Big Wall Sided

One more big wall is sided.  And some pics of the crazy hvac progress.  No new electrical today, but I did find the light fixture we wanted for the study for half price.  🙂

First Light Fixtures

I was so excited to see these boxes on the porch today!  These are our first light fixtures for the new house.  You know how I love a good deal.  They were on closeout at Restoration Hardware.  Regular price is $880 each but I grabbed them for $225 each.  These two big 15" pendants will hang over our kitchen island.  With the pretty wood beams and these lights, I'm feeling good about the new kitchen.

Electrical Day One!

The sweet sight of recessed can lights and electrical boxes!  

And the siding guys installed a lot of trim today.  I wouldn't want to handle 4x10 sheets of concrete siding on such a blustery day either.

Front Siding is Finished!

The siding on the front is finished!  No offense to people with yellow and blue/gray striped houses, but we're already eager for paint.  🙂  They've attached the scaffolding to the side of our bedroom, so they're ready to go tomorrow.

HVAC was running more pipes today for the furnace.  

We've been working with the septic designer to gather everything so the installer can apply for permits.  Tile is about to be ordered.  Electrician will be there tomorrow and I'm still sketching lighting layouts tonight.  There's a little bit of everything happening right now.

Backyard Comparison

Yard comparison from yesterday to today.  That bulldozer was busy!

Electrical Walk-Thru and Progress Pics

BIG day!  We had our electrical & a/v walk-thru with the builder this morning.  3+ hours determining every detail of our outlets, lights, switches, and sound.  Think about waking up in the morning or coming home at night, and where you'd naturally reach for a switch, which lights you want grouped together, where you might want an outlet to be, or where you want to shut off a light as you move throughout the house.  

We came prepared.  I had room-by-room notes.  At one point Jeremy reminded me that I wasn't wiring the thing, so I didn't need to worry about certain details.  Such a relief to have this done!

The siders tackled the big front gable and we're happy with how it turned out.  The location of the band mid-way up took some thought.  

HVAC has been making great progress on the gas piping this week.

Main Propane Line

For Generator

BBQ Supply

Kitchen Range Supply

And dirt!  We saw several loads come in during our meeting.  It's getting spread later this week.

Siding Day 5 and Even More Dirt

More siding is up and LOTS more dirt was delivered.  Tile and grout were finalized today (again).  And our electrical walk-thru is Monday morning.  We'll be thinking about where to put outlets, switches, and lights this weekend.

Siding Day 4 and a Lot of Dirt

There's siding nearly to the front door.  Viv's tub is in place.  The fire sprinklers are almost done upstairs.  And 22-23 loads of dirt arrived today.  By the way the driveway looks, it was a very busy day.

Siding Day 3 and More

Siding day 3, more plumbing progress, sprinkler lines are being run, and the girls' tubs were delivered.

Sneak Peak Siding Day 3

Sneak peak pics of siding day 3!  I've mentioned we've had lots of decisions to make lately, but I wanted to give an example of what I mean.  

When I look at these two pics, these are the decisions I see: 

* Smooth vs textured siding behind the batts

* Textured batts vs smooth

* Spacing of the batts, and the batt material width

* Dimensions and thickness for each individual component of the window trim (top, sides, etc) so there's a change in thickness for good caulk joints and how those thicknesses work with the window and batt thickness when they meet.

* Whether the window trim has a sill

* Whether the top window trim has ears

* Dimension of the lumber used in the knee braces

* Whether to use leftover lumber we had or buy new in the correct size for the knee brace angle pieces

* How the corner boards should meet the back plate of the knee braces 

* Whether to use a band board or just flash the places where new vertical panels meet

I'm not complaining.  I'm so glad we have a builder who involves us in these decisions and cares about the details.  I wouldn't want it any other way.  We all want to get it right.  Which isn't a bad thing.

Siding, Fire Sprinklers, & More Plumbing

Siding day 2!  Fire sprinkler day 1!  Plumbing day...who knows.  The jobsite is buzzing this week.