Updates....

Insulation has been completed and we will have sheet rock in the next few days...


One half of the garageDownstairs in the family room; the back half with the bathroom and laundry room
Back half of the downstairs
Our bathroom off the master bedroom
Dining room




Looking through our bedroom wall into the boy's room












Our deck that Dad put up for us...next will be the railing and stairs

One more hurdle crossed

We passed our inspection on the plumbing, framing, and electric. Dad has finished all of his "little" things, the propane piping will be done Wednesday and we are ready for insulation on Thursday. As soon as that is done the sheet rockers are ready to go...we may have walls before the end of the year (or at least in the first couple of days in January). It is so exciting when there is progress being made and you can see it. There have been some periods of time that just seem to go so slowly!!! I am happy to being moving along again.

I have no new pics, but things are slowly coming along. The rough electric and plumbing are done. We have to have an inspection next week of the plumbing, electric, and framing. Then dad has to run the wire for cable and phone. The back deck flooring is almost done. They've lost many days this past week to work on it due to rain and now snow.

We've made a final decision on the kitchen and are now picking out counter top. I've been deciding colors for rooms because before I know it we'll be doing that. We have to go back and make final decisions on tile and get that ordered too. I know there are more decisions, just don't know what they are.

The excavator is supposed to work on getting the driveway in and the leech field, but that probably won't happen with all of this snow and more to come on Saturday.

Siding is complete

I finally got to the house to take pictures of the finished product. I love the way the house looks with the siding and front porch!! The color is gray, but depending on the way the sun hits it it does look different.


The side of the house


The back of the house...there will be a deck off the upstairs door.


The garage side of the house

The attic (from one end...as much as I could get)

The living room

The dining room

The kitchen


Looking down into the foyer...the stairs to the left go up to the walk up attic

So Manny and I took advantage of having no kids today we did some shopping. We went to look at kitchen cabinets and counter tops. We actually came to a mutual decision pretty quickly. The guy is going out to the house tomorrow morning to measure and do a layout to give us some ideas and prices. After my sonogram we went to look at tile. This is a whole different story. We pretty much don't agree on anything. Everything Manny likes, I despise. He didn't like much of what I picked out either. We had to (according to him) make decisions today. This was my first time looking and I didn't want to be pressured into anything. He had been there already and looked at tile. We did agree of tile for the downstairs family room and kitchen. I know what I want for one upstairs bathroom, just have to find it. I sill have to decide what I am doing in the other bathroom. I couldn't make anymore decisions today...I need to go back another day.

Dad, Chris and the duct work guy worked at the house again today. Chris helped with the duct work and Dad worked on the plumbing. The stairs are being delivered tomorrow and when Dad gets time and help he will install them. The electrician is starting Wed or Thursday and we had to decide for every room where and what we wanted as far as lighting and fans for the wiring. Siding guy will begin work this week, at least we already have those decisions made. Soon we'll have to pick out inside doors and door knobs as well as for the kitchen cabinets. I don't even know what else we have to decide on. I never knew there were so many decisions to make in building a house. Don't get me wrong, I am glad we are picking everything out and not moving into someone else's designs.

I hope to get there once the stairs are up and take some pictures. I have been told to not climb the ladder anymore, it is too dangerous being that I am pregnant.

Progress this week

This week Dad got a lot done at the house. He worked on the rough plumbing and also helped the guy do the vent work for the heating and cooling. Uncle Chip was also there all week lending an extra hand and cleaning up. We appreciate more than we can say how everyone has been helping out.

The last two weeks seemed to show so much progress. We went from having a foundation, to having a house with windows and doors. The next few stages will go slowly and won't show much progress in pictures. Dad has started his plumbing work and he will finish up (he hopes) just in time for the electrician about (9 days away). We picked out garage doors and stairs, so they will be the next things to be installed. We have to be measured for siding and that will have to be put on. I know we'll have to be picking out tile soon enough and that overwhelms me. There are so many slight variations of colors and shapes and sizes. I don't always have much interest in decisions we have to make, but one thing I stand strong about is the refrigerator we get. Sorry Manny but you are never going to win that one. You've gotten your way with the color of siding, garage doors, front door and probably more than I am thinking of right now.

Windows and doors

Here is a picture to show you the color of the roof shingles...there is a variation of dark and light gray.


The guys came today and put in the doors and windows. I LOVE the way it looks. I love the front door and all the others. As soon as it dries up some I will take photos of all sides of the house, but for now I am not walking through the mud. The sliding glass door downstairs and the French door out of the kitchen have the blinds inside the glass...aahhh, will be so easy to clean!! Manny stopped up at the house on the way to work and said the guy was there measuring for the stairs. As soon as they get made and put in I can walk upstairs and up into the walk up attic to check everything out. I did climb the ladder last week to look around, but not everything was done at that point. Dad is in Myrtle Beach winterizing the condo, but as soon as he gets home he will start the plumbing and duct work for the heating/cooling. The electrician will be in soon to do that and we need to get estimates for siding. I guess we are so involved being that Dad is our GC. I love knowing what is going on and seeing the progress...the tough part is all of the decisions. (and agreeing on them with the hubby)

The windows and doors should be put in tomorrow and the roof is already done (sorry my pictures are slacking).

