Better Late Than Never

Week 34:Was too tired to post this on Sunday night. The week was mostly odds and ends. We have the battery backup for the sump pump in and now on a shelf off the floor. The plywood board is up for the voice and data punch down blocks to be mounted. We have the bathroom accessories installed as well and the painters continued with touch ups and patches. The pivot doors upstairs have been installed but one of the hinges is broken so that will have to be replaced. The final coat has been applied to the wood floors and they are nice and shiny. Now we are awaiting the final inspection which was canceled at the last moment due to the final survey not being reviewed by the village engineers. So, a mad scramble ensued and many email and phone calls later, the plans were delivered and reviewed. No major issues to be concerned with. Their only concern was a pipe that is located on the Northern side of the garage. They were concerned it was hooked to the village systems without a permit etc.., but we found out it was just a 6' long pipe that went into the ground so we dug it up. No worries. We have hired a cleaning company to come out and scrub down the walls and get ready for our move.


Here is the final range hood covered.






The smoke/carbon monoxide detectors were installed and are hardwired. No batteries to change...Yeah.






Here is the sump pump battery backup. The blue plexiglas will be used to cover the rest of the pit that had to be opened to submerge the backup pump.







Here is where our data and voice jacks will terminate.






Here is the mirror and towel holder in the guest bathroom.







Towel hooks for the girls bathroom.







Towel rings for girls bathroom.





Master bath medicine cabinets.







Master bath towel rack.






One of the pivot doors in the master suite. All the master doors were painted this week.






The repainted red wall.





The final painted stair stringers and risers.

The Start of the End

Week 30: This week was the week we were hopeful that the doors would arrive due to the time needed to custom mill them. The upstairs doors are 8' and the downstairs are 7'. They did arrive and Joe has been installing them the last few days. The other big happening, is the painters have now put color on our walls and we like what we see so far. They also have put on the first coat of stain on the railing in the kitchen. The gutters and downspouts were installed and tied into the underground pipes to dissipate in the lawn. Our landscapers also installed a drain box in the front so that any water runoff will go towards the box and drain away from the house, and they ties the sump pump discharge into one of our drain intake boxes. We now await the final survey on Monday to see if we can pass the site plan with the village. The last of the siding has arrived and Joe will finish it when the all the doors have been hung. He has also started the floor to the balcony and will finish the ceiling after the doors. Our cook-top and vent hood were installed as well as the coffee system. The kitchen drawer pull knobs were installed and the soft close doors were attached. This way if the door is slammed shut, it will stop and close softly and prevent any smashed fingers. We have also picked out the color of the carpet for the family room and closet and I believe that is about the last decision we will have to make. All the lights and 99% of al the plumbing fixtures and accessories are here. Next week we should see the doors all hung and painted as well as all the walls then later in the week, the electrician and plumbers will be in to start their final finishes. Joe then will concentrate on finishing the outside. The landscapers will be back to lay the final mulch and finish a few details and then they are done until next year. It worked out great that right after they installed all the sod, it rained the entire next day. As much as we hated all the other rain this was well deserved. It will be another busy week, but we should just about see the final product at the end of the week.

Here the landscapers are chipping the old maple stump.








Here are the final pieces of sod that were put in place after they removed the tree stump. They used the shavings to mix with our soil for composting.






This is where the sump pump discharge tube goes.








Here we have created a gravel base and added landscape tiles for a set of temporary stairs. This will be removed once the deck is installed.






Here we have the exhaust for the hot water heater. We have a covering so no little critters can sneak in.







Here is one of the downspout discharge tubes that runs under the sidewalk to disperse in the front yard, which is pitched to one of the storm drains.






Here is the drain box for the runoff.








Here is the discharge pipe int he front lawn. It is flush and then when the water flows, it pops up to let it drain.







Here is the truck for the gutters and downspouts. I wish I could have seen them actually make the gutters, which are seamless.







Here they are hanging the downspout in front.








Here are the gutters and downspouts in the front yard.








Here are the gutters in the back.








Once we get the deck, this downspout will run underneath the ground.







Here is the downspout tie in with the underground pipes.








Here is Mark cutting the vent hole for the range hood. Joe will be putting trim around it.







Here is the vent hole covered until it is trimmed out.








Here is the hood. There is still a piece that goes over the piping to hide it.







Here is the cook-top.








Here are the drawer pulls in the kitchen.








The coffee system installed.








Here is the start of the floor of the balcony.








This is the kids bathroom painted. It is a dark purple. The pictures cannot represent the true colors.







Abby's room is light blue.








Here is Pedro and his co-worker finishing up Kathleen's room. The color is a little dark for her room being that it is on the North side of the house. We are seeing about making it lighter.






Here is the master bedroom color. It is a grey toned paint.








Here is the guest bathroom and guest room.








The game room.








Here is the door to Kathleen's room.











These are the master bedroom doors awaiting installation. They are extremely heavy and will not be coming off their hinges anytime soon after they are hung.






Here is are the doors and trim around both girls rooms.








Here is the stained railing for the kitchen.








Here are the louvered doors in the laundry room.











The wall in the family room.








Other side of the family room.








More master bedroom walls.

The Beginning of the End

Week 29: We can feel the end is near. This week we had good progress in getting the trim done. Joe has completed all but the trim in the kitchen area. He also got the guest bathroom vanity installed. The painters have arrived and are finishing up the trim work upstairs and should begin on the walls this upcoming week. The HVAC guys came in and installed the AC and Humidifier with the thermostat. The big change was the arrival of the landscapers. We were worried we would not get in the sod before the end of the season due to the rain and cold. We did have more rain which put us behind a few days, but they did get the sod down and it looks great. Anne will have the rest of the winter to start planning the new landscaping for next year. They also added a small retaining wall to help direct the path of the waters. Ralph was back and has just about finished the foyer tiling. We are awaiting the last piece of the floor lights and then he can finish the floor. He finished up the master bath so it is now ready for the shower doors, which were re-measured on Monday and are on order. So next week it is more painting, the kitchen vent hood will be installed and hopefully the rest of the kitchen will come together. The gutters and downspouts will also be installed.


Painters prepping the floors.







The painted baseboards.








Master bedroom baseboards painted.








Ralph installing the tile in the foyer.








The finished floor except for the floor lights.








The final master bath tiling and grouting.








Here is the vent hood awaiting installation.








The guest bath vanity.








The new humidifier.








The new AC unit.








The landscapers have arrived and are finishing the final grading. With the rain it became a big mud pit for a few days.







The final grading smoothed out and awaiting sod. The before shot.








The front ready to go.








More sod. Looks endless.








The front yard after. There are a couple spots that have the old Maple tree trunks so they will have to remove the stumps and finish the sod on Monday.






The final front view.








Here one of the crew was moving sod in a wheel barrow.








The new sod in the back yard.








Continuing in the back yard.








Getting closer to finishing.








Closeup of the retaining wall.








Here is the after shot of the area next to the garage.