Exterior Electrical & Plumbing Day 5

The electrician was here!  So fun to see our plan for can lights and exterior outlets come to life.  And they put in the meter box.  

No bubble covers!

Recessed can lights outside our bedroom.

4" cans flanking the front door.

Sample of the exterior electrical layout plan we provided to the builder. 

The plumbers were busy too.  It looks like they're close to wrapping things up.  

Shower valves in our bathroom.

Our windows and patio doors start being installed on Monday.  The glass will be covered in a protective film so the house is going to feel dark inside for a while.  But that's okay!  We're so excited to see them.  The excavator is coming back on Monday to move all this dirt where it needs to go.  Then mid-week a bunch more dirt is coming.  HVAC might also start on Monday.  Busy week coming up!

Plumbing Day 4

We love showing up and seeing lots of changes!  There's drywall in a corner of the garage in prep for the hvac install next week.  That's the only place where they're allowed to close up the wall.  Lots more plumbing progress on day 4, including more supply lines, shower drains, and nail plates to protect the pipes.  And holy dirt!  So much more was delivered today.

Plumbing Day 3 and the Plan for May

Big day!  The supply lines and drains are really coming together.  

100+ yards of dirt and rock were delivered that will soon go toward filling in the back yard.  More dirt is coming next week as long as the weather stays somewhat dry.  

Here's what's coming up:  The electrician will be here Friday to place exterior electrical things like recessed can lights and exterior outlet boxes.  HVAC install begins next week.  Windows and patio doors go in Monday and Tuesday for sure.  The siding contractor begins work in the next couple weeks.  The stone mason will put the rock on the chimney in the next week or two.  And May 24th the electrician comes back to start the interior and remaining exterior electrical.  Whew.  May is going to be busy!

Plumbing Day Two

They made some real plumbing progress today!  They tackled all the pairs in the house...two washers/dryers, two fridges, two dishwashers.

They mounted the blocks and flanges for the outside hose bibs.  We're doing hot/cold hose bibs again.

They ran a drain line from the boys' bathroom.  

And we think the builder is plugging the overhangs with insulation to prepare for sealing up the structure next week once the windows and patio doors are installed. 

 We're sneaking in some April progress after all!

Plumbing Day One

Plumbing day one was about as exciting as this photo.  So not exciting at all.  😂  It seems to have been a lot of planning and some hole drilling.  I didn't check the crawlspace so maybe there's some excitement happening down there.  

I also forgot how much I hate this part.  When the plumbing and HVAC people start cutting holes in the pretty house, it's a bit nervewracking.  Obviously it's very necessary, but it takes some getting used to.

The Plumbers are Coming!

The plumbers start Monday!  In honor of plumbing starting, here's the sinks that will be in the kitchen.  One centered under the back window and the smaller prep sink in the island.  They're a pretty gray, look lovely with our countertops, and are made from engineered stone.  We've been happy with how our current sink has held up over the years.  The new sinks will be the same material we have now, just a different style and color.

  

Our mailbox is now official and we've signed up for service.  We can't receive packages through USPS...those we'll have to grab in town at the post office (the joys of living far down a private road I guess).  But FedEx and UPS deliver to the porch, so we have options.  

And the last photo is me trying to figure out siding one evening, taking photos of the exterior, and hearing a large animal in the woods behind me.  I never saw what it was, but did learn I can move fairly quickly even in flip flops when needed.🙂

Cabinet and Door Final Picks

Today was our final meeting up in Lake Stevens to confirm cabinet layouts and finishes, as well as the interior door stain color and front door stain color.  It was a lot!  But we got it done.  The neat thing is it's one company that does the cabinets and doors, so we had the option to stain them all the same so they'll match each other, which is what we've decided to do.  The wood will be knotty alder, so lots of character.

Sneak peak pic below.  The wood piece on top of the flooring sample will be the stain color for the cabinets in the kitchen perimeter, living room, loft, all the bath vanities, and some accent shelves in the laundry room and study.  The dark charcoal color will be the kitchen island, pantry office, and study cabinet color.  And the laundry cabinets will be green!  It's a custom house...so we're going for it.  

