November...A Year Later

Soooo, it's been a little over a year since I last posted an update on the home build.  Quick and dirty, it was completed the week of Thanksgiving and we officially closed on the home Christmas eve.

The winter was unusually long and cold last year and we received a hard lesson in using propane for heating.  We found that once Spring hit and the cold spells subsided, the propane usage leveled off where we barely used 10% over the Spring, Summer, and early Fall of this year.  Not too bad for just using the stove and water heater.  We've had a couple of cold snaps within the last couple of weeks and have been keeping the use of heat to a bare minimum.  Although, I'll make the call tomorrow to schedule the tank to be topped off.  Merry Christmas!

Problems with the home to date include the water well pressure tank freezing and tripping the pump (eg. no water), the hot water heater randomly not heating, light bulbs from the interior recessed and exterior floods going out, gaps in the seals around the base of the doors, and a couple of outlets not working.  The air handler for some of the rooms appear to be weak, making it either warm in the summer or cool in the winter.  The hot water issue was a build up of calcium and other sediment around the filter and flushing the unit has helped.  Lights? Well, that's just replacing with new ones. The builder is coming this weekend to take a look at the other items and hopefully they'll be easy fixes.

A new home needs new landscaping.  After some research, I decided to go as native as possible for lawn grasses around the home.  We purchased some buffalo grass around March this year.  Prepped the front yard by raking and laying down the seed just before a weekend rain, but decided to go ahead and drop the seed all around the home.  I figure if it takes off, great, if it didn't, then at least I'd know what not to do.  As of this writing, sprouts of buffalo grass can be seen all around the front and back yards.  The side yards appear to be a different story as they're mostly sand and will require a bit more top soil.

Landscaping, for now it's what I like to call zero-scaping, meaning that other than a couple of lavendar plants and fruit trees, virtually nothing is being done at the moment.  Again, it will be native and we are working on ideas for around the home and around the front gate.

Odd things happening around here.  Well, there were the two billy goats that showed up out of no where and no one in the area claimed them.  They managed to slip on to our property while one of our fence lines was being replaced by our new neighbors, more on them later.  One of the other neighbors decided he'd take the two billies and has them fenced on his place now.  Most recently there have been sightings of what we call the ghost-goats.  A pack, herd, or whatever, have been mysteriously showing up around the easement outside our gate and even on the new neighbor's property.  I've seen them once as they walked towards the back of their property, haven't seen them since.  Evidence of their existence can be seen by the occasional newly nibbled or broken low lying branches or rubbed bark on the lower sections of the smaller trees, or even their droppings.

Another oddity was the morning we were headed out of town and found a new born fawn laying in the grass by the gate.  We snapped photos and went about our way to the dismay and concern of the girls.  Deer have become a regular sight around the place, as to be expected, and often wonder if one of them isn't the fawn we had "grow up" out here.  One morning, I happened to watch it encounter a skunk walking along the garden fence.  Disney's Bambi, live in my backyard.  They were both curious of each other, but Bambi got spooked as Flower began to raise her tail and took off like a rocket around the garden and into the woods.  So much for the Disney version.

Living in the country has been fun, entertaining, and peaceful...or at least until the first day of dove season.  The entire first day was filled with gun shots from all around, fortunately none too terribly close, but needless to say we didn't venture into the wooded areas along the back fence line where some gun fire took place.

Speaking of birds, our property is under a Wildlife Ag valuation for song birds, specifically Blue Birds, and we were fortunate to have a family of Blue Birds make their home in one of the boxes near the home.  Their timing was perfect as we had to submit a report for taxes and the photos of their eggs and nest only helped to solidify our Ag valuation.

Well, that's it in a nutshell.  So much more has happened, but perhaps future posts will help to bring those to light.

Stay Tuned!

November Update

Wow, time has really slipped away from us, it's been over two months since our last post.  Yes, a lot has happened with the house since then however, lots has also happened that have not been house-related.

We have hundreds of photos from the last couple of months, but rather than give lots of details, I'll hit just the highlights and get caught up to today.

Doors arrived and installed.

Grading around the house and prep for front sidewalk.

New gravel road. Yay, no more driving through the mud!

 The parking area to the side of the home.  Just a note, that white box on the side of the house between the windows will house the tankless water heater (photo later).

More doors and bathroom tiling installed.

 Fireplace!  Love the smooth stone hearth and mantle.

New sidewalk to front door!  Yay, no more stepping in the mud!

Yes! The front door has arrived!  Same wood as the cabinets, knotty alder.

Cabinets in and installed.

Rinnai gas water heater arrived...not installed. Remember that white box on the side of the house?

Light housings and lights installed.  Back porch has copper colored housings whereas the rest of the home has white.

Toilets installed, still no water run to home...yet.

A lot of the electrical is finally getting installed, including the fans.  Note that painting has also started by this time.

Alas! Things are truly taking shape. Appliances arrived, walls and trim painted, cabinets and front door stained, and lights getting installed. The island lights Jenn picked out really add character to the different shades of browns in the room.

Plumbing fixtures are getting installed.

Septic tank just arrived.  I snapped this as I was leaving for work one morning, the truck had just backed into place.  Kind of hard to see with the shadows, but it's a 1,000 gal tank.  Septic field getting started in foreground.

Just after the septic truck had arrived and I was leaving, I pulled off the drive to let the guy delivering the AC unit pass.  Ah, AC, just in time for the Fall!

Front porch lights installed.  There's a matching light just to the left out of the photo.  All outside outlets covers installed. 

Meanwhile, back inside the house the appliances are getting installed.  Looks like Christmas with all the open boxes, card board, and instructions laying everywhere. 

Another light chosen by Jenn, the dining light has a twelve...that's 12, individual lights.  We both liked it when we were picking out lights and knew it would match the look of the other fixtures, as well as the shape of the coffered ceiling above it.

Let there be LIGHT!!!  Electricity has finally been turned on.

C'mon in!

Living room at night. The hallway to the right of the fireplace is really bright, in fact, when all the living room lights are on, your eyes tend to squint.  Mop bucket is not a feature nor does it come with the house.

Dining room.

Kitchen, with counter tops, sink, faucet, appliances, and lights...lots of lights!

Master bath, now with cabinets, faucets, sinks, tub, lights, tiling, and counter tops!  Granite also arrived and installed.  The granite work is absolutely amazing, the cuts are perfect and seamless.  The mirror is not mounted, but just resting there for now.

The powder room vanity.  That's my "auction sink" I picked up from a local plumbing store that had closed.  I owe my uncle a big thanks for that as he's the one who turned me on to the auction house, not to mention other auctions.  My uncle was pretty proud of my little find and so was I.  

There was apparently a little mis-communication w/our cabinet guy in that he must not have received the specs I sent over regarding the sink.  It had all the dimensions and angles for the sink, instead the cabinet was a standard 36" vanity that didn't fit the sink at all.  Our builder and granite guy put their heads together and came up with the solution...and all was right with the world.

And finally, the backsplash has been completed in all bathrooms and kitchen as of Monday the 18th.

The propane tank arrived late last week and as of the weekend, the gas lines have all been connected and the plumbing lines from the well to the house have also been connected and turned on.  All utilities are now good to go.  

It's now the 3rd week of November, a couple of deadlines have come and gone.  Thanksgiving is next week and we're really hoping to have everything done and in by then, but there's still a number of items to be completed.

We'll see!

End Of August Update

Nope, the home has not been completed and we have not moved in.  A bit ambitious, I suppose.  It's that phase where it feels like things are progressing feverishly then the next moment if feels like nothing is happening.  That's occurred a couple of times this month, and as of this writing, we are in the drywall stage.  ETA for move-in is roughly within 45 days.

On with the show.

After a visit to the stone yard, we verified that we were getting the stone we thought we were.  Apparently the photo in the catalog was a little lighter than the actual stone.  Nevertheless, we were satisfied and the stone was delivered late that day.

August 3rd, the stone goes up.

August 5th, the stone goes on the back of the house.  Note the mid-morning shade.  Love those trees!

By the 8th, the whole back of the house is complete with the exception of the posts.

Oh wait...yep there's another shot of the back porch but now with the stone.

 View from bedroom door.

View from west wall of master bedroom.  Backdoor on right, living on left.

The fireplace will have the same stone as the exterior walls.

Kitchen plumbing and window, lots of wall for cabinet storage.

Three of many recessed lights and air duct...oh and the roof!

August 10th, front porch is almost done.

View of eastern wall.

An electrical outlet under one of the front corner eaves for Christmas lights.  It's the little things.

August 12th, the floor has been stained.

August 13th, front walls complete.

August 14th, stone work is complete.

August 15th, first sealant on the floor is complete.  Now you see it...

Now you don't!  Our builder puts down the protective floor covering.

August 21, drywall is here!

Jenn's ready to get started...let's go!!

August 24th, glass blocks for shower finally installed.  Again, it's the little things.

August 27th, insulation complete...in one day!  The white is blown-in-blanket (BIBs).

The grey...is not.  It's a form of EcoBatt insulation in the inside walls for sound reduction.  Both the BIBs and EcoBatt are both green alternatives to standard insulation with remarkable R values.

August 29th, drywall is up, rounded corners installed, and 75% tape and floated.  The west wall in the master bedroom.

Coffered ceiling in master bedroom.

View from fireplace back towards the kitchen, breakfast nook, and back door.

Kitchen...

And living, dining to the right.

Parting shot.  View of home and road leading down to the gate.

We've since picked out the tile for the bathrooms and kitchen, which should be going in fairly soon.  This past Saturday, we also picked out the lighting where the ladies at Legend Lighting were extremely helpful and patient with us.

Stay tuned!


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