Mr. Cabinet and Other Updates

Not to diminish the men in my life (Daddy, Bob, Sean, Brian.…) but, ‘Mr. Cabinet’ may just be the man of my dreams. Or at least he was for an hour or two earlier this week.
We spent a couple of hours walking the house with Mr. Cabinet this week. He is one of the ‘Mr.’s’ (Mr. Carpet, Mr. Trim, Mr. Paint, etc.) we have really looked forward to meeting. He did not disappoint. His ideas, combined with our ideas & research have given us some nice designs. The preliminary sketches came back today & look good.

Other goings on this week...
The siding is going up and we are very happy with our choice. The framers tell us it should be done by Monday.

The house has been pre insulated and foam will follow sometime next week. To prepare for insulation, some of the walls that will be foamed have drywall. It isn’t much but it does give us an idea of what a few rooms will look like.


The soffits are progressing on patios & porches - they look great.






When we arrived today there were stacks of drywall throughout the house – WOO HOO!!!!




Gas lines have been run inside the house
The electrician and plumbers have finished their work for now.
A sample wall of stone was put together for us to see the stone & grout choices.
The city came today to inspect! Minor changes needed before they reinspect.


Moving right along!!

Window Installation & Other Updates

The windows we thought we would really like when we picked them are in & look great!

Our house building adventures this week included a trip to the middle of nowhere stone yard to verify our choice. We still like our original choice of creek rock. The final choice is made up of 2/3 creek rock & 1/3 moss rock. It will be installed 3' up from the bottom of the house around the majority of the house and on the columns. The moss rock was added yesterday. We are told it will 'grow'. Should be interesting to see!

Since so many of our choices were made months ago, it is gratifying to see that we are still happy with them. Hope the same holds true with fans, lights & tile when we get there.

The rough plumbing & electric are in their final stages. The wiring for sound & security was done yesterday. Framers have returned to finish framing & start the siding. Duct work was done this week and the HVAC was started. The foam vendor was on site to measure for the foam. Some clean up was taking place today prior to an inspection later next week. We meet with 'Mr. Cabinet' early next week. Can't wait!

Week in Review

We have a roof on the house!






From the back of the yard


The plumbers have begun rough plumbing and one bathtub is in place!
The porch and patio covers are on. Some of the beadboard ceilings on the porches and patios are started. (pictured below)






Half round trim - and part of my head as I walked into the shot!

Windows, Doors and Framing.....

This week we met with vendors on site to finalize doors & windows. We added a window, changed a few sizes on windows and finalized the order. The door order is final & we had to make the first significant compromise so far. One of the first things we noticed in touring model homes was the full glass door in bathrooms leading to backyards. FULL GLASS in bathrooms. Hmmmm....didn't like it, didn't want it, WILL have it in this house. Oh well - guess we will learn to love it.

On the other hand, one of the ideas we took to the architect (credit goes to Bob on this idea) was a rotunda in the entryway/foyer. It is AWESOME! It is framed (see picture) & just looks fantastic.

The framing on the rotunda

September 5, 2008

Any bets on move in date yet?

Instant Gratification!

We love watching the progress on this house. The past week has been instant gratification.....as we watch the framing. Every time we go visit (& we go often!) there is something new to see.

As you can see by the pictures, we have taken several people on 'the tour'. We appreciate their indulgence as we wander aimlessly admiring every piece of wood and window that we've already seen several times. To us, it's all awesome.

Mom & Daddy at the front door!

The Mansour's came to visit!

Bob & Cuz bonding on the back porch!

What a Difference a Week Makes!

All forecasts pointed to nothing but rain in Texas during the time we were in California. We were just sure nothing was done on the house. Finally, we couldn't stand it any longer and Bob called Jay last Saturday.

The rain had stopped long enough to pour the foundation on Friday. Even better news, he anticipated framing to start by the middle of this week.

We drove down to see the foundation the day after we got home. Not only did we have a foundation, we had about 7 people working on the framing. The framing will take about 3 weeks but we've seen significant progress in the last few days. As we stand at the 'front door' we can visualize rooms and walk through the 'house'. It is really exciting to see the plans we've lived with on paper for so long coming to life!

Countdown.....

There has been siginificant progress on the house. Just nothing as exciting as a foundation would have been.....
August 15th at 4:30 a.m., the concrete trucks were supposed to be on our street. The foundation was to be poured at 5:00 a.m.
At 2:22 a.m., we heard the first crack of thunder in Denton. No foundation on Friday. Now, it is supposed to rain all week.
The unusual weather would normally be a welcome break to us in August. We are usually in the warmest, dryest part of the year by now. It has been in the 70's and low 80's, cloudy & rainy.
Just hope that by the time we get back from California, we are back to hot, dry Texas in the summer.....and I can't even believe I just wrote that!