BUSY!

I've fallen off of the band wagon as it relates to "blogging." We've been so busy. Painting is consuming our lives. We're soooo close though. These pictures are out of date, but better than nothing.

We're kicked out until Friday because the floors are being finished and I'm a painting machine. Matt's becoming a professional bachelor party attendee. I'll get a paint brush in his hand one of these days.

Here are some shots of things that we've done lately. I will try to post again over the weekend. I can't make any promises. Luckily, my sister has been a huge help and mom and dad are coming this weekend to help.

1.) Here's the den looking into the kitchen. Noteworthy items... fridge and pendant lights.


2.) Main room... I painted the ceiling and look a fan!

3.) Front porch columns and lights...

Where did the gray house go?

So, it's been a long road, but we're finally on the home stretch. We're talking about a move in date of October 1st. Time will tell, but we're pretty close. These pictures were taken before we worked all weekend, so I'll update again later this week with the latest. For now, here's what we have.

1.) Kitchen cabinets. Here's the "pantry." The hole is for the microwave.

2.) Here's the vanity in the master bath.

3.) View of the kitchen overall.

4.) Outside view, painted over the gray primer!

This week, we're hoping for all of the exposed wood where the house meets roof to be covered. The electrician is back on the scene. The template for the counters has been done and we might have countertops toward the end of the week. We'll be painting again this weekend.

Getting closer...

Here are some shots of the latest progress...

We can't wait to move in!


1.) Our bathroom. Tile has been laid.
2.) Cabinets arrived. Installation is going on today and tomorrow.

3.) They've installed interior doors.

4.) Upstairs bath. Floor has been tiled.

5.) Main room. Look at hardwood floors. Kitchen is on right. There is a little paint around the door, but just a first coat. Thanks to Court for her help!

6.) Hardwood detail on stairs.

No Longer Advertising for LOWES

So, as the title indicates we've almost covered all of the Lowes house wrap. If you notice I said we, and that wasn't a coincidence. Matt and I spent all of last weekend hanging siding. It was hard work and it feels good to have accomplished something like that.

Some other things that have happened this week is the completion of drywall hanging. They've taped, mudded and skimmed. They are priming as we speak. Also, the HVAC units were placed and connected. The electrical service was attached to the house. Also, the kitchen cabinets were delivered. They are in boxes all over the house.

Here's what is to come in the next week...

Floors are installed
tile is installed in bathrooms and laundry
kitchen cabinets are placed

And now for the PHOTOS....

1.) Here's the AC.



2.) The closest I'll have to a pet Kitty. This is our neighbor's kitty, Pumpkin. I'm not usually into cats, but she's really a neat.

3.) Here's the front of the house

4.) Side view...

5.) Back view. See electrical service?

6.) Looking into kitchen

7.) Stairs

LONG overdue

So, it's been a while to say the least... Here it is in a nut shell.

• Insulation was installed, the rooms started to take shape
• The roof was finished being shingled
• Drywall has all been hung.
• We've ordered kitchen cabinets and they'll be here toward the end of the month
• We've ordered appliances, they'll be here around the same time as the appliances.
• They've started on siding
• We're going to spend this weekend helping out any way that we can.

We've realized that we're finally making progress! It's getting exciting.

Here are the next steps:

• Drywall will need to be taped, mudded and primed
• Doors get installed
• Frames around windows get installed
• Flooring gets installed...

1) Here's a detailed shot of the roofing.
2.) Back view of roof.
3.) Siding has started to be hung.
4.) View from stairs in back of house looking toward front. Kitchen is on left. The front door has been installed for a while now.
5.) View from kitchen over island. Can see where the built ins will be. The doorway to the right of that leads to a hall that goes to the master suite, half bath and front hall closet.
6.) View from front. Kitchen on right.
7.) Master bedroom.
8.) Man cave.
9.) Front bedroom upstairs

City of Charlotte thinks we're doing a good job

So, I'm very excited about the progress that has been made in the last week (or so)... Here it is in a nut shell. The last couple days have been especially nice, and the fun part is getting closer.

Here's the scoop...

• All sub contractors completed their rough ins for their inspections.
• Kevin and carpenters finished framing, added roof over back door, covered crawl space in plastic wrap, sealed around windows, boxed in the rafter tails...
• Electrical inspection was supposed to be last Friday. Inspector didn't show until Saturday, but we passed!
• Plumbing passed on Monday
• Framing passed on Tuesday
• Duke Energy cut power to take care of trees. Subs didn't care for that.
• Duke Energy buried lines to house, tore up yard.
• Waiting for mechanical inspection, should be this coming tomorrow or Monday.
• Front of roof is all shingled up and they're doing the back tomorrow (fingers crossed)

Coming up next week, we will insulate on Monday and then we're off to siding and dry wall! Now for the photos...

1.) The shot below was taken this afternoon. Not great photography, but this shows the shingles they finished on the front of the roof.
2.) This is a little roof over the back door. We will install a small light in the "ceiling."
3.) Here's the back, but I took this before the little roof over back door addition. The last windows were placed. I think the one at the top is a little small, but live and learn. We own it, so we'll live. It wasn't the first thing that didn't go according to plan and it won't be the last. See previous post on importance of patience - should add flexibility to the list!

4.) This is taken in the hallway at the top of the stairs looking toward the back yard. This shows a different shot of the window that is too small. We're going to hang a lantern like light in this staircase. The blue boxes in the picture are receptacle and cable locations.

5.) This shot is courtesy of Matt (as is the title of this post). This is taken shooting from the back bedroom toward the front of the house. Note the the VERY heavy cast iron tub is in place. You should have seen the plumber's face when I told him I didn't want a plastic tub! This also shows a lot of the pipes and wires.
6.) Here's another of the same bathroom. Not sure why this picture is in here again. The white ring on the floor to the left of the tub is where the toilet will go. The aluminum fixture is one of Emily's victories. There's a cool new fixture out there now that looks like a recessed can, but it also has a ventilation fan built in so you don't have to see the fan. It's a little thing, but it makes me happy. **For the record it wasn't an Emily victory over Matt it was over the electrician and HVAC subs.

The Boring Part Continues

Unfortunately, we're still about a week away from the "fun" part. We did get the kitchen cabinets all but figured out today after 4 hours at Lowes. Lowes has become our second home! We're pretty excited about what our kitchen will hopefully look like. Hopefully, we'll order the cabinets sooner than later!

We have the inspection on the new piers tomorrow morning. The new piers aren't esciting, but necessary.

So, in the mean time, here's what else happened this week....

1.) Brick mason, who did the piers, also did masonry repair. We will be paiting the brick, so he put concrete block on the corners of the stairs to mimic the original stair design. The bottom stair is the original.

2.) Here's a view of the new back door and rebuilt back stairs.

3.) Here's an overall view of the back of the house. There is still one window missing in the top middle. Hopefully that will be installed this week.

4.) Here are the pull down attic stairs in the man room.

5.) This nook is in the master bath and the tub will end up going here.

6.) This is the view of the back door from the kitchen through the mudroom.

7.) Here's the view of the front door!!

Until next time, Em