I spent the last week in Scottsdale, AZ celebrating Thanksgiving with family returning last night. I was excited to go to the house this morning to see what has happened in my absence. It was amazing to see what all had transpired.
By the end of the day today the drywall was textured. All that remains is to let it dry before paint.
The photo is not the greatest as everything is monochrome, but the drywall looks super! The texturing will add a subtle dimension once the paint goes on. This photo was taken from the kitchen, and the flat ceiling in the foreground is the kitchen ceiling.
Lots is going on outside the house also. All the concrete has been poured and stained where appropriate. The guys from Harmony Gardens have installed a French drain that will drain water from behind the retaining wall, and they have started the water feature. We walked the lot and determined where the three raised beds will go. Alan and I met this morning, and I picked out the colors for the gutters and downspouts.
Everything is coming together nicely!
The insulation is completed as far as can be done until the dry wall is hung.
This is a photo of the living room as shot from the kitchen. The three spots filled with fiberglass insulation is where surround sound speakers and the flat screen TV will go.
This photo is of the kitchen as shot from the living room. The door on the left is to the patio.
And this is the master bedroom. Note some dry wall has been hung on the ceiling.
The dry wall crew arrives Monday. Alan, the general contractor, told me that dry wall installation will take about 10 days.
I arrived at the job site today to find a plethora of subcontractors at work! The excavator was doing final grading. Brown Bear Masonry's team was laying up the decorative stone on the front of the house. Steve Ezell & his crew were painting the body color on the house, and the insulator was working.
The house is starting to look like a home!
The insulation should be finished by the end of the day tomorrow, and dry wall walling will begin Monday! Wow, what fun!
The insulation started being applied today. The time frame is to be completed by noon tomorrow then the dry wall installers will be back.
It was fun watching the process. Two products are mixed as they come out of the spray gun. Two pumps have to work in unison. Also, the products must be maintained at a certain temperature when being sprayed. As the mixed products hit the air, they expand to fill the space.
After the product is sprayed, another worker comes along and trims the foam level to the studs.
The sprayer then comes back a second time filling in any voids. The foam is then trimmed a final time. More photos of the finished application will be posted tomorrow.
Steve Ezell, the painter, was kind enough to paint a couple of samples of the colors I chose so I could see what they would be like. This is my final selection.
Note, the window frame is slightly darker than the body color. The garage door will match the window frames giving a nice 3 color scheme.
Thanks to Barb for finding these colors for me!
I stopped by the house this evening to find that the lot had been finish graded and the excavator was hauling excess dirt away.
Also, Steve the painter had been there caulking the outside today. The framers had been installing the framework for the pocket doors, and the gas fireplace was mounted in place.
I sent a text to the general contractor and he informed me that we passed another inspection today. Thus, insulation is just around the corner!
Again, no picture, but lots is happening. A two man crew spent the last 2 days caulking all the cracks & crevices throughout the whole house. The framers are almost finished with the HardiPlank siding. There are just a couple of areas that need finished. Steps from the garage to the house are built. The insulators did a walk through and know how they are going to do the foam insulation. Another building inspection by the city is to happen tomorrow. I met with the house painter, and we have a plan for the exterior and interior house colors and he has started caulking the outside of the house. The electrician came yesterday and wired the outside of the house for lights on both sides of the garage door and the garage walk door.
The mystery of the ducks is solved. Sam & Dan told me that, as youngsters are sometimes wont to do, they ran away from home to explore the world. Their "parents", two young girls who live in the neighborhood, came by and took them home. I'm not sure if they will visit again or not, but we enjoyed them while they were here!
Sam & Dan worked diligently on the siding on the back of the house today, and it is nearly complete.
Again, disregard the two tone HardiPlank siding. It will get painted!
Again, it was another day of excellent progress. I received a phone call from Thomas of the Photo Den that he would arrive at 9:30 to do the pre-wire. While I was talking with him, Tony & Jay from Kennedy Fuel arrived to work on all the exhaust systems and gas fireplace.
Dan & Sam from Valerian were also on site all day hanging the last exterior door and working hard on finishing the siding.
By the end of the day, all the exhaust ducts were installed and hooked up for the range hood, dryer, two bathroom exhaust fans and the water heater. Also, the holes were cut and pipe installed for the gas fireplace. The pre-wiring for TV, surround sound, and Internet were finished, and Dan & Sam had made significant progress on the siding.
As a side note, you do not ever know what you will find on a construction site. We have had a couple of visitors that have hung around for 2 days, and we are not sure when/if they will leave. According to Dan & Sam, their names are Stu and Stuie. See their photo below.
These guys are so comfortable that you can walk within 3 or 4 feet of them and they are not frightened. And, they have found a swimming pool that they really like.
We have no idea where they came from, but they have a new temporary home now!
