HAPPY DANCE TIME!

Yep! That's me -

And that's me, too!

We got an occupancy permit on Monday! Hooray! We have started moving stuff in! The big moving van will be bringing the big stuff on Friday but I'm taking stuff by car and getting settled in!

Inching Forward to a Occupancy Permit

Well, I am not updating as often as I'd like. I am so busy and the internet out here isn't always working so great :(

We keep chipping away. The sidewalks are in. And the lawn has been reseeded.

The painters came and finished the touch ups indoors and out.

The front door is stained. It looks great.

Thank you, Olathe Painting.

The hardwood floors have had their 3rd and final coat.

The basement water damage is in the process of being repaired.

The decking is pretty much completed and the railing is coming along nicely!

We need the fireplace to get the hook up.
We need the heating system to be running.
We need our sump pump to be working.

The floor sanding leaves dust everywhere so I needed to clean everything again. I started cleaning upstairs at the top of the window trim and cleaned the entire upstairs, then the stairs and then started on the main floor. I spent the better part of 5 days cleaning dusty woodwork and walls and floors. I haven't even started on the basement yet.

Bryan took a couple of days off and we worked on deck railing and a few outlets we needed to get in. He also put in the light fixtures on the deck.

I went around and did some paint touch up and I put the sealer/enhancer on the slate fireplace. It looks so good! Emily and I did a lot of packing at the other house today. We have a lot to do there to get ready to move.

We scheduled an inspection for today but the inspector called in sick! So we are rescheduled for Monday.

A Weekend to Feel Good About

We had a great weekend and feel like we made great strides on the decking because we had Bryan's sister, Mary, and her husband, Joel, help us out this weekend. It was fun having someone around and we all had a 'campout' here at the house. We can't thank them enough!

I'm pretty sure they think we have too much porch!! :)
Right, guys?


We also cleaned windows.

Bryan put in porch lights.

And the concrete guys came and framed up our sidewalk, which will be poured on Monday.



Day 440 - Just When You Thought You Were Making Progress: Waterline Breaks

Wow  --  another setback. You can't really tell from these photos but we had a water line break in the master bathroom. We left the house shortly after 10pm and shortly before midnight ADT was calling. The water got into the basement ceiling and set off the glass break alarm in the basement. Thank the Lord it did. The water all ran down into the AC duct  -- none of it got on the hardwood floors!! We are so fortunate. Bryan and I spent the rest of the night (early morning hours) vacuuming up water then cutting open places in the basement ceiling and walls to let it dry out.

The plumbers came first thing the next morning and they are going to get it all fixed.

They will have to replace part of the AC duct.

I'm disappointed in the setback but it could've been so much worse. 

We are praising God for that.

My Craftsman Influence Kitchen

This is finally starting to look like a completed kitchen!

The top drawer has to be cut down because it hits the gas line.

 The tile backsplash  --  white subway tiles with green glass tiles and Motawi Tileworks tile accents.

The lights over the sink and over the island are all from Schoolhouse Electric in Portland.

All the appliances are in except the refrigerator. We are using the refrigerator we have in our current house.

The island and this cabinet are stained oak.

I am so anxious to get moved in and actually use this kitchen.

But as you can see we are kind of living out of the pantry! : )

Plumbing, Propane and Satellite Connections

Everyday something gets done. Sometimes it is not much but it is something.

This week we got some more plumbing done - and we passed the septic inspection done by the health department!

The propane tank was set and the lines run.

And I'll have to get some pictures of my kitchen in the next blog entry

because we did get the kitchen backsplash tiled, 

the globes put on my Schoolhouse Electric lights, and the appliances all installed.

I do have this picture of Bryan installing the range hood.

None of the appliances were super easy!

 It seems we ran into some kind of weird issue with every one of them.

We also got the DirecTV and the internet working thanks to our tech pros from Audio Innovations.

We have a system called Control 4 that lets us access our TVs, lights and speaker system etc. from our computers and phones.

But we had to go with satellite internet which seems pretty good so far.

The big drawback is the data limit. No streaming movies, music etc. for us.

