-06T21:47:00.001-05:00

So, as you can see, I changed the appearance of the blog. Hopefully you all like it. I'm hoping it will be easier to read. Any feedback is appreciated.

Ceiling Texture

2008-04-06T21:36:00.001-05:00

Kitchen Sofit 2008-04-06 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

I posted some pictures of the ceiling texture.
This week they are supposed to start laying the wood floor.

We Like This Kind of Mud

2008-04-04T10:33:00.001-05:00

Drywall Mud 2008-03-28 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Once the drywall arrived there was a lot of progress. The walls went up and are now covered with drywall, mud and the rounded corners are on.
Tom and our flooring guy walked through the house and marked off where the transitions between wood, carpet and tile will occur.
I am amazed at every step how much of a difference it makes. Even between when the drywall went up and when they put the mud on it.
We walked through the house last night and saw that they had textured the ceilings. I didn't have my camera with me so I'll be snapping those photos and putting them up later. I did post another batch today showing the drywall and mud.

Drywall!

2008-03-24T20:55:00.001-05:00

Bonus Room Drywall 2008-03-24 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

We went to visit the house today and saw that they started to put up the drywall. Jill had been to the house earlier in the day and talked to one of the drywallers. He told her, "Nice house. Really straight. Really REALLY straight."
Apparently one of the inspectors hadn't seen something with the HVAC system before they started drywalling so they had to take down some of it so he could inspect the insulation around the ducts.
They got most of the upstairs done and the stairs down to the basement.

Pink Walls?

2008-03-22T13:43:00.001-05:00

Main Bedroom Insulation 2008-03-21 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

They have begun insulating the walls of the house. They have blown in insulation in the outside walls and have put trafitional fiber glass insulation in the inside walls between rooms.
The drywall has been delivered and distributed to each room and they will begin drywalling next week.

That's Hot

2008-03-20T13:16:00.001-05:00

Fireplace Vent 2008-03-19 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Now that the snow has melted and the ground has dried out around the house, I took the opportunity to walk around the outside of the house and take pictures of some things that we haven't had access to.
Jill went out to the house on Wednesday and ran into Tom (of Thomas David) and his kids. They were cleaning up the inside of the house. He said, "It always looks better when it's clean." I like that Both Tom and Dave think about things like this.
The inspections are done, finally, the soffit above the kitchen "batwing" is framed in as is the alcove in the hallway to the Master Bedroom. They've also ran the drain for the floor of the garage.
Everything is now ready for insulation and drywalling to begin.

Water Main

2008-03-13T11:12:00.001-05:00

House 2008-03-10 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

I posted some more pictures to the web site. We now have our main water line run into the house and stairs down into the basement. When we went down there this past weekend I was kind of alarmed to see water on the floor. It wasn't until I saw the water main that I calmed down again. Jill had mentioned that she had seen some machines moving some dirt around in the front yard earlier in the day so I went out and looked and saw that it was the trench for the water main. Which made sense once I stopped to think about it.
There are a few more things that need to be framed and inspected and then the insulation and drywall can begin.

Cabinet Door Sample

2008-03-07T16:23:00.001-06:00

Cabinet Door Sample 2008-03-07 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Here's a sample of our Kitchen Cabinet Doors. Aren't they pretty? This color and style will be used for our Kitchen Cabinets, and the cabinets in the Master Bath, Laundry Room and Upstairs Bathroom. The difference between them will be that the cabinets in the Kitchen will have a black highlight on it and the rest of the house won't.

Basement and Inspection

2008-03-01T20:58:00.004-06:00

First of all, we actually have a basement floor. We have been waiting and waiting for the ground in the basement to dry out. They have had heaters running down there for what seems like forever. When they began pouring the foundation you may remember that the weather was really cold. All that frost that was on the ground thawed and turned the ground into mud. They sealed the basement up, put some big propane heaters in there and let them run, and run, and run.
We went out there today and saw that there were big ruts in the lot next to ours leading up to our basement daylight window. We peered in through the hole where the basement steps will eventually go and saw that the floor was not only poured but had already solidified. It has a beautiful smooth finish.
Along with that, we saw that the inspector had been there. There were stickers on a few of the beams certifying that both plumbing and electrical had been inspected. Now that is finished, the next phase will be to insulate and drywall. After that will be the hardwood flooring and cabinets.
Simultaneously, they will begin on the outside of the house, installing the siding and the stone.
Also, it looks like the roof is complete. All the shingles have been installed.
This next phase is supposed to take about 2 months to finish. That will put us at the end of April. Then the finish work begins which is about 1 month. That phase will be to install the plumbing and electrical fixtures, painting the walls and laying the carpet.

