House Quest

Progress report

2007-01-10T13:26:00.000-05:00

I don't think there are many blog posts left to do, so I figured it was about time to zero in on the end of the story. This is a start of that.

We are nearly a month in the new house now, and things are going great. There are a few minor things that are still undone, but if you didn't know about them, you might never notice. For example, the screw holes in the front door casing are still uncovered - we've been promised the covers will be here soon. Another: two of the three toilets have cheaper polished chrome handles. We paid for brushed nickel - we're awaiting replacements. There are still a few boxes of clothing unpacked. We obviously have not missed the packed items, but you never know what might be in there. Our older HDTV is still at mom and dad's house, but Nick and I have plans to transpoitto the new house this weekend, with a showing the Pats game to immediately follow. We ordered a leather bench for our front foyer nearly eight weeks ago, and it still is not in.

But that's it, all pretty minor stuff. Other things previously reported are fixed. After all the electrical had been examined and fixed, the fireplace blower was still not working. Turns out it was because the thermostat was not getting hot enough to trigger it. When it did come on, it blew out the hot air so well that it shut off after 60 seconds. The fireplace guys came out and gerry-rigged it so that instead of using the thermostat location on the bottom of the fireplace, it used a hole on the less-well-insulated side. Ever since then, it has worked like a charm.

My computer required a new hard drive. I have the old one, so that I can try to pull data off of it (turns out I did not do a backup before we moved, but I did do one on 9/11, so I only lost about six weeks of photos and email). Reloading the operating system and all programs was a major pain in the ass, but it is now done. Ironically, my backup hard drive got fried somehow after I restored the data. I did a format and check on the drive and it now seems fine, but it made me think the new house hated computers for a time. Then, the computer crashed and would not restart. After examining some lights and consulting Dell's web site, the memory ships seemed to be at fault. I pulled them and reseated them, and everything's been good since then. Hopefully I have come to the end of the computer trouble. We were nearly at the point of buying a new one, but I think this one has lots of life left in it. And it is quicker than ever, now that the entire things been reloaded!

The tile in the foyer that was no good was replaced finally. The tile guys were in and out in 30 minutes. Too bad they hadn't spotted it the first time, saved the trip... We also are missing the carpet we paid for to cover the stairs. We called the carpet place, and they had it still. They will drop it off soon. We plan to hold onto it, just in case (especially since we paid for it), though we seem to be doing ok with the wood stairs. I think everyone has either slipped or nearly slipped at least once, though.

The fridge was giving us some trouble - the fan in the freezer was making an awful racket. I got out the wrenches and pulled some panels off and found the fan has ice on it - not frost, but ice. The fan was hitting the ice and making the racket (or the fan was thrown off center by the ice - I couldn't tell which). I cleared that out and it was quiet again for about a week. It started making the noise again, so I pulled it all out and watched the ice maker as it dumped a load of ice. The ice was wet. I suspect the freezer was not cold enough to fully freeze the ice and the extra water was dripping down the back and one the fan, where it finally froze. I turned down the freezer a few degrees hoping that takes care of it. We'll see.

I spotted the work of a local artist in the local library and liked the whimsical nature of her work. We actually have commissioned her to do two pieces for us, using her style and characters to draw images of the kids. We'll hang these near their rooms. They'll be something we can keep forever, something to show the grandkids eventually. In addition, I went back to our favority art gallery/flower shop and bought a couple of pieces for the master bedroom. One is a macro close up of red clover and the other a close up of a white flower that looks like an upside-down tulip (floral taxonomy is not my forte). Pretty, but we need more.

I also ordered blinds for all of the windows - not a cheap order, either. We got samples to decide if we should do real wood or faux, and we decided that if you're going to have painted wood, the faux looks exactly the same. Since we wanted off-white blinds, the expense of real wood was just not worth it. Still, though we spent almost $1700 instead of $2200, it was still $1700. For the bathrooms, we bought neat little temporary shades from Home Depot. You cut to fit and stick them on like Post-Its.

The only really big thing left undone is the yard - it is a messy mess that only a bulldozer can navigate. It has been far too muddy for them to level yet, and they may decide to just wait until spring to level it, place topsoil, and plant grass. We knew the latter two would wait, but we were not (and still aren't) sure about the former.

That's it for now. One or two more updates ought to take care of this blog - it will be nice to put the finishing touches on it!

Whew!!

2006-12-22T08:48:00.000-05:00

I saw an article in my email this morning about Blogger going out of beta and said to myself, "Blogger? Ah, yes, that thing you used to update every day, but have been too busy to touch for a week..."

So we've been busy because we moved. Yes, we are in, and thank goodness for that.

In the last week, lots and lots has happened. First, earlier in the week, I went to the doctor with a cough and a funky-sounding lung. The doctor took a listen and said it was pneumonia. I needed drugs, because there was no way I could be sick for the move. The drugs were a 10-day regimen, and yesterday was day 10. Though the cough still lingers, likely because I've been outside in the cold, working so much rather than tucked into bed, but the worst of it held off, and I was able to move things without much trouble.

Friday was the closing, and that went very smoothly. We drove straight to the house from the lawyer's office, with a drained bank account and a new mortgage. But all that was rendered minor when we walked into the house. Empty and echoing, it was a huge relief. The night before, we'd gone into the house and set up a fake tree, a nine footer, and when we stepped in and turned the lights on, even during the day, it was glorious.

Within minutes, though, I was slogging up and down the ramp to the trailer. Phase 1 of the move was underway. I unloaded as much as I could by myself, and as time passed, people trickled in to help: father and mother in law, brother in law, brothers, mother, and father. We went until 10pm that night and very nearly got the entire thing unloaded.

Most of the stuff went into the garage, but a good share went directly into the house. The large foyer was a holding area for furniture as we brought in the large pieces and left them there until final placement. Saturday, we had four pieces of furniture to move in and about 20 boxes. All in all, the trailer worked out well. Everything survived, though one corner did leak and got about a dozen boxes wet. The boxes themselves took the brunt of the water, and the contents were damp at worst. I had to wipe a little mold off a couple of encyclopedias, and that was about it. If it had stayed in there longer, or if it had been wetter, it might be a very different story, but that's not what happened.

We all slept on mattresses the first night. On Saturday, I built my bed and Rick built the kids' beds. We also got the kitchen table and guest room set delivered. The cable guy came on Friday, so we had cable for the weekend, though only a 13" TV to watch anything. Monday, the new TV was delivered and installed, and the sound system was hooked up. It sounds great (which it had better considering the cost). There were some major problems with the cable box, and I had to drive to Comcast's offices three times to get a working box - but the third time was the charm and we're now watching TV like old pros. We watched our first movie on the system last night, The Lady in the Water. It has several very loud spots and at one point it woke Brittany up - sorry!

The painter had an illness in the business, so their arrival was delayed, but once the painter did come, he fixed all the spots they'd missed the first time and touched up several places that we'd scuffed moving furniture.

The main phone plug had something screwy and it caused the phone to ring after hanging it up - we thought we were going nuts. Phones are pretty simple, hard to screw up. But when the electrician came, he said he'd never seen it before, but the phone jack was bad. Once he replaced it, it was OK.

Not everything was peachy, though. Aside from the cable box problem, the blower on the fireplace is not functioning, and the fireplace guys said the electrical is no good. The builder says the fireplace guys don't know what they're talking about, and is sending out an electrician to look at it. He said they screwed something up in the original installation that had to be fixed in the waning days of the build. Confidence builder! The master bath shower door gave the installer a lot of trouble. The first floor shower door went in in about 10 minutes, but the second one took three hours.

My computer crashed the first time I tried to use it. I set up the new cable modem with it, and when I tried to open my email, I got a blue screen and a message that there was a bad system file. I tried to recover from the Recovery CD, but something's still not right. Either I'm doing something wrong or the hard drive is fried. Fortunately, I did a backup in the days before I packed it all up, so the most important files will be safe, but it is a big pain in the ass to start from scratch, so I'm really really really hoping I don't have to do that. Hopefully I'll have some time to work on it this weekend or next week. Until then, we're working off our work laptops. I set up Brittany's computer last night and it survived the move fine. Speaking of Brittany, the only thing not done is her desk. The parts are stacked in the garage. Maybe this weekend I'll put it together. The biggest issue for her will be figuring out where to put it.

We hung all of our new art and it looks great, though in the end, we only were able to fill three rooms - the guest bedroom has four pieces, the dining room has two, and the foyer has three. We bought several small winter scenes that we plan to hang in the office, but I'm waiting to be sure the layout is not going to change before I put them up. So we need more. We have our eye on several pieces, but at $200 each, we need to either be willing to part with a wad of cash or we need to be judicious with our purchases. Maybe a bit of both.

So, things are going well. We're home.

Soooooo close

2006-12-13T23:34:00.000-05:00

So today I didn't get to see the house because I was too busy at work to take a lunch break and I had scouts after work. But Karen got to see it and said a few things we'd noted have been fixed. She saw the fireplace in action, which she must have liked immensely. She also spotted something wrong with one of the 18x18 tiles in the front foyer, a tile which has been mostly covered for the past three weeks. I have yet to see the problem myself, though.

The biggest news of the day is that tomorrow we have our walk-through with the builder, our last best chance to spot anything amiss and have it fixed. It won't be the last last chance - they said they will come back in a year from now to do a touch-up pass.

Tomorrow will be our last day officially living in my parents' house. It has been a trip and a godsend. I got to know my sister again, and got to know and like her new fiancee. I even got to sleep in my old bedroom again, though redecorated by my youngest brother. It will be a chance to going from living with eight other people, with the occasional ninth, to just four others again... and going from five cats back down to two will be somewhat of a relief.

But first there is the walk-through and all the paperwork on Friday. After that, though, it is all ours. I have to say that I wasn't always sure we'd get here, but here is where we are. Phew.

Getting close

2006-12-12T23:15:00.000-05:00

So we decided to pay some points to get our interest rate down, and reduce our monthly payment by nearly $80. The bank said it wasn't a good idea if we planned to sell within a few years - and we certainly don't. The points will help with this year's taxes, too.

The cleaning crew has now been through both the first and second floors, though neither I nor Karen would agree that they are done. If they are, then we have some work cut out for us. There is dust everywhere you look. She can't see on top of the fridge, for example, but I can, and the dust is thick up there. There are lots of places where paint needs to be touched up and the like - we assume that will be taken care of, but we'll see.

Some things were fixed. One I was worried about was the set of hall lights in the upstairs hall - four switches to turn one set of lights on and off. I've worked with such things before and the wiring is tricky. Must be a few wires were swapped, because it is all working now. I was worried the wiring itself was the problem, but fortunately, it must have only been the connections. The caulking around the tub has been done and all of the bathroom fixtures (towel bars and the like) have been installed. All of the appliances have been prepped, which just means all the plastic covering has been removed, exposing the stainless steel. Very nice.

We're in a little bit of a dispute over some labor charges we paid for the central audio. We paid for seven hours worth of labor to install the speakers, and as far as we could tell, it only took a couple of hours to do. The contractor says his crew told him they took seven hours to do it, but we're skeptical, and have asked for an accounting of that time. We don't want to antagonize anyone, but at $60/hour, we want to be sure we are paying for what we got.

The furniture we want for the audio/visual equipment was not available locally, so I found the same thing on line, and got it for about 33% of the price, and with no shipping. That's good.

So, we're now two and a half days away. It has been a long haul. We're nearly at the end of the tunnel. We can't wait.

Quick update

2006-12-11T14:23:00.000-05:00

Nothing happened at the house this weekend, in terms of work. We did meet with Tom Jr on Saturday and Karen gave him a list of small items that she'd spotted throughout the house, things like spots between tiles that were devoid of grout, nicks and scratches in glass or walls, and the few odd things with the electrical. I wasn't feeling very well, so I just followed them.

Sunday we went to see the house for a little while, and then got called back to it to show my brother-in-law, and we went again later to show Kristin and Nick. The upstairs had mostly been cleaned up, but the laundry and main bathroom in particular were not done, and the entire first floor was still a mess.

I drove by this morning and was flagged down by the carpenters and asked to show where they should install the towel bars, hooks, and toilet paper rolls. I did so, and hoped to see them in when I went to visit at lunchtime, but they weren't. The closets were all finished, though, which was nice to see.

We're counting down the days, just four to go!!

Really good progress

2006-12-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

So we got hit with our first significant snowfall of the season yesterday, which only means that we found it imprudent to drive to see the house after work. So when we go today, we can be pleased with all the work that has been done.

We went yesterday at lunch and found that the painters were nearly done with the painting. They said that they had a little touch up to do and a few minor repairs to make. They were painting the stairs yesterday, the risers, not the treads. Lots more work than one might think - all of it needed to be primed and then painted, and the work is all detail work. The railings and treads are also getting a coat of varnish or urethane (not sure which, not sure I care).

The kitchen cabinets are missing some doors, as they were not exactly the right size. The rest of the kitchen is done, though.

The recessed lights in the batchrooms have been installed - they are a bit different than the other recessed lights, in that they have a cover of the light bulb itself, likely to avoid exposure to moisture.