It's a little dark, but you can get the idea of what the house looks like...to me it looks just like it's supposed to according to the blueprint. I stopped there as it was getting dark and didn't have my camera, so I took the picture with my phone.

Almost done!

The guys got a lot done today and it is so exciting!! Tomorrow they will hopefully finish up by finishing the sheathing and roof sheathing and building the front porch. The roofer is ready for Wednesday, as long as there is no rain.

Not much progress and frustration elsewhere

With the rain on Friday not much got done. The guys came and worked half a day on Saturday to put on the "sheathing", that means the plywood around the outside. Mom, Dad, Manny, the kids and I all went up there this afternoon to clean up a little. I swept out the sawdust from the downstairs and dad picked up all the wood pieces to throw in a pile and he burned some of them. The kids helped pick up junk on the floor and Little Manny made it his mission to pick up every nail he found and put them in a neat pile, all while eating lollipop after lollipop. I know I am not a good mother for letting him eat all that sugar, but truthfully it kept him busy and out of my hair. The kids were great up there!! Mom and Manny were out front cutting back brush in front of the stone wall. The stone wall that is not really on our property, but no one is messing with, or every has....until the new neighbors who own the lot down in back show up. Their driveway borders our side lawn. They are having a very long driveway down in and their excavator has been there clearing it all up. Well, they have decided to put in a modular and need 40 feet of clearance to be able to cut the corner to get it down their driveway and guess what is in their way???? The trees (our only privacy in the front) and the stone wall. So they start off saying the trees need to come down because the electric company needs them down to put a pole for their electric (found out later that is a lie...will explain after) and then they tell us they don't care what we say they asked the man who supposedly owns the land and road (we are on a private road) and he told them they can do what they want. So they pretty much said to us they'll do as they want. They kept assuring us it would just be one tree for the electric and then the husband says and the stone wall too for the modular. (now we knew they were going to bring that up because their excavator had told us they wanted part of our frontage and property to bring their modular over. We are not okay with destroying the stone wall and cutting down all the trees because it adds character as well as privacy. When I asked him if he was going to have the stone wall rebuilt he told me no they would just put the rocks in a pile. Mind you this is the first time we have ever met this couple, needless to say we won't be BBQing together. We never settled anything because it was almost 7pm, dark and I needed to get the kids home to eat dinner. As we left they told us the tree was being cut down tomorrow, they were just letting us know. Now, we are all upset and disgusted, I couldn't even eat dinner. Dad told us he was there when the owner met with the electric company contractor because he wanted to find out about where our pole was going. Dad also said that the electric company pointed out the spot where the pole would go and it was going there so no trees would be cut down (because they wouldn't do it). This guy was going to have a trench dug over from the pole then down his side all the way to the back. So them telling us tonight that the tree was for the electric is a lie, I wish we had known that when it came up or at least called Dad over to remind him of that. We know it is all for their modular. So, we've decided that they are not being very nice at all and very inconsiderate, so we are planting trees ASAP on our property line at that corner and piling up rocks (we have a ton because we need to take down the stone wall on the other side for our driveway) at that corner as well. Two can play their game. They then won't be able to touch anything on our property and they won't be able to make the turn with the modular. Maybe they can ask the man who gave them the permission to cut down our trees, to cut down his trees and knock down his stone wall, being that he lives on the other side of the driveway. I am off to eat, I feel a little better after venting...it's not over though!!

Day 2

Looking at the front of the house, they put up the 2nd floor today. If the weather holds up they'll get the flooring down for the attic and then the roof pitched.


Side view of the house; downstairs is the family room/playroom and upstairs left corner here is the dining room and the front or right side is the living room


Back of the house...starting at the left is our master bedroom and bathroom, the main bathroom and then the kitchen and dining room


Over the garage to the left will be the boys' room (sounds so funny to say being that the little muchkin is still months away) and our room on the right (Taina's room is around front)

We've made progress!!

I am so excited that we actually have something to look at now. The guys started framing today and I stopped by after work to see the progress. It looks great to me!! I didn't want to be in their way so I just walked around the outside but could see the whole layout of the 1st floor. I see how big the family room is and where the bathroom is. We have been anxiously, but patiently awaiting this day and I am so thankful the rain held off.


The front of the house

The garage

Looking out the back of the family room

Looking through from the garage

We have a floor...

The beginning process

Manny wasn't sure about what was going on

Smoothing the floor


Pop Pop and Manny watching the guys working....
Manny got pretty brave by this point.

The finished product....they'll have to keep smoothing it all
day, but it looks good to me to finally have a floor!!!

See Manny's website for more pictures of him enjoying the morning!!

We passed!

