Day 59 - WOW!!!

Went to the house yesterday and here is all of the goodness we saw!!!

Day 47 - Working on Drywall

We aren't exactly sure when the drywall hanging began, but as of today, it has been hung.  Next week will be mud and tape and I think the trimwork will be the week after that.  Bricks are almost done, too.  We are looking forward to seeing them all shiny and clean with the shutters attached.

Our weekend was partially spent shopping for appliances.  We thought the $1300 upcharge for stainless was a bit ridiculous when we could get a new set of black for FREE.  So the plan is to Craigslist the black and purchase stainless on our own.  We don't mind a bottom-of-the-line range for now, but the dishwasher needs to be better than basic.  We have some "scratch and dent" appliance stores around here and Best Buy has some decent deals on their open box items, so we think we should be able to get a new set of stainless appliances for around $1000.  Then with $700 or so in sales from our unused black appliances, our out-of-pocket expense will be minimal. 

Here are some updated pics. 

Drywall & Bricks!

On Monday our PM told us that it would be best to avoid the house while the crew is hanging drywall because it's such a mess and pretty crazy.  We kept our distance for the last couple of days, but curiosity got the better of us and we had some time to kill, so we made the drive out to see if there was any progress.  It was pretty cool to see the brick going up.  The color is more muted than we planned on, but we think it will pop once they wash it.  The wrap actually looks a little more vibrant than the face of the house, so we're optimistic that it will all look great soon enough.  We then took a walk around the back.  We have been talking to landscapers and a K9 grass rep, so we wanted to get a better idea of how much space we'll really have to work with back there.  Once in the back we noticed that the drywall was already up in most of the downstairs and it looked like the crew was working upstairs.  So we made our way into the garage (where we saw our jamocha granite laminate countertops) and took a peek into the house.  Since nobody was on the main level, we felt comfortable that our presence wouldn't be an interruption and we quickly walked through and snapped some pics.  Everything is looking fantastic.  Hopefully we'll get to take a nice walk through over the weekend or next week, once things get cleaned up a bit. 

Next Week: Drywall!

The last couple of weeks have been full of activity and progress.  Our PM sounded a bit surprised and happy to tell us that things are actually ahead of schedule, with one exception:  bricks.  The city in which the house is being built requires the entire exterior to be complete prior to drywall.  That includes the brick.  Because the brick subcontractors are way behind and unable to work on the house before next week or the week thereafter, our PM was concerned that their delay would bring the construction process to a screeching hault.  However, he was crafty and got approval from the city to go ahead and wrap the front of the house with the material that goes between the wall and the brick and so long as that passed inspection, we could move forward without waiting on the actual brick.  Apparently everything went well during the inspection because they are starting drywall sometime next week.  We stopped by the house today and everything looks amazing.  Electric is done, guardian did their stuff, and the guys were wrapping up insulation today.  Looking forward now to Monday's pre-drywall walkthrough and to see how things progress next week.

Also noteworthy is how cool it is to see the neighborhood progress.  There was one house that started two weeks before ours and another that started about two weeks after.  The neighborhing house, a Yorkshire Elevation F, started framing this week and it looks like they might have a roof on Monday.  And there is one more lot that looks like ground was broken on this week (also a Yorkshire).  Pretty cool.

Front of house with wrap awaiting brick installation.

I took this to show the space between our house and the neighbors' house - love the lot size.

Originally we all thought a beige siding would look best, but ended up choosing this dark gray and have been nervous ever since.  But now that it's on, it has really grown on us.

Looking out toward the future dog yard and side of house with study bay window.  The 2nd egress window will also be right there below the family room windows.

People Yard

A glimpse of what the siding looks like with the brick

Direct set staircase.

Neighboring house and the one that's 2 weeks ahead of us in the distance.

So Much Progress On Day 31

We knew our PM was going to be right on top of things when he showed up to the pre-construction meeting with a half dozen highlighters and a rainbow colored plot plan for the house.  He has kept everything moving right along and has done an outstanding job of keeping us well-informed and completely in the loop.  This past week was no exception. 

The roof is done, plumbing, HVAC, furnace are in place.  Our direct set staircase was delivered today and was apparently a beast to carry into the house.  It will be installed on Monday.  Also on the agenda for next week is the basement framing (the cement was poured this week), electric, bricks, siding, and possibly another egress window.  It turns out our window isn't up to code as it requires a 36" clearance above the grate and our fireplace is unfortunately in the way.  Thus, it was decided that they could place another egress window on the wall perpendicular to the current window.  And that just means we will have even more light in the basement - kind of awesome, we think.

And, finally, pre-drywall is set for Monday, June 25th.  Can't wait!

Only one lonely photo this week.