Power, Water and Cabinets

2008-02-21T20:26:00.002-06:00

We picked out our plumbing fixtures last week. I think we did really good. We were able to get pretty much what we wanted and we were under our budget allocated. We were even able to get the pot-filler over the range.Last Saturday we did a walk-through for the electrician's work. Everything was pretty much the way it was supposed to be. We only found a few things that needed to be changed or fixed. One big thing that we discovered was in the Laundry Room. The setup for the washer and dryer was backward from how you traditionally see it. Since both of these are going to be front load, the doors on these open away from each other. After we pointed it out, Dave was quick to say that it was an error on the draft and that it would be fixed right away. This must have happened because we flipped the plan when we found this lot.We also finally settled on what our kitchen cabinets were going to look like. To give you a summary:The wood is alder, the door sytle is French Country Square and the color is Wheaton with a black glaze. We are going to do the island, the hood over the range and the cabinets under the range in Black with the Regent door style. You can see these individually at http://www.crystalcabinets.com or in the showhouse on http://www.tdbuilders.com.

Wiring

2008-02-13T21:17:00.001-06:00

Wiring 2008-02-13 20
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The electrician has started wiring the house. It looks like most of the can lights and lighting outlets have been placed. Also, a lot of the basic electrical wiring has been run to the various outlets and light switches. Data and phone has not been run yet. We're going to wait and see what the budget allows for him to fun as far as data cables go. Anything that he doesn't run will be run by me for data cables.
It also looks like they've started to put the shingles on the roof. The back of the house has shingles on it right now.
I've posted more pictures on flickr.

These Aren't Microsoft Windows

2008-02-02T12:07:00.001-06:00

Master Bath Window 1 2008-02-02
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

We've got windows! The framers are done, we've got tarpaper on the roof, the windows are in and the plumber is pretty much finished roughing in. We've taken some pictures of some of these things and posted them on our Flickr site.
We are really excited for how good our window looks in the master bathroom. (As seen here.)

That looks like a house

2008-01-27T10:26:00.001-06:00

Framing 2008-01-26 14
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Now that they've started framing the roof, it's really starting to look like a house now. We were really suprised at how large the bonus room looks since the other rooms looked so small. We might just be getting better at feeling room size.
I put up a few more pictures today on Flickr.

Second Floor Well Underway

2008-01-23T14:15:00.001-06:00

Framing 2008-01-23 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Looks like the second floor is about done. They have both bedrooms, the bathroom and the loft area framed and are beginning to frame the bonus room above the garage.
Up until now we have been looking at the house and saying "it looks so small." Even now, when we are standing inside each of the rooms, they feel small. After talking with friends that built we learned that they felt the same way. Apparently the size of the rooms doesn't really hit until the drywall is up.
Another thing we've noticed is how big the window holes seem. I know that once the windows are in they won't be nearly as large but I found it an interesting paradox.

1st Floor Walls

2008-01-14T14:14:00.001-06:00

Framing 2008-01-11 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

As of Sunday, January 13th the 1st floor walls were up. They had the basement sealed up and several propane heaters had been put down there to thaw and dry the dirt underneath so that they can pour the basement floor.
We met our builder's partner, Tom, on Sunday. Seems like a really nice guy. He said that the framing company will have all their guys on site and they expect to have the second floor and roof framed by Friday. We have our fingers crossed.

Subfloor Complete

2008-01-09T09:06:00.001-06:00

Framing 2008-01-05 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Saturday we went out to see how far the framers had gotten. We were excited to see that the subfloor was complete but selfishly, we had wanted to see some walls up. We plan on making a trip out over lunch today to see what the progress is. I know that there is now a pallet of framing lumber on the lot so there should be some progress on the walls. I hope.
I'd like to be able to get out to the lot on a daily basis but it's far enough from my work that it would take my entire lunch with the drive time of the round trip. By the time I pick up our daughter from school and get out to the site, it's pretty dark. I'm sure that as the building progresses the days will get longer and we'll be able to see more later in the day.