George came back out to inspect us today, after Dad had to keep calling to see about getting another inspection. He passed us after asking questions about the radiant heat. My take on the situation today is that George doesn't know much, so instead of finding out or passing off to someone else, fail the people and let them do extra work. We are going to request "not George" on further inspections. The floor should be poured Saturday morning and the framer hopes to be there by the end of next week. Things move much slower than you hope!! I'll bring Little Manny to the house on Saturday so he can see the cement truck. He loves big trucks and machinery.

Set back

So we had another inspection this morning and a big disappointment. We have decided to do radiant heat in the basement and put better quality everything in than were required. Well, the inspector, GEORGE, decided that because it was not part of the blueprint, we need to revise the blueprint. He also wants us to dig up 2ft around the entire inside of the foundation so he can see the specs of the insulation.....yet the last inspector last week passed it, before the dirt was filled in and the rocks put down and made all perfect.....the framer was supposed to be there sometime next week....will that still happen? We are all so mad and disappointed....Mom, we may still be here when the baby is born....

The new "playground"

Here's the real work being done. Dad is laying the piping for the gutter drains.

Behind the scenes

Not much is going on to show pictures of. The excavator has been busy dumping stone and putting down the footing drains. We have to have that inspected and then he can back fill around and then inside the house. From there the plumber will do rough plumbing and then the floor can be poured. We made important decisions tonight after an afternoon spent at Lowe's for ideas. Dad is going to order the windows and doors this week. What tough decisions there were to make in picking out doors. We found a front door we like (that door alone puts us over where we budgeted) and French doors out of the walk out basement. I love the invention of blinds in between the glass doors!! We also have to have our tubs and shower ordered this week to be delivered before they frame (which should be the first week of October). Dad found us the tub we wanted so badly. My parents have this awesome, deep, huge oval shaped tub in their condo in Myrtle Beach. After being there this summer we were spoiled and opted to give up the stand up shower in our bathroom if he could find us "their" tub. Well folks, my dad never lets me down, he found the tub the other day!! All of this decision making excites me as we move forward in our process.

Hubby tars the foundation

Manny got to do some work at the house yesterday. Our GC (dad) set Manny up and he tarred the foundation. Manny was so proud of his work he took me there to see it. Our next step is the plumber (dad) needs to do some rough plumbing, stone needs to go around the outside of the foundation and then back filled and the floor can be poured. I am still looking at the end of September for the house to be framed. I can't wait to see more progress.

Framework for foundation walls

Here is the framework for the foundation walls. The cement was poured yesterday and the frames came off today. We went to see the results today and it looks awesome!! Of course my batteries were dead so I'll go tomorrow to get pictures.

The walls are going up

The mason was at the lot today putting up the framework for the foundation walls. Tomorrow we have the inspection of that and the cement truck is to be there in the afternoon sometime. It's so exciting that things are actually happening and we are slowly progressing. My hope way back in June, before we even closed, was to have a foundation before I went back to school. By the looks of things, that will be true. I am now thinking/hoping that we will have a framed house by the end of September. I think I am being very realistic. I'll have pictures tomorrow or Friday of our walls.

Decisions, decisions

Yesterday Manny and I went and walked the lot and imagined our house. It's awesome to be able to look at something and know that we will finally have our house. We also did some driving around to look at colors of siding with shutters and colors of front doors. I do wonder what some people were thinking when they chose colors. In order to not be one of those people, we decided we are not putting up shutters for the time being. We know our siding color, roof color and Manny has decided what kind of front door we'll have (I don't care). Now I just need to decide what color to make the door (I have 2 colors in mind). We were also back to discussing the kitchen. Our focus lately seems to be on the refrigerator. I have given into stainless steel (we had it in our condo and I hate to keep it clean, especially with so many tiny fingers touching it) but the set up is what separates us. I do not like the fridge and freezer side by side length wise, I like one on top of the other and I don't care which is where (we had the freezer on the bottom in the condo; that just makes it easier for Little Manny to get ice pops when he wants them). My husband wants side by side so he can have the ice/water maker on the door. Now I call that lazy because you can easily open the door and scoop out some ice cubes. I know they have the compromise fridge with the ice maker on the door and freezer still on the bottom, but we hadn't budgeted $2300 for a fridge!! Oh I am not giving in on this one!! You'll see who wins in the end (smile)!!

Footings

The footings were poured Thursday (thank goodness it didn't rain) and we just have to wait a week to pour the foundation. It seems funny to think about, but we have to pick out showers/bathtubs, windows and doors already. I don't like having to make decisions like that. I think I need to walk through some houses for ideas. We know what color siding we will do, but as far as a color of a front door and shutters?? Time to do my homework and make decisions. Way back Manny told me I can make ALL of the decisions, as long as I let him design the kitchen. Yes my husband likes to cook, I just wish it was more often than once a month. I think a stipulation will be involved with picking out the kitchen....you cook your 2 days off a week. (And don't think for even a second I won't offer any opinions ha ha)
Here are pictures of the footings being poured and my little Manny (with my dad) enjoying the big truck and dirt immensely.

The work that has been done recently

Digging for the footings and foundation

Out of order but before they started digging for the footings and foundation


Manny with Pop Pop walking in the ditch headed towards the backhoe


The excavator hard at work