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.