We've Got Wood!

2008-01-03T18:29:00.001-06:00

Framing 2007-01-03 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The framer's equipment showed up on the lot Friday, December 28th and the steel beams arrived Monday, December 31st. Today we drove by and saw that the wood had arrived and the framers were already making progress. This last week has been really cold, the average high temperature has been below 20 F. We're really excited because this Sunday the high is supposed to be 50 and the rest of the week it's supposed to be in the 40s. Hopefully they will take advantage of the nice weather and make a lot of progress.

I've posted some pictures of the Framing, Waterproofing and what the land looks like with the Backfill. Enjoy.

Two Weeks

2007-12-19T11:20:00.000-06:00

The foundation has to sit for two weeks before the framers can start. In the mean time we're reviewing some things that we've been talking about with Dave and beginning to make some decisions on finishes.
Some things that we're going to do:
Add permanent escape ladders to one of the 2nd floor bedrooms and the bonus room.
Add a gravitational hot water loop so that we will have hot water as soon as we turn on the faucet, even on the 2nd floor.
Add network cabling to most of the rooms in the house, including the garage.
Place under-cabinet outlet strips in the kitchen so there are no outlets on the walls.
We're also trying to decide what the hearth room wall with the fireplace will look like.
And finally, we've decided to go with a geothermal "ground-to-air" heat pump for heating and cooling. As a side benefit, there is an adapter to push excess heat into the water heater to reduce the cost of heating that as well.

Foundation

2007-12-13T12:22:00.001-06:00

Foundation 5
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Not only did they put the forms up on Wednesday, they also poured the foundation on Wednesday as well. I'm not sure how long the foundation has to set before we can move on to the next stage but Dave told us that as soon as the foundation is poured he's going to have us start making some decisions. I can't wait!

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow

2007-12-10T09:15:00.000-06:00

It snowed 4 inches Thursday and it's going to snow about the same amount tonight. It's was also about 10 degrees out this morning. Dave said that the plan is to put the foundation forms up on Wednesday and pour on Thursday. In order to offset the longer set time in the cold, they will add calcium chloride to the mix. I've done a little reading on this just to see what the effects of adding this are. Apparently the concrete has the same strength with this as without, it just sets faster.
Let's hope that the weather holds out after tonight so that they can do the work needed later in the week.

My, What Big Feet You Have

2007-12-06T15:47:00.001-06:00

Footings 3
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The footings were dug and poured yesterday. It's kinda neat to see their placement as it compares to the houseplan. All those squares and circles are starting to make sense now.
They covered the footings with hay, I'm guessing to help keep them warm until they dry.
To add to the fun, it snowed about 4 inches today. I have no idea what this will mean for the foundation guys as I havn't talked to Dave to ask him.
More pictures on Flicker that you can link to from the right.

Compacted Soil

2007-11-28T14:11:00.001-06:00

Compaction 2
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

Went out to the lot today and watched them compact the new dry soil. The engineers have been measuring the compaction rates and are very pleased with the results. They want a measurement of 90 and are consistently getting over 105.
I have no idea what that is but they are very happy with it.
It was 36 degrees when I was out there at Noon. Hopefully the weather holds out so that the footings can be poured this week.

That's What She Said

2007-11-27T13:04:00.000-06:00

The diggers scooped out 4 feet of wet goop from the already existing hole and found that the earth was hard underneath. This is excellent because it means that we will be starting with a solid base on which to lay the dry soil on. As they lay the soil and compact it, an engineer will do a compaction test at each foot to make sure all is as it should be. Once this is complete, a final analysis will be done to determine if there is still a need for spread footings and additional tile work. If not, the overall improvement costs will not be as high as first estimated.
Tomorrow they should be done with filling and the foundation guy can begin the work of pouring the footings and then the foundation.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-21T21:38:00.000-06:00

What a great way to go into the Thanksgiving holiday! The new engineering firm finished their research on our lot and said that they could find no plausible cause for the water other than the pond. They said that this area of the development was a "cut" or high area (as opposed to a low area that was filled.) The development company has authorized them to reconstruct the pond with an impermeable liner in the spring.
There will need to be a few things done to improve the excavation so that it can be built on. Part of this is replacement and compaction of dry soil. Another part is to use a spread footing and a more extensive tile system as insurance.