The carpets had been put in at least half the house - the entire first floor (office, bedroom, living room) had been done, and one room on the second floor had been done. I think I saw the carpeters driving to the house with another roll of carpet as I was driving out. It is nice carpet, though not as soft-feeling underfoot as the best carpet we bought in our old house. That's ok, though, we can upgrade in a few years if we feel the need.

The cabinets are in in the laundry room. Mom asked where we planned to put the litterbox in the new house and Karen and I said we hadn't given it much thought. She suggested the laundry room, and it is a perfect idea. There is space to either side of the washer and dryer, and one side will be filled with shelving. The other is perfect for the litterbox - out of sight, on linoleum for easy cleanup, etc.

I got all the utilities set up yesterday: power, phone, cable, gas, rubbish, water, and sewer. Most of these places already had accounts in our name, and I just needed to transfer the account to the new address. The gas company was the only new one. James and my father in law have suggested satellite over cable, but I'm happy with cable and don't want a dish hanging off my house. Apparently there are more HD channels, but truthfully, I don't watch many of the extras - mostly local CBS and ESPN, which Comcast has. I also like Sopranos in HD on HBO and I've seen the ocassional movie on HDnet, but that's about it. What I really want is the rest of my local channels to go HD: ABC, NBC, and Fox. Anyway.

So we got our closing date - why was this not at the top of this entry? I duno - but it is the 15th, just one week away. We are now looking at some numbers, deciding if we can pay points to shave our interest rate by using some of our down payment money. One scenario had us paying $50 per month by paying 2 points, but we would have to take about $7800 out of the down payment to do it. It is all well and good as long as we're financing less than 80% of the cost, so we can avoid mortgage insurance (which is another scam of the mortgage industry). And it may be too late to decide to pay points. We're figuring that out.

Anxiety setting in

2006-12-06T10:53:00.000-05:00

It's been a few days - the problem is that I'm easily distracted.

So, we've moved quite a bit in the house. The kitchen is all done, all the appliances are moved into place. There are some issues with the cupboard doors that we noticed and that the builder noticed. Two of the doors have spice racks built into them, and the screws used to secure the racks to the doors pushed out the laminate on the outside, such that the door is visibly different from the rest. I think the only fix for that is to start again. The builder noticed that some of the doors are slightly but noticably smaller than the rest. A new order to replace those has been made.

The lights, sockets, and switches are all in place except for a few in the bathrooms. There are a couple of issues with switches that we've noticed, espeically where three-way switches are involved. The hall lights upstairs have four switches, and that's a considerable electrical challenge, I realize, and I hope a fix is a matter of reattaching some wiring and does not involve new wire anywhere.

The doorknobs are all in, but we noticed some odd places where locks should be and are not, in batchrooms in particular. The master bath, for example, has no lock at all. The master bedroom door has one, and maybe the thought process is that that is sufficient, but it is inconvenient, to say the least, to lock the master bedroom door to get privacy in the master bath.

The painters were in and painted all the rooms that are getting carpeting, so that the carpeters don't have to wait for them. There are still several places that are absent paint, but only where there is hardwood or tile floor. They did all that painting on Monday and as far as we can tell, didn't do any yesterday, which we found odd, but whatever.

I got a call from the phone company that they want to go on site on Friday to hook everything up. I still have to call the cable company to have them do the same, but I'm waiting to get our closing date to do that. Ditto the audio/visual company, they will come in after closing and install the TV and hook everything up. Karen is getting espcially anxious to get the date. Hearing it is a milestone that so many other things hinge upon that we need to have it soon. We have to schedule things not just with utilities and installers, but also with the lawyers, the bank, and the moving company. And we need to take time off from work to got to the meetings and to actually move. We're getting close and knowing when "the end" will be is a big deal now.

Anyway, things continue to move, and we're happy. Happy, but anxious.

Welcome home present

2006-12-01T15:57:00.000-05:00

Karen got to see the house for the first time after a couple of days away, and her welcome home present was all the lights. Lit up, the house looks very lived-in from the street ... aside from the absence of furntiture or blinds or people. We figured out almost all the lights and switches, but some are still not hooked up. The lights in the upstairs hallway have about four places to switch on and off, and they don't all work. I hope that's not a problem. Aside from that, though, it looks great. Because of where the attic access is, in Karen's closet, they had to put in a fluourescent light and not a standard light, and she's a little disappointed about that. We find the lights in our room to be a bit dimmer than we imagined, but that's OK, it is a bedroom and who needs that much light. We have four recessed lights and they throw off enough light to make it comfortable. If you need more light, there are plenty of them in the bathroom. And there's always a table lamp, if needed.

The grout in the mudroom was completed yesterday, too, as was that on the plant shelf above the front door. It looked like the tile and mantle around the fireplace are all done, too.

The yard was rough-levelled by a bulldozer, I think there's more fill in to do, though, as there is still a largish pond in the back yard. I don't know what will happen with that, we were told there might always be a wet area back there where water will accumulate before hitting a valley to drain out.

The microwave was installed, the first appliance. I set the time on it for kicks, it is a slick machine. The only thing I don't like about it is that the kids won't be able to easily reach it, and they're all now at about an age where they can nuke their own things to eat. We do have a step ladder, though.

We'll be headed over again today, of course, to see what else was done. We're coming up on two weeks or less. The builder is hoping to give us a final date next week.

Light!

2006-11-30T16:47:00.000-05:00

I went by the house in the morning yesterday and saw that the electrician was working to install lights, and the carpenters were starting to work on some trim outside and the stairs inside. I wass not able to go by the house at lunch, so I returned after work. Though it was dark, I thought I'd chance it. I was surprised to see lights on in the house when I drove by. No one was there, so I went in. Almost all the lights were in and working. Only a very few were not, including some in the master bathroom.

This is big news! The house looks a lot different with the lights in and on, it illuminates the place from a normal perspective as opposed to the light you get from a single halogen floodlight.

This morning I went again, since I would not be able to at lunchtime. They had finished all the outside trim except for the porch posts. The stair posts were in the process of being put in and a couple of painters were painting trim in the master bedroom and bathroom. There was also a bulldozer flattening out mounds of dirt in the back yard.

Karen is back from a one-night trip, so we'll be heading back to the house to see it and all the work that was done yesterday and today. It is feeling really close now.

Today's report

2006-11-27T16:31:00.000-05:00

So today, the appliances were delivered. The fridge and over-the-stove microwave are in the house, in the kitchen area. The stove and dishwasher are still in their boxes in the garage. I'm not sure what the plan is, but presumably, they will all be moved into place soon. The washer and dryer are also there, moved to the second floor. The linoleum in the laundry room is done, as is the painting, so as soon as the trim is complete and painted over, the plates are placed over the electrical, and the light intalled, they could hook everything up and have that room be done. That would be a small milestone, but it would be of some significance. I don't know if they will do that, though.

The carpenters where there working on trim and moulding. It had been a while since anyone had been there, so I imagine there was a little spin-up time after the long weekend. The painters were there, painting the exterior doors. We decided we liked them white. We looked at other colors, and there were none that we liked, so even if others think white is too boring, it is what we wanted.

Nothing else to report, hopefully the painters will finish this week, the tilers will come back and finish the grout that they left undone, and then the electricians and plumbers can come back and finish up. After that, I think the carpet is going in, then all the door hardware is installed, and then we're ready to move in! We're ready!!

Glass and Audio

2006-11-23T01:39:00.000-05:00

Things in the kitchen and bathroom are progressing. As of noon today, the counters were all in the kitchen, along with the island bar being placed (but, so far, not locked down). The vanity and counter in the 1st floor bath and the pair in the master bath are in, and work started on the vanities in the main bath.

We checked on a few things - Karen and I weren't sure we wanted locks on the kids' doors, so we hem and hawed about that for a while and finally decided to have them - but when I called the door guy, I found that they had read our minds, because he ordered and delivered the knobs last week and they had locks. Glad we decided that!

The french doors in the office had been installed opening in, and we wanted them to open out. That's being corrected. The carpenters, when they're not working on the cupboards, have been cutting trim and moulding. Almost all of it is up, and the painters were going around filling in the nail holes and the join gaps.

I got word today that the appliances will be delivered on Monday.

We also hemmed and hawed about two other things: glass doors on the showers (which we decided to do) and the timing and cost of the central audio and surround sound systems. The glass doors just seemed like a good idea in spite of the cost. The first floor shower will have frosted glass and the master will have plainer glass with a bubble pattern in it.

The estimate listed pairs of speakers for the central audio for $400, which includes 1.5 hours of labor each. We were a bit taken aback by the $230 speakers that would take 1.5 hours to install. We have half a mind to time the installers as they do their work. But despite our concerns about the final price, we decided to go for it. They will install the TV and the components we bought (which are basically more speakers and an A/V receiver). I can handle hooking up our CD changer, DVD/VCR player, and the cable box, but they may be planning to do that, too. Some things are a little unclear. What is clear is that they want to install the central audio speakers on Friday. We dropped off a check for the first phase of the audio plan.

I guess that's it - this is supposed to be a short week, but it may only be for us, and at least one contractor, the audio guys, will be working. We'll stop by Friday to see how things are going. Mean while, it is almost turkey time!

Progress, inside and out

2006-11-20T18:42:00.000-05:00

This weekend, one of the carpenters, who said he likes to work alone because it is quiet, got most of the kitchen cupboards into place. When I went into the house at lunch today, the frame for the refrigerator was in, and Karen reports one counter top was in when she went - two other counter tops were mismeasured and had to be sent back to be trimmed.

Inside, almost all of the doors are in, and they did the casing around most of the doors and windows.

Outside, the driveway was finished today. Piles of dirt remain so that they can be spread over the future lawn.

The closet estimate came in, and it is about $700 over budget - the budget was tiny to start with. I think we'll go with what the estimate is, but we're going to take a close look to see if we can trim anywhere.

Karen spoke to the builder, who says that we're on target for the 15th, maybe a few days before. I'm not sure how close this is, or if he's hedging his bets. We'll see,

It's all good

2006-11-17T14:06:00.000-05:00

Things are really coming together. Today I went to the site at lunch time and there is a ton of things to report. So let's get right to it:

The driveway was graded. We've had dirt covering the sidewalk since we first looked at the site, and it was finally uncovered. A paving crew is working on the other two homes in the development today. I don't know if they will get to ours or not. We asked for a slightly larger turn-around for the cars because of the driveway configuration, so there is blue paint on the ground where I assume the drive will be extended out to. A pile of crushed rock was also delivered, so I think there is more grading to happen.
The cupboards are all in the house, scattered throughout. We have cupboards in the kitchen of course, and then some in each bathroom and in the laundry room.
The doors that were delivered yesterday have been distributed throughout the house. In the master bedroom, two of them had been installed, one in each closet.
There was a crew there installing the tile around the master tub.
There was another guy working on the tile in the entryway and downstairs bathroom.
All the flooring that can be done is done - all the carpet and tile. Carpet comes later. When I say "done," I mean "down," because the grout has not been laid in the tiles just yet.
The marble (granite?) tiles for the fireplace are on site.
Except for four places where trim needs to be finished, the siding is done.
The basement has been insulated and plastic sheeting has been stapled into place.

So, that's a lot! I can't wait to see what they have done by tomorrow, the next time I can go visit during the daylight hours.

Progress report

2006-11-16T10:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Karen and I figured out how our closets are going to look - we did a walk-through with the closet guy and picked out wire-frame shelves for all the closets and the pantry. After that, we headed over to the glass place to look at shower doors. These are not included in the price, so if we get shower doors, they will be extra.

While we were doing the walk-through, the wood floor in the dining room was being installed. The wood goes from the dining room, through the hall, past the stairs, through the kitchen and breakfast area, and into the sunroom. Lots of square footage. The carpenters put down backing for all the tile, so there was an extra layer on the floor in the entry, the mudroom, and the bathrooms. It was apparent someone got the wrong message at one point, because the same underlayment had been laid down in the sunroom, then removed (the adhesive left behind the telltale marks).

Outside, the siding is almost completely done. The only part not finished is around the fireplace and, last I looked, some of the trim. But more than half the trime was done, and if the weather holds today, I would think that could be finished today. Here's hoping!

Latest photo

2006-11-13T11:29:00.000-05:00

This was taken on the 10th of November. It's looking like a real house!

Weekend warriors

2006-11-13T09:17:00.000-05:00

A lot of work was done this weekend. I appreciate that the subcontractors work on the weekends, but I'm actually puzzled as to why. This was nothing unusual - we saw mudders and tapers in the house next door on the weekends several times and we walked in on painters working on Tom's house on a weekend once. I don't know if they are given a date to finish by, and they try to get it all done early so they can take it easy at the end, or what. Regardless, on Saturday, the taping was all done. I went to visit the house just as they were cleaning up: sweeping up the plentiful dust and scraping up chunks of dried compound that had fallen on the floor. It is one hell of a messy job.

On Sunday, we visited again, and a husband and wife team were in the house spraying primer on all the walls. It was very hard to breathe, so we zipped through, but it looked damn good. We spoke to the woman a bit later and she said they expected to be done with the ceilings and the bathrooms by the end of Monday. We are almost at the four weeks to deadline today, so this is all good. The general guideline, you might recall, is that four weeks after the drywall is up, it is ready. The drywall was done two Fridays ago, so if that estimate hold true, we could be in by the first week in December.

