Week #3 Update

PM called with our weekly update:  Framing was completed today, roof was constructed and most of the windows were installed.  The specialty contractors (plumbing, HVAC, electric, etc) will be starting next week.  It is truly amazing how it went from nothing to a (skeleton) house in one week!

I confirmed with the PM that the washer/dryer hookups will be installed so that front load doors will open toward each other.  I also confirmed that we will have insulation in the master bedroom floor, which is above the garage.  I also got one of our closet door swings changed.  One of the master closets opened in and the other opened out.  The one that opened in would block a whole wall of shelving when you open it, so you'd basically have to get inside the closet and shut the door to get to those shelves.  Problem solved!!

In red is the change they will make to the closet door.

I was also considering having the master bathroom door swing changed.  As is it opens in and blocks the linen closet.  However he said if he changed it, the hinge locations would change too, so the door would open toward the sitting room instead of the bedroom.  I kind of prefer it either opening toward the bedroom or in, so we are going to leave that one as is.

In red is the change they would have made, but I decided to keep it as is.

I'll be doing a drive-by after work today so hopefully I'll have some pictures to share tomorrow!

Framing (almost) Complete!

They began framing on Monday.  We went to visit the house on Wednesday and this is what we found:

Yippeeee!

 Holy moly, those guys are quick!  It's so exciting seeing this progress.  Walking through the house, it seemed so big and I can totally see Greg and me (and not-yet-existent kids) there for a long time :). 

While we were there my friend who lives in the area was on his way to the gym and saw us outside so he stopped to say hello.  I'm so excited for friends and family to be able to just "stop by"!  Oh and one of the neighbors was driving by and waved at us... I think that's a good sign that people are friendly... I can't wait to meet them! 

Brace yourself... here's a ton of pictures:

West side of house (not digging the ZERO window situation on this wall)

Back/south side of house.  Opening on the left will be our dining room bay window.  The middle is the morning room.  Family room is on the right.

East side of house.  Leftmost top window is in the master sitting room.  Little window in the middle is in the "water closet" (toilet room) and the big one on the right is next to the tub in the master bath.

Garage looking from mudroom

Windows and doors!!!

View from front door.  The stairs will be straight ahead (bullnose!!).  Living and dining room on the right.  Study, powder room, laundry room and family room to the left.  Kitchen and morning room straight back.

Living room and dining room.  Future bay window in the back.

Frames for our bay window (can you tell I'm excited about the bay window?)

Living room looking from dining room.

Powder room and study.

Family room looking from kitchen.  Mudroom and garage are to the left of this photo, morning room to the right.

Kitchen looking from family room.  Morning room to the left.

Morning room!!!  I wish we could keep the roof off :P ... it was so nice in there when the sun was setting.

Trusses!!!  My boss would be proud :)

View of house from the morning room (family room to the right, kitchen to the left)

View from our front door.  Glorious.

View from our back door.  Equally glorious... minus the stockpile, of course. 

Stairs to the basement.  It was creepy down there with no windows yet!

Basement.  Looking at area under the morning room.

Space under the stairs that will made a nice storage space!

Hi Greg!

 Hopefully the second floor floors will be installed soon so I can share some pictures of the bedrooms!

Friends in Convenient Places

My spy friend who drives past our house on her way to work every day sent me this photo yesterday afternoon:

 

Yippeeeee!!

Of course I forwarded it along to Greg right away and asked if we could drive to the house last night, but he had a late softball game so we are going to go tonight.  Hopefully there will be even more progress by then.

 

Random question... do they automatically do your washer hookup on the left and dryer on the right (so that doors open in the middle for front loaders)?  I was looking online for washer/dryers the other day and the thought crossed my mind.  I guess it wouldn't hurt to confirm this.

 

Hopefully many more pictures to come after tonight!  

Sometimes I can't believe that this is really happening and this is really going to be our home soon. :)

Patiently Waiting

Our lumber was delivered last week and they still haven't started framing.  Greg drove by on Tuesday and they had poured the basement floor slab.  So between Tuesday and Friday nothing has been done. :(  Sounds like some people took a long holiday vacation. 

PM just called and said they would start framing on Monday.  I will give them the B of the D for now, but if we don't see any progress at the end of next week I will have to go into nagging mode (my husband can tell you how pleasant that is!).

I'm hearing about people who have already had their pre-drywall meeting and are closing in the beginning of September.  We are supposed to close mid-to-late September and they haven't even started framing yet.  I'm a little skeptical of that deadline.

Now I'm off to the shore for the weekend with some good friends... that should take my mind off of the house for a few days!

We Have Lumber!

We stopped at our lot on the way home from the shore* on Sunday and saw that our foundation had been backfilled and our lumber has been delivered!  (*1 hour and 5 minutes from our new house to the shore... woohoo!!).  Our basement floor slab is supposed to be poured today so hopefully they will begin framing before the holiday.

Lumber has arrived!

Our lot... if you look really hard you can see the foundation sticking up.

The secret to their speedy framework... the pieces come pre-assembled!

Exterior insulation, I think.

Basement

Garage

Not sure what that black thing or the two pipes are.  I imagine it's something to do with the sump pump?

I'm guessing this is where our septic connection will be.

I am a little concerned about this.  About 10 of our frame pieces were completely destroyed.  I guess it happened during delivery.  I hope they replace those pieces and don't just try to patch them up.

Close-up of some of the broken frames.