We have asked our builder to find out what assurances we will have, preferably in writing, that if we have water problems in the future that the developer will take care of them.

As long as the answer to this is acceptable, work will begin on the foundation on Monday.

Yea!

Engineers Galore

2007-11-16T16:50:00.000-06:00

Our builder had a meeting with the land development company on Wednesday. They are going to hire another geotech engineering firm to do a comprehensive study of the lot and determine definitively if it is the pond that is causing the wetness. If it is, they will either fix the pond or they will fill it in. They have also offered to pay half of what the cost of what the additional waterproofing will be on the house.
As I stated before, if it turns out that it's not the pond and it's a water table or natural spring, we'll have to locate another lot.
Sigh.

Wait...Some More

2007-11-14T11:39:00.000-06:00

Well, we still have nothing more than a hole in the ground. And one section of it is still damp. Our builder, Dave, is in the process of working with the land development company to see what help they are going to provide.
I'm hoping that we hear back today about stuff but I'm not holding my breath. I just hope that we get something resolved this week.
If we stick with this lot (that's right, there's a possibility of moving to a 3rd lot) we'll have to do quite a bit of work to make sure that some time in the future we don't get water in the basement or have settlling problems with the foundation. The engineers say that they can engineer around this and make sure the house is ok but it will just cost money.
The biggest thing that I'm concerned with is that if we have to fork over more money for waterproofing we won't be able to do the Geothermal (or ground-to-air heat pump as it's called).
As Dave has told me, "A week won't make us but it could certainly break us." Meaning that taking a week longer up front to do thing right won't hurt us but if we don't take the time now, we may end up paying for it in the long run.

Water in the Hole

2007-10-29T13:38:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, when they dug the hole, the bottom of it was rather wet. Dave went out there this morning with a geotech engineer to look at it. They took a soil sample and looked over the entire layout. From the sounds of it, the engineer wasn't overly concerned. He's going to write up a report and get it to Dave by tomorrow morning with his recommendation. Dave believes that it may be the frog pond behind our lot that may be the source of the water. He talked with the land development company about it and they are "extremely receptive to assist in any way they can." They are going to send out their engineering firm tomorrow or Wednesday to assess the lot, the pond, etc. to determine what the problem might be and what they can do to remedy.
Even between yesterday and today the ground had dried out noticibly. So in the mean time, we're going to let the ground dry out and wait.

Holy Excavated Dirt, Batman!

2007-10-28T13:48:00.001-05:00

Excavation 1
Originally uploaded by lander_quill

The permits from the city came in earlier than they had said so Dave fired the start gun and things are off and running. The excavators were suppsed to start digging either Thursday or Friday but they had problems with one of their pieces of equipment. Fortunately, the owner of the company said that he'd come out and dig the hole on Saturday.
We went out and watched him dig for a little while and then came back when he was finished. We noticed that the bottom of the hole had ruts from the Catapiller about 1 1/2 feet deep. He said that he actually had gotten stuck at one point and had to rock himself out.
He's not sure why it was so wet. He's recommending that we get the soil tested, which will delay pouring the footings. Surprise, another delay. Hopefully it won't be too long and they'll be able to get the foundation poured next week. Keep your fingers crossed.

Stakes Anyone?

2007-10-22T11:33:00.001-05:00

Survey Stakes 7

Today the surveyors were due on the lot to stake out the house. Dave got to the lot a little bit after they were supposed to be there and found that they had come, done their thing, and left already.
Dave looked everything over and it all looks good. He explained what all the markings on the stakes meant and what the result of the survey was. The good news is that the front/side of the house will have 7 feet of the foundation exposed so we can have a daylight basement on that side of the basement. The driveway will rise a height of 3 feet by the time it reaches the house.
I posted some pictures of the lot with the stakes on it.

