Blogin' it. - My first house. 

1/18/06 - Wednesday

Just a quick update today: Kevin is working on finishing up the electrical work to get ready for the big inspection. We'll have the framing, rough-in plumbing, and rough-in electrical inspection done all at once. When the county inspector signs off on those systems, we'll have the green light to put in the insulation and dry wall.

Kevin and his father have hydropower business to attend to tomorrow, so I probably won't have anything of interest to share until this weekend. For now, I am daydreaming about paint colors and arranging furniture:)

1/16/2006 - Monday is picture day

I am very excited. The house is really starting to take shape, and I can imagine moving in:) I can't wait!:) Kevin and I worked on the rough-in electrical system this weekend. This involves running wires for all of the various outlet and switch ciruits. It was an educational experience for me, both in teaching me about residential electrical systems, and that I would make a very slow electrician:) I really do appreciate the education though, and the satisfaction of building my house with my own two hands. However, its a good thing Kevin knows what he's doing most of the time, 'cause if it were up to me, who knows what would happen when you plug in a lamp or flip a switch:)

In any case, I am getting very good at stripping wires and drilling holes to run the wires through. For once, I wasn't in the way, and was actually helpful:) Kevin will need only a few more days to finish the rough in electrical system, and be ready for inspection.

Here is the house so far:


This is where Kevin spent the majority of the weekend:




Here is me being helpful:) (I managed not to hit my hand with the hammer at all this weekend)


mmm...lunch....


I'll keep you posted:)

1/13/2006 - Friday

It looks like Kevin will be able to finish up the plumbing today. Hooray! This accomplishment is exciting because we can now get an inspection, and move on already. However, its a bit anticlimatic because the well isn't hooked up yet (as in, we don't have a pump installed, or even purchased), and we don't as yet have a septic system. The plumbing may be done, but we still don't have running water. There is only so much one guy can do in a day. I just have to remind myself (and Kevin sometimes:) that all this time and money and hard work is worth it to OWN our own house....(keep repeating keep repeating)....

I also have some pics to share from yesterday:
We now have a shower, yea!


Plumbing, plumbing, and more plumbing...

1/11/06 - Wednesday

Sorry, no pictures today. In fact, there isn't a whole lot to report this week. Kevin has been working on installing the plumbing system. That's pretty much it. Well, plumbing and electrical. The specifics aren't too exciting. My conversations with Kevin over dinner this week have consisted of:

A: "So what did you do today?"
K: "Worked on the plumbing."
A: "How did that go?"
K: "I made progress, but I ran out of (fill in a size) elbows, and I have a bunch of extra (fill in another size) elbows, and I ran out of (fill in a size) pipe. I have to go to Home Depot tomorrow"
A: "oh" (I feel bad. It must be slow and tedious to work by yourself on a project such as this.)

Yup. The next horizon is being ready for the drywall. Guestimated timeline for this is T- two weeks. For those following along out there in bloggy land, I'll try to get some pictures posted soon, which will make this phase of our home construction marginally more interesting:)

1/8/06 - Sunday

Its been a busy weekend with lots to report, but its almost my bedtime as I am posting this, so I'll make it short and sweet:

Kevin finished the barn doors on friday. Its a steel frame door, with T-111 siding to match the exterior of the house. After we get moved in, he'll finish up the trim work, and insulate and finish the inside of the door. Since the garage will be insulated, having the door insulated as well will allow us to keep the entire inside climate controlled. He did a beautiful job, and now we can officially lock up the house. I even have a key to my house now:) Below is a picture looking our through the garage door:



Here's a picture of the air handler: (Not terribly exciting, but Lawrence Heating and Cooling did quality work, and I'm excited that we can turn the heat on (its cold here:))



Looking through the front door:



Kevin and I worked on some plumbing and electrical work on saturday. Naturally, we didn't have all the fittings and things we needed, so we made another trip to Home Depot saturday night. We had hoped to get the shower installed this weekend (a two person job), but alas we didn't make it. Poor Kevin is on his own again for another week, which I expect will be filled with plumbing. (Yet another job I do not want to do for a living)

January 4, 2006 - Wednesday

Kevin finished installing the windows and doors yesterday. All that remains before we can lock the place up is to construct the barn doors for the garage. Kevin said he would begin that project today.

