Teased & Christened

Electricity was turned on yesterday evening and the air conditioning company showed up this morning to get the AC up and running.  The upstairs unit had a leak and they didn't have enough freon to recharge it, so they got the downstairs up and running before they left, promising to be back "later".  While the upstairs stayed hot, the downstairs unit cooled to a comfortable 80 degrees before it crashed.  The AC unit wasn't draining, and when the condensation built up in the pan, the moisture sensor shut the system off.  

As for the christening - the girls did water play this afternoon in their kiddie pool.  After they were done, they took a bath in the air tub.  And at some point, Emily peed on the floor!  Anyone know where we can find Backyardigan underwear for little girls?  I think we could potty train her if we could find some "Pablo" underwear!

We (almost) Passed!

Just a few items to fix before the inspector comes back out this afternoon.  He let us slide on a few things (like not having the master bath vanity).  The drop-off on the back side of the house is more than 30", so, as I type, David is installing a handrail along that edge.  The electrical failed on a couple of items - no arc fault to the bedrooms (I caught that yesterday), water heater not connected (David's catch), no cover on the breaker box, and a loose ground wire to the meter.  All small enough that since there is an electrician here fixing these, the inspector is going to call the power company to authorize power once he gets back to the office.  He'll have to take pictures this afternoon when he comes back, then there's a bit of paperwork at the code office, and we'll be able to pick up our certificate of occupancy sometime next week!

Maybe I'll be able to sleep tonight without having nightmares of Richard Herrin (the head of the code office) coming out to nit-pick every detail during the final inspection!

Electricians a No Show

The electricians are supposed to come tonight so that we can have our inspection in the morning.  We'll see.  Here are some pictures of the house - blue above porches, exterior ceiling fans, stair rails, carpet in the girls' rooms, platform below the house to access the breaker panel, etc...

Today's The Day

David is calling for the final inspection this afternoon.  Best case scenario is that we get the CO (Certificate of Occupancy), have electricity turned on tomorrow and move in over the weekend, ending our 10 years of aggravation of dealing with the code office.  A more realistic scenario is that we fail some minor items (I suspect we will fail plumbing since we don't have a vanity in the master bath), but that we can turn on electricity tomorrow, fix the items over the weekend and get the CO on Monday.  And then there's the scenario that is keeping me up at night - the one where they say they won't give us a CO until the house is 100% finished - all doors installed, base molding in, kitchen cabinets complete, etc.  That's another 3 months of David working full time to complete.

Cooktop Installed

Here it is - the cooktop installed in the aluminum (not stainless) insert:


I think I need to clean David's cell phone's camera lense - either that, or it's set to take low resolution photos.  Anyways, you get the idea.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

But also make sure that you are cutting for the correct appliance.  Apparently I printed the booklet for the Kenmore cooktop but ended up purchasing the GE.  Unfortunately, the Kenmore installation booklet was never tossed.  It didn't help that there are no brand names mentioned in the booklet.  And of course the Kenmore cut-out size was larger than the GE, or it wouldn't have been a problem.  The countertop we are using is a stainless steel table top that we picked up at an auction 10 years ago for $15.  Everything is designed around this, so tossing it and starting over was not an option.  The two solutions to fix the opening size were to use either wood or marble to create a ledge for the cooktop to mount in.  Then David remembered that he has a couple of sheets of stainless steel plate, so he will use that instead.  Just another story for the house!

 

Entry Light

More Kitchen Pictures

Kitchen Pictures for Jeff & Deanna to Drool Over

So, the kitchen is pretty much a clean slate - some rough framing for the island bar, and the duct for the kitchen vent.
This is one of two barrister's bookcases that David had. This one is being converted into a bookcase at the end of the island. Not sure what he'll do with the other one.
Here's one of the island cabinets - David was working on them two days before Katrina hit.
Here's the stainless steel table that we picked up at an auction years ago. Stainless - so no rust from Katrina.
On one of David's last trips to National Guard in Vicksburg, he came home with a walnut footboard. This will go above the cooktop,

So not so much to drool over yet - and that's why there haven't been any pictures!

2 Coats of Finish

David was hoping to apply the finish in the mornings and then work on kitchen cabinets in the afternoons but the finish is taking all day. No matter how well he cleans the applicator pads, some fuzz still ends up in the floor, which then needs to be sanded out before the next coat is applied. Plus the staircase takes more time. The first two coats are a Tung Oil/Resin product - Waterlox Original Formula. The next two coat will be the Satin Formula. The staircase may only need one more coat, but David will probably put another two coats on since he has to on the pine floors.

