"Football field"

My teenage son says our garage ceiling looks like a football field and I see his point. It is kind of cool looking up at it.

Walls!

Now the drywall has gone up and as weird as it is, at first I was so disappointed to no longer be able to see through all of the walls.  My children laughed at me and said you have to have walls in a house, and I agree, but it was my favorite part of construction.  It is so cool to stand in one place and see where everything is going to be.  We did move a wall which was our biggest structural change.  My husband agreed to have his study condensed so that the powder room, "water closet", and especially master shower could be enlarged by about a foot.  His study is now small but we will use the shower a lot more than he will use the study, as I continually point out.  I am really glad we decided to make the change (although I had to fight for it!)

What it looks like so far

Well, we have a whole house to see now!  This is a view from the front and from the back.  Wow, we love it.  It was worth waiting for.  I should have always trusted the Lord that His timing is perfect.
We are all,

SEW blessed

November 2011

When I first saw the back steps, I thought they were way too big.  I joked with my family that all five of us could get lounge chairs and lay out on the landing of the steps.  As it turns out, once the banisters were added, they are just right.  If you go out to the marsh and look back at the house (as my daughter is doing), they fit it very well.  Once again, they were on the plans but I had a hard time visualizing what they would look like.

It will be a brick house!

We have always loved the look of Savannah Grey bricks, but they have become extremely costly (up to $5 per brick).  So we went with the next best thing which is a copy called Ole Savannah for a fraction of the cost.  Since we ordered over 30,000 bricks, that is a good thing. There are a lot just on the front steps.  I LOVE the brick!  What a great choice we made.  Keep helping us make these choices, Lord.  We're counting on you!
Remain,
SEW blessed

Elevator

This is the newly insulated elevator shaft from the top floor down.  Looking forward to having one to carry clothes up and down to the laundry room for me!

October still

Well, our two large brand new water heaters were installed, as well as a recirculation pump to distribute hot water rapidly throughout the house.  This was a big decision and there were lots of disagreements over the advantages of tankless water heaters versus the traditional tanked.  Our builders wanted tankless, but our plumber and plumbing fixture dealer recommended against them.  The tankless are about $1500 each versus $400 or so for the traditional ones, so cost was a factor.  The final decision was made by a good friend and just-retired plumber who told us that he had been installing tankless for years and they were always needing maintenance.  He said the mother boards go out frequently and they don't last because it is the same principle as computers - though we were told they would be more economical over their life span, he said that was not the case because they never actually "lived" long.

Windows!

Now we have windows!  When I asked my builder why all the houses I go look at that are in the same stage of construction as ours have windows, he told me we were late getting the windows but they should go in.  They are all in and there was only one calamity.  When I walked into the master bathroom, the window "hole" was short and way above the tub.  I was not happy.  I pictured the windows going all the way down to the bathtub, and after thought and prayer, we decided to change it.  (In all fairness to the architect and builder, that was the way they were drawn on the plans, but I am not good at visualizing what things will actually look like when in place, and the plans only showed the window from the outside.) Unfortunately, the window folks said they couldn't trade them in (although they are a standard size window), so we are stuck with two very nice windows in the garage.  My friend said to just sell them on Craigslist!

Insulation and plumbing

Now the spray foam insulation is in all over the house.  It only took 2 days!  It seems to be going quickly.  Also, the plumbing and electricity is going in before the sheetrock goes up.  We had to do a walk-through with the electrician, builder, decorator, my husband, and me to decide where to have the outlets and switches placed.  Because of flood restrictions, we have to have the switches in the garage almost 6 feet off the floor.  I have always been vertically challenged so I hope I can reach them!

Walking through the rooms! (Sept. 2011)

OK, this is still in the midst of framing, but the roof is on (not shingles yet) and I love it.  We come out all the time and bring family and friends to wander through our walls!  I am so glad I have been documenting it all along because it changes all the time.  Next, the roof and insulation, then sheetrock.  Now we will really be able to see what the rooms look like.

October 2011

Wow, this is zipping right along!  It seems to be flying up, but the builder warns us that these are the days when we can see the most changes each time we come out.  Honestly, this is my favorite part of construction and I love going through houses that are being built, imagining what rooms are what.  This time I know exactly what room are what because it's ours!  Thank you, Lord!

Up go the walls! - September 2011

Well, this is still fun.  So far, very few disagreements between my spouse and me, although I know they are inevitable.  People say if you can get through building a house together, you can do anything.  I say after this many years together (25+), we better be able to do it!

They are framing and we can almost walk room to room.  Very cool . . .

Laying the foundation - August 2011

We came back from a family vacation to see our house going up!  The concrete pillars are providing the foundation and will incorporate the garage.  We are starting to have to make lots of decisions now - scary!  I am praying and trying to leave a lot of them up to the Lord!  Still,

SEW blessed

July 2011

Now they have laid out where the house will be on the lot.  So far, we haven't had to make many decisions.  However, the review board in our new neighborhood did not like our middle window in the front, so $900 worth of plan changes later, we have a totally different facade.  On the positive side, the new window gives us a lot more light in the foyer.  Wow, still loving that view!

Clearing the lot

Down go the trees!  The next step is to get the lot ready to bring in dirt and lay the foundation.  This is so exciting!  The lot is just beautiful and the view is the reason it was all worth waiting for.  I remain,

SEW blessed

It's official!

Once I saw this on the lot, I knew it was official!  We are definitely ready to build!

July 2011

We are ready to clear the lot!  All of the trees that needed to be removed were marked with pink ribbons.  When I told the builder (known hereafter as B) that I had been to the lot and not seen the ribbons, he said that was strange.  It was a total mystery (and a problem for the guys who were supposed to clear the lot) until B searched the lot and found a pile of pink ribbons in the bushes near the water!  Welcome to the neighborhood, huh?  After that, B spray-painted X's on the trees to be removed.