10/27/2010 - Exactly two years to the day... Final update.
My wife pointed out it has been exactly 2 years to the day since we moved down here to Alabama and I started my job here. Interesting coincidence. Anyway, last update...
Link to the pic since I've exceeded my 10 image-per-post allowance.
10/25/2010 - Closing in two days.
... !!!
That's all.
9/20/2010 - The pre-final final walk through.
Just got back from our little vacation and today we had our first of two final walk throughs. Sounds weird... but we get one walk through (today's) to catch any defects/items we want fixed that the construction guys may have missed, and then in a couple days we get another to catch any other last minute items as well as to verify everything that we tagged today got fixed appropriately. Next stop... closing!
Continuing with the "kitchen shot" series...
My back yard. Ironically, they put down sod in the back yard. We were supposed to just get seed/straw in the back yard, but for whatever reason they put down sod instead. I ain't complaining (except if they try to put it on the final price of the house). I feel bad for our neighbor, who basically has a mud pit for a back yard covered with straw.
8/27/2010 - Counter tops.
The wife stopped by and took some pictures yesterday too. Counter tops are installed. We just went with the craptastic Formica counter tops because the in-house granite was too expensive for our tastes and we didn't like the way the Corian looks. When we remodel, we'll either do stone or go with this local company that makes counter tops out of recycled glass.
By the way, we're having fun with this "taking a picture of the progress on the same view" thing. So my apologies in advance...
8/26/2010 - Cabinets and walls!
We stopped in a couple days ago and took a look around. Drywall is up, seams are mudded, things are looking good. They also have all of the cabinets in (kitchen and bath). Please excuse the crappy cellphone camera blurry pic. It's the exact same location as the previous update ironically. Should be nice to see how that came along...
Looks like they put several craters in the slab somehow too. We've taken pics of them, so they'll be fixing that whether they like it or not.
Things have slowed down a good bit since it's getting to the point of being finishing work, but they're still planning on being done by the end of September.
8/16/2010 - Framing walk-through.
Today we had our framing walk through with the construction manager. Basically most all of the framing is up and finished. There are a few spots that still need bracing or whatnot, but those should be finished this week. Electrical and plumbing is all in and looks sound. It was nice to get in upstairs and "see" how the layout actually fleshes out with all 5 bedrooms in place (the model only had three and the larger loft area). A few little surprises were in store for us, such as the remaining loft area upstairs is slightly larger than I envisioned it which will be cool, since we'll be putting a TV and seating up there for the kids to use. The additional two bedrooms feel a bit larger than I expected as well.
The pic I selected would be the view from the kitchen over the bar to the living room (and back yard).
8/12/2010 - A little splash of color.
Wife stopped by this morning, and was happy to see the house painted. She was slightly nervous after the exterior went up because it wasn't the right color. Anyhow, final colors are up. The stonework along the bottom of the front aren't yet. Our framing walk-through is scheduled for Monday (16th).
8/9/2010 - Exterior is up, including windows.
Unfortunately it looks like I missed my window to get the cat5 pulled in as the electrical as well as coax are already in. I'm not going to push the issue because I had initially planned on foregoing it anyway, so I'll just run cable later as needed. Anyway, the exterior is up and primed, and windows are in for the most part as well. I took a walk around the house too, checked out my back yard and whatnot. Everything is looking great from what I can tell. Our framing walk-through is supposed to be scheduled for this week, at while point I'll be checking out the interior and getting an idea of what I can and can't do later.
8/4/2010 - 2nd floor... check!
Wife wanted to swing by today and take pics. Looks like the roof should be up by the weekend at this pace.
8/3/2010 - Look ma, there be walls!
Stopped by today for a meeting with the construction manager working on my house. Just went over construction expectations and such and he answered any question I had... and I got one answer I wanted to hear: Regarding the network cable, I was told that as long as THEIR contractor is willing to pull the cable and does it, then it shouldn't be a problem to run it before the sheet rock goes up. Apparently if I were to do it myself or have my own contractor do it, that would void the warranty on the house. Sweet! So I now have the number for the electrical contractor and will be giving him a call to verify that it's cool with him, and if it goes as planned, I'll have network drops in the locations I wanted them in the first place, which is alongside each coax run.
Here's a crappy cell phone pic... because framing has started going up.
7/29/2010 - Building a house...
About 13 years ago I promised my then-to-be wife a home of her own. It has been an unexpectedly long and convoluted road to get here, with trials and heartache of its own...
... but without further ado, I present to you the beginnings of La Casa de SunnyD (Complete with cheap Mexican labor! Ole!!!):
They started my McMansion last week. A couple months from now, I should have my very own 4 walls and a roof and my own property taxes to boot. Go me!