We're keeping our fingers crossed.

The exterior is coming right along, too. It is supposed to be a rainy week, so I was a bit concerned, but it was only misting this morning, so the carpenters were there working on the siding. They will be able to finish the back today if the weather holds. The only things left are the sunroom (which is mostly windows and doors, but that doesn't mean it can be done quickly), the fireplace housing, and about 25% of the upper part of the rear of the house. After that, I think the only thing left is the white trim along the eaves.

After the painters, flooring is next - wood and tile.

Giggleriffic

2006-11-07T16:53:00.000-05:00

Karen and I met at the house today at lunchtime to check on its progress. It is coming along very nicely - the front of the house is almost completely done, and it takes little imagination to see how it will look when it is completely done. All of the siding is up in front, and most of the trim. The trim along the roof lines is still left to do, and they have to wrap the porch columns with trim material. Karen noted that they had built steps up to the front porch, but I never saw them - I was too quick to go inside and forgot to look on the way out.

Inside, the taping crews are working diligently. I think we only ended up with one crew in the house yesterday, but there were two in there today. They were walking about on their two-foot high stilts so the could eaily reach the ceilings. I must have stepped in the mud as I tracked the white stuff into my office as well as into the restaurant we ate at after our visit. Almost every hole is filled and almost every seam is filled. They won't fill every hole - those immediately along the floor and around the doors and windows will be left alone, and will be covered with the mouldings.

So today they got first coat on the downstairs and second coat on the upstairs. That leaves second and third coat for tomorrow, third coat and touch-up for Thursday, and final touch ups on Friday. After that, the painters can come in any time. If I were a girl, I'd be giggling right about now.

On we go

2006-11-06T11:40:00.000-05:00

So we spent a goodly amount of time in the house this weekend - the bulk of it was spent with Pam, as she was seeing it for the first time. A lot is done, and this week will be a big week.

All of the drywall is up throughout the house. I only saw a few spots where I thought they had to do some things - in the passage from the house to the basement in particular, and in the garage. These are certainly far less critical, and I think the garage gets drywall but no mudding or taping, so there was time to burn there.

While we were at the house on Sunday, a couple of guys from the drywall contractor came over - they were dropping off supplies. They said they would have worked that day, but decided not to because one of them got back late from a job in New Hampshire. I guess if you're good, you're in some demand, even across state lines. He said that they would be working on the upstairs and that another crew would be working on the downstairs. If all went well, he said, they would both be done on Friday. That's mudding, taping, and two coats of joint compound over it all. I know that the work it a bitch, having done a bit of it before. I also know that experts make it look easy, but it is not.

The house is warm inside. While we were there, the furnace came on several times. The house is not airtight - the doorway to the basement is still wide open, for example, so it won't win any Energy Star awards yet. But once the tape starts going up and the guys outside finish putting rubber tape around the windows, it will slowly seal up better and better.

So on we go with the saga - this is a major milestone, and we were excited to hear it was going to start first thing Monday morning. I just hope both crews are there now!

Drywall -- almost done?

2006-11-03T20:55:00.000-05:00

Today was teacher conference day, so I got to see the house near the end of the day, and before it got dark. The drywallers were working hard to get it done before the end of the day, and based on what I saw, they must have been close. This is all very important work, nothing else can be done unless they finish.

Less important work, but far more visible, is the work done on the siding. They are nearly done in the front. The western side is a huge expanse of flat, so doing that should be pretty easy - the electrical boxes and several other mounted boxes are near the bottom edge, so that will be a little complicated, but once they are above that, it should be quick. The back of the house will be a much harder row to hoe. Just feeling the siding, I can tell that it is much betteer quality than what we had at the old house. The corners are nice and solid. At the other house, they were good looking, but not solid. This is good stuff, good work.

We will be able to take a much better look this weekend. If anything else is ready to report, I'll be back!

Drywall continues

2006-11-02T00:46:00.000-05:00

After work is officially a bust for house watching. Far too dark - right now, only the faintest light remains in the western sky when I get out of work. Karen has it a bit easier, as she is nearby the house when she picks up the kids from school.

I have been going at lunchtime, though, and though it is odd walking through with workers pounding about all over, it is not too bad - they get used to me and I let them get on with their work while trying to stay out of their way. When I went, the drywallers were still working on the second floor, but were nearly done. The carpenters were putting up the siding on the eastern side. Karen later called and said that the eastern side is nearly done, and that the drywallers were finishing up for the day. All good.

She spoke with Tom about the schedule. We are, apparently, about a week ahead of schedule. The siding will take up to a couple of weeks, but that's no big deal. It is almost icing on the cake. The drywallers will continue their work this week. They need to have the house above 65 or so degrees, so the furnace is actually set to run now, to keep all the Sheetrock at the right temperature. Once the drywall, taping, and mudding are all done, it will be time to move on to painters, then flooring.

We didn't bother going to the site after work. I have to buy a couple of big flashlights so we can go and see it in the dark. Even if we only use them a few times, they will be nice to have for later.

It is time for me to do a few things. First, I need to order our appliances. That will be a hefty chunk of change on the AmEx, but most of it will be reimbursed. Then I need to call the cable company and the phone company. They will likely come on site to see everything, but not hook anything up until later - but if I get them in on it now, they will be able to finish things faster later.

Walls are going up

2006-10-31T09:38:00.000-05:00

I think the real craziness will not die down until tomorrow, once Halloween is over. Yesterday we had scouts, and today we have the closing and trick or treating. Tomorrow - nothing. A chance to breathe - hopefully. Oh, yesterday we were able to catch our other cat - that was good, as it means no searching in the woods and no tears from the kids. I'm glad - she's my baby, even though she pissed me off pretty well. She is aclimating to her new surroundings as well as can be expected, I think. A few more days, and she'll realize this is where she's going to be for a while and she can get the lay of the land.

So today is a big day, we sign the papers to formally sell our house. The only thing remaining at the house for us to get are our garbage cans. After all the packing and all the grief from the buyers, I say good riddance. I'll always have good memories of the house, but I'm so ready to be done with it.

Meanwhile, the work continues with some earnest at the new house. The drywallers did a bang-up job yesterday and went until almost 5 o'clock. Karen spoke to them and they told her that by the end of the day today we would be duly impressed. As it was, it looked totally different. The insulators had finished, which meant we now could not see many of the walls - the laundry room and bathrooms were insulated 360 degrees, and the guest bedroom was insulated from the family room to avoid sound leakage from the TV into that room (or vice versa). I'd guess that 25% of the drywall was up, and if they did that in just a few hours, I'm excited to see what it looks like at the end of today.

The other major thing is that the siding was started. I feel a little bad, because Adam's house has been sitting more or less idle for about three or four weeks, all ready to be sided but not. Well, I guess I don't feel too bad... they can get to his house later, right?

I went to take a photo at noontime, because after 5 is now too dark. They had not done any siding when I drove by, so they did one little corner in just a few hours. Given a full day, there ought to be some really visible progress by noontime today. My pictures will now, for the first time, include workers and their trucks - the supporting cast in this saga.

Exhausted

2006-10-30T10:07:00.000-05:00

Well, we're all moved out of our house. We finished Sunday afternoon. By the end of the day, we were both exhausted. I made a final trip over to pick up a couple of gas cans and to try to find Sierra, who escaped from the house. She toyed with me, sitting on the front porch until I got close enough to pick her up, whereby she ran off into the woods. I want her to come with us, but I'm not going to chase her throughout kingdom come. If she wants to stay, she can stay.

Anyway, the moving van was filled to the brim, especially the last quarter, where we stuffed in desks, the lawn tractor, miscellany from the shed and garage, the snowblower, tools, Halloween crap, and other sundry items. It will shift, no doubt about it, so opening it will be a slow and deliberate act. But that's four to six weeks away. I drove to the house to look for the cat this morning, and on the way out, I saw the tractor coming down our road to pick up the trailer.

Today, the buyers will do a walk-through. We got the washer and dryer out, so they should be happy with that. There is a largish pile of garbage in the garage, but garbage day is not until tomorrow, so they will have to live with that. We have a dozen half-used cans of paint and stain that I just don't know what to do with. Can't use them, cant throw them away, can't dump them in the sink ... we'll see. If they don't say anything about them, they can have them. I'll put the garbage out tonight and retrieve the empties later, and that will be it.

Enough about the old house, I'm so done with that. The new house is a hub of activity. One day last week, Karen drove by and counted 11 cars, trucks, and vans at the site. I drove by this morning and there were at least six, though the only one labeled was the plumber's. I did see a carpenter working in the eaves and several people inside. When we went on Friday, a good share of the insulation was done. We went again on Saturday, while taking a break from packing, and saw that at some point that morning, they had moved in the drywall - hundreds of sheets of all sizes, though mostly large ones - 12, 14, and 16 footers. They had put it all over, first and second floor. That is great news and means we are right on schedule.

With daylight savings done with, it will be dark after work, so I think I am going to change my picture taking schedule from after work to lunchtime. That is a bit harder, so I'll have to see how it works out. I may not get to it every day.

We got porch

2006-10-27T09:29:00.000-04:00

The porch was finished yesterday, which means that the carpenters were on site. The lead us to the inside to see what other work, if any, had been done. We think that the framers/carpenters are now done: the half-wall in the master bath is done, as is the linen closet in the main bathroom. These are the to main things that were missing inside the house. They also shored up the ceiling peak in the sunroom to give the fan a flat base. Most of the wiring on the second floor is done, though we see a few places it has left to be finished. Most of the wiring on the first floor is done, but there is still a bunch left to do.

The wiring for the central audio is done, or at least mostly done - there are blue and white audio cables strung everywhere on the first floor, and pink CAT5 cable, which I think is for the volume controls, strung as well. It all leads to a white box in the basement, though I could see no more than that because it was so dark and the power is shut off so none of the bare wiring was live.

The furnace appears to be mostly complete now. I appears to have to large outgoing vents, one of which supplies the first floor and the other the second. Also, the central vacuum was roughed in, though we are not putting the actual vac unit in right now. Since the pipes are in, though, it wouldn't be a big deal to add it in the future is we so choose. Frankly, I'm good without it, but you never know what we'll do as time goes on. If our vacuum ever dies, we could always replace it by installing the vac unit.

Ryan's windows are in - Karen told me this but by the time I got to the site, I didn't even notice them, so I have to take her word for it. They have also started to seal around the windows, which is good because it is supposed to be a deluge this weekend.

We have started to pack the moving van, and we think we are on track to get it mostly filled before the rain hits. The kids drew good-bye cards for their bus driver yesterday. He has been their bus driver since their first bus ride eight years ago. It was sad but cute that they thought of him.

More plumbing and wiring

2006-10-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

So yesterday they installed the furnace - not completely, but we see where it will live. There are still things to hook up, still ductwork to finish. As far as we can tell, most of the plumbing is now done, and almost the entire second floor is wired. They should finish with that and with the first floor today and tomorrow. The Superstore is coming in today to wire the central audio. I had to decide pretty quickly if I wanted to prewire the TV for HDMI or if I wanted to use component. I decided to hedge my bets by doing both. I am concerned that HDMI will only last as long at it takes for the next best thing to emerge. Component is old tech but it works beautifully and probably is not going anywhere. But the HDMI is all-digital and the component requires digital/analog conversions on both ends.

Still to arrive is the hot water heater and the AC unit. Also Ryan's windows should arrive today. Meanwhile at our house, the moving van will arrive today.

We're told that tomorrow we might get drywall delivered, but definitely by Monday morning, and then on Monday, the drywallers start. That gives all the in-the-wall guys just two more days to finish. Hurry up!

Plumbing and electric

2006-10-25T09:15:00.000-04:00

So the plumbers continue their work - they make a grand mess. The worst is when they drill holes for the duct work. As I've mentioned, we've had hot water heat for the past 10 years; my parents have steam; and my inlaws have hot water, too; so the whole notion of forced air heat is something foreign to me. I guess as long as it heats the place, it does not matter. They end up cutting holes in the floors for the vents and holes in the walls for cold air return - the former blows and the latter sucks. I remember when I lived in North Carolina, we had AC, and one big cold air return in a short hallway. If you sat in this hallway, you could see the TV. I concocted a story that it was best for me to practice guitar in that place because the return could suck the sheet music and hold it at eye level. Of course, I could also ignore the sheet music and strum nonsense while I watched Star Trek. But I digress.

At this point, most of the plumbing is done. The vanities are not in, nor the kitchen counters, so the sinks are not installed, but the water for them is. The drains for everything on the second floor are in. There is even a mysterious drain pipe in the laundry room that I had to ask about - it is there just in case the washer ever leaks. Nifty. Since it will (hopefully) never be used, it is not a vented pipe, just a direct drain.

The electricians went through and put up blue boxes througout the second floor yesterday. Karen and I went to the site last night and nodded approval to most things. For some reason, Brittany's little closet has three outlets in it and Karen's massive walk-in closet has none, so we decided that she needed one. We also decided that the laundry room needed one more, for an iron or whatever. I went to the site this morning and told the contractor and he said he'd take care of it.

