Not Glamorous, But It's Progress

It wasn't a big day visually, but stuff got done.  The siding guy came to wrap up a few pending items, like the trim around the back garage door and the band boards above the concrete patio out back.  We've been asked to finalize our exterior paint picks because they plan to paint in September.  Yay!  But that means dirt work and the front concrete need to happen soon.    

The builder is starting to clean up and screw down the floor in anticipation of cabinets arriving late this week and early next week.  We finalized our lighting order today, and figured out what height the wood mantel should be installled in the family room.  Still lots more homework on our list, but we're getting through it.

Electrical is Moving Again

The electrician has most of the lines run to the panel.  The can lights are installed in the family room and he was working on the porch lighting out back when we stopped by tonight.  The siding crew finished the front porch ceilings.  I think they've wrapped up all they can do until our other exterior doors are installed and the concrete patios are poured.

Back Porch Ceiling

They finished the back porch ceiling today!

Porch Ceiling

We're loving the tongue and groove porch ceiling!  They're blind nailing it so there's no exposed nail heads. 

 Most of the wiring is done.  There's a few things here and there, and they need to wire up the panels which is a big job.  But as far as lights and outlets, they're mostly done.  There are 15 recessed cans and 2 pendants in the kitchen.  It won't be dark! 

 And more dirt arrived today.

48 Hours

We didn't make it to the land yesterday because we headed down south to pick up our scaffolding and visit with some of our favorite people.  Tonight we set up the scaffolding so the electrician can reach the family room ceiling.  Then we took in all the changes that happened over the last two days.  

The siding is mostly done.  Now they're working on the tongue and groove porch ceiling.  

The back patio is compacted and prepped for concrete.  

The wiring is moving so fast and they're doing a beautiful job. There's even a couple outlets wired in.  Speaker wire is being run too.  

The conduit for the propane line is in and the propane tank location is cleared. 

 They extended the drain pipe in the yard so the hole is gone.  More dirt arrived and they graded it out, so the side yard is flatter.

  A lot changed in 48 hours!

Electrical is Moving Fast

So much wiring happened today!  I met with the builder and electrician this morning to re-work the lighting in a couple spots.   And good thing I did because one of those areas is now wired.  They're moving fast and it's much easier to change something before they've run wire to it.  

The wall outside the laundry room and Mason's room was sided.  

Tomorrow the excavator comes to dig the trench for our propane line and prep the back patio for concrete.  And I hear our family room fireplace might be installed next week.  June is busy!

We Have Wiring!!!

Wiring is one of my favorite parts, so I may have squealed when I saw that they'd started to pull wire today.  The wiring even has a smell to it that just smells good to me.  Odd I know.  

 There was a bit more siding progress today too.  

Each night we check out the new outlet and light locations and put together notes for the builder if needed.  Even if that means laying on the floor in the dark to get a good photo.

Should we be concerned that the electrician's extension cord looks like this?

Siding Dilema

We have a decision to make on one area of siding and I'm struggling.  

Here's the problem spot:

Do you see what I see?  The wall widths...same.  Window widths...same.  Batt layout...opposite.  

Why oh why did they do this?  They installed the lower batts first.  Then they went to work above and found that layout didn't work well above where the roof comes in at an angle, so they did the opposite layout.  

According to the builder, it isn't wrong. 

But in my book, it isn't right either.  But because it's in this gray area, any fixes would be on our dime.  

The problem is it isn't an easy fix.  You can't just move batts around.  The batts cover seams in the panels beneath.  And those panels run underneath 3 sides of window trim.  Plus it's mostly caulked.  It would be a lot of tear out to make it right.  

Will anyone other than us notice this?  Maybe not.  But once you notice it, how do you forget it?  Will it disappear once everything is painted the same color?  Maybe.  Will it bother me everytime I look square at the front elevation?  Maybe.

Hoping we can make a decision on this one way or the other this weekend.  

Family Room Siding and Missing Transfer Switch

They finished siding the family room wall and moved on to the back of the garage. 

 The electrician is back to work and put in a lot of boxes and can lights today.  Our electrical panels arrived, but there's a transfer switch that's needed to properly setup our generator and they aren't available anywhere right now.  We're hearing there's a 6 month wait to get one, so they're trying to figure out the best way to wire things now so it will be easier to install later.  Hoping we have it fixed by the time bad weather hits this winter.  Another example of strange supply chain issues mucking things up.

All Better

No electrician today, but the siding issue is fixed, so that's a relief.  We're hoping they're able to finish the big wall out back tomorrow. 

The tongue and groove wood planking that will finish off the porch ceilings arrived.  It'll look great and help the side areas blend in with the real timber frame section in the center.

Looking Snuggly Out Back

The house is looking tucked in and trimmed off in back.  And stone was delivered today!  We're wondering if there's plans for the back patio fireplace sooner than we thought.  The electrician is back in town tomorrow and will start working on our project continuously.  And Jeremy discovered the empty house wrap tubes are fun for tormenting kids.

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.  🙂