Nailed It!

There has been a lot of progress on the house this week!  One milestone is that the second story is all framed out and we have steps that are secured properly!  Our superintendent, Victor, didn't want us using the steps the other day, so we just waited until he left to sneak up there (don't tell my mom).  ;-)  I couldn't wait any longer to see how it all turned out!  I was especially excited to see the master bathroom since we completely redesigned it on paper.  I think it looks great so far!

The other milestone is that the roof is up!  We found out from Victor today that our shingles are on back order, but they should be in on Tuesday.  HVAC was ready to be delivered, but Victor pushed it back to wait for the shingles because it's not good to let all that get wet and we have some rain coming Sunday and Monday.  The downside is, I was so excited to get a video of the second story today that I completely forgot to get outside pictures of the house.  I'll take more pictures over the weekend since windows may be installed tomorrow or Saturday.

We did discuss the bump-out issue from the last blog with Victor and Dennis (the framing foreman).  They explained that when they see the bump-outs in the plans, they end up not building them because the fridge doors will end up hitting the wall.  We would have appreciated being told this up front, but we worked through it.  They could tell that when we heard their reasoning we were a little frustrated, so they said that we should go home and figure out the dimensions of the fridge we want.  If we still want or need the bump-out, then it was an easy fix to do.  That evening Steve and I compared the two fridges we were considering.  They were basically the same model, only one is bigger than the other.  We decided to go with the counter-depth model which means we don't need the bump-out.  What Victor and Dennis don't know about me is I have a solid memory.  Hopefully there aren't any more bumps in the road later, but if so, I will certainly be bringing up the fact that we let this one go.  :-)

In the meantime, enjoy the video of the second floor!  There might be a blog on Sunday if the windows are put in over the weekend.

That's a Real Nice Surprise!

I'm doing a bonus blog today because I'm just too excited to wait for the week's progress before sharing today's pictures!  When we stopped by on Friday, we asked the framers if they thought they'd be able to work on Saturday because the 5-8" of snow that was forecast was turning into less snow each time we checked the weather.  Rain was in the forecast instead, but they were even backing off on that a bit too.  The framers didn't think they'd get to work, so we didn't get our hopes up that they would.

Some friends of ours, Matt & Michelle, are interested in building a house, so today they went to a couple model homes, including the one of our beloved Somerset.  We joined them for the house tours and then after they saw the Somerset, we showed them Home Base.  We were greeted with a "real nice surprise" (Christmas Vacation, anyone?) because when we drove into the driveway, we saw that the framers DID work yesterday!  We now have second story walls!  We don't have stairs yet, but Steve was brave enough to go up the ladder and get some pictures for me.  As soon as they get the bedrooms framed in, I'll do another video of that floor too.  In the meantime, enjoy the pictures below.

On a small downside, we did figure out that the small bump-out for the fridge (so that we can get a fridge bigger than counter-depth) wasn't framed out.  We were hopeful that they just gave us a bonus and extended the whole wall 6 inches, but when we were at the model and measured today, we confirmed we didn't get that bonus or the bump-out.  Steve emailed our team at Bob Ward to see if maybe it's added later or if it is something that needs to be fixed.  Hopefully this is an easy fix!

Front of house

Side of house

Back of house

Other side of house

He is braver than I am!

The next pictures will make more sense once everything is framed in, but this is inside our bedroom, looking into our bathroom.  The rectangular window is a transom window in our shower.

Looking towards the front of the house - two bedrooms in the front

Looking towards the front of the house - the single window is the hall bathroom, the double window is another bedroom.

Looking at the back corner of our room

Looking out the side window of our room - this will eventually be our garden.

Wide shot of the whole floor

Wide shot from the other corner.

No More Lumbering Around!

I'm so excited to be sharing this blog!  After over two weeks of nothing happening to the house, framing officially started this week!  We found out on Monday that they hadn't started anything due to last week's weather.  We did have more days with rain than we did without it last week, but there were some days where they could have worked.  Their email on Monday blamed the rain which made us a little nervous since it was in the forecast for most of this week and a lot of next week.  This would have meant an entire month would go by before they started framing.  I was getting antsy (to put it mildly).  Thankfully, things started moving this week.

We ended up having rain on Tuesday, but they did start laying the sub-floor for the main floor that day!

Sub-floor on the main level

Sub-floor on top

Framed in basement - the steps will be in front of the wall that's framed there

Basement...not much to frame in this part.  The lumber was soaked from all the rain, so it was pretty wet in the basement!

