December Snow

Overnight we got approximately 6" if snow. We took a ride to see the house covered in snow and wanted to share the photo with you.

Updated Exterior

The exterior siding is complete. The only thing left is to install the columns on the front and back porches:
Stamped Front Porch:

Front Porch Ceiling that will be stained:

Siding and progress of work

Today we went by the house and they have made a lot of progress. Inside the house, the walls have been primed and await paint after the cabinets, trim, and other work is finished.

Outside, the siding has been completed on the sides and back the house and are now working on the front. We have decided to go with an upgraded trim and crown package to give it more of a "pop". As you can see we have had some winter weather and the house looks great.

The front porch has been poured to match the back patio and looks great!

As we head into Christmas, we are now working with our loan officer to get the financing prepared so that we can hopefully lock in our interest rate come January. We are just hoping the rates stay low for another couple weeks however we have seen them start to increase some.

On a lighter note, we are offering everyone a chance to play a game called "Where's John?" after the popular "Where's Waldo?"as he has begun to appear in more of the photos.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011!

We have walls!

Kitchen:
Master Bedroom:

Living Room:

Dining Room:

Bonus Room:

The front porch is supposed to be poured next week. The siding starts Monday. We should have paint, cabinets and trim within the next few weeks. Its moving along...hurry up February!!!

Insulation

The insulation started this morning and by the time we went back this afternoon, it was done! There is sheet rock on the floor in all the rooms that will start Wednesday.

Bonus Room:
Living Room:

Garage:

Inspections are done!

Sorry for not updating in awhile but we have been waiting for the rough-in work to be complete and the inspections to be done. To date we have completed the Rough-in inspections: electrical, mechanical, and plumbing.

Now that Thanksgiving is complete, the insulation will be installed and inspected (county and energy star) on Monday and Tuesday. The next step will be drywall. We will post pictures later this week with the insulation and drywall.

Stay tuned!

In other news, we have now picked out our cabinets, hardwood flooring, lighting package, and have narrowed the carpet down to a couple selections.

Rough Ins

We now have electrical:

And Plumbing!
Master Bathroom Tub:

Master Bath Shower Bench:

Photo Updates

The roof has been complete for a couple of weeks, but I have slacked off and havent posted any pictures.

The concrete for the back porch was poured and stamped today. It will have a glaze applied to it at the end of construction so it will be shiny.

The concrete for the garage was also poured today.

Rough in begins

Plumbers started working today, HVAC will begin on Thursday, and Electrical starts on Monday.

Our builder has done a great job working with the sub-contractors to get the prices within budget, and we are doing a good job of adding extras that take us just above the budget.

The balance between cutting out 'wants' and keeping 'musts' has been a new experience, in making the decision we have started looking at the cost of adding these items later and if it is a minimal then we have left it off.

Photos will follow as the work progresses, it will be another two to three weeks before all of the items are finished and inspections are done.

Energy Star Certification

We have decided to get the house Energy Star certified. This will ensure our house receives a 5% discount on our electric bill and our house will use less energy to save us some money. While visiting the Wake County Parade of Homes we found a company called Effect Energy (http://effectenergy.us/) to consult with our builder to guide us through the process to obtain an Energy Star rating. The initial cost of building the house will be more, but we will recoup the money in the future.

Energy Efficient Items To Date:
Energy Efficient Kitchen Appliances
LP TechShield Roof Decking (http://www.lpcorp.com/techshield/)
Low-E Windows

Proposed Items
Rinnai LP hot water heater
Sealed Crawlspace

Framing is complete

Went by the house on Friday and the framers were gone :( The last window and door were hung the few items that had been changed, forgotten, or missed were finished and the floors were swept clean of saw dust, nails, and other debris.

We wanted to share some more photos of the doors, windows, and extras that have been added to the house.

Here is our front door, stay tuned for the choice of exterior color.

Here is a view of the fireplace, the lower section is for the fireplace, and the space above is for us to put the A/V receiver, cable box, and DVD player

Here is another view of one of the installed windows

Exterior door with the smooth finish, the interior doors will have the same look to them

Architectural shingles, it was amazing how fast the installed them

The good news is we are at the halfway point of the house. Unfortunately from here we have been told that the progress will be slow.

To date we have done a layout of the electrical system and picked out the plumbing fixtures, kitchen cabinets, and granite counter tops. Our builder is waiting to hear back on the quotes to determine who will perform the work.

Framing is wrapping up

These photos are from the last week (10-2-2010 to 10-6-2010), they have been working hard on the framing and preparing to install the windows, doors, and shingles.

Here is a view of the back of the house and the covered porch
Labels from our low-e Energy Star windows

Our prairie style windows

Exterior doors for the garage.

Roof of covered back porch

Tray ceiling in the master bedroom

Trusses

The rain finally cleared out yesterday morning and work resumed. They made a lot of progress on the trusses and we hope to have the house covered today just in time for the next round of rain on Monday.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Sorry for the lack of posts but it has been raining here which has brought the work on the house to a halt. It hasnt rained here for weeks and of course just as the roof trusses are about to be put into place, the bottom drops out. Everything is soaking wet, but our contractor has reassured us several times that the materials are made to get wet. Hopefully everything will dry out soon and we can get the roof on.

This weekend we are going to pick out the cabinets, countertops and plumbing fixtures. We will post pictures of our choices soon.

Second Floor Framing

More Framing Photos

The framing for the first floor is complete. The I-joists for the second floor were installed today. The second floor should go up later this week!




John waving from the garage window.



Framed covered back porch.

Welcome To Our Home

Yesterday we went to check on the progress and the floor joists were installed. I intended to go back this afternoon to take pictures after they were inspected and found that the framers were already there. The framers almost completed the entire first floor today.

This is the house from the street:


When you come in the front door, to the left is the study:


And to the right is the dining room:


This is the view from the mud room. Off of the mud room is the kitchen and through the kitchen is the living room.

This is the master bedroom:


This is the master closet:


This is inside the master bathroom, the entire back wall is the shower:

This is the back porch: