Closing Date Set and House is Almost Finished

Our house is basically finished!  Our carpets are now in, our steps are stained and our propane tank was installed out back.  A lot of touchup work and all of the landscaping still needs to be done, but it seems like we are in really good shape for our September 21st closing date (we just got the confirmed date yesterday).  I feel like we could move in next week!

Walkway from driveway to front door.

Another shot of the driveway.  I like the way my car looks in the neighborhood :)

Driveway and garage

Propane tank

This is what it will look like in our yard.  I'm glad it's way off to the side so it shouldn't get in our way.

Our stairs are almost complete...  I love them!

Obviously a lot of cleaning up to do.

Greg checking out the shower (there's a crack in the floor) :(

Thermostats are in.

View from the front door through to the family room/kitchen.  I love the hardwood!

Opposite view (from kitchen through to front door).  That's the powder room door ajar on the right.

Family room on left, morning room on right.  Oven is still just hanging out.

Closeup of the carpet and vinyl.  I picked a bad day to forget my camera.  These phone shots are not very good.

 I wish they had kept the floor protection on until they finish since there's still a good bit of painting and such that needs to be done.  I know it's their responsibility to fix it if they mess something up, but it seems like they could save a lot of time and energy if they did things correctly the first time and/or in the right order.  For instance, the other day when we were there we saw the guys painting all of the trim, including the trim on the steps.  Now all of that trim is covered with stain and will obviously need to be repainted.  Apparently no one stopped and thought, "Hmmm... someone will probably be staining these steps at some point and may spill stain all over the place.  Maybe I should wait to do this final painting until that is finished."  Oh well, I'm sure it will all get fixed!

My punch-list continues to grow.  I hope we can do our pre-settlement demonstration fairly soon so they can fix most of the issues before settlement.  Here's an updated list (so far):

1. Roofing tie-downs sticking out of shingles.
2. Where does gutter at front left of house outlet to?
3. Front door lock is crooked.
4. Powder room door doesn't close all the way.
5. Cracked garage doorstop.
6. Crack in master bath shower floor.
7. Drywall at corner of kitchen (there was a hole that they did a poor job of patching up).
8. Hole in one of the study french doors.
9. Various paint/stain splotches.
10. Two scratches on kitchen cabinets.
11. Crooked corner in powder room.
12. Bad piece of wood in powder room floor.
13. Morning room slider does not lock or closer properly.
14. Nail pop in trim of front door.
15. Back outside light missing.
16. Garage window trim missing.
17. Master bath drawer has a huge knot (not sure if they will fix this, but it's worth a shot).
18. Paint/scratches on windows.
19. Drywall in garage not complete.

Hopefully I will be crossing lots of things off of this list in the near future.  I also hope to get some better "almost complete" pictures of our house soon.

Greg's First Driveway!

Our concrete driveway is in!

Greg is very excited to be able to park in a driveway for the first time in his life.  When we were still living in the city he would come in after looking for parking for 15 minutes after work almost every day and say, "I can't wait to be able to just pull into my driveway after work!"  (Anyone who has ever lived in a city knows that parking (or lack thereof) is probably the worst thing about city life.)  When Greg was living with his parents, he parked in the street...  Then when he moved out with his buddies, they still didn't have a driveway so he had to park in the street...  And neither of the two places we have lived together since we've been married had any off-street parking...

Greg finally gets his very own brand new driveway!!!  (Well, he has to share it with me, but I think it's plenty big enough for the both of us).  :)