Ok, I admit that I have been very delinquent in posting updates.  As it has been since the project started, it is a decision between doing something around the house or taking some pictures and writing a post.

We moved in right before Thanksgiving and had a few projects that needed completion.  Since then, the flooring has been completed, closets have shelving, baseboards installed (quarter round is still needed), door and window trim installed (except for the two oval windows), tiling has been finished, towel bars and toilet paper holders installed, and what seems like and endless number of those odds and ends jobs that all take longer than expected.

The geothermal heating systems are now operating very well.  There were some minor installation problems that once resolved allowed the systems to keep us cozy when it was ~6F outside without using any of the back-up resistive ($$) heat.  The HVAC company also hooked up the geothermal units to pre-heat the hot water heaters.  When it was cold outside, the preheated water temperature was just above 110F.  This will come in very handy when I get the radiant floor heating hooked up (expected to be completed for next year).

Since we are coming into the homestretch with the interior of the living portion of the house, there are not too many projects to complete.  The major projects include: installation fo the shoe and quarter round trim where there is laminate or vinyl flooring, applying polyurethane to the doors and handrail, make the curved trim for the oval windows and making the finished railing on the second floor.  The basement needs to have shelving made to store all of the extra construction materials in addition to those things that would typically be stored in the attic (i.e. Christmas decorations).  We need to plan the outside landscaping, so that once the warm weather arrives we are ready to plant.  The other big outside job is to smooth the graded soil so that grass can be planed, although having a permanent brown lawn requires less time to mow!

Enjoy the pictures (finally!).

Again, it has been a while since the last post – in addition to work on the house, Jyll and I were married in October.

As for the house, a lot has taken place… the electrical finish was complete (it is nice not to need extension cords to do everything), plumbing is complete (the port-a-pot went bye-bye and one porcelain pot was installed in the house), the underside of the back porch was completed, enough trim was added to get ready for the carpet installation, railing were installed and many other odds and ends.

On Friday we had the county final inspection – there are 3 minor items that need to be remedied before we can move in!

1. Add a light fixture to illuminate the basement stairs and move the switch to the very bottom of the stairs
2. Add porch railing on the deck off of the laundry room- because the ground settled, it is 31″ from the deck to grade and code requires a railing if it is greater then 30″. The railing at the master bedroom needed to be extended 2 feet so that no one would come around and take the 10 foot step down.
3. Shorten the length of the overflow on one of the hot water heater.

The fixes are:

1. Add a fixture and move the switch
2. Add railing and steps across both the deck and the covered porch – DONE!
3. Cut the tube – DONE!

I will add the light fixture this week and get everything wrapped up so that we can start moving in! We had not decided on what railing to add and had planned on waiting until spring to make some decisions, but it was easier to get it done.

More recent projects have included painting the top edge of the stair well (this was a feat after erecting a temporary wall on the stairs to support a walk plank), tiled the master bath and the full bath on the first floor, carpeted the two bonus rooms using 2 X 2 carpet tiles, putting polyurethane on all the doors and frames and a bunch of odds and ends.

It has been nice to complete some projects that have a large visual impact. More pictures to follow.

Up next: carpet in the bedrooms gets installed on Friday, the laminate floor is in the house and ready to be installed, tile the 2nd floor bath, grout all of the tiled areas, install door and window casings, install the closet bars/shelves (wire), the last garage door openers.

It has been a while since my (john’s) last post – it is a decision to keep working or blog, and the work has been winning.

It is hard to believe that only 119 days ago the excavator started digging for the basement! Jyll has provided some recent updates, but I have been working on so many things it is hard to list, but the highlights include: porch railings, garage floor, septic, interior painting, preparing and installing vinyl flooring in the laundry room/ 1/2 bath/short hall on the first floor, installing luan in preparation for laminate, central vacuum, retaining wall, backer board to prepare for tiling.

Today was one of those highlight days – the cabinets were installed. There were a few small problems, but nothing that can not be overcome. The Amish made look great!

Next up: continue to install the luan, finish the electric installation, install the sinks and start the finish plumbing and install the siding on the underside of the back covered porch. In order to live in the house the final inspection is needed – this county does not issue a CO, but there are the same requirements. To get ready for this inspection I will need to install the handrails in the stairways, a railing for the balcony in addition to the other projects that are in progress.

As the amount of daylight is decreasing, the evenings seem to get longer working on something. As things get finished up, the house is starting to look like a home!

John started painting on Wednesday, September 2 and it was all completed by today, September 7. I was able to help a couple of days, but he did most of the work. The color choices really look amazing! We changed our mind on the laundry room and painted it Golden Mushroom instead of Austrian Ice.

The septic system was installed and approved by the Board of Health. The garage doors were installed last week. The HVAC guys have some finish work to do by the end of next week.

Enjoy the pictures!