We decided to put phone and cable in all of the bedrooms, even the kids'. I don't plan on them ever having separate phones or even TVs, but it was suggested that it would be good for any possible future resale; so I relented. We use cordless phones almost exclusively, and plan to only have the main TV and one in the master bedroom, so those outlets may never be used. Brittany said, however, that she might come home from college one day and want to watch TV. Sigh. College.

We rearranged the lighting on the porch a bit. The builder said he thought it make a statement to have smaller carriage lights all along the front, as opposed to the one large one we had picked. So instead of the one on the garage wall, we will have two there and two to either side of the front door. I really liked the idea of the recessed lights on the porch, so we kept those. They'll all be switched separately, so we can choose which we use. By the end of the day yesterday, several recessed light cans were installed, as were boxes for the master bedroom fan, the smoke detectors, the sconce lights in the hall, and the overhead lights in the kids rooms and laundry room. The fans had also been installed in the bathrooms.

Today when I went, they electricians were laying out cable and phone line. Most of the electrical wire had been done the day before, and it is fascinating to see. I want to take pictures of the whole mess before the sheetrock goes up, for future reference.

As for carpentry, the front porch deck was done on Tuesday. There is a missing linen closet in the main bath, and we're not sure if it was forgotten or if it was left for last for some specific reason. House wrap was put up on most of the house that didn't yet have it, in preparation for siding. The windows were installed in the garage and the garage door was framed out. The door into the garage from the outside and from the garage into the mudroom were both installed. The windows for Ryan's room have not yet arrived, but should soon.

First snow

2006-10-22T00:40:00.000-04:00

So we got our first snow of the season yesterday. It was way too snowy and dark to take a picture, but it would have been nice. We are at a stage now where a daily photo does little good. Aside from a snatch of snow still left on the roof, the photo I took today and the one I took Thursday were no different.

Inside, however, is another story. The plumbers tore through the house like madmen, drilling holes and laying pipe everywhere. Nearly the entire second floor is all plumbed. The whirlpool tub, the washer and drier, sinks, toilets, almost eveything. I think the shower is left to do - but those are small details. Holes for the AC and heat have been drilled, but not finished. That's a project for Monday.

We met with the electrician and lighting guy on Friday, so there are lighting notes throughout the house - iconic drawings on the floors and walls, and notes near where switches will go. We did not have to specify outlets, except in a few places where we wanted to be sure to have extras. We opted to go with phone and cable in all bedrooms, which I am not too keen on. That's one detail that may yet change. Tom suggested them for resale, but I really don't want to give the kids the option of having their own phone and cable hookups. We'll see. We forgot to ask about getting electric for the kitchen island, that's one thing we need to talk to the electrician about before he starts on Tuesday.

The stairs look great still - they are all covered in sheetroock to keep muddy feet off them. The framers finshed the basement on Friday, and once the last set of windows come in, they will have only four to go to finish that - two in Ryan's room and two in the garage.

It rained all day Friday - a driving rain that forced its way into the house where the windows are not yet sealed up. The floors are very wet right now, but hopefully the weather will stay dry until those windows are in a they are sealed (though I'm not sure when the sealing will be done. Then came the snow in the evening, but everything is under cover and survived fine. One last project to finish is the cap on the garage roof. Hopefully that can be done Monday before the rain comes back.

Nice stairs!

2006-10-20T09:18:00.000-04:00

The stairs are in! We went to the site yesterday not knowing quite what to expect, because the plumbers were going to start up. Turns out they didn't do much visible work - no holes in floors. But they did bring in all of their equipment, so there are plumbing parts strewn throughout the house, though it is an orderly strewing - joints and fittings all lined up nice and neat, alongside coils of plastic pipe and copper ends, toilet gaskets, all sundry other pieces and parts.

The biggest, most noticable change, though, was the addition of the main staircase. Tom told us that the staircase cost $7000. My brother in law comfirmed the high cost of some staircases, especially when they are anything but straight up and down. We have a standard set of stairs from the first floor to the basement, but the main staircase angles around a 120 degree corner. So it is a short straight run and a long straight run, joined by two or three pie-shaped stairs to make the turn. Looking at the stairs from underneath, you can see how much work they are. I never would have imagined.

Anyway, we also picked out our interior doors and all of our doorknobs yesterday, and learned that the window guy had to order one window that he forgot to order the first time around - that's why the windows in Ryan's room are not in yet. Not a show-stopper, though.

Finally, the roofing is nearly complete. The large over-the-garage roof is 99% covered. It is just missing a few shingles and needs to be capped.

Oh, one more thing: the fireplace was delivered. It is a long way from being installed, but it is on site, so we can see that room a little better.

Last chance

2006-10-19T00:40:00.000-04:00

Well, today was our last chance to see the house all in one piece. Tomorrow, all the nice, fine work the framers have done will be ripped to shreds by the plumbing guys. But you know, I'm ok with that. For without plumbing, there are no showers, no tubs ... no toilets.

So the framers did not finish the windows today. The remainder of the time was spent finishing up the basement, and they increased the crew by one to get it done. As far as we can tell, it is. All of the exterior walls are now framed, except for one tiny spot near where the door to the garage will be. I think they left it that way so that they are sure there is room to move the furnace and water heater down there. They also put in the main staircase to the basement, and the framed a wall to its left (as you go up). The stair case itself is nailed to this wall of studs, and the bracing appears to be the sole raison d'etre for the studs.

The whirlpool tub has been framed and the tub itself has been removed from the box, so all that remains there is to plop it into place - but we're not sure if they will just do that or if the plumbers have to put in drains and water access first.

So the major things that are half-done at this point: windows (about four left to do inside, and two on the garage), shingles (one slope to do, above the garage), and ... I think that's it. Of course, I don't know what I don't know, so there are likely other things. But we're excited to see plumbing go in. Electrical next, then insulation, then sheetrock, then painting, finish work, flooring ... and siding and driveway in there somewhere.

Can I have a woot!

Rare mid-day update

2006-10-18T11:38:00.000-04:00

We met with Tom and Tom and the plumber today, and got some updates at the same time. First, by the time we got to the site, most of the remaining windows were installed. Only those in the garage are left, and they're not critical to the interior work.

We told the plumber where we wanted exterior faucets (one on each side), and discussed the best placement of the furnace and water heater. We have not had a separate water heater in a long time, I'm curious to see if I notice a big difference either way. To avoid cutting floor joists, the water heater will vent out to the back, where we had planned to put the deck. Not a biggie, the deck can still be plenty big, it just won't be able to go right to the corner of the house.

So, with the plumber all set, we meet with the electrician on Friday. The plumber will be starting his work tomorrow, the electrician on Tuesday. According to Tom, the sheetrockers will be in on or about the 27th. He said that things can happen, but generally, four weeks from the first sheetrock going in, the house is done. Perhaps four weeks after the last sheetrock is in - there's a fudge factor in there. This is exciting news because we are either right on schedule or a bit ahead.

We talked about perhaps changing the flooring in the sunroom from carpet to hardwood. Karen is going to look into it, as it is not yet too late to change. Other work that will be done is that central vacuum will be roughed in (though we will not be installing the canister) and the Superstore will be coming to do the A/V wiring. It will be a busy few weeks, and we can't think of anything we'd rahter. Oh, the siding will be put in some where in there, along with the front porch. It is all good.

We got windows!

2006-10-17T22:25:00.000-04:00

Yes, today we got windows - in fact, almost all of the windows were installed today. I drove by in the morning, and the crew was there, but doing something inside. I drove by again at lunchtime, because I went to lunch at the boys' school, and I noted that they were manhandling a giant front door into place. A good sign.

Later in the afternoon, I spoke to Karen and told her, but she realized that we never finalized the design of the fron door that we wanted. I told her I could not tell what the door looked like, I didn't notice and the guys were milling about it - if I saw, I could not recall. The one thing we did not want was glass in our front door. Sidelights were fine, but not on the door itself. She called Tom Jr and he said that he remembered that we had not finalized a door, but when he spoke to his father, Tom had assumed that since we did not specifiy anything different from the norm, that we wanted the norm. Karen drove by later to see what the norm is - and fortunately, it is a door with no windows. Whew, dodged that bullet. Though Tom Jr. said it would be a relatively simple thing to swap one door for another, had it come to that.

Also today, the roofer finished the shingles on the sunroom. All that remains is the large roof section over the garage.

All of the windows, then, are in, or are on site. A couple of doors, too. There are three exterior doors remaining to install and two are on site. I think one is for the door from the outside to the garage and the other is from the garage to the mudroom. The door from the garage to the basement is an exterior door, as far as I know, but they still have to bring in the furnace and the AC equipment, so I assume they will have that door delivered later.

Tomorrow we have a walk-through with the either the plumber or the electrician - I forget which.

Here is a photo of the latest:

Just slight progress

2006-10-17T01:28:00.000-04:00

It looks like the only work that happened today was that the roofers worked on the front of the house. That leaves the roof over the garage to complete and the roof over the sunroom to complete, plus whatever sundry things they do with shingles. Inside, it looks like the braces for the cabinetry in the kitchen was completed, but that's about all. We were hoping that windows would be delivered today, considering the nice weather, but alas, they were not.

Starting another week

2006-10-16T00:16:00.000-04:00

So, we're about to start a big week. By the end of the day Friday, we had about 45% of the shingles done. The entire back was done and a small portion of the front was done. The front roof is larger, though, so not quite half. Also, the sunroom is yet undone. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day, so hopefully the roofers can finish the whole thing. Also on Friday, a lot of the ceiling strapping was completed on the second floor. Only a bit of Brittany's room was not done. They installed the attic access box in Karen's closet. It is very much like the one we have now, which means access will be for emergencies only, or at least very well planned projects.

On tap for this week is the installation of windows. We hope they will be delivered tomorrow so they can get right to it. We have a walk-through scheduled with the electricians and lighting guys and with the plumbers. I don't think there is much to do with the plumbers other than to say where the shower head should go on the two showers and to confirm the placement of everything else. I think we might have to show them where we would like the outside faucet. Other than that, a bathroom is a bathroom and it needs certain things that have certain places - right?

We got a good deal of packing done this weekend - we think we might be to 80%, not including tear-down of some of the furniture. We're trying to figure out what must be torn down, what can be torn down, and what can't be. The beds in the kids' rooms, for example, must be. They are too big to go down the stairs completely assembled. But we will tear them down to a few pieces as possible to make it easy to put it all back togther. The kitchen table can be torn down - the leaf comes out, of course, and the legs can be removed. The coffee table is all one piece, it is already as small as it can get.

This is not yet the home stretch for the move-out, but we're getting close.

Shingling

2006-10-12T13:35:00.000-04:00

We got shingles! The roofers began work on the shingles yesterday, so when we drove by, we got a good view of the back roof, where about 1/3 of the surface had been covered. The front roof is larger, so it can't be said that they are 1/6th of the way done, but whatever. I drove by the site at about 11:30 and they were just getting the shipment of shingles delivered, so they were able to do that patch in just about three or four hours. Given a nice day (which today isn't), they might be able to get the entire back and part of the front done.

We have a set of stairs in the garage. We don't know what they are for. There is a short set and a long set. Our staircase will consist of two parts. About four or five steps from the first floor to a turn, and more steps from there to the second floor. I have no idea how they put these things together, but the long set seemed to long, as did the short set. It is possible these are not for the main staircase but instead for the front porch and the basement. We'll see. There was also a short set of stairs placed in the garage to the mudroom. This is good because it saves us from putting our lives at risk to enter the house from that side. I checked out the basement and the framing down there is not complete. They must be saving that for a rainy day (like today).

We heard back on the outbuilding we asked for a quote for. They didn't really quote me what I wanted, but based on what we did get, we decided to forego the outbuilding. I had wanted a quote on an 8x10 and a 10x10 structure, with two double doors and with a small overhead door. We got a single quote for a 10x10 garage with a large overhead door. It was about $9500. This is at least double what I was thinking it might be, and we just can't justify it. I'm peeved I didn't get the quotes I asked for (how hard can it be?) but even if the double doors and smaller area shave 20% off the price, it will still be too much. We'll have to build a shed later - I can do it myself.

Surprising installation

2006-10-10T23:48:00.000-04:00

Today, the roof was finished, except for shingles - it is all covered in decking and with the modern equivalent of felt paper. The sunroom will be nice, with its nine-foot walls plus an additional foot in a catherdral-style ceiling. It will be smaller than what we have now, but not by too much. The advantage will be that it is built-in from the start. The other major thing that happened today was a pleasant surprise.

The bathtubs and showers are in - or nearly so. Each of them is too damn big to move into the bathrooms later, so now, which the walls are not fully formed, is the time to do it. We know it was going to happen because there are many studs missing just in the bathroom walls, and we figured it was to give plenty of room to move these units in. And so it is. The first floor shower is in, as is the master shower. The master whirlpool is in the bathroom, but not yet out of the box. The main bath/shower unit is on site, but not yet installed.

We are very curious to see what the next step is. Today is our three-week point for the move-out, and we're five days away from the two month mark for move-in.