Wednesday didn't have a whole lot of rain, but it was really windy.  Not as windy as the storm from a few weeks ago, but windy enough that they were a little nervous to put walls up that day.  They did end up putting up the back wall of the dining room and the wall from one side of the house.

Looking from the front corner - dining room in back; family room and office/bar on the side

Looking from the side - dining room wall to the left, family room and office straight ahead

On Thursday, it finally started to look like a house!!  I got there while they were still working, so I didn't want to go inside and be in their way, but I took some pictures of the outside.

Front of the house - we got a 3-car garage which is why it sticks out so much in the front 

Side of house

Back of house

Garage/other side of house

Today, the framers completed the sub-floor for the second story and we got to walk through the main floor of the house.  That's when it really hit me that we are building a house!  I got SO excited that we were walking through OUR house!  We've been through the model countless times, but this time it was ours.  It was such a surreal feeling!  I took lots of pictures, but I figured a video tour might be better (see below).

Where I found Steve after the video tour

Can We Take Old Man Winter Off Life Support?

I wish this blog would bring exciting news about the house, but literally nothing has happened this week at Home Base.  The only mildly exciting progress made was that the lumber for the framing was delivered on Monday.  That's it.

Lumber for framing

Snow in the basement on Friday

We have the weather to blame for all this because we ended up getting about 8 total inches of snow all day Tuesday and Wednesday.  On Thursday, there was still a blanket of snow everywhere, so they didn't do anything that day.  On Friday, I drove by and nothing was done then either.  We have extremely high hopes that framing starts on Monday.  Someone please feel free to hunt down that asshole groundhog...I'm ready for warmer weather and no snow!

In the meantime, we have been super busy preparing our current house for sale.  We plan to list it on May 18.  We've been busy packing up things, moving stuff to storage, selling off furniture and items we don't need anymore, and painting.  We're almost done painting all the trim and doors and we're working on painting almost every room in the house.  I usually enjoy painting, but when it is with neutral colors and I don't get to brainstorm some fun decorating ideas, it really feels more like a chore.  I even took Wednesday off work to just paint all day which helped give us a boost in our huge list of things to do to get ready to sell.  We're trying to get all the painting done within the next week since we'll be scheduling carpet installation late next week or early the week after.  It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint on walls and trim does to a house!  Our house is 17 years old and I feel like the paint has "erased" many years and makes it look almost brand new!  Here's hoping that translates into a bidding war on our house!  :-)

We're Floored!

It was another semi-boring week at Home Base.  Steve and I stopped by last Friday where we were happy to see that they did the waterproofing on the outside of the house and in the garage and front porch.  This was good news because that meant they could start backfilling.

The black stuff is the waterproofing.

On Sunday, we decided to stop by on a whim thinking nothing would have changed since last Friday.  But we were surprised to see they did start backfilling over the weekend.  This got my hopes up that we'd see framing start at the end of the week (spoiler alert, it didn't).  I was excited, though, that I am finally able to take a picture of the front of the house without the giant pile of dirt in the way!

Garage

Finally a picture of the front of the house!!  Steve's on the front porch.

I stopped by on Monday hoping to see some progress, but nothing had changed.  Tuesday was slightly more exciting because they had done the prep work to pour the slab, which is the garage floor and basement floor (they do the porch later).  We knew on Wednesday they had a slab prep inspection, which had passed pretty early on in the day, but we weren't surprised to see that they didn't pour the slab that day.

Vapor barrier/prepping for basement floor

Vapor barrier/prepping for garage floor

I stopped by after work on Thursday with one of our loyal blog followers, Tyler (shout out!).  I was happy to see that the slab was FINALLY poured.  I was hoping it would still be wet enough that I could put our initials in either the garage or basement, but silly work got in the way and it was dry by the time I got there.  The nice thing is, now that the slab is poured, framing can start any day!

Garage floor

Basement floor from above.  The circles are where the steel beams will go when they start framing.

Basement floor from the walkout

Steve and I met at Home Base yesterday afternoon and they didn't start framing yet, but the steel beams were delivered which is a good sign that they'll be starting soon.

Steel beams

The view from the front porch.

We're hoping framing can start before Wednesday of next week because winter is desperately holding on, and we have another storm coming our way that's supposed to be bringing a few inches of snow.  If that's the case, we'll be delayed again for who knows how long.

Reason #3,154 Why I Hate Snow

Last week we had so many exciting things happening with the house, but this week progress came to a screeching halt.  :-(  I stop by Home Base pretty much every day on my way home from work and on Monday I was sad to see that nothing had changed.