The floors are looking good - you can see the chatter marks from the drum sander, but it's not terrible. And certainly not so bad that I regret not spending the extra $4K to have it professionally sanded. It shouldn't be as noticeable with the satin finish. Once David is finished with the 4th coat, we need to stay off the floors for 24-48 hours, and then only light sock traffic for 7 days. Claire and Emily will just have to wait until next weekend to dance on the new shiny floors!

Quick Update

David has finished sanding the floors, with a lot of help from Bobby. I've always heard about what a horrible mess the sanding makes, so I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't inches of dust in the adjoining rooms. Still, I didn't realize that the walls would need to be vacuumed after sanding, so guess I can agree that the sanding does make quite a mess. Luckily we don't have any of the hanging light fixtures installed in the rooms with wood floors. On the plus side, we did get to try out the central vac. Worked great!

David will start applying the finish tomorrow. He's hoping for half days applying finish, with the remainder of the day spent on island cabinets. But he's going to put finish on the stairs at the same time, which may add a lot of time because of all the detail work.

Here's a link to a picture of the balusters we're going to copy on our staircase: http://www.stairwarehouse.com/56.html

David is Awesome!

Lagniappe

The game room floor is in.

The first of the pocket doors (laundry room):
The laundry room door hardware:
The Sam's Club vanity, close-out sale mirror from a local electrical supply store, and sconces & faucets ordered on-line (these are in the girl's bathroom):
David's new massive ditch for hooking into the septic system:
And last (but not least), we received our "eviction" notice from FEMA - we need to be out by the end of April.  Too bad we won't be into the house before the end of May!

First Railings & Doors

David has installed the upper balcony railng (minus the top piece).  We bought just enough for this balcony so that we could see how the green balusters looked.  David wanted black, but the price for the green was too good to pass up.  They look good, so now we need to buy another 400.  Another ebay good buy, at $1 per baluster and connector.  Normal price is $2.25.

The non-ebay doors came in.  Bobby helped David install 5 of the 7, and David has started the trim.

The wood floors are going in upstairs.  The landing is done, and the game room is half way.
And the shiny new air conditioning units are in place.  Also, David installed the carriage lights.


I keep forgetting to post a picture of the vinyl and lights under the house.

Too much wood?

Looks like we might have too much wood.  We bought the entire lot that was for sale on the Craigs List posting - 1,860 square feet.  We actually only have 1,500 square feet.  With waste, that leaves slightly under 300 sq ft extra.  David's almost done laying the wood in our bedroom and the study - that leaves the entry way.  But there's still a rather large pile of flooring yet.  More than 300 sq ft.  So I'll take inventory today - looks like we'll have more than enough to do that game room (that everyone comments that carpet will be great in because it will muffle the sounds!).  

On one hand this is a great bonus because we'll be able to put more wood floors in for no additional cost.  But it also means a delay in moving in since now David will be installing flooring upstairs that would have been carpeted by someone else.  I suppose we could wait until after we move in, but it would be better to deal with the sanding before we move in.  

The birds found a new nesting place - under the lower section of the front porch.  Their nest is on top of a piling/below the decking.  I was happy since I'll be able to lift the girls up so that they can see the eggs/baby birds.  David's not thrilled since there are bolts and posts that he needs to install here!  

The shower glass is being installed.  This panel was originally two panels, but we asked them to make it out of one piece of glass.  So they installed the frame and remeasured for the glass.  That will keep that piece from being cut wrong. Maybe they should have done the same for the glass between the shower and the bath - it was cut wrong.  Excuse my fingers in the next picture - I was blocking the light from the window so that the camera would adjust the light for the picture of the shower.  Anyways, that's the door to the shower.  
Here's the trim that David made for the upstairs back door.  
While we're waiting for the doors to come in, David has started the porches.  We're using more of that extra hardi for the stair risers.


Here's the deck at the top by the front door.Here's the upper porch.
The plywood is up under the house - just as the wrens were starting to make this year's nest.  The vinyl will go up tomorrow.
David's been whittling down the huge pile of flooring in the study and the master bedroom.  The study is cleared, this is what's left in the bedroom.
David's using the back porch to cut the flooring.
The living room is a third of the way done.