Cabinet Doors

2007-10-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

We've been tasked to pick out the design of the cabinet doors for the kitchen. Once this decision is made, 1 door will be ordered and given to the interior decorator. From that door, and an interview, she'll know our style and begin shopping for elements of the house. So, no pressure on this decision.
We are going with Crystal Cabinets. As I've stated before, we're going for a "Craftsman Style" house. Based on that, Dave the builder (no relation to Bob) suggested that we avoid miter cuts (45 degree joints) and stick with box cuts (90 degree cuts). Along with the door design, we need to decide on wood and color. We like the look of both the Red Oak and the Alder, which is convenient because those are both the least expensive woods available (inexpensive, not cheap, is our motto.) If you look at the featured home on Thomas David's web site, the kitchen cabinets in that house are Alder.
image 1
image 2
image 3

Ready...Set....GO!

2007-10-11T13:41:00.000-05:00

We closed on the construction loan yesterday afternoon. The new lot is paid for so Dave was able to get the survey. He ran over this morning to apply for the permits. Right now they estimate 3 weeks for the permits to be issued. In the mean time, the surveyers can get out to the lot and stake the borders. Dave will also be able to figure out the elevation of the house. The land slants from the back 186th street-side corner down to the front Nina street-side corner. Hopefully this will mean that we can have a side-daylight basement window.
We were excited during the signing of the documents all the way up to the "Truth in Lending" document. That's the one that says how much money you'll have paid the bank at the end of your loan. Wow! I really didn't need to know that number.

Assessment Finally In

2007-10-02T16:23:00.000-05:00

The bank's assessment of the plan finally came back today. We were hoping that it would be more than 5% of what the cost was so that we don't have to bring any money to the closing. The final number came back in at almost $30,000 above cost so we are well above the number that we needed.
That is such a relief. Now we can continue to squirrel our money away in savings so we have that much more to add to the down payment.

2 Green or not 2 Green?

2007-10-01T11:25:00.000-05:00

We started looking at geothermal heating and cooling. Here's what we found out:
Geothermal involves the use of wells on your property, piped into the house and into a heat exchanger. The system uses no gas, it is all electric. For our house we would need 5 or 6 wells. Upfront cost is as much as twice the cost of traditional systems. For our house a conservative number would add $10,000 to install a Geothermal system.
Payback on heating and cooling costs is about 3 to 5 years. For the 5 year estimate that works out to a savings of about $166/month. (These are all estimated numbers.)
There is no outside unit for this setup.
The only down side, apart from the increased up-front cost, is that the heat exchange unit seems to only last about 15 years.

I have set up a poll on the right side of the blog to get people's opinions. Please feel free to comment on this as well.

Loan Application

2007-09-30T14:24:00.000-05:00

We filled out the official loan application papers for the construction loan on Friday. We had a brief scare when we saw the "monthly payment" We had done the calculations on our own and thought we knew what number to expect but when he told us that the number he showed us was without taxes included Jill and I both just about fainted. It took me a couple seconds to realize that the number was based on 100% of the construction loan. Once our down payment generated from our current home sale was added into the mix the number came back down to what we were expecting.

Of course we're still waiting on the assessor to come back. We're hoping it comes back Monday. Keep your fingers crossed that it comes back 5% above cost.

Front Door Example

2007-09-25T19:07:00.001-05:00

Front Door Example

We thought we'd share some choices that we've made already. One of these is the front door. In maintaining the craftsman style of the house, we've decided to nail this point home from the moment you see the front of the house.
This is a sample of what the front door will look like. I'm not sure of the exact shade that we will go with but I'm pretty sure it is going to be oak.

Draft of house

2007-09-25T09:22:00.001-05:00

Draft of house

Here's a picture of what the house is going to look like. Almost. Since we changed lots, the house is actually going to be flipped so the garage will be on the right and the front porch will be on the left.
The style of the house is craftsman. The house color is in question right now. There is one particular shade of green that we believe will look good but we need to finalize this decision. The trim work around most of the house will be white. The front porch will be all exposed cedar.
We are thinking about having the front porch cement colored and waxed. The fear we have of waxing it is making it too slick in the winter. It looks REALLY good though. This may be a case of form over function.