Where we are now

2006-10-09T13:15:00.000-04:00

We spent most of this weekend packing, so we didn't get to the site much. We have just a few weeks left to go before the last one, where we start moving boxes into the moving van. That last week, we will be sleeping on mattresses and in sleeping bags, eating a lot of take-out and quick meals, and dressing out of luggage. But for now, we're still partly normal, except for the array of boxes that is slowly growing in depth and height.

But the house: last week progressed wonderfully. By Friday afternoon, almost all of the roof decking was done. The only portion left was above the garage and those parts of the second floor abutting the garage: Brittany's closet and Karen's closet. The trusses were placed over the sunroom, and the decking was not yet done there, too. I estimated 75% of the decking was done. I don't know what the plan for this week is, but if the roofers come, they should be able to make a good dent in the shingling. There is supposed to be inclement weather on Wednesday, but things can change.

We have not been back into the basement, so we don't know if they finished the framing down there. AS far as we can tell, they stopped that to do the roof, so I would guess there are still a few walls left to frame up.

We have not gotten an estimate for the possible shed/outbuilding, so that is on hold for now. I think the next big step, aside from the roofing, will be a walk-through with someone - the electrician, perhaps.

Woot!

2006-10-05T13:26:00.000-04:00

Well, well - what a difference a day (or two) make. Yesterday, we went to the site and we were initially disappointed. It had been a beautiful day (meaning it had not rained) and it looked like nothing had been done. How wrong we were. After some exploring, we found that nearly the entire basement had been framed. Now, we're not finishing the basement, but one of the Hergenrother trademarks, we've been told, is that the basement will be framed. Just the walls, where the foundation is, but having finished a basement, I can say that this is a big deal. I would estimate that at least 75% of the framing had been done. We found a couple of buckets full of slats, about 18-24 inches long, with a couple of pre-placed nails at each end, too. However, nothing new had been done on the roof.

This morning, I drove by on the way to work and from a distance I could see that there was a crane on the site, which bodes well. As I rounded the corner, I could see that about a third of the main roof trusses had been installed. I called Karen to tell her, and we were both excited. We both just drove to the site from our respective places of work and saw that nearly all of the trusses are now in place. There are a few left on the ground, but the roof looks complete, so they may be extra, in case of damage. Also, the trusses above the sunroom are not in place, but I think the reason for that is because they are relatively small and I think they can be placed with muscle power and don't require the crane.

The short slats came into play and solved a short-lived mystery: they use them to hold the trusses in place as they work, presumably just until they install the roof decking.

They will be working for a couple more hours today, do we will definitly return after work to see the results. Now the shape and scope is finally visible. This is probably the most exciting step since we signed the papers.

Trusses have been started

2006-10-04T01:20:00.000-04:00

The first set of trusses are up. If you look in the photo from the last post, the ones they installed are above the garage (which is the one-story part of the front of the house). Also, the plywood partially covering the windows in the garage was removed, so they are now full size. The first truss was installed on top of the sun room - I presume the several that follow it will go up quickly. After that, the hard stuff begins. They did quite a bit of prep work on the trusses on the ground. They come assembled, but they add a layer of plywood to the end piece, which will eventually be the front of a gable and covered with siding. And they build the overhangs into the end pieces.

I didn't get to the house until about 6:20 today because I gave blood after work. It is getting too dark to take photos at that time of day. Pretty soon, especially when daylight savings kicks in, I will have to go there on my lunch house to get a well-lit photo.

New photo

2006-10-01T19:52:00.000-04:00

It rained on Friday and our new neighbors tell us that no one was at the site at all, so I didn't take any pictures this weekend. The framing is nearly done, and the trusses are all on site (or at least many of them), and tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day... so we're hoping that they start getting the trusses up tomorrow. We went to the site several times to see everything. They have a few more things to do upstairs: the linen closet in the kids' bathroom, the additional window we decided on, a half-wall in the master bath. They also need to finish cutting out the windows in the garage. All of these are small things they should be able to bang out quickly. This weekend we bought a mailbox to put up, with the hope that we can put it up and start getting mail there, even before our official move-in date. Here is the latest photo. Note the nice portapotty.

Phase almost complete!

2006-09-28T09:18:00.000-04:00

The framing phase is nearly done - at this very moment, in fact, it is possible that it is all done. At the house last night, my untrained eye saw only one wall on the second floor not yet up, but it was mostly built and resting on the floor, ready to be raised into place. This is the wall between the laundry room and the master bathroom. I'm sure there are other small bits to be done (I think we noted the linen closet in the kids' bath, for example, was missing). But the major parts are complete. This is great news.

Also yesterday, they delivered our trusses, so as soon as the framing is complete, they can move on to the roof anytime. We're told we won't be able to appreciate the scale of the project until the roof is on. But as I already noted, the roofers probably won't be done for a couple of weeks: the roof is more than the trusses. I'm not sure how they divide it up, but it my mind it has trusses, then decking, then shingles. I know there are other parts to it (felt paper or whatever they use, drip edges, etc), but I'll stick with the three... They've also delivered one inch strapping for the ceilings, but I don't think they put that up until the rough plumbing and electrical are done.

Tom, Tom, Adam, Karen, and I all met for a birthday party for me at the house site yesterday. OK, it was just a meeting that happened to be on my birthday, but I can call it a party if I want. Anyway, we discussed a few things. First, we've decided to add one window in the master bedroom. It will be the only window on that side of the house, and will offer a nice east-facing view. It will be in the corner of the room by Karen's closet. We also discussed options for the fireplace - the big choice was basically should the hearth be flush or raised? We decided to have it raised. We discussed the shed idea a bit more - Tom needs a decision on it soon because it requires pouring a concrete slab. He wants to pour the driveway soon, before it gets too cold, and the slab should be in place before the pavers come. Doing some rough drawing, I think 10x10 would work best for what I want to store in there: lawn tractor, snow blower, five bikes, optionally the motorscooter. I guessed at the equipment sizes, but even if I'm off by 25%, 8x8 would not work. 8x10 could work, but 10x10 works best. I think I will ask for prices for both, and take it from there.

Tom noted that he likes our layout a lot - it is unusual and it has features you don't find in other houses. He was mostly talking angles and layout - the stairs, for example, being on the interior the way they are, rather than directly off the foyer as one would expect. The half-octagon shape of the family room. The space afforded by the sunroom and breakfast area. Karen likes to hear things like this, so she was happy. That's always a good thing.

Future plans

2006-09-26T14:13:00.000-04:00

We heard a little about the future of our project today. The roof trusses are on order and should be on site within a few days. Once the second floor framing is done, the trusses are the next step. Once they are in, the roofers can go on site and start work there. Other interior work, like plumbing, HVAC, and electrical, cannot start until the roof is complete. The estimate is that all the interior roughing will start in about three weeks.

We got the estimate for the wiring for audio and video and it came out to about $1700. This included wiring for central audio in six locations plus wiring for surround sound in the family room and wiring for an HDTV above the fireplace. The central audio is pretty cool - you hook it up to a capable reciever (those don't come cheap, by the way) and each room that is wired has separate volume controls. The HDTV wiring is the part I worry the most about, both from a technology standpoint and a cost standpoint. HDMI was spec'ed to go from the TV site to the receiver site, but some things I've read lead me to believe that component video is just as good and has better signal retension and is cheaper. It is five cables to hook up instead of one, but you only do that once, right?

We also, apparently, have to make some decisions about our fireplace - we thought we'd done all we need to do, but I guess there are a few options. We're meeting with Tom tomorrow at the site to go over the options.

Second floor on its way

2006-09-25T14:38:00.000-04:00

We were at the house site a lot this weekend. They finished the second floor decking and chalked out the interior walls, so we went several times to see it all. They had also started the framing for the windows in the front and back of the house, though all the parts were on the floor - as they did on the first floor, they will wait until they also cut the studs and get it all together horizontally before they raise the whole thing vertical.

The view from up there was pretty spectacular. Of course, this is about the only time we'll ever see that view. Once the house is up, the view will be segmented, and some parts will not be viewable at all - there are no windows on the side of the house at all. Karen was concerned about this, especially when she saw the view. She is thinking it might be good to put a window on the east side in the master bedroom. I left that to her, I think we're ok with the lighting we have, and I'm not one to gaze out windows, so the extra window's value would be lost on me. But I won't say no if she wants it.

Gingerly, the kids came up, too, to see where their rooms will be. It was exciting for them for a few moments, but they quickly lost interest and went back down the rickety temporary stairs.

There are only a couple of questions that we still have on the build: Will we add a shed to the east side? Will we keep the island in the kitchen? That's about it, everything else is going pretty well. I am hoping when I go by today, the outer walls, at least, will be complete. It was a great day to work outside, so if they're not done, I'm going to really wonder why!

Stairway to ... nothing

2006-09-21T23:43:00.000-04:00

So Wednesday it rained, so not much was done. But something critical was - the steel columns in the basement were installed. So, the real work on the second floor could begin.

And today, they did. All of the joists and all of the decking, with a few small exceptions, were completed today. They also installed a temporary staircase, which leads to the second floor. I was excited to climb those stairs to get a look, but I quickly saw that the decking had been installed right over the opening. I presume they will cut the hole tomorrow, but we'll see. They may need to keep it closed to keep kids out (though there are no stairs to the basement, so that's just as much of an accident waiting to happen). Anyway, we can see more and more what it is going to look like when the walls a covered over and things start getting installed.

The stairs are straight, not how they will be in the finished product. We tried to figure out how they will look when the real stairs are in, but it is hard to tell. The real stairs will have a small section, maybe four or five risers, then make a 135 degree turn, or thereabouts, and continue straight up. One of our concerns has been how much room there will be between the wall on the left and the stairs on the right. I think it will be fine, but it is an open question. Not that there is much we can do either way, it is what it is.

We're still unsure about the island bar in the kitchen. We tried to peek into the house next door, as they have one, to get a better idea, but 1) is it too hard to see from the windows and B) theirs is laid out differently than ours, so I'm not sure it is a good comparison.

My new thing is figuring out how to arrange furniture in the family room. Let's face it, I like TV. I don't want a layout that will suck for watching TV, bottom line. One absolutely perfect plan is to put a plasma screen above the fireplace. But that means buying a plasma screen, and that's no small purchase (plasma, LCD, whatever, I call them all plasma even when they're not). So if we don't do that, how do we lay things out to make sense with what we do have? We have an HDTV - but it is not a small item, so the choices of where to place it are not unlimited. It is a great screen for our family room now - but if you double the distance between the screen and the couch, will it be enough? One plan has the screen at an angle to the couch - yuck! Who wants to watch football, or "Grey's Anatomy" for that matter, at an angle. We have an appointment with a local store to talk about wiring for TV - what we can do now to give us options in the future. We'll see what comes of that. Who knows, we may walk out with a plasma in our arms.

So tomorrow is supposed to be a gorgeous day. I hope they can get a wall up on the second floor. In the best world, they would have our second floor skin by midweek and fully framed by the end of the week, and if so, they could theoretically have the rafters up by the week after. That's when things really start happening inside.

I took a look back at our photos. Two and a half months ago, the outer skin on the house next door was up, and my guess is that they are now a week away from being done. If they can stick to that schedule for us, we will be in by December 15.

A little work today

2006-09-19T00:57:00.000-04:00

To my untrained eye, not much got done today. There are some new 2x4's up in the first floor framing, which I figure are temporary supports so that second floor decking can start. Many 2x12's are in place on top of the existing framing, and I figure they cut all of those today and will nail them into place tomorrow. The main beam in the garage was also put in place. In some other houses, with considerable living space above the garage, this beam was steel. Since most of the space above our garage is not living space, I guess wood suffices: three 2x12's nailed together. The steel columns are not yet in place, but if I'm right and those have to be done before they add the weight of the second floor decking, they'll likely get to those tomorrow, too.

Ready for another week

2006-09-18T00:18:00.000-04:00

So we visited the site several times this weekend - what, we should be packing or something??

The first floor framing is complete - or at least it looks so to my untrained eye. I'm sure there are a few things to do, but we'll leave it at that for now. I think the next step is going to have to be replacing the temporary wood posts in the basement with steel ones, to hold up the weight of the second floor and the roof. The posts are on-site. I thought they were hollow steel, or perhaps solid steel... but seeing them on site, uninstalled, I can see that they are indeed hollow but then filled with concrete. I probably never would have guessed that, even though I had my desk in the basement of this house, right up against a similar steel post for five years.

So, all the interior walls are now complete - even the jut-out for the fireplace is framed. The only thing that is not complete surrounds the stairs, but I think it will be a while before we see anything of substance there, as it was in the house next door. The shape of all the rooms is now easy to see. I am concerned about how to lay out the family room, and that will be the biggest challenge to my imagination for the next few days. The way Karen wants it, I just don't see it working ... but maybe it will be alright.

We have an appointment with some A/V specialists to discuss the wiring we should have in place for our current and future needs. Right now we have an HDTV, but it is not flat, so it won't hang from a wall. But we might have one like that soon, even in four or five years out, and if the cost is not too prohibitive, we might want to preplan for that. Maybe hang one above the fireplace (though the viewing angle then concerns me). Maybe hang one on the wall across from the fireplace, or on the wall to the spare bedroom... where would be best for the future?? Where would be best for now??

