Got a little mud?

All the sheetrock's been hung, and now it's time for the messy part... The MUD!  This is the part that is going to take the longest, because every cold day and rainy day we've had makes the mud dry slow, and keeps the workers from being able to build up the corners and holes they way it needs to be.  That's okay though - because paint is next, and I'm hoping enough time will pass to get Jeffrey to change his mind on the smoke blue he's determined to paint this great room.....

 

 

Oh - and yes, that's our new stove sitting in the plastic there in the picture.  The garage doors are going in today, and the prefinished pine is supposed to be delivered next week!  I can hardly wait to get the cabinets started!

 

 

 

Sheetrock - Day 2

Mike and his son came out on Sunday and started hanging the sheetrock.  They were able to hang both of the kids bedrooms upstairs and the ceiling to the bonus room.  Today, they came out after they finished a job in Chesapeake and finished hanging the upstairs bath, Hall, linen closet, the main floor hall and foyer ceiling, and at least one round in just about each room.  Tomorrow will be their first full day on site with a full crew and they hope to hang the rest of the house in the next two to three days.  I'm looking forward to seeing the progress!

Sheetrock is going on the walls!

Insulation!

Things are moving along with the house now!  We finally got the punch list of things narrowed down to continue with the insulation.  The first thing on the agenda (and to finish up that punch list) was to finish running all the coax and cat-6 cable so that we could fire-stop all the holes.  Fire-stopping was basically just plugging all the holes that ran between floors with a foam that expands out and is fire resistant.  Supposedly this greatly helps reduce the chance a fire will spread through the walls from floor to floor.  Brabble came in on the 26th of November and did this as part of our insulation contract.

While they were there they also went ahead and put the ridge vents in so that when the inspector came out to check the fire-stopping, he would also be able to see the vents were in.  That same day, they also sealed around all the doors, windows, jambs, corners with a caulking to help seal the gaps and prevent air leaks.

 

After the fire-stopping was put in, we called for an inspection, which passed without issue, and Brabble came back the next day (Saturday) to spray the first layer of insulation on the exterior walls of the house.  Again, this is a wet spray that expands out and seals all the gaps, holes, and crevices that may allow air ($$$) to leak in and out during the year.  I wasn't there during the process, but stopped in around lunch to check on it.  Here is the bedroom mid process:

It took a couple of days for all of the spraying to go in.  It was one guy working by himself on Saturday and Sunday, and after further inspection from Jeffrey they were supposed to come back out and touch up a couple of areas and be done with this part this morning.  Here are some shots of the big wall and the bedroom after day 2:

 

Last night, when I went out to check on the progress, I was surprised to see that most of the batting in the main living areas was already in place, and I expect that the insulation will be completely finished today or first thing tomorrow.  Here is that same bedroom again, still not finished, but with most of the batting.

 Coming upstairs from the main floor to the upper story... You can see the white caulking around the window and stairway headers in this picture.

 Over the loft and kids bathroom...

 My bonus room or guest bedroom ceiling (verdict still out on that one)

 Bonus room again from the doorway.

 

As you can see, the insulation really starts to make the rooms look and feel more like rooms, and brings them back down to size.  I'm sure once the drywall starts going in, things are really going to start taking shape! (And color!!!)  We're booked right now to start drywall in a week (praying hard all inspections pass for insulation and for no more holdups!)

 

 

 

 

Chases being built!

Now that the rough in inspection has taken place, and we're steady knocking the problems/issues out one at a time. It's a slow and steady process, but we're getting there. One of our punch list items was to frame in all the duct work and have that re-inspected before we can get Brabble in to do our insulation. That's what the guys have been working on last week and this week.  There is still right much to do, but hopefully it will be a quick job and will pass inspection!

 

Cabinets

Not the cabinets we're getting, but the look we are going for with the hickory. I love the doors to these cabinets we found at Lowes, and I truely hope the cabinet maker can duplicate these!  They are so simple, yet have so much character!

 

And the Kraftmade drawers as well - I must have this insert for my silverware drawer!

 

 

Thinking about Paint

We're not at the point where we're painting - yet, but it's never too early to start thinking.  Yesterday while we were carousing Lowe's for the final (we thought) vent supplies, we took a few minutes to look at the paint samples and think about the colors we want in the house.  First of all, we are both against white walls and we both love naturals, but we felt light browns and tans will just make the room looked aged and yellow.  We're thinking outside of 'our' box and going bold.... Just not sure how bold yet, lol.

The idea is that the living room with cathedral ceiling will be in the olive or brown family, or possibly the wine family.  All of the trim in the house is planned to be stained a medium to dark stain and the floors will be natural hickory, so they will range from light to dark as well.  The ceiling panels will also be natural (light colored) so there will be a lot of variation in the room.  I think one of these colors will help bring it all together.  The blues and greys are for possibly the master bedroom and the kids bathroom upstairs (underwater mural).  The sad thing is that actual sample cards we picked up and the computer image are no where near the same colors.... I guess it will be a wait and see how it turns out ordeal.

And the first PUNCH LIST is in

Finally got the inspection today.  Took them both to do it.  All in all, I really can't complain, considering the size of the house and the amount of things they were going over today.  So we're not quite ready for the drywall and insulation to come in, but we're not too far out either.  Of the 15 items mentioned, the majority of the work is going to fall on the plumber, or were a heads up of things to look out for during insulation.  So here it is, as knit picky as is seems.