Waiting

2007-09-24T09:30:00.000-05:00

We were warned that there would be a lot of waiting during the house building process. That is completely true. Last week we were waiting for the subdivision's development company to approve the house plan. We were a bit worried because our house does not have a full brick or stone front and the covenant requires it. Out builder, Dave, reassured us that he had driven through the subdivision and there were a number of houses that did not have a full brick front. Sure enough, the development company came back and approved the plan.
Once that approval came back, we turned thing over to the bank. Now we are waiting for their assessment of the plan. We are hoping that they assess it at 5% above the actual cost. If it is, we won't have to put any money down for the construction loan.

I love waiting.

Pictures up

2007-09-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

I have put a link off to the right to the pictures that I've taken so far.
Currently, there are pictures of the floorplan and of the lot.
I'm going to try to keep these pictures updated so check there often.

How many stories do you want?

2007-09-21T16:19:00.000-05:00

The first big decision we had to make was whether we were going to build a Ranch style or a Story and a half. Our main driving force was that since this house is going to be "the last house we every buy" we wanted to make sure that the master bedroom was on the main floor. This way, when we get old and break a hip, we won't have to go up and down stairs.
We decided on the story and a half. We did this mainly so we would have some bedrooms that weren't on the main floor. This inadvertantly made it so our daughter has her own suite upstairs. She's not spoiled at all, is she?
I'm going to try and post pictures so you can see the floor plan.

Lots of Lots

2007-09-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

In our infinite wisdom we decided to try to get ahead of the game and purchase a lot before we had a houseplan. We found a great corner lot (because we wanted a "side-load" garage) in the Millard Park South subdivision. We purchased it in April 2007 and figured we would start dumping money into it because every dime we put into it now could be used as part of the down payment on the mortgage. We purchased the lot for $30,950 which was a pretty good price for the lot, which is a little over a 1/4 acre in size.
Fast-forward to September, after we have made all the big money decisions on the house, the bank tells us that the subdivision won't support the house so they won't be able to loan us the money for the full amount.
Crud!
We have two options: 1. Change the plan for the house to decrease the amount it will cost or 2. Sell this lot and buy another.
We decided to go with option 2 because we really like the layout of the new house. This of course is not as easy as it sounds. We still want a corner lot that allows us to have a side-load garage, we want the driveway to face at least partially South-West and we want the back of the house to face as much East as possible. Tall order.
Fortunately, with the assistance of our builder Dave, we were able to locate a new lot. This one is even further West than the other lot which means an even longer drive to work for Jill. She has said that she'll cope and says it adds about 10 minutes each way to her drive.
We have put an earnest deposit on the lot and have signed a purchase agreement so once we close on the contstruction loan, the lot will be ours.
The new lot is in West Bay Springs, a lovely subdivision with several beautiful ponds scattered throughout it. The new lot was $39,000. Just a little more than the old lot but not too much.
Of course, we still have the old lot in Millard Park South that we need to sell...
If you know anyone who's looking to build, let me know we have a lot "priced to sell".

Thomas David...doesn't he make hamburgers?

2007-09-21T13:33:00.000-05:00

When we decided to build a new house we wanted to make sure that it was OUR house, meaning we wanted to have complete control over every little piece of the house. Since we don't know anything about building houses that means very little.
What we did know was that we wanted a floorplan that we chose instead of just choosing from a handful of floorplans. We looked at floorplans on dozens of web sites and went through a seemingly endless number of magazines looking for the "right" floorplan. We had seen a house with a nice open living area where the living room, breakfast nook and kitchen were open to one another but still felt like they were their own distinct rooms.
Finally, we went through the Spring Parade of Homes and came across a house that we really liked. It wasn't really the house itself, or the floorplan, it was just the way it was built and the little things about the house that said that this builder cared about what he did.
Enter Dave. We met with Dave, of Thomas David Fine Homes and instantly clicked. He seemed to understand exactly what we were looking for and drew up a floorplan based on our multiple converstations that we love. We've already run into a few snags in the pre-construction process but with Dave's advice, we've been able to deal with them relatively stress free.

About this blog

2007-09-21T11:06:00.000-05:00

So, Jill and I have decided to build a new house. Our current house is OK but there are too many little things wrong with it for our liking. I think the hope is that with a new house we'll have a clean slate and we'll feel compelled to keep it in good condition. Also, the thought is that this new house is going to be the one we live in for the next 30+ years.
We'll be posting comments, pictures and progress info as we go along so hopefully this will help document the house building process.