My wife pointed out it has been exactly 2 years to the day since we moved down here to Alabama and I started my job here. Interesting coincidence. Anyway, last update...
Link to the pic since I've exceeded my 10 image-per-post allowance.
10/25/2010 - Closing in two days.
... !!!
That's all.
9/20/2010 - The pre-final final walk through.
Just got back from our little vacation and today we had our first of two final walk throughs. Sounds weird... but we get one walk through (today's) to catch any defects/items we want fixed that the construction guys may have missed, and then in a couple days we get another to catch any other last minute items as well as to verify everything that we tagged today got fixed appropriately. Next stop... closing!
Continuing with the "kitchen shot" series...
My back yard. Ironically, they put down sod in the back yard. We were supposed to just get seed/straw in the back yard, but for whatever reason they put down sod instead. I ain't complaining (except if they try to put it on the final price of the house). I feel bad for our neighbor, who basically has a mud pit for a back yard covered with straw.
8/27/2010 - Counter tops.
The wife stopped by and took some pictures yesterday too. Counter tops are installed. We just went with the craptastic Formica counter tops because the in-house granite was too expensive for our tastes and we didn't like the way the Corian looks. When we remodel, we'll either do stone or go with this local company that makes counter tops out of recycled glass.
By the way, we're having fun with this "taking a picture of the progress on the same view" thing. So my apologies in advance...
8/26/2010 - Cabinets and walls!
We stopped in a couple days ago and took a look around. Drywall is up, seams are mudded, things are looking good. They also have all of the cabinets in (kitchen and bath). Please excuse the crappy cellphone camera blurry pic. It's the exact same location as the previous update ironically. Should be nice to see how that came along...
Looks like they put several craters in the slab somehow too. We've taken pics of them, so they'll be fixing that whether they like it or not.
Things have slowed down a good bit since it's getting to the point of being finishing work, but they're still planning on being done by the end of September.
8/16/2010 - Framing walk-through.
Today we had our framing walk through with the construction manager. Basically most all of the framing is up and finished. There are a few spots that still need bracing or whatnot, but those should be finished this week. Electrical and plumbing is all in and looks sound. It was nice to get in upstairs and "see" how the layout actually fleshes out with all 5 bedrooms in place (the model only had three and the larger loft area). A few little surprises were in store for us, such as the remaining loft area upstairs is slightly larger than I envisioned it which will be cool, since we'll be putting a TV and seating up there for the kids to use. The additional two bedrooms feel a bit larger than I expected as well.
The pic I selected would be the view from the kitchen over the bar to the living room (and back yard).
8/12/2010 - A little splash of color.
Wife stopped by this morning, and was happy to see the house painted. She was slightly nervous after the exterior went up because it wasn't the right color. Anyhow, final colors are up. The stonework along the bottom of the front aren't yet. Our framing walk-through is scheduled for Monday (16th).
8/9/2010 - Exterior is up, including windows.
Unfortunately it looks like I missed my window to get the cat5 pulled in as the electrical as well as coax are already in. I'm not going to push the issue because I had initially planned on foregoing it anyway, so I'll just run cable later as needed. Anyway, the exterior is up and primed, and windows are in for the most part as well. I took a walk around the house too, checked out my back yard and whatnot. Everything is looking great from what I can tell. Our framing walk-through is supposed to be scheduled for this week, at while point I'll be checking out the interior and getting an idea of what I can and can't do later.
8/4/2010 - 2nd floor... check!
Wife wanted to swing by today and take pics. Looks like the roof should be up by the weekend at this pace.
8/3/2010 - Look ma, there be walls!
Stopped by today for a meeting with the construction manager working on my house. Just went over construction expectations and such and he answered any question I had... and I got one answer I wanted to hear: Regarding the network cable, I was told that as long as THEIR contractor is willing to pull the cable and does it, then it shouldn't be a problem to run it before the sheet rock goes up. Apparently if I were to do it myself or have my own contractor do it, that would void the warranty on the house. Sweet! So I now have the number for the electrical contractor and will be giving him a call to verify that it's cool with him, and if it goes as planned, I'll have network drops in the locations I wanted them in the first place, which is alongside each coax run.
Here's a crappy cell phone pic... because framing has started going up.
7/29/2010 - Building a house...
About 13 years ago I promised my then-to-be wife a home of her own. It has been an unexpectedly long and convoluted road to get here, with trials and heartache of its own...
... but without further ado, I present to you the beginnings of La Casa de SunnyD (Complete with cheap Mexican labor! Ole!!!):
They started my McMansion last week. A couple months from now, I should have my very own 4 walls and a roof and my own property taxes to boot. Go me!
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