The roof, the roof, the roof is all done!

Lots of great progress since I last posted.  The roof is completed and all the windows and doors are installed.  They finally poured our garage slab this week.  The rough plumbing is done and electrical and HVAC are still going in.  It's hard to believe that we may (hopefully) be done in a little over two months. 

Rollin, rollin, rollin... Keep those workers going...

Thanks again to some beautiful weather, things are progressing nicely.  At this point all the windows are installed (except for the one still used to get into the main floor) and several doors are installed as well.  The framing is complete.  Yesterday we met up with Jeff to review:

• Kitchen cabinet and appliance layout - made a few changes here since we decided to open up the wall between the living room and kitchen
• Electrical - we didn't pinpoint every single outlet, but reviewed locations of cable and phone connections; types and locations of lighting, etc
• Door info - which direction the doors will swing

Amazingly enough the few framing changes that we discussed Wednesday afternoon, were all completed today.  Nothing major, just 

• Kitchen opening to living room - WAY more open of a space
• Door type for master closet (Jeff HATES pocket doors and he discussed the benefits of not having one here = more closet hanging space = happy Sarah)
• Removing the closet from the office, which will allow for better placement of office furniture
• Flipping around the linen closet so it makes one big closet in the upstairs hallway, allows for better access to linens

The best part of our visit was Jeff's estimated completion date - first or second week in December.  He said that it should not be a problem being in by Christmas.  This made us VERY happy and we have something to look forward to (and can legitimately give an estimated date to all those that have been asking).  

The next steps are to:

• Work on the backfill around the house and in the garage, which will eliminate our need to walk the plank anymore   
• Finish the roof
• Start the electrical, plumbing, HVAC



The sidelights are installed for the front door, but the actual door has not been delivered yet.

These are the basement stairs.  The door way with the light coming in is our "safe room" and the area in front of that will be our kitchenette space.  Where Gabe is standing while this picture was taken is his man cave. 

Gorgeous weather = House progress

We have had amazing weather all week here.  Nicholas and I even went to (as he calls it) the petting zoo on Wednesday and it was so nice outside in the upper 70s and breezy.  Thanks to this nice weather, there has been great progress on the house.  As of tonight, the majority of the roof is decked.  They delivered our windows and doors as well, so hopefully the house will be blacked in soon.  Here are a few recent pics...

As I had mentioned before, the framing crew made some WONDERFUL changes to the roof line, which included the area above the dining room and screen porch shown off the back of the house here.  Henry is my main man at this point!!  All the back part of the roof shown below was completed today.  I'm amazed by these workers just walking around like its nothing, while being WAY up in the air.   

Here was a beautiful skyline looking from our front yard the other night.  I love this time of year! 

Going thru the Big D and DO mean Dallas

We made the 10 hour drive to Dallas this weekend for the Cowboys Classic (AKA the Michigan/Alabama kickoff football game).  As a big Cowboys fan Gabe has always wanted to visit that stadium, so this was a no-brainer.  It is extremely impressive and should be considering the amount of money it cost to build. 

On a much smaller scale, our build is going well.  While we were in Dallas, more roof framing was done to really get a feel for what the house will look like. 

 Most of the roof is framed.  They still have to work on the area above the master bedroom and then over the dining room and screen porch. 

Happy guy - especially with the outcome of the game.  And man that is one MASSIVE jumbotron! 

Raise the roof!

Framing is progressing and as of tonight all the interior framing on the second floor is completed.  The main thing left is the exterior framing and of course the roof. 

I'm so excited about a recommendation that Henry (the guy in charge of framing) recommended.  It's hard to explain, but he recommended a change in the roof line that had bugged me from day one.  I was so excited to hear what they suggested that I wanted to hug him, but I refrained.  We are going to make a few other changes to the house plans, but they are minor.  We will need to decide if we want the "open concept" living/kitchen/dining spaces or a bit more closed off.  I'm thinking something in the middle will work best. 

We had our first inspection from Regions this week and according to them are about 19% finished.  A few more percentage points to go and we will actually be allowed to start using Regions money and thus begin the draw process.  Hopefully that will go smoothly, but of course only time will tell. 

If you are following the blog and on facebook, you've probably already seen these pictures, but these are for those not on (like Gigi) ;-)


The front of the house of course.  At some point that power pole will be gone, when the Windstream people can figure out who is in charge of moving the lines to the other poles set up.

Stairs leading up to the second floor.  There aren't any stairs from the basement to the main level, so we have been walking the plank (literally a 2x12) to get into the main level. 

This is looking at the bonus room on the second floor.  We are actually standing in Nicholas' future bedroom. 

Nicholas cheesing for the camera in his bedroom.  The entire time he is there with us, I am incredibly nervous and will be happy when everything is closed in. 

Looking like a house now

After a three week delay, framing began this week on Tuesday.  As of this evening, they have done the majority of the basement and most of the exterior framing for the main level.  We did have a few issues because we decided to make some changes to the basement layout, but unfortunately those changes didn't make it to the framing crew and they went off the original house plans.  Luckily there isn't anything major, but just a few small wall and window changes here and there. 

We still don't have temporary power set up from the APCO, which is very frustrating, but apparently it is in cue to get set up.  It seems like the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing there.  I'm just glad the builder is able to use generators for the power tools working on the framing. 

Tonight we both walked in the basement and (as you can see below) Gabe walked on the main floor as well.  It's so nice to have walls that make the rooms actually feel like rooms. 

Gabe was standing in our future living room and is looking towards the front of the house.  That big hole in the floor is for the basement steps.  

Looking at the back of the house.  On the main floor the lighter areas are where future windows and doors are located. 

 This is the front of the house. 

After several weeks of nothing we are EXTREMELY happy to see the progress on the framing.  This week the crews have started their days very early and don't stop until it's dark (usually 7pm or so).  Note to anyone who plans on building, keep in mind that changes to your plans can wreak havok - just expect the unexpected and (try to) go with the flow.  I'm lucky that Gabe keeps me grounded and calm.   

Screeching Halt

I'm sad to report that there is nothing to report.  Two weeks ago Monday they poured the slab and were planning on starting the framing this past Monday.  Well, thanks to the power company, there is absolutely no work being done.  We need a power pole to be moved as it sits directly in front of the house now and they won't set up the temporary power until the poles are moved.  We are unsure as to when they will get to us on their list, but they did cash our check to move the poles.  Praying for patience...