Days 18-23 Moving Right Along (update with pics)

I've slacked this week on the blog.  Time is really flying - which is a GOOD thing during this process.  They've made a lot of progress this week.

Windows and doors were installed, then we got our stairs on Monday (which had been hanging out in our neighbor's garage).  My mom and I took our first "full" house tour Monday night :).  They also completed the house wrap and roof, and yesterday evening I was watching the guy install the garage door. It's really coming along.

Along with the blog slacking, I let time sneak up on me and haven't yet ordered the Roxul (insulation) that I want to use in the walls between a couple of rooms and around some of the plumbing areas.  I hope I am able to get it in time then I'll have to make sure I catch the small window of opportunity there is to get in and get the DIY insulation done.

here's what it looked like: Thursday 4/25

back view 4/25

morning room

closet of bedroom 4 looking into foyer

bedroom 2 (my future "me" room)

looking into the master bath

bedroom 4

bedroom 3

hard to get a pic of this side - master bedroom side

I like this pic - the sunset reflecting off the side

For Amy:  another half a lime in the midst of all the other debris; still no Corona :)

Speaking of construction debris/trash - is anyone else's lot just a disaster???  There is so much trash and junk strewn about...  I certainly hope the indoor crew isn't that messy :(

Day 17: Major Framing=Done

Keeping up the pace they got the roof done today, along with installing some random windows.

They also fixed the framing for a side living room and study window as well as created additional framing for another window in each of those rooms (separate post about the windows coming soon).  

I'm blown away by how fast they went, but I can't help but wonder if I should be thinking about the quality.  Guess I'll be able to catch the details as the build progresses - right now I'm just too happy :)

I arrived at about 6:30, just as they were finishing up and leaving.  There were a lot of dark clouds coming (was supposed to storm this evening) but the rain held off just long enough so I could take a tour inside :)

family room, morning room in the back of the pic

study

love this pic - that's a lot of wood
standing in the foyer looking up to bed 2 on the right and door to master and bed 4 on left

future site of front door and foyer window

dining room

living room

no, my yard is not this big :(
I'm standing on the tot lot behind my house

Day 16: Framing continues...

The awesome framing crew was at it again; today they got much of the 2nd floor done.

Day 15 - Framing!

This is what I drove up to today:

LR bay, front door, DR

That's practically a whole first floor in ONE DAY (crew started framing this morning).  I knew they went fast but this kind of progress really blew me away.

I was so excited that it was hard to get good pictures :)

back view-MR, FR, study

basement

garage in the back of the pic, then kitchen corner windows and morning room

windows and doors delivered today too!

Shout out to the BEST framing crew ever!!!

Day 13: Concrete poured

Quick update:  they were able to pour the concrete today.  Yea!  It was good to see this as I drove up (and kind of unexpected).  Next up: framing!

April Showers...

…bring muddy messes and wet wood :)   I had a meeting with PM on Friday to discuss some concerns with grading and drainage and as I drove up to the site I saw that there had been a delivery of the Lincoln Logs that will soon be my house.  It rained pretty good Friday morning so everything was a mess – it was a riot to watch me walk the lot I’m sure, but I didn’t fall :).  I noticed they were pretty haphazard when they dropped the wood (no nice neat stacks for me) so I’m hoping that while it’s sitting there wet and sunk in the mud that it will not warp.  There were also two lone windows laying right by the front curb.

We went by again on Saturday morning and they had dropped the rest of the wood; some on my lot and the roof trusses on a lot further down the street.

 

By Thursday evening (4/11), everything was ready for basement/garage concrete Friday.  Of course Mother Nature had other plans so concrete had to be postponed. PM told me during our Friday meeting that the concrete pour was scheduled for Monday and that framing was set to begin Tuesday.

Now it’s Monday and I’m hoping they will  be able to pour concrete today because after a beautiful weekend, it was raining again this morning.  It’s supposed to be dry the rest of today and tomorrow then rain every day the rest of this week.

…Rain, rain go away – come again after my house is under roof!

Day 9, 10 progress

It's coming together.  When I got there this evening the plumbing was in, basement floor prepped for concrete and backfill nearly complete.  Concrete is not far behind...

 I was hoping to get pictures of the plumbing before they covered it up, but I can't complain about progress!

I selected the three piece bathroom rough-in option but I was never told exactly what to be expecting.  Somehow this does not look complete:

On the floorplan, the shower is supposed to be along the wall on the right of the picture with the toilet and sink along the other wall.  I didn't get a better picture, but I didn't see a drain setup for the shower.

all ready for concrete

Day 8 - waterproofing and some backfill

Today's progress: waterproofing, which comes up way higher than I thought, and most of the backfill. I also saw the plumbing supplies were delivered - hopefully to be installed tomorrow :)

One of the things I noticed was all of the trash and debris; such a mess...  There was quite a bit around the base of the foundation on the outside as well as inside the basement.  I bet this stuff will just be buried by the backfill...

 

standing in the garage

back view (unfortunately standing way beyond property line)

down the welled exit, quite a few more steps down than I had imagined

front corner not yet backfilled

construction mess at the base of foundation - to be buried

plumbing supplies!

Family room TV placement

I've been trying to decide where to put the TV in the family room - normally not a decision that has to be made during construction; however, I have Guardian doing a flat panel pre-wire for it so I've got to get it installed in the correct location.  I know TVs are an eyesore but for me it's a necessary "design evil".  The TV going into this room is pretty large (51" now but we want to replace with something a little bigger)  and eventually we will be putting in some sort of surround sound.

For the longest time, I've thought the best place would be over the fireplace.  However, that would mean having outlets installed and drilling holes into the nice stone (messing up my pretty stone fireplace and removing the possibility of moving the TV without mounting something else to cover the mess).  There is one other wall the TV could be located on, but I don't know how to arrange the furniture for that placement.

I don't worry too much about the view of the TV from any room but this one; the kitchen is adjacent to the family room but there's actually a pretty decent view of either location.

So, I'm opening this up for your thoughts and comments.  Any opinion is welcome and appreciated!

Here are pictures of my two placement options:


above fireplace  (that's the kitchen and morning room to the left)





wall (where those pictures are now)




another view of the two walls; again, the kitchen is to the left