Anyway... we got some measurements on some new tables and chairs, which we would put in the breakfast area. We're not sure at this point if we will be eating in the dining room more or in the kitchen more ... in fact, we've discussed having no table in the kitchen area at all - or having one in the sunroom. There are pros and cons to them all. Maybe these decisions are premature. I don't know, I've never done this before.

The count-down is now on to our move-out date. We're about six weekends out. I do need to get this office packed up, except for the computer and a few reference books. Once that's done, I'll feel better. I think most of the rest of the house will go fairly quickly. But if there's one thing I learned moving Rob, it is this: lots of same-size boxes pack quicker and tighter.

No site visit today

2006-09-15T23:41:00.000-04:00

Today I helped Rob and Bridget move from one house to another, so I didn't get to the site today. Wah. Karen went by, though, and reported that one worker was there finishing up the outer plywood skin of the first floor. We had been told that the second floor decking would be started, maybe even finished, this week, but obviously that didn't happen. That's OK, though, the first floor is more complicated and considering how quickly the first floor decking was done, the second floor could be done by Tuesday.

There was a crew there today working on the front entry walkway. This is much earlier than we expected, but a good use of the crew's time - they were at the house next door, and I suppose when they finished with their walkway, they just came and did ours. Now, we were going to look at some possible things to do to that walkway -Adam, for example, had his done in a faux brick look that we said looks nice and is relatively inexpensive. It would have been nice to contemplate, but I think, honestly, we have gone over our budget enough already and with the possible addition of a shed out building constructed in the project, may be contemplating the outer limits of how far our budget can stretch.

Anyway, I can't wait to see the site tomorrow. For now, my daily pictures are not much changed from day to day, since most of the work is inside the walls and hidden from the lens. Hopefully next week they will show real visible progress.

Photos

2006-09-12T00:35:00.000-04:00

Here are some photos from our project:

One month ago, 8/11/2006, the foundation is being poured:

August 18, the foundation is complete and the ground is levelled:

September 9, the first walls are up:

September 11, the first floor exterior is about 75% complete:

Another weekend update

2006-09-11T09:29:00.000-04:00

We visited the house site several times this weekend, mostly just to kill some time in between various appointments and meetings. But there was a lot to look at. About 50% of the outer shell is now complete. The back wall is done, except for where the sunroom is; the west wall, which is windowless, is done, the front wall is half-done; and the east wall is done. The west wall encloses the first floor bedroom/den, the bathroom, and the office. The east wall is where the kitchen is. So we are able to look out the window framing to see what our view will be. Very nice, very exciting!

The windows on the first floor are huge - they are six feet tall, and should let in plenty of light. The bedroom has one double window, so there is a huge 6x6 hole in that wall; the office has the same windows, but split, so there are two huge 3x6 holes there.

The framers had finished most of the framing for the front wall, which will join up with the wall for the office already completed; in that wall are the front door and windows into the dining room. I'm not sure if they will do the sunroom at the same time as the rest of the exterior walls or if they save that for some reason. We'll see today, they should be able to easily finish the exterior today.

We met with Tom on Friday, and there were only two issues he needed to address. One was that we had chosen a 4-foot shower for the first floor bath and he's spec'ed out a 5-foot shower: we said that we chose whatever was presented to us, and that that shower should just be chnaged to the 5-foot version. The second issue is that the first floor bedroom can't be a bedroom, per the town. So we are removing the closet and turning that space into a nook, and calling it a den. Whatever. We're still going to put a bed in there.

We met another neighbor, one whose house we can see from our kitchen window. They have a 3-car garage, the only thing we don't have that I really would have liked. The house next door is nearly done - the siding is almost all up and a large shed build into the side is nearly done, too. I like tracking where that house is in the process because we're roughly two months behind them.

Quick update

2006-09-08T23:39:00.000-04:00

[This was originally posted on 9/8, but to the wrong blog.]

Just a quick update tonight because I'm tired and I think I'm going to bed.

The carpenters got three outer walls today, so we can see things really coming together. The windows in the family room are HUGE! But that's good - light is good. I didn't get there early enough to take pictures, so I'll do that tomorrow. Then at some point, I'll have to post some of the ones I've taken over the past several weeks.

We also met with Tom today. Everything is on track. The closet in the downstairs bedroom had to go, because the town doesn't want it to be a bedroom. So it is now a den, and the closet will now be a nook. Of course, we plan to bed a bed and dresser in the den, so it will be a bedroom. But it is a den. Whatever. The other thing was that we picked a 4-foot shower for the downstairs bathroom - the one next to the bedroom-that-is-really-a-den. And he made room for a 5-foot shower. So we need to fix that. I don't frankly remember if he said he would call the plumbing guys or if we said we would. Hopefully Karen remembers.

As for me? I'm beat, I'm going to bed.

Progress thus far

2006-09-07T16:32:00.000-04:00

Several steps have now been completed. A layer of pressure treated lumber was laid over the top of the foundation - they had placed bolts in the concrete for the express purpose. Underneath this lumber is a layer of ... stuff. The "stuff" reminds me of packing material. It is likely to be a moisture/insect/draft barrier.

Over the pressure treated they have now installed the entire first floor joists and decking. The joists are made from 2x8 lumber and the decking is plywood - MDF, I think. Yesterday they had most of the decking complete, and Karen reports that today it is done. I believe there is a wood glue between the joists and the decking, based on seeing some plops of the glue scattered about. I'm not sure if it is used all over or just in some spots. The glue, I know from some experience, is used to prevent squeaks.c

No walls are up yet, but Karen reports that they have started cutting 2x4 lumber, and presumably that is for walls. She said she spoke with the guys on site and they said they expect the shell, meaning the outer walls of the first floor, to be done by tomorrow afternoon. The weather forecast is good for building - clear tomorrow, some rain on Satuday, clear again by Monday.

Go Go GO!

Work!

2006-09-05T09:12:00.000-04:00

I drove by today and there were workers on the site. I did not stop to see what they'd done or to chat, because I was late, but that's good news. It is overcast today, so there is the threat of rain, but I'm hoping it stays away so there's no reason to stop. If I get a chance later, I'll stop in and ask if I can bring them anything in the mornings - coffee, donuts, shrimp cocktail, you know, construction worker type stuff.

The house next door is nearly done - they have their siding nearly all up (cream color) and they have had flooring guys at the site the last week. Adam's house has trusses going up today - they are delivered pre-built and they have a crane lift them up. It ain't like the old days.

A little progress

2006-09-02T01:54:00.000-04:00

So today I went by at 8 am and there were some workers at the site chalking lines on the foundation. Karen drove by later and said that there was lumber on the site... but by the end of the day, there wasn't any cut or installed. But that's ok, the fact that it is there is a good thing. Now, we just have to wait for the holiday weekend.

At the starting line...

2006-08-31T15:41:00.000-04:00

Not much has happened at the site this week, except for one key thing: the electric company installed the meter on the utility stack. Framing could not start until there was power on the site, as I understand it. We've been told by the builder that framing will begin tomorrow or Tuesday (leaving room for Labor Day on Monday). We're really hoping for tomorrow, as we'd like to see some progress before the long weekend, but if not, there's not much we can do about it. We're hoping to go to the site today and see a load of lumber delivered... they won't be doing anything tomorrow or any day without lumber.

So, we're here on the starting line, just waiting for the starting pistol to fire... know the feeling?

Latest update

2006-08-25T15:44:00.000-04:00

There has been a little activity at the house site, but no framing yet - next week?!? The gas company came around to all the new sites, three in all, and dug trenches from the supply line to the foundations, ours included. It is interesting to see the exposed supply line, because normally it is invisible. The supply line is plastic and has a wire accompanying it (though not attached to it). Presumably this wire is so that DigSafe can find the line later. I took a picture so we could tell the general place the line is located later. Pretty much all of the utilities come from the same place and go to the same place, so if we ever need to dig in the future, we just need to avoid that one corner.

We made a few changes to our flooring choices, most notably finally going with linoleum in the laundry room instead of tile. The flooring guy thought it was wise, as a mis-aligned washer bouncing on top of tile could break a tile. While we plan to buy a front-loader, so that won't be an issue, I thought linoleum was wiser in case things got wet and also because it seemed pointless to spend good money on a room few will ever see.

Finally, congrats to Rob and Bridgette on selling their house and finding a new one to buy! Good news all around!

More pouring done

2006-08-23T23:19:00.000-04:00

I stopped by the site today on the way home, not expecting much of anything since we'd been told that framing won't start until next week. As I approached the site, everything looked the same, but just as I was about to drive by, I noted large truck tracks in the gravel of the driveway-to-be, so I stopped. I noted that a hand-held tamper which had been on the porch was gone, too. I walked up to the garage and lo and behold, the floors have been poured. So the foundation is now complete. I didn't notice if the marked sections that I wrote about earlier had been fixed (I can't even say why they were marked or if they were marked to be fixed or for some other reason).

There are wooden boards at the edge of the garage floor, which I presume will be removed, and a smaller board was nailed to the top of the hole made for the stairs to the basement - so there is now a place to put actual stairs. Aside from these things, nothing else has changed, but it was a good step.

I did not visit the site yesterday, so I'm unsure if the work was done today or yesterday, but I think it was today - the concrete, even that in the shade, was still warm, curing. So, framing can now start any time!

In other news, the house next door had its siding delivered, so they may start putting it up any time. The last time we went into it, the drywall was nearly done, and the only thing that I think was being done was second and third coats on the taping. I can't wait until our house is at that stage.

Foundation is done - we think

2006-08-19T01:08:00.000-04:00

I got the order of our appointments a little out of whack in my last post, but by the end of today, we had basically gone through them all. Everything went swimmingly.

We are below budget in both the kitchen and batchroom and in lighting. We were almost $2000 over in flooring, but someone realized that our allowance for flooring was never adjusted to accomodate the sunroom, so that about halved the overage. We will have some overage in the recessed lights, which are not part of the lighting budget but instead the electrical budget. Did you know that? Learning something?

The other place we are most likely to be over is in plumbing. We upgraded most everything there, from using "biscuit" instead of white to using "brushed chrome" instead of "chrome". We may have opportunities to save a bit and spread the savings out to the overages in the plumbing (since the kitchen estimate includes built-in sinks and the plumbing estimate included drop-in sinks) and in flooring (where we might replace tile in the laundry room with linoleum).

At the site, the rough site work is nearly done - or it may be done. It is hard to say. The trench that was dug for utilities is filled in, and we have an electrical installation in place, something the framers will need to run their saws and the like - so that's good. We're not sure the next step. Some of the foundation has been marked to be touched up, so that may be next, but really the next big thing is either the basement floor and garage floor or the beginning of framing. At the beginning of this week we were told framing would start in two weeks - which would mean Monday after next, or thereabouts (everthing is "thereabouts" it seems). We're hoping for earlier, obviously, but there's not much hoping seems to accomplish.

Progress

2006-08-16T22:56:00.000-04:00

Today we saw our choices for a fireplace - they were limited, which is good, so far as we're concerned. The fireplace itself was directed - the only choices were in the trim and we left it alone. The mantle was also directed, and we like it, so we're good there. We had the choice of two firebricks, and we chose clay over red. We chose to add a blower for $200 and we chose a wall switch over a remote control.

Today we also went to the house several times as we were out and about and watched as they backfilled the foundation. We returned after quitting time and met Karen's brother there, who declared that all looks good. We rely on his expertise because frankly he knows a ton about all of this and we know almost nothing. The yard is much more flat, though not done - there is a trench dug to access the electrical, cable, and phone wires, for example. But we can see the rough outline of our yard now. It will be very nice. I don't know how much more there is to do in the foundation phase, but we're ready to see lumber delivered and the framing start.

Tomorrow, we go out to look at plumbing, lighting, and kitchen. Friday we meet with the flooring guys. We got a message from the kitchen people who said our design came in under budget, so we're going to see if we can add a few small things - maybe upgrade counters in bathrooms or add some cabinetry to the laundry room.

Busy days

2006-08-15T23:54:00.000-04:00

We've had some pretty busy days lately. The footings are in, the foundation poured. On Saturday, we think (since we were away), the foundation forms were removed. Yesterday and today they coated the basement walls with a moisture barrier, and today they filled in most of the gap between the new foundation and ground level. They are not done - there will be more to finish tomorrow, but they're nearly there.

We did note that they put a pipe, riddled with holes, all around the outside edge of the footings, and which was then covered with gravel. We don't know what that was for - some sort of drainage I'm sure, but beyond that I don't know.

We met with the builder today and got a list of things we need to pick. We have picked most of that stuff already - paint, shingles, siding, some flooring. Tomorrow we go to pick a fireplace. In the days to come we will pick flooring, plumbing, and lighting. There are lots of choices - too many in some cases. It is good to have choices, but so damn many?

News

2006-08-09T13:19:00.000-04:00

It has been a few days, so here's the news:

Our appraisal came in well above where it needed to be for the home equity loan, so we're ok to get the remainder of the 10% downpayment.