Tuesday, Steve met me at the lot where we saw that not much had changed that day either.  They were supposed to waterproof the basement, but for whatever reason it wasn't done.  We were happy to see that a plumber had put in the start of the plumbing for the whole house.  But that's really the only milestone we've hit this week.

Plumbing

Quick funny story about stopping at the house on Tuesday.  I got there before Steve did and I saw a silver Honda CR-V pull into the driveway just before me.  I thought it was my mom since that's the car she drives and I watched "her" drive all the way down the driveway to the house.  I park at the top of the driveway since the construction drive scrapes the bottom of my car.  I hurried out of the car to meet "mom" down there.  As I got down there, I realized the gentleman walking around the house was most definitely not my mother!  He looked a little puzzled at me so I introduced myself and said "I'm buying that," as I pointed to the house.  That's when I noticed he had a Bob Ward jacket on.  He introduced himself (Craig) and he wanted to stop by to see how things were progressing.  Long story short, we found out from Katie yesterday when we stopped at the model home to measure something, that Craig and sometimes even Bob Ward himself will randomly stop at houses as quality control. Katie even explained that that will probably happen a few more times too throughout the build.  We liked hearing that!

We had a few inspections done on Wednesday, but unfortunately had the foundation inspection cancelled since they haven't finished the waterproofing for it yet along with a couple other things.  Wednesday morning, we had a meeting with our Superintendent from Bob Ward, Victor.  He was great and it was nice to finally meet the person who is running the show with our house.  Tuesday night into most of the day Wednesday brought a few inches of snow, which meant a chilly and quick meeting with Victor!  It was fun to see what our yard will look like with freshly fallen snow, but Victor told us that we would be delayed because of this which we already assumed anyway.  On a positive note, both Craig and Victor commented on the beautiful lot we have.  We tend to agree.  :-)

Looking towards the side/backyard (garage in foreground)

Looking towards the front/side yard (kitchen/family room in foreground)

Best case scenario would be that they do the waterproofing and the last of the foundation work tomorrow.  That would mean an inspection on Monday or Tuesday, and then hopefully they start framing on Wednesday.  Victor did tell us that the steel beams, floor joists, and lumber are all on order, so they should be ready to rock and roll when the inspections are done.

Tom Petty Is Wrong About These Walls!

It has been a fun week at Home Base!

On Monday, they put in the construction driveway and put down the framing for the footers so they were ready to be poured.  Check out the blog from Monday to see the pictures from that day.

Steve and I stopped by on Tuesday to see that they poured the concrete in the footers.  We knew we were getting close to having walls when we saw that progress.

Footers were poured - and our shadows make me laugh.

Normally, when I stop by Home Base around 4:30 each day, the work crew is already gone.  This was not the case on Wednesday.  I pulled into the driveway and called Steve to let him know that a couple cement trucks were still there.  Next thing I know, I look in my rear view mirror and two more cement trucks were lined up behind me to get to work!  Steve met me at the lot so he could see the progress too.  We were thrilled to see them pouring the walls for the basement!  We thought they wouldn't like us snooping around but we asked one of the guys if we could walk around the outside of the house and take pictures and he didn't mind at all.  We were sure to stay out of their way though.

Cement trucks at the house

The guy on the far right is pouring the walls

Looking at the kitchen side of the house

Looking at the family room side of the house - the opening is the walkout from the basement.

I stopped by again on Thursday and saw that the supports were off the walls and I was able to walk into our house for the very first time by going through the walkout from the basement!  The floor is still dirt, but technically I was within the four walls of our house!  It was funny hearing an echo in there while I was telling Steve about it over the phone.  All of this is exciting progress - we had basement walls six days after breaking ground!

Side of the house with walkout

Side/back of house (I can't get a real picture of the back because there's a giant pile of dirt in the way)

Side/front of the house (I can't get a real picture of the front because of another giant pile of dirt in the way)

The title of the post is referring to my favorite song by the late Mr. Petty.  Yesterday we had a weird wind storm all day, so I didn't think there would be any progress.  But, I was pretty happy to see our walls hadn't fallen down from the wind.  I was also excited to see that the guest bathroom was delivered and shocked that it had survived the wind all day!  ;-)

Guest bathroom...we're not sure how we feel about the color.

Steve and I still didn't have power this morning because of the storm (it went out yesterday afternoon), so while we were out running errands as a way to warm up, we stopped by the house so he could see the walls without the supports.  The guest bathroom surprisingly was still upright, which will be good news for the crew!  Enjoy the video from today's visit.

We're guessing the walls need to be inspected before they can move on to framing, but we are thinking they will probably be able to start that next week.  On a not-so-fun note, we paid our first bill for the land/construction loan this week too.