Building Progress: Toilets, Central Vacuum, Security

Celebrate the little things, right? So I am celebrating - we have some toilets that flush, some faucets that work, central vacuum that works and all the cabinet hardware on.

On Labor Day Bryan and I worked on finishing up a few things and getting conduit ready for the security system, then we had a cookout.

On Tuesday, September 4, the central vacuum installer came out to finish that system up and he found that he wasn't getting enough suction which meant we had a leak somewhere! Bryan and I poured over pictures from before the drywall was up and figured out where all the pipes were.

Then Bryan dug into things to find it. Not pretty.

That feels like we are going backwards!!

Good thing I have been procrastinating on the fireplace tile!

But he found it and Friday they repaired it and it all works great now. And wow, is there a lot of suction in this system! Be careful with children and small animals.

Wednesday and Thursday the guy from ADT was there and got the whole security system all hooked up.

Wednesday night the plumbers came and worked until about 10:30 to get some toilets and sinks hooked up but they are not done yet. And Thursday the painters were also there doing touch up.

This is the one of the shower doors that were recently installed.

 So all in all we keep moving forward. And sooner or later it will all get done.

Shower Doors, Satellites, and Hurry Up and Wait

The waiting game is really killing me. I have done pretty much all the things on the To Do list that I can do (except the ongoing job of cleaning). Now it is just a matter of waiting on everyone else!! I push people to get out here and then half of them don't show up and the other half is wondering why I had them come out here early! The people managing part of this is pretty tedious.

The shower doors were delivered last week. They were actually a little earlier than promised! They look great.

The Direct TV and WildBlue (internet) satellite's were installed last week. But since we aren't moving in yet, they don't have all the equipment set up yet. (They could've waited a week - maybe two - but who knew?!)

We are waiting on the plumbers. And the painters. And we are still waiting on a couple of doors. And the cabinet company still has to come back to install hardware. And the tile guy needs to do the kitchen backsplash. And . . .

The trim carpenter came on Labor Day to finish some things up only to find the wrong things had been delivered. They don't fit. Aahh the joys of construction, right?

But we did get the appliances delivered last week (not installed, just delivered) and the central vac company and the security company should be here this week to finish up those systems.

Bryan has worked almost everyday on wiring and/or decking. It is moving ahead slowly. The end is in sight. It really is. But these last few weeks are what is really going to do me in. Every minute that no one is working just stresses me out! And of course no one, NO ONE, is anywhere near as anxious to get all this done as I am. Of course I have a mountain of cleaning to do. Everyone keeps asking me about the cleaning crew. Sorry - no crew - just me. Rebekah and Emily helped a little on Saturday, but basically it is just me. And after all this construction, things are pretty dirty. I just keep telling myself, "this house will never be this dirty again."

Transom Windows Etc.

I don't want to neglect to show you the trim work. The trim carpenters have been out several times and trimmed out the basement and pretty much finished up the rest of the trim.

The transom windows. . .

 

The entry bench . . .

The door hardware . . .

and the basement trim . . .
which has yet to be painted

Day 409 -- A Year of HVAC

We are over 400 days of construction now, and the Wilson's definitely hold the record for the longest time on this job site (besides me of course!).  They started way back last summer. They are doing all the HVAC work. That includes digging the lines for all the geothermal, running all the water lines for the floor heat in both the basement and on the main floor, repairing a break in those water lines, running all the ductwork for the traditional heat and the AC, all the ventilation,  installing the thermostats AND as if that wasn't enough, they cut the sheet metal for my laundry room and pantry backsplashes!

A FEW PICTURES FROM PAST POSTS:

early on they put the tubing in the basement floor

digging the geothermal lines

duct work

 lots of duct work

radiant floor heat lines

that one and only puncture in the line!

AND FINISHING UP IN THE MECHANICAL ROOM . . .

They will be back to fire it all up and of course for yearly maintenance,

but for now they are done!

Thank you for all those many, many hours of work!

AND - stay tuned for pictures of the backsplashes yet to come!

Wilson Mechanical