All Coming Together

Well, a lot has happened this week.  Over last weekend, the carpet guy finally finished installing the carpet.  It took him about 4 or 5 days to do it.  I don't know why they only sent one person, but he plugged away and kept working over the weekend to finish up.  Friday (one week ago), the HVAC guys returned to finish installing the zoning system and to install the A/C.  Monday, the electricians came and installed most of the fixtures.  They were missing some bulbs and had the wrong rod for the ceiling fan in the family room, but we got over that and the house is looking just about done.  Tuesday morning, someone showed up and finished installing the baseboards in the areas where the laminate was installed.  Monday and Tuesday, we also got our rain gutters installed.  Wednesday we finally got our driveway poured!!! Weather has prevented this for the last two weeks, so it was great to see this finally happen.  Thursday, it rained and snowed, so we had to wait until Friday for our front stairs and back patio to be poured.  This week, they should pour our RV pad and the walkway to our front stairs.  Thursday and Friday, the hardware guy showed up and installed the doors, doorstops, towel racks, doorknobs, etc.  Hopefully, all this means we are in the home stretch!!  Here are the pics:

Here is our newly poured driveway.  It has been covered up with tarps and blankets ever since.

Here is the main bathroom with the fixtures installed.

The basement boys' bathroom. Sorry, Sarah, but you probably wouldn't want to use it anyway.

Here is a shot of the family room with the lights and fan installed.  The arrow was there to show a spot that needed touchup.



Here is a picture of the house in the evening with the outdoor lights on.

Here are some of the kids exploring the house. 

Matthew checking things out.



The garage door being installed.  I forgot what day this was.

Here are some of the carpet rolls waiting to be installed.

Carpet being laid out in the Master bedroom.



Here is the bonus room shower.



Here is the mud room.  It will be nice to finally have a place to stick all the shoes, backpacks, and coats.

Here is part of the kitchen with the appliances installed.

Another shot of the kitchen.

Here is a set of closet doors installed with hardware.

Here is the front entry with the lights that Rebecca picked out.

Here's the bonus room with the lights and fan installed.

Here is a shot of the kitchen with everything but the fridge installed.

This is part of the back patio that was poured on Friday.

Plumbing, Countertops, and a Small Leak

This week, the counter tops came in.  We also had the plumbers show up to do their finish plumbing work.  It is exciting to see the final details start to come together.  We also had the flooring just about finished up along with the fireplace.  The shower door and mirrors are in.  The carpet guy showed up today to start laying the carpet.  We also had the cement guys show up to prep the driveway, RV pad, front steps and back patio.  Unfortunately, we have had a bit of a cold snap lately and it has been too cold to pour the cement, so we are praying for better weather.  The soffit guy showed up and finished up the exterior soffit and fascia.  Everything is looking close to done.

We did have a bit of adventure after the plumbers left on Monday.  We were checking out their work when the shower door guy came and told us there was a water leak in the basement.  Sure enough, there was water leaking out the door frame of one of the downstairs closets.  I quickly ran over and shut off the water to the house.  They came in the next day and fixed it.  Now they have to redo some of the drywall to patch up the damaged areas.

Here are the pics:

Here's Rebecca checking out the counter top in the laundry room

Here the cement guys are putting down a heavy roadbase down for the driveway.  They had to dig quite a ways down to get through the frost.  This means that they have to backfill with the roadbase which is good for the driveway.

The plumbers showed up on the 16th with a garbage can full of fittings for the house.

Here's the kitchen sink.

The new mantle is in now.

Here is the Master tub.

And the Master vanity and sinks.

The shower got finished up as well.

Here is the main bathroom.

The bonus room with the carpet pad getting laid down.

Here is the bathroom in the bonus room.  Jill will be happy that there is more room to store her stuff when she comes up from Texas to visit.

Here is the pipe that was leaking.

Finally, my sink in the garage. 

Cabinets, Laminate, and lots of Culture(d Marble)

This week began by having the painters finish up the painting by painting the walls on the main floor and bonus room on Monday and finishing up with the walls of the basement on Tuesday.  On Tuesday afternoon, the kids got to go into the house for the first time in a while (we had kept them out while the painters were working).  They hadn't seen the finish carpentry or the closets or anything last week.  They had a blast exploring their new home, as can be seen in the pictures below. Wednesday began with both the Cabinets and the cultured marble guys showing up to work.  The cabinets went up all day Wednesday and Thursday while the cultured marble guys spent all day Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on our showers and windowsills.  Also, on Thursday morning, the laminate flooring installers came and worked all day Thursday and Friday.  They said they should be able to finish up on Monday.  All this activity is having us try and work with the bank on selecting when to lock our interest rate.  It also means that we are not too far away from moving in.

Josh and Daniel hiding in the pantry in the kitchen.  Apparently closing your eyes makes you invisible so that Mom and Dad don't see you.

Hiding again, this time in a built-in toybox.  I think they were pretending it was a casket or something.  Sarah joined them later on in there.

Yes, the closet shelves appear to be sturdy.

Sarah in the linen closet.

Here's a look at the stairs going into the bonus room.

Sarah looking down into the kitchen.

Here are the cabinets being put in for the desk that will be between the kitchen and the family room.

Here are the cabinets in the Master Bath.  They fit like a glove.

The Master shower is starting to be put in.

Here are the kitchen cabinets.

Here is the main bathroom.

This countertop is in the Laundry room.  These are the support pieces.  The coutertops are supposed to be in next week sometime.

Here is the kitchen with the laminate installers hard at work.

Another view of the kitchen as it comes together.

Here is the Master shower.  The builders gave us a choice of tile or cultured marble.  We chose the cultured marble because it is so much easier to clean than tile in a shower.