WE HAVE A PERMIT

That's all I wanted to say. Well, that and apparently you have to be really demanding to get anything done for you when you need the government to do anything.

2nd post in 2 days!

I love coming home to surprises. Last night when I got home there were stacks of sheetrock in the media room, living room, and master bedroom. Also the insulation had been installed. We have insulation all around the walls that share with the outside as well as noise insulation in both bathrooms and our bedrooms. That means that the media room is also partially insulated too. The sheetrockers were going to come out today to begin putting the sheetrock up but I think we are delaying them one day because Rich needs to finish hanging the speaker wire for our surround sound.

The concrete people covered the floor with thermo shield and plastic. Bob, our builder said that was the best way he has seen yet to protect the flooring from the rest of the work that is to be done.

We are now officially kitchening in the garage. The stove and refrigerator have been moved and the water to the kitchen sink has been shut off. Most of the cabinets have been torn down. All that's left is our bathroom and bedroom (which I still need to pack up).

Demo

Entry
Hallway from back door to entry
Kitchen
Sheetrock in media room

Floors

I know you all have been clamoring for updates to the blog. I have not too much to report. The concrete stain people were out at the house the week of Thanksgiving. On Monday they prepped the floors for stain and stained them. Tuesday they came out to do touch ups and Wednesday they sealed the floors. The pictures attached are from Tuesday afternoon (I think - before sealing anyway). They are not quite as light as they look in some of the pictures. The flash makes the coloring a little different. I would say the top picture is most representative of the actual color. The floors have since been completely covered to protect them from the rest of the house work. I do believe the sheetrockers will be out sometime this week.

Demo is progressing well also (thanks to Rich who worked all through Thanksgiving and the weekend tearing down walls, panelling, and sawing apart a metal chassis). We were using an open air kitchen for about a week which wasn't too bad until the arctic blast rolled through. After that, it was fairly miserable. Plus, with the hot water heater out I have been boiling water to wash the dishes with. The pictures of demo are from last week. As of today half of the cabinets are out. I think tonight we will probably move the refrigerator and stove.

There are also a few pictures of Rich digging tranches. That was the weekend before Thanksgiving. He spent all weekend digging trenches for the electrical lines, cable lines (I think), septic lines, and water lines. It looked like fun, but he wouldn't let me operate the rock trencher. Good thing too. I think if I demonstrated that I could handle it, he probably would've been happy to hand the job over - at least that's what he did with the lawn mower.
The floor isn't really as blotchy as it appears



We cooked in this for awhile (towards back of house)

Electric and septic trenches

Electrcial, Roof, and Modified Showering

This weekend the electricians came and put all the electrical wiring up, attached the boxes for plug, cable, and phones, drilled holes in the outdoor ceiling and walls for outside fixtures, and swept the house free of sawdust. Its really coming along now, with almost all the exterior work done. Bob will create a punch list hopefully sometime soon so the trades can make some adjustments (the big ones for sure will be filling in the concrete where they had to move a pipe and moving our master bathroom sink pipes over a bit). After that's complete - let's hope two weeks or less - the concrete stain folks come in a do their thing. Then its on to the sheetrocking. I would say after that it'll move pretty fast.

We are facing a small road block because it turns out we actually do need a building permit from the county. I suspect the county only does this because they want to tax people properly. In our area they don't have a building code or inspectors. Looks like they don't really care what you build, just want their money. The snag will probably come from the septic end (the one area they really are picky about). If they do due diligence in their research they will probably come to the conclusion that our 10 year old septic system is outdated and insufficient for the new house. If that is the case we will face the extra cost of a new septic - +/- $10,000 (!!!).
The bank won't issue any more draws until we get the permit.

Roughing it isn't so bad. Our hot water heater in the old house quit working before we tore down the house. I was showering at the gym or taking a pot bath (hee hee) and Rich was just taking cold showers (hee hee). But thanks to Rich's brilliant mind, we now have hot showers. The solution you ask? A 100' garden hose and a garden hose nozzle with shower application purchased for $40 from Home Depot connected to our el cheapo utility sink in the garage (which is on a separate 15 or 20 gallon hot water heater for the washing machine) running out the garage window, along the back of the house, over the dog kennel roofs, and into the bathroom window. Rich thinks that's the best idea he's had in awhile and I have to agree. It was nice to take a hot shower after picking through construction debris all day.

Here are some pictures I took yesterday evening of the latest progress. I included pictures of angles/rooms you haven't previously seen.

Rear and side of the house from hill behind house.


Hall bathroom with master bedroom on other side of framing.Media room with fireplace in. It is elevated because we (I) wanted a hearth to sit on.

These are the can lights Rich requested in the media room. The back four and front four are on different dimmer switches to create a movie theater atmosphere. Steve and Linda's house was our inspiration for that. This is the uncovered side porch. The window is the side of the living room and the door on the right of the picture goes into the utility room.

Linus on top of demolition pondering the world
1/2 a day's worth of a trailer
Growing trash pile
In case you ever wondered why trailers break apart in tornadoes, look at the roof construction (1 x 2 boards with what I believe is particle board and a thin metal roof)

This used to be Mike (and then Matt's) bedroom and bathroom. All gone. That door leads to the rest of the trailer which will be gone next weekend.