Electrical goes in this week!

Howdy readers. I'm not sure if anyone still reads this. If so, great! I figured sharing photos on flickr was easier and more accessible.
Anyways, I will still update you, friendly reader.

What's going on this week:
Electrical is getting installed. I was able to meet with the nice electrician and point out where I wanted outlets and answered his questions and suggestions on the types of lights.  He should be done by Thursday or Friday.
We'll call our friend who runs camera lines to see where we need to put the security cameras, etc.
Electrical inspection will be scheduled once he's done. I hope it passes like the AC and plumbing did. They passed on their first attempt.

I ordered appliances today since there was huge sales. Want to see what I got?





Here's a glimpse of my upstairs as of September 5.





Next week: 
Once the electrical work passes inspection, we'll get insulation and then inspected AGAIN. And then- the house will take another leap forward and get sheetrocked.

The question on everyone's mind: "When are you going to move in?" We anticipate to move in during the end of October, early November. It's right around the corner.

For more photos, check our flickr feed. It's really neat to check it out from start to finish (May to now)

Thanks for reading!
-Celise

Back on track

Well, we've had a few weeks of delay- what's new! You are probably wondering why... well, here goes:

• Windows were delayed
• One window, when delivered was broken
• Framers did a bad job framing and sheeting the house so we needed to get the "good crew" to come out and fix it but they were on a different job

So, now, a month later, we are back on track with getting our house "weathered in". Only the rain decided to arrive after months of drought. Go figure! That didn't hold us back. My husband got out there yesterday to sweep out all of the water since we have no roof yet. Then he went back to work and it rained again so my mother in law (and neighbor) came out on her day off to come sweep and clean out the water. I want to take the time to really thank my in-laws aka inspectors aka watchmen... They have really contributed a lot of time and assistance to this project. Those of you who know my mother in law know she is a thoughtful person and you are not surprised.

So, as of yesterday, the lumber company delivered the nice windows and come to find out, they are WRONG! We ordered them with grids inside the window and there are none. We also ordered all with cranberry trim on the outside and faux oak on the inside and they gave us some that had white trim on the inside so it's not matching. We're working on getting it all straightened out with our lumber company who ordered them from a third company.

This does not take away from the excitement that we are experiencing as we see our house morph from wooden frames and plywood into a fully-sided house. We now have to think of what color we are going to paint the outside. I would say green but that's my mother in law/neighbor's house's color. So, we are thinking blue or grey.

Idea of what our finished house will look like

Source: homepatterns.com via C on Pinterest

This is the picture that started us on the adventure of buying the house plan that we are currently building. While our finished product will not look exactly the same, this is a good idea of what it will look like. Want to know what will be different?

• There will be cedar shingles above the top floor windows (not part of the roof as the name would imply).
• We won't have the bright white trim. The windows will be painted in a cranberry trim.
• The color of the siding/house will be either a grayish blue or gray. It might even be a grey-ish green. But for sure, it won't be a bright yellow.
• The doorway will be big enough for 1 door, no side parts with the windows in it.
• The front four posts will be cedar posts. There's a total of 8 of them on the front porch.
• The foundation we have is actually a cement foundation and not a pier and beam as the one pictured.
• If we take any photos, you will probably see me poking my head out the window waving hi with a goofy smile.
  

This may not make sense in words and it might even sound like it doesn't go together. But stay tuned and I'm sure you'll see it come to shape. Eric has a great eye for design and color coordination. If you don't believe me, check out this photo of our bedroom he decorated:

And you can't even see the rest of the details he added to that room. It was his fourth wedding anniversary present to me (in 2008). I took the photo a few months ago with my Nikon D3100. I was messing around.

Kitchen nook

Our house passed the framing inspection after we got the "hurricane straps" put on. I'll post those pictures soon so you can see exactly what hurricane straps are.

Meanwhile, I've been looking around more on Pinterest and "pinning" to my "board" photos of ideas for the new house. Here's a great view of a kitchen that has a similar layout as mine in terms of the counter leading to a "nook" area in front of a window.

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Sherry @ Young on Pinterest

Ain't it purrty? I wouldn't do the turquoise countertops but the bright kitchen nook just lights me up with excitement.

Seeing this made me drool

I was browsing around Pinterest which is a website where you can "pin" photos on websites that inspired you, or whatever. So, I created a few "boards" of ideas for the new house. I saw this photo and I think we can do something like it for our closet. I think it's a project for the future and not something we'll do right now. But it just made me drool.

Source: citified.blogspot.com via Sherry @ Young on Pinterest

Anyways, take a look at Pinterest when you get a chance. Here's my board if you want to check it out.

Sharing is caring

It's been a while since I've posted. We've had a few things going on and I've been working late and (insert another excuse here) so anyways... we've had some great progress! We're 98% done with framing. We just need to add these 8 cedar posts to the front of our house and then we can get... wait for it... INSPECTED. Here's some pictures of the progress. Please keep in mind they were taken with my phone. My camera was out of battery.

This is my kitchen without the braces on:


A view of the living room from the kitchen.


Eric's workshop:


The upstairs:


So go ahead and anticipate to read a blog following the inspection with why our inspection didn't pass. As I have mentioned before, it's part of those inspectors's processes. I wonder, do they like go out to your house and each time they get out of the office to go inspect, do they do something fun during their trip that would probably make them want to have more reasons to get out of the office, say... to inspect AGAIN? That would make sense of why they are always rejecting and then coming out again and approving what it seemed like they previously rejected. That being said, thank goodness I don't have this public!

So, sharing is caring is the title of this entry. Why? Well, we are using a few of the same trades- in this case, the framer- as some friends of ours a few blocks away. We were at the same place as their project a few weeks ago and they were so kind as to let us go ahead and build first and they would wait. Thank you, Jorge and Myrna!! Because of their kindness, we have progressed as far as we have and are not 2 weeks behind.

Delays are just part of the process, my friends

Well, I know I waited too long to post something. I hope you haven't lost interest. This week has been crazy. So we thought that we would pass the inspection of the form and rebar and be ready to pour our actual concrete foundation on Monday but as how most inspections go, we failed. So, we picked ourselves back up again, found the solution after a few phone calls and today, my friends, we have a foundation poured. HOORAY!

I have learned that delays are just part of the process. Inspectors like to point out things that may or not be an issue just to add some fun to their job and make them feel important, I guess. But I still respect them nonetheless.