Construction Update - Air Conditioner, Ventilation stuff

Still tired. Ready for bed. Pajamas, here I come. Enjoy:

Construction Update - Flooring, Bathroom Countertops, Lights, etc.

Tired. Can't write much. Ready to sleep. See pictures below. Enjoy:

Construction Update - Light News Day ... Humph!

Well, I feel like there isn't much to see today. The last two days have been slow as far as updates to the house Here are the photos I thought were noteworthy:

There were switches in many places in the house, but not all:

There were also plugs in various stages, and many were not even installed, but just sitting below the already-wired boxes:

The microwave was mostly installed today:

Light fixtures were installed in all the rooms upstairs:

The shared bathroom upstairs with the light fixture installed:

One thing I noticed was that all the lightbulbs are the compact fluorescent kind, which should save us on electrical bills. Julie doesn't know it yet, but I'm really excited about a product I found that allows us to run solar panels into a regular socket to offset electrical costs during the day. ;-)

That's it for now. I'll post again soon.

-- Sean

Construction Update - Cabinets!

Today was one that I had been waiting for, at least for a couple of weeks now. You'll see why below.

The first coat of paint is finally on. Several areas look kind of white, but that is because they were all white at one point:

I believe the mantle of the fireplace will either have something around it, or the hearth will be the whole length from the two trim pieces end:

Cabinets!:

My usual picture looking from the kitchen to the dining room, then the living room, with the master to the immediate right and the stairs on the right:

My usual loft picture:

The trap door to the room where I'll put the kinders when they misbehave (just kidding!):

My usual garage shot:

The master bathroom:

The upstairs (shared) bathroom:

The upstairs (private) bathroom:

The following four pictures are of rocks that I am asking the builder to keep in our yard for landscaping. Julie asked for pictures of them to decide whether I get to keep them or not. What's your vote? Large rocks in the yard for looks, or not?:

The three with pink on them (all in the middle and on the right; not the one on the left hanging out of the picture):

This one sparkled with some white marble in it:

I look forward to the next installment. I'm hoping it will be the second coat of paint and ... flooring. We're almost there!

-- Sean (the special new home building correspondent ... on assignment in Nolensville, TN)

Construction Update - Primer and Paint! - Part 2

Today was a fun day because I got to see some painters. They were going to town on the rooms and had made some good progress. Overall, I think there are a few things I could seem keeping us from being in before school starts, but I'm still hopeful.

View of the garage. More paint on the walls:

They painted some of the doors in the kitchen:

Other doors were painted in one of the bedrooms upstairs:

Compare this picture to the last on in the last set and you'll see the paint on the walls has been painted flush to the ceiling for a nice clean line. The painters in the house when I visited were painting the walls and all the wall paint near the ceiling was done:

Again notice the work up near the ceiling on the walls (the painter is hiding :-):

Well that's all for now. I will have more tomorrow when I go and visit after church.

-- Sean

Construction Update - Primer and Paint!

This was one of the harder set of pictures to take because my lungs were burning almost the whole time. It was really hard to breathe with all the fumes from the paint, but I made it through. :)

We have a garage door!:

Inside the garage you can see that the ceiling is painted (maybe primed?), as well as the trim, and the walls have started their first coat of paint:

More ceiling paint, trim paint, and wall paint:

Here's the view up the stairs, the board behind the railing getting a coat:

Dishwasher and microwave; we must be close:

The loft with everything painted:

Another view of the loft (this corresponds with another picture in the next set to demonstrate progress):

Um ... more to come. I guess I'll keep saying that.

-- Sean

Construction Update - Trim!

This set of pictures shows that all the trim and doors are now being installed. Every step makes it feel more like a home. I was so surprised because they were able to trim out the entire house in a day!

Garage with some leftovers (I think from the trim above the fireplace):

Here is the hallway to the garage (door on the left). The door straight ahead is the laundry room and the door to the right is the 1/2 bathroom:

Standing in front of the front door looking at the fireplace, dining room, then kitchen:

Here's the other direction standing in the kitchen. Notice the crown molding. Nice!:

Here is a picture from the loft again, noticing the trim an doors, and the railing has been installed at the stairs:

More to come! Stay tuned.

-- Sean