We accepted the offer on the house, and we signed the sales contract.

On Monday, the new house was staked out on the site and we met with Tom to look at it. We adjusted it a bit to center the house in the lot a bit better - he had it off to one side to provide a larger side and back yard, but we liked it better 20 feet over.

I went to the site to take pictures on Tuesday morning and the hole was already being dug. One of the excavation workers was someone I knew in passing from my time in the National Guard so we chatted for a moment.

By the time the boys and I went to the site that evening, it was dug out and filled with gravel. The footings should be poured today and the foundation walls will be up by Friday. Weather looks good for the rest of the week.

We will be meeting with the kitchen guy at some point before the end of the week and with Tom on Friday to go over a few details. By the time we get back home with Brittany next week, there should be significant progress, weather permitting. We're praying for rain on all weekends and none on the weekdays from now on!

Good news

2006-08-05T23:16:00.000-04:00

Well, when it rains, it pours. We got the final version of our plans, and all looks good. Of course, we still worry about money, but we can worry about that later. We have word that the site will be staked out on Monday, and on Wednesday, they will be digging for the footings and foundation. We're hoping that there is some real work done by the time Brittany is home after this next weekend.

Then, yesterday, we heard that we had an offer. It was too low, but it was real - $310,000. We countered with $320,000, which is lower than we wanted to go, but not by much. They countered with $315,000 and said they would go no higher. We countered with $315,000 with a November 3 closing. If the building on our house goes perfectly, it will be ready around then. Every delay will mean time we have to find somewhere else to live, and we watned to minimize that.

So we have not yet accepted the offer, but I suspect that we will. We only need a little more time to think about it.

Address

2006-08-02T13:15:00.000-04:00

We found out today our new address: 301 Raven Circle. Karen wanted something with a 4 in it, as that's her "lucky" number. But it is what it is!

What's done is done

2006-08-01T10:31:00.000-04:00

We did it - we put $20,000 down on the new house, and we now await the appraisal of our house to get the additional $25,000 (Tom said that the down payment would be based on the base price - any options are added at closing and not counted in the initial price).

We got answers to some of our questions: the house has one heating/cooling zone - can that be changed? Yes, but at some expense, as ductwork would have to be reworked. We'll deal with it. Are gutters included? No. We can add those later for relatively little if we decide we need them. Is a garbage disposal included? Yes. Will HVAC registers be on the floors or the walls? Floors.

Next steps: Tom will take our plans, to which we made a few adjustments, and do a final plan. This will include the sunroom and porch and a few doors that we requested be larger than in the plan. He'll print off copies for us and submit them to the town, and assuming all goes well there, they will break ground soon thereafter. Adam thought it might be this week, but I think it more likely to be next. Once they do, I'm going to try to take photos of the work each day.

Now all we need is a contract on our house.

Showing today and tomorrow

2006-07-29T00:22:00.000-04:00

Today we had a showing the seemed to go well. A couple from California, according to our neighbor. Adam called to say that they liked the place, but that it was the first one they looked at, and they want to see more. Frankly, I want someone who has looked at a lot of places, and likes the place. But whatever.

We have two showings in the afternoon tomorrow, which gives me time to rake the front lawn, which I mowed tonight, and to mow and rake the back yard. I don't normally rake clippings, but it is so long, because of the rain and humidity and the fact that I didn't mow last week, it is pretty long.

So, hopefully somed good news tomorrow, though at this point, I'd much prefer an offer 30 days from now rather than now. Funny how that works...

So, the plan that is in the images on a July 19 entry are little changed. The main changes are the addition of the porch and sunroom. The sunroom is off the back - the slider in the breakfast area is gone and replaced with a simple opening. The 12x12 sunroom is off there and has the slider on one side and quadruple windows on the other two sides. The porch will be from the edge of the garage on the right to the edge of the front entry on the left. That's five feet wide, which will be quite nice - our porch now is not much narrower, but it is narrow enough to make it quite unusable. Plus there will be no railing, which will make it seem much more open.

The key thing about adding these things now, because you can add any old porch and any old sunroom any old time, is that if they're in the plan before the foundation is poured, these pieces can be a part of the foundation. With foundation comes insulation and stability. Tom says that slab beats Sonotube any day. So there.

Whew!

2006-07-28T15:06:00.000-04:00

OK, Karen and I both spoke to Adam, who said that Tom would be fine taking a $20,000 deposit in the 10% to get the ball rolling on all that needs to be done, with the understanding that the remaining $27,000 would be delivered after our house is reappraised and the loan waiting period is approved for the home equity loan. This is great news.

So, on Monday, we will go to our bank and sign some papers and pick up a check for $20,000. This money is in the form of a personal loan. Our first payment will be scheduled for beyond when the expected closing date on the home equity loan, so we will have to make no payments aside from a smallish interest payment. Then, an hour later, we will meet with Tom to sign papers and to give him the first half of the money. Adam said that they could break ground within the week, but it seems unlikely to me it will happen quite that fast... but either way, this is the last step of the first step.

It is exciting.

Money woes

2006-07-28T10:49:00.000-04:00

Well, we visited the bank today and not all the news is good. None of the news is really bad, but it could be better. Basically, we have a home equity loan right now that we took out to pay for all our new flooring and for our sunroom. The amount we borrowed was not the most we could have, based on our equity. We thought that the amount we had in equity was enough to cover the roughly $47,000 we would need to put down on the house to get it started. But it is not - we can only borrow another $18,000 on that equity loan, because of the appraised value of our home at the time the loan was created.

To get more, we need the house to be reappraised, and that will take a minimum of 7 to 10 days. After that, assuming it appraises for at least $250,000 (which it should), then we'd get a check 3 days later. So 10 to 15 days is the soonest we could get the money. We wanted to be able to tell Tom to start. Now.

So we're looking at options. We don't know anyone we can borrow $47,000 from or even $30,000 from for no more than a month. A personal loan is probably out of the question (it can be done, but we would have to pay at least one payment, and based on the years to pay and the interest rate, it is a lot for one payment). The banker suggested a loan on a 401K, and I have that much, but I know from experience that it takes at least a couple of weeks to process the paperwork and get a check.

So, we called Tom and asked him if he would take $17,000 as seed money to get everything started that he needed to start, and then take the remaining $30,000 once the appraisal is done and the waiting period is over. Unfortunately, I had to leave him a message about this, so we don't know if it is something he can consider or not. $17,000 is a lot of money, but I don't know if it covers all of his costs that he would incur in the next few weeks, with the permitting, blueprints, and all whatever other crap he needs cash for.

So right now, we're waiting to hear from him, to see what his thoughts are.

Got the number

2006-07-25T21:11:00.000-04:00

We got our number today - $444,800. So, now we know. It is over where we wanted to be, but not by too much. There are a few larger options that are not included that we want: a front porch, central A/C, and 9' ceilings (instead of the standard 8'). That raises the price to $459,850. This number is significantly higher than our original budget, basically $35,000. That's not a lot in terms of percentage of total, but when we look at the monthly cost, it raises it to almost $500 more per month than we pay now, and that's if we pay our taxes and insurance ourselves (rather than include them in an escrow account).

This is crunch time, time to hunker down and decide if we want to move forward. I feel confident about our house selling, but every $1000 we take off the price adds $1000 we have to finance. We can afford it, even at 460K, but can we afford it comfortably?

We need to decide pretty soon. Every day we delay, we delay breaking ground, and we don't want to do that. It takes about 15 days after we put down our 10% to get started, after the plans are approved by the town and such. It takes about 12 to 17 weeks to build - which puts us into December if we started now. So - do we start, or do we not?

Yes, this is crunch time.

Meeting set

2006-07-24T14:12:00.000-04:00

So we went to Maine this weekend to drop Brittany off to Whale Camp, and hoped that while we were away, our house would be shown at least a couple of times. But it wasn't. No biggie, but it is nice to know it is being seen. Adam had not heard feedback yet from the other realtors who has shown the house, so we have no new information about that. The one who showed it on Friday apparently had not contacted him first, and we threw away the card they left behind on the counter, so we don't know who that was at all.

We have a meeting with Tom tomorrow in his office, to go over the plans and the cost. That will be a pivotal meeting.

We showed Karen's brother Rick the plans, and from what I could tell (I arrived late), he liked them but had several comments. He especially didn't like how the doors were designated. He thought most should be 3' doors, but many of the interior doors are 2'8" or 2'4". We worried about that until we got home and measured the doors we have now. We only have one 3' door, and most of the rest are 2'8", with a few 2'4". So we'll ask Tom about that, but I think they're OK the way they are. Our only real concern is handicap accessibility on the first floor bathroom. We may want to make some changes to ensure that room is accessible, but we'll have to see what has to be done to do that. One of the other rooms (office or guest bedroom) will have to be made smaller to make the bathroom bigger and still keep the same footprint.

At the site, the house next door now has a roof, so most of it is protected from weather (though the roof cap was no on yet, so rain could still get in). They probably finished the roof today. Across the way Adam's house in in progress (yes, in case I haven't mentioned it before, our Realtor will have a house in Raven Circle, too, as will his brother) - they have levelling the ground and last we spoke he expetected the foundation would be poured this week. All this activity is good - because when we put our "real" money down, we want work to start right away.

Ah, the end of the week...

2006-07-21T16:21:00.000-04:00

We have word that Tom the builder has a dollar figure for us to build the house shown in the plans below. Adam wouldn't tell us the amount, saying that his father likes to divulge all that in person. I understand, he's been working on this a lot, we shouldn't diminish his thunder. However, Adam did say that he thought we would be pleased. I'm not sure if that means he stayed in the budget, or that he did not go too far over the budget. We won't be able to find out until Monday, because we're so busy today and we're out of town this weekend to bring Brittany to whale camp.

We told Adam we would be gone most of the weekend, and so the house is open for showing to whomever, whenever. Karen had to scoot out of the house today for a showing. The weather is supposed to be mild, relatively speaking, this weekend so I hope we have some more showings on Saturday and Sunday, and many more at the beginning of next week.

Spammed!

2006-07-20T01:23:00.000-04:00

Leaving your house to let some stranger inside is very inconvenient. If they weren't potential buyers, I'd tell them to take a hike ... but you gotta be nice to the buyers.

No word yet on how the various showings went, except for the first. As noted, they did not like our road, and I hear they did not even want to see inside once they saw the road. Oh well - that's their perogative. If you're going to spend a third of a million dollars on a house, you get to exercize your personal foibles. I can't disparage them for that. Too much.

On a side note, this blog got comment-spammed for the first time today. All front-page postings had a comment that read "Nice use of color on your site!" or "Great information on this site, I learned a lot!" And, this being spam, a link to a gambling site and to an male enhancement site were included. I've deleted these comments. Damn spammers.

Showing info

2006-07-19T14:08:00.000-04:00

The house was shown at 10 this morning, but we heard that the buyers did not like the street - too busy. We cannot disagree with them, that is one of the few things we don't like about where we live.

Two other showings were added today, one just about now (2pm), and one at about 4:30; plus the one already scheduled at 7:00 tonight. Adam said he talked to the husband of the neighbor who made the low-ball offer, and faced with the evidence for our asking price, he agreed that the offer was far too low. He and his wife were going to discuss it further and let him know.

Karen sent a list of questions we'd like the builder to answer, and we will meet with him tomorrow to get a price for the plans.

Plans!

2006-07-19T00:14:00.000-04:00

Adam came over to show us the plans - they were done, even the second floor. Basically, everything we want is in the plan, but with fewer angles and expensive parts ... or at least we hope that's the case. We have a few questions and a few suggestions and comments, but basically we like it just the way it is laid out. Next step is to get a price. From there, we will decide if we need to cut anything, if we can add anything, and then if we want to go ahead. My own thought is that if the numbers work, we go for it - put down the 10% and start digging, even without a contract to sell our house. We'll see.

Here are the plans, first floor then second:

Offers and showings

2006-07-18T16:42:00.000-04:00

We had someone look at our house yesterday, a neighbor actually, and our Realtor called to say she made an offer - but it was laughably low. It was as if, he said, she pulled a number out of the air. We're asking $324,900 and he said she offered in the 280's. That's a 50K lowball! I guess if you're going to offer, offer low ... but our counter would be 324,800. The Realtor said that unless she came up with a real offer, he was not even going to draw up paperwork to present to us. We concurred.

Meanwhile, we got calls from two other agents looking to show the house - one tomorrow morning and one tomorrow night. Good signs all, and good ammunition against a 50K lowball offer. We did not peg our asking price high so we could come down. We pegged it where we thought it should be based on comparible properties that have sold recently (well, actually, Adam pegged it there, but we understood how he did it and why).

Adam is coming over tonight to show us our plans - he may even have a second floor plan ready, that was more up in the air. Let's break ground!

Weekend update

2006-07-17T10:44:00.000-04:00

Our house was in the big local paper this weekend, which was nice to see. Karen emailed the Realtor, and he said that he got more calls about our home than any other listing he has. That's nice to hear, but I'd like to see those calls translate to showings and a contract! We didn't do too much work on the house this weekend, it was just too damn hot. After I mowed the lawn and raked the clippings, I was pretty well beat. We set up our camper on the lawn and let the kids sleep in it last night - but I had to close it up this morning before I left for work because I didn't want it to hide the house from the road. It is still on the lawn, but folded up, it has a much lower profile and it won't keep anyone from visiting today.

