The a/c is on...!

This past week has been somewhat quiet, save for a few pretty substantial advancements... (many of the subcontractors were working on other projects during some or most of the days... thus there's not as many photos this time around and only the one update since last Sunday)

Tuesday saw the most significant item when the granite countertops arrived in the kitchen.

The cabinet suppliers were back on Wednesday and installed some of the remaining few cabinets that weren't in yet and added all the door and drawer hardware to the cabinets too. Also, the first appliance showed up and was put into place;  the dishwasher was the first one installed (by the plumber).

in the kitchen

our dishwasher is here!

the master bathroom tower

tower again...

the laundry room cabinet hardware

the laundry room

Also this past week the replacement countertops showed up for the girls' vanities....

Just to see what it'll look like, we set one of the sinks into the countertop in the master bathroom.

It was getting dark out, so I thought I'd light up the outside and see what it looked like, since the electrician has been at the site on and off this week getting more and more items finalized.

The electrician in on vacation next week, so next weekend we'll be delivering all the light fixtures to the site so he can install them the following week.

The plumbing and hvac sub contractors have been busy this week.. with the hvac work looking like it's nearly completed. The air conditioning is now working at the new house, a fact which I'm thinking will make the guys working in there happy next week.. lol

Ken Stencil is scheduled to arrive Monday to pour the driveway and the sidewalk, so Robin and I laid out the path of the sidewalk using a garden hose to mark it.

The finish carpenter has begun working on the stairs.... we'll have some photos of that this week.

The painter is schedule to be on-site this week as well, to do all the finishing touch up work he has to do.

The gutter and downspout installer should be there this week too, as should the excavator to complete his grading work after the driveway is poured.

I know the lawn installer will be itching to get out there this week too.

We're still on schedule for our final inspection date of August 6, with the carpeting scheduled to go in August 3rd, the same day the rest of the appliances are scheduled to arrive.

By the end of next week the house should be really close to being completed!

Paul

Dig dig dig!

Houston, we have a hole!

The excavator came out this morning with the intention of starting to dig the hole for the basement.... the problem was that it was raining.

So he decided to come back after the rain stopped.

In the early afternoon, after the rain ended, I got the call that he was starting! So I ran out there to get some pics of the progress....

Here's some shots of the "first scoop" when he was beginning the hole.

After he got going, the dirt really began piling up as the hole got bigger and bigger...

Terry is the guy running the bucket, while Larry is the guy holding the long stick...

Larry's job is to measure the depth of the hole at all times and in all areas of the hole. They need the hole to be at a certain depth (determined via GPS) and completely flat on the bottom.

All the above photos were taken in the afternoon. The next few photos were taken after work... it's amazing what a difference a few hours can make!

You can see the laser level that they use to set the depth of the hole. Larry told me that due to the slope of the natural grade on the lot, the hole they're digging will be about 7'-8" on the front side and nearly 10'-0" deep on the back side.

They were still digging when we left the lot at about 5:45 for our meeting with the plumbing sub-contractor.

There's rain in the forecast for tomorrow afternoon, so the excavators figured they'd get a good start on it today and finish in the morning. The concrete trucks are still scheduled to arrive Friday to begin pouring the basement footings and walls.

There's a massive amount of dirt piled up around the hole, alot of which is going to be used to raise the overall grade in the front yard. (there's roughly a four foot difference in grade from the back of the house to the front of the house, and it slopes downhill more yet from there to the roadway)

More to come soon!

Paul

Rental search is OVER!

Robin received the call this afternoon.... we're approved for our choice of the apartments that we looked at on Saturday!

So the search is finally over.

We'll have a ground floor apartment in a very nice, quiet little area with a two car garage. We should be able to start moving in stuff before the date we actually had planned on as well.

In new home news, the excavator will be on site tomorrow morning. He'll start with moving the culvert to its proper location, building the gravel driveway, and digging out/hauling away the numerous tree stumps that dot the site.

Then on Wednesday he'll dig the actual hole for the basement of our house!

We also now have an appointment this Saturday morning with the supplier of the exterior stone and the fireplace components.

Paul