Some information regarding the floor plan was requested. So, here's a picture:)


(Sorry the pic is so bad, I don't have photoshop anymore)

The pic Kevin sent me is not entirely accurate as far as exact window and door locations, but the general idea is pretty close. (We haven't updated the floor plan file to reflect the changes we've made). The windows in the living area on the front of the house are incorrect, but I moved the door to reflect its location on the house.

January 3, 2006 - Tuesday

I am back at work today after a three-day weekend (Mickey was closed yesterday). Kevin and I used our visit with my parents in VA on Saturday and Sunday as an opportunity to pick up our free cabinets from them, and bring them back to the house. (My Mom’s new kitchen is almost done, and I am more than glad to take her old cabinets away for her:) The cabinets made it back from VA on Sunday in the dump trailer without incident, and Kevin and I got them unloaded and into the house Sunday afternoon before the rain came.

Unfortunately, the rain did come on Monday, which kept us from installing any more windows or doors. We used the time to figure out where the cabinets will go, and created a list of materials for the rough-in plumbing and electrical systems. My guess is that there will be approximately 50 thousand outlets in this house by the time we are done, and we will have put several more children of home depot employees through college. (To give you an estimate, Kevin said he used three full carts yesterday at Home Depot, and had to check out twice).

The HVAC installers also came yesterday. As far as I know, they finished up yesterday, which means we now have a heating and air conditioning system in the house. If all goes to plan, Kevin will finish installing the rough-in plumbing by the end of the week I’ll keep you posted:)

December 30, 2005 - Friday - windows!

Happy New Year everyone!

Tomorrow Kevin and I will leave for VA to spend the new year with my family. I expect it will be very relaxing. At least I hope so, because I will need to be rested up for installing more windows and doors with Kevin on monday.

Yup. Things are movin' right along. Kevin got four whole windows installed today. He also got a call from the HVAC contractor, and they will be coming on monday to install the air conditioning and heating system. As long as Kevin and I make it back sometime Sunday night, we should be able to be at our house all day on monday to install the rest of the windows and doors while the hvac people are there.

I think the house is really starting to look like a house now that it has some windows:

December 29, 2005 - Thursday

HVAC decision time. Let's see, so many choices: heat pump, electric resistance heating, propane...?How do two engineers decide what the best (cheapest) option is? Why an EXCEL spreadsheet of course. (Did you really expect something different?)

And the winner is.....(drumroll).. the heat pump. Yup. That's what the excel spreadsheet says is the cheapest overall, and that's what most people have in this neck 'o the woods. Go figure.

Kevin is getting an HVAC contractor lined up today to install a system in our house. He is also calling to set up our framing inspection (ooohhh...aahhh....). We're not sure if the framing inspection needs to get done before or after all the systems (plumbing, hvac...etc) are installed, but I guess we'll find out today.

Yesterday Kevin worked just about all day on some odds 'n ends. Finishing framing a closet, installing the hurricane strips, etc. Slowly but surely we'll get there.

December 27, 2005 - tuesday

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I spent Christmas with Kevin's family in sunny florida, and had a great time. This was my first Christmas away from home, and I want to thank everyone for making it a great experience (with awesome food!). Kevin and I returned home today (via private plane of course:), and its back to work tomorrow for me. To those in the frigid north: I miss you and I hope I get to see all of you soon.

It was pointed out to me while in florida that I am not always on top of updating this blog with the most current or latest and greatest information. In the spirit of trying to remedy that, I have more pictures of the house that I didn't post before I left on holiday.

Kevin was able to finish framing the interior walls on thursday the 22nd, and he actually remembered to take some pictures:)




My aplogies for not updating just before Christmas. My new year's resolution is to keep on top of this thing so I don't leave anyone hanging in anticipation:) (Thank you for the comment Ron, 'cause I am sure that was you:)