The only major project we have left is one I'm sure I've mentioned before: the master bathroom. I want to fill a few screw holes and pound in a few protruding nails (why did they use both nails and screws in there? I have no idea...). Then I want to scrape off the strip of wallpaper and remove all the caulking from atop the bathtub. Then paint the walls, and put a nice strip of some sort of rubber/plastic stuff you can buy at Home Depot to replace the caulk. It is probably a five or six hour job, and maybe I can do it in parts: screws and nails; strip wallpaper; tape; paint; touch-up. Five tasks, five nights? We'll see.

As for the plans, I called Tom on Friday to see how things were going and he said he was working on the plans right then. Today Adam emailed us to let us know the 1st floor is done, and he is going to drop off the plan for us to look at.

Thursday update

2006-07-13T11:33:00.000-04:00

No word yet from the builder, though his son, our Realtor, says that he is working on it to match our needs and desires with our budget. Karen is getting very anxious to see it. As am I, but there are so many other things going on, I keep busy enough not to fret too much.

Not much is new. We've only had the one visitor, who made two visits. But the ball is rolling now. We have been listed in a popular weekly newspaper. Here is the on-line version of the ad:

7Days Ad

We are listed with a Williston condo for $199,900, and with a four-bedroom in an expensive community for $619,500.

There was some real estate news in our town recently: a new development is being proposed for a former horse farm. The horses were moved to a more rural setting as development went up around them. The owners said that the traffic, dust, and noise, were upsetting to the horses. The plot is about 110 acres, and they are proposing over 300 units of condo, duplex, and single-family homes as well as commercial lots. Now, this is significant because in my opinion, if the project goes through, it will be hard to sell a "used" home when there are lots of choices for brand new homes. The development is far from certain, but it reassures me that we picked the right time to do this. One thing is for sure - if it does go through, our schools will need to be expanded. 300 units means at least 300 new kids, and there's no way we could take them all now. Therein lies the wisdom of our town's desire to keep new development slow. That, and sewer capacity.

Anyway, we have a little more work to do on the house this weekend. I may paint the master bath (as well as fill nail holes and remove the small strip of decorative wallpaper that's been there for forever). That's really the last big project we have to do to get the house to 100% perfect salability.

Can't think of much else that's new. I drove by the land yesterday, in the middle of a downpour, and not much has changed. The new house next to us had a little more work done, and there was a backhoe on site. They may be ready to start leveling out the entire inner circle.

Here is a link to a Google Map of where the piece of land is. As of this date, in this satellite shot, Raven Circle does not yet exist. In the map, which is a little out of date, Raven Circle goes off Coyote Lane to the left. It is the entire green field between Metcalf Drive to the south and the golf course to the north.

Google Map

Good news from the bank

2006-07-11T00:41:00.000-04:00

Karen called the bank today, and asked about several things. First, she wanted to find out what we could be pre-approved for, and based on our credit scores, our incomes, and our history with the bank, we were told we could qualify for a $500,000 loan. Now, we've run the numbers, and we know what a $500,000 loan would cost us monthly, and we're not sure they know how hand-to-mouth we are willing to go (or not go) ... but suffive it to say, we are not looking for a loan anywhere near that amount. It will still be a sizeable loan, but more on the order of $300,000. But it is nice to know.

Next, she asked about a bridge loan - the builder will require a 10% down-payment to break ground, and that is non-refundable. They said it would be pretty simple: we already have a home equity loan, which we used to pay for the sunroom and new flooring, and we would just increase the size of that loan. When time came to close on the new mortgage, we would just decrease the size of the loan by that much (of course, the money to pay off that loan would come from our principal, but it all washes out in the end).

So that was good news. The buyers/lookers came to see the house and, the Realtor said, took a long look at it and had lots of questions, which is good. No more word than that, but it is good to have our first prospect under our belts.

First showing

2006-07-10T14:39:00.000-04:00

We got word that our Realtor brought someone to our house for its first showing. It seems unlikely to me that we will have a buyer out of our first showing, but it is heady anyway. It makes things real, and starts to make thoughts churn in your head that you've never had to think about before. For example, if it takes three months to build out house, and they want to close in two, then where do we go for a month? Do we move our stuff into a trailer and have it stored somewhere and stay in a Residence Inn? I know people have to deal with this sort of thing all the time - our friends in South Carolina had to stay in an apartment for months before they could move - and the apartment wasn't even in the same state!

Anyway, as I noted, it seems unlikely they will buy. They are a trio of roommates looking to move into something bigger while renting out what they own now. That's a good financial plan - keeping an old property as a rental. They say that a situation like that can pay for a mortgage in just the rental fees. It is a good racket if you can get into it. One roommate saw our house and they are returning later tonight so that they can all see it. The one liked the sunroom and the backyard for their dogs, things we have known are selling points.

So, we are keeping our fingers crossed and we're thankful we cleaned out the garage this weekend!

Meeting the Neighbors

2006-07-09T09:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Karen and I went out for a kidless dinner (Brittany has really taken to babysitting) and after wards, we, of course, went to see our lot. It still doesn't have a house on it ... heck, it is still just a plot of mud and bulldozer tracks. But who cares, it is ours.... sort of.

Anyway, we went for a walk around the circle and waved at a few people. Then, just before we rounded the bend for the homestretch back to the car, our neighbors-to-be came out of their house to see the sunset (too late, it had already dipped below the cloudline). So we said hi and introduced ourselves.

They've live there about 18 months now, the second of 16 families that will eventually be in Raven Circle. They can tell stories about every house that has gone up in the development, and know how many kids are in each house. Lois went around pointing to each house: "two there, three there, none there, seven there..." She has a good memory, I couldn't recite that about our neighbors and I've been here ten years (I'm joking, I know how many kids our neighbors have, jeez).

Mark (or Marc, couldn't tell) talked about the joys of watching your own house get built. HE said it is good to keep tabs on things - one wall in his bedroom had one too many angles in it, making it so that neither a bed nor a nightstand could have fit there. When he told the builder, they had it fixed the next morning. It is easy to fix walls when there's no drywall up yet. They also told us to beware of the "flooring guy," that he was hard to work with. But they had praise for the lighting guy and the kitchen guy. And for the builder, which was good.

So they are our back-door neighbors. We also happened to meet our front-door neighbor, who was gathering up his kids and their various toys. Bob works for Burton snowboards. We also met his kids, one a baby in a stroller, the other two old enough to ride bikes (and well - they both were showing off riding with their feet on the seat - and there was only one case of skinned elbows while we watched).

So, we spoke for about 30 minutes, longer than we expected, but it was nice. "Everyone's nice here," Lois said, and that's good. We also are seeing a lot of diversity here, which I think is great. Vermont is a white state, no doubt about that, but on our circle there are at least two and a half houses inhabited by "people of color." All the better for our kids to grow up knowing that their world is populated by people who look different from them, but who at the same time are exactly the same.

As we headed home, we were smiling the whole way. We can't wait.

Photo, and more updates

2006-07-07T23:27:00.000-04:00

Karen emailed Adam to get a few details. She worried about Tom cutting corners to build the house in our budget. But he said that the quality of the construction, and the materials used, will not be compromised. What might have to be are the luxuries. A standard tub or garden tub instead of whirlpool tub, for example. Formica counters instead of granite. Most of these sorts of things we're OK with. I have simple tastes; Karen's not quite as simple as I, but she sees the big picture, too. Notably, she's not a granite counter-top booster either.

So by using the space more efficiently, and literally cutting corners (eliminating the "jut-outs", for example), costs start to come down. Imagine a bit of a house that sticks out two feet from the rest. There are corners there that must be framed - wood has to be cut, workers have to cut it. Plus the foundation might have to conform to that line, meaning a more complicated form, more time, more people, more concrete even. Then the house is sided, and all the siding has more cuts, more waste, more corners to deal with. The roofline is more complicated. The interior has more corners to tape and mud and clean. It adds up.

Adam also said that $25K can some times make a big difference in the home's appearance, and it might be worth spending. We want to keep it to $400,000 to $425,000 but if we have to go to $450,000, we probably can, and we would if it did make a big difference.

We went to the GE employee website today to look at products and discounts. We will have to fill a kitchen and laundry room with appliances - we're not taking any of it with us, with the probable exception of a microwave oven. I can't say how much we would save by buying in the company, but it is a goodly share. We're going to shop around at area stores, however, to see if we can puruse the GE models in real life. Shopping online for a refrigerator is tough.

I plan to take a photo of the site everyday once they break ground, but I do need a "baseline" photo of the site before any major work has been done. I'll take the photo from the same place each time and hope to center it on the same tree each time, too. I'll hedge my bets by taking two: one at 17mm and one at 30mm. Here is the one from 17mm:

I'm not sure how long this link will work, but here is the MLS listing for our house:

MLS

A few more details

2006-07-07T10:59:00.000-04:00

So here are a few details about the plan we chose. It has two floors and a basement, which is pretty standard here in the Northeast. It has four bedrooms on the second floor, with a the rooms for the boys sharing one bathroom. Brittany's room has its own bathroom as does the master bedroom. The laundry room is on the second floor. The boys' rooms have sizeable closets and Brittany's has a walk-in. The master has a sitting area in addition to the "regular" bedroom, and a large walk-in closet.

The first floor has a two-car garage with a bit of extra storage space. It has a dining room and study, and a fifth bedroom for guests. There is a breakfast area, a U-shaped kitchen with an island, and a sizeable family room. The family room in the plan is two-stories high, but our plan was to put in a normal ceiling and turn the space above into a bonus/play area.

Now, when we met with the builder, we had no idea what to expect. This was our dream plan, and we knew modifications would be needed. He said that it would take $500,000 to $600,000 to build that house - which is way over our budget. He knows our approximate budget (our realtor, Adam, is the builder's son, and Adam had filled Tom in on our requirements).

So, to reduce cost, we agreed at the outset that we should minimize angles and corners on the exterior (Karen calls them "jut-outs" and I can't think of a better term, though I feel silly saying it). He also suggested that he could eliminate a bathroom on the second floor - though the kids would much prefer two for the three of them, if the choice is one bathroom or no new house, we'll take the house. He also didn't like that the master closet was accessed through the master bath - he said it is an invitation for trouble. He suggested we could save money by making things a bit smaller (shaving a few feet off the dining room and study on the first floor) and rearranging the second floor, particularly moving the master suite from the right side of the house to the back, using the bonus room we had set aside for some of the master.

Tom said he would go over our plan and adjust things around and come up with a new plan. If he can get the major things we want (five bedrooms, large family room, 2nd floor laundry, for example) and come in on budget, we will be very happy. Karen says she's worried, but I have a good feeling from Tom. Hopefully his experience can really come into play here. Adam says we can expect something by late next week.

As for extras, we only really want a few things. We want central A/C, which is relatively rare in Vermont, but he says he likes to put it in. We want phone, cable, and ethernet in almost every room. We want a driveway large enough to play basketball in. And that's really about it.

Meanwhile, today our house will hit MLS, and hopefully we'll get some interest.

Here starts the journey

2006-07-07T00:05:00.000-04:00

We are taking the biggest step one takes - building a new home. Or, at least, that's the plan. My hope is that in this blog, I will chronicle the selling of our home, the planning of our new home, the building of that new home, and our eventual habitation of that home.

For the past ten years, we have called Williston, Vermont our home town, and our house on North Brownell our home. We have done a lot here. We became real, actual homeowners here. We raised our daughter here. We conceived and had our twins boys here (well, OK, they were not born here, but near by). We've had a half-dozen cars here. We've had three cats and two birds here.

We've changed the house a lot over those years. My office became the babies' room, then Brittany's room. Brittany's room became the boys' room. The living room became the family room. The family room became the dining room. The dining room became the family room extension. The deck was dismantled and was replaced with a sun room and a bigger deck. The basement was finished. The only rooms that never changed much were the kitchen, the master bedroom (which we never even painted), and the bathrooms.

This house could be our home for a long time. But we have found that there are too many things lacking that we want. More than anything else, we want a neighborhood.

That's not to say we don't have good neighbors, because we do. To our left are the McManns, an older couple with a hulking dog as their pet and child. To our right are the Normands, a younger couple who live in a sibling home. What's missing? Kids. Our kids have no kids to play with. The friends our kids did have in a neighborhood across the street from us moved away. Though the town ripped the paved sidewalk and replaced it with a concrete sidewalk, the road is still too busy to allow us to comfortably allow the kids to cross the street by themselves.

So when we found a few undeveloped lots in a neighborhood nearby, and a sign with a number to call, we started thinking that it might be time to move, if the price was right. The cost of a new house would have to be low enough, and the price we could get for our house would have to be high enough, to make it fit in a budget.

So now, we have put down a deposit on a piece of land, we have an agent to sell our house, and a builder to build our new house. I'll put pictures of our bit of land here, copies of our plans, and if all works out, photos of our house as it grows from a muddy place to a hole in the ground to a concrete pit to a shell of a house to a home.