1.  Nail Plate missing in Master Bath (next to shower)
2.  Strap on plumbing pipe missing in Master Bath shower
3.  Bolts need to be added to front porch to attach rafters to beams
4.  Smoke detector required in cathedral ceiling
5.  Pickets on back deck steps don't meet size requirement (holes are too large)
6.  The last three steps leading up to second story seem inconsistent in size and are odd (not sure if we have to fix this or if it was just a general statement)
7.  There is possible dead space in area above master bedroom triangle wall
8.  Make sure to insulate all the way up to the top of the rafters to avoid dead space in master bedroom
9.  Plumbing vent pipe is undersized for amount of water lines in house, must increase to 3"
10.  Plumbing "T" in powder room does not meet code
11.  Dryer vent must be made of smooth solid surface moving in the direction of flow to prevent lint buildup (had not been installed yet)
12.  Need to provide paperwork for can lights to insure they are IC rated
13.  Russell from Geosolice must call in and provide detailed information about the size and thickness of duct work, insulation of duct work, duct tape and fire sealant.
14.  All holes drilled through each level of floor (including those used for initial drainage) must be filled with fire stop.
15.  Frame all chases and call for re-inspection to insure none of the insulation of duct work is disturbed.

Inspection Rescheduled

As promised the update:

No inspection took place yesterday, and none will take place today.  Current notice is that they will try to come out tomorrow for inspection.  The positive side to that is maybe we can finish up the vents and gas stub and get it all done at once!

Rough-in Inspection Scheduled for Today

It's a big day at the Turner House.... Many weeks of pulling wires, watching HVAC ducts go in, looking at the plumping pipes running all through the house, and just watching the time fly by was about to eat us up, but today is the day.  At least we thought it was going to be the day.  Unfortunatly we encountered a huge dissapointment right from the start, the gas line didn't get stubbed in as promised yesterday.  When we met with Tim from Jernigan Oil yesterday morning, everything seemed to be fine and there didn't seem to be any problems.... HOWEVER, when we went to check on it last night, the only evidence that they had even been on the site was one hole drilled through the concrete, that was it!  Of course this furiated Jeffrey, as well as it should for $100 an hour, and I know they were there at least the same hour I was there.  Turns out, they didn't have the supplies they needed to make it work, so they had to leave and will come back another time.  I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of phone calls made today about that one... 

 

With that being the case, we didn't bother to rush home from Lowes last night with the last two bathroom fan vents to install either.  So even though the rough-in is today, we already know the inspector will have to reschedule and come back out to do the vents and gas line.  Oh well - at least maybe we'll get a punch list of things to fix so that he can inspect it all again when he comes back.  Or even better yet, lets hope with fingers crossed that there is nothing to fix!

 

Updates to come...

Hickory Floors have arrived!

Our hickory flooring was delivered yesterday, and after only looking at if for a few minutes, I am in love.  These boards are absolutely gorgeous with plenty of character and uniqueness!  Now if we can only get the duct work guy to finish up, get that last tub in place and get our rough in inspection we can move on to insulation, drywall and this floor!  This is going to be in the Living room, the Master bedroom, and the nursery! :)

HVAC Being Installed

We're finally getting somewhere with the Heating and Air system now.  All of the equipment has been delivered and the duct work is now going in place.  Hopefully by next week it will be completely roughed in!  I'm ready to move on to insulation and drywall!

Waiting on HVAC

So... last time I left you, it appears the siding still wasn't finished, the plumbing wasn't completed, the electrical still had some ways to go and the HVAC guy was MIA.  Good news!  The siding is now finished!  LOL!  Things seem to be moving SO SLOW right now and it's very stressful.  Jeffrey and I took a week off for a quick trip to the mountains and a work conference for me in Greensboro, and we are no where near where I had hoped to be by now.  We are still trying to pick out a gas powered tank less hot water heater and once we do that Bracy can finish up his rough-in.  Paul is on vacation this week, so hopefully when he returns we'll finish up the electrical rough in.  As far as the HVAC guy - we met with him on Monday.  It turns out they weren't able to run the duct work like we had hoped, and it put them behind trying to figure out the best way to get they system to work properly.  The duct work guy, Mike, is supposed to be on site right now installing the first of it.  I'll find out this afternoon if he really came or not.  So for now, all I can leave you with are pictures of the house, taken as is, mess and all.  Hope you enjoy.

The siding looks good!  We just have to get those white doors painted or stained a different color! 

 Shot into the basement standing in one of the garage door openings.  Boy it's messy down here!

 

 Plumbing is in for the washing machine and bathroom - the bathtub down here will go in last since the plumbing chase will be hidden behind it!

 

 Standing where I hope to one day have my dining room table, looking back into the kitchen area.  That's the back door open on the right.

 

 Standing in the same spot as above, just looking more towards the front door this time.

 This is taken from the Master Bedroom looking back towards the hallway.  That's the nursery on the right, and the bathroom and closet on the left behind those walls.

 

 This is the view looking down from the loft.  Not to bad ;)

 

 The bonus room upstairs, which I'm quickly trying to claim as my craft room.  I love the layout and shape of this room with the ceilings and built in cabinet plans!

 

Back on the loft looking across it to the top of the stairs.  That's the front yard through those windows.

 



Doo, doo, doo, Lookin' out my back door! :)

Picture Updates

So it's been a while since I last posted. Little things continue to progress. The electric rough-in is still going on, the plumbing is still going on, but we still haven't seen anybody from the Geosolice show up yet. All the windows are in except for the basement (not sure why they're holding off there) and most of the siding is on, except for the front top. With that being said, here's the week in pictures.