They're going to spray some larger pieces of alder for us so we'll bigger samples to view, and we'll pick the sheen at that time.  But the hard part is done!   

More big decisions to make this week.  My bag of homework comes with me everywhere.  Even on our river trips.

Oh April

Nothing seems to be going according to plan in April, but that's okay.  The lead plumber whose crew was supposed to start on our house this week hurt his back, so plumbing is on hold for now.  I feel for the guy and I've never met him.  Back injuries aren't fun.  

The plumbing slow down means HVAC will probably get pushed out, since plumbing has to go first.  April might end up being quiet after all.  And May is going to be even crazier than we thought.  

This hot April weather has been fabulous for drying out the house.  It feels so much nicer inside.  We're swamped with decisions and are staying busy with projects at both homes.  Today we planted more cedars along the road.  Once they grow a bit they'll add to the privacy out front.

Bleach, Mailboxes, & Plumbing Decisions

The crew came yesterday to bleach the crawlspace and I did more spot spraying throughout the house this evening.  The house smells like a pool with WAY too much chlorine.  

Plumbing starts tomorrow!  We had a walk-thru with the builder on Monday to finalize shower head heights, lever placements, toilet locations and anything plumbing related.  Specs are marked throughout the house (more good graffiti).  

Jeremy and I did a sneaky mailbox install last night.  For some reason mailboxes are a touchy subject in this neighborhood.  Number decals are coming from Etsy so we'll be official once they arrive and go on the box.  

Window install has been bumped two days, which we're actually fine with.  We figured a bump might happen because all building material supply lines are a mess right now.  We're pleased with our May 3rd/4th window install date and feel pretty confident we won't be bumped again. 

So much is happening right now.  Our homework list from the builder is longer than I'd like but we're getting through it.  Some day most of the decisions will be done and we'll just watch the house come together.  But we aren't there yet!

Watching Concrete Dry and Sneak Peak: Hardwood Floors

It's been interesting to watch the garage floor dry...really!  Some of the patterns on the top look like frost.  It's been 5 days and we can still see it changing. 

 

While we wait for progress pics, here's our flooring.  It's part of the Classic French Oak Collection by Plank.  We like the thick 4mm wear layer and the 8" wide planks.  So far the plan is no carpet anywhere, so this will be the flooring for most of the house. 

The color name is Blanchie, which has already been the source of several jokes.  Like when Jeremy brought the flooring samples up to our room and laid them on the floor next to the bed, and I asked why Blanchie was sleeping with us.  But we agree the name Blanchie makes us think of a woman in her 90's, so I don't think I have anything to worry about.  😉

Not So Sleepy April

We had a few quiet days and I started to think April was going to be mostly dead time while we wait for windows.  WRONG!  

Here's what's happening in April:

Plumbing

Exterior Electrical

Crawlspace Treatment (to prevent mold)

Chimney Masonry

Windows (scheduled for the 29th & 30th)

Early this coming week they'll spray the crawlspace.  The big heater will stay thru the end of the week, then it will leave for a while.  We meet the builder for the plumbing walk-thru this Monday, in preparation for the plumbers starting Thursday or Friday.  Plumbing rough-in should take about a week.  

Everything looks the same at the land.  Since there's no new photos to share, I'll start posting random pics of some of our finishes.  Here's our stone!  It's real stone cut very thin.  In the fish photo it's dry.  In the others it's wet.  This will go on the chimney, all the post bases, and the interior and exterior fireplaces.  It comes out of a quarry in Montana, a state we both love.  Happy to have a little bit of MT in our new home.

Garage Floor is Poured

We have a real garage floor!

Ready for Concrete

The garage is ready for concrete on Monday!  Mike came and wrapped the openings with pretty trim boards too.

More Good Graffiti

The door walk-thru happened today, so each door opening is marked for which side is hinged and the type of door with dimensions.  The 26 you see means a 2'6" door...so 30" wide.  Almost all of the interior doors will be a 3 panel shaker like the photo below, but we haven't decided on a stain color quite yet.