8 - Roof

It's sad to say that my laziness doesn't bring me up to the lot as often as I'd like. I'm still trying to go once a week, but if we go anytime before 5, there's always construction crew men there. I don't want to look like a creeper and take pictures while they're doing their thing, let alone get in their way. I also don't like driving up that far (in decent traffic, it's about a 35 minute drive) unless I'm there for other reasons. With that, last Thursday was the monthly membership meeting at our boat club, which so happens to be about five minutes south of our future home. 

Since I last posted. We now have a completely covered roof and windows. I don't know if it was completed in the timeframe that Vernon predicted, but it was definitely done within the week that we hadn't gone up to check out the house.

Here's the exterior with zip board sheathing (seams not taped yet), and the shingled roof. Our house address is spray painted in various parts of the exterior, so I blacked them out. I know most of the people reading will eventually know where we live, but in the event someone we don't know reads the blog, I'd like to keep a little anonymity.

I used to laugh at that port-o-potty sitting in front of our house. I appreciate it, because hopefully it means the crew won't use our toilets and plumbing by the time they get installed. I thought it was there for the builds going on along the street, but Vernon found a satellite image of the area when nothing was developed, and only the land had been graded/flattened. So in a sea of red clay, there sat the port-o-potty... same spot and all. Made me laugh, but we can't find it anymore or I'd post it. That big plywood box is like a temporary wood scraps/trash box.

Below is a better picture of that weird step in the garage that I mentioned in the last post. You know, the thing the builders called a tire stop. I still don't believe that, and there's still no solution to how it can be resolved. I'm trusting they'll do something once the garage gets cleaned up, and they can possibly pour more concrete to extend it out to the hot water heater closet.

Oh, our garage also has a huge pile of duct scraps, and our storm shelter hole looks like garbage pit. As I was walking through the house, a small part of it just wanted to pick things up and throw the obvious trash away. Then I realized that would be pointless, and also might seem weird when the people come back the next day and stuff was clean. So maybe not. I just hope they pick up after themselves prior to drywalling the place. I've read stories of how people will sometimes find cups and bottles and crap between their walls when they take one down for whatever reason. Not that it would be a big issue since I would never see it, or know about it, but it's the principle right?

All the windows are in, and we have a temporary front door. I thought it was weird they put in a door even though there's no garage on the house. Wasn't sure what purpose it served since they'll be removing it to put the door we picked out in the end. Anyway, here is a view of the windows in the dining nook and the living room.

So the far left is the dining nook, adjacent to the kitchen. We went for a picture window because we thought it'd look nicer not having any obstructions there. The three windows on the right are the living room windows. Those are workable, and they all look in to our backyard. The very far right one has a huge crack on the top pane. We're not pointing that out because it's pretty obvious, and I'm assuming should be fixed before we move in. There's no screens in yet for the windows that can be opened. I'm guessing that part comes later, but we were assured we get screens. Down below is our temporary front door. You can also see that the arches for hallways are in. I love arches entries!

The L-shaped peninsula to our kitchen was framed as well. It's exciting seeing it all come together. We didn't realize that bringing the peninsula to an L shape (the original plans were for a 45 degree angle type extension) would make the dining nook a tad smaller. Sooo... we might have to invest in a smaller/narrower table at some point. No worries though, since we rarely, if ever, use it.

The fireplace was also installed. I can't tell where the top part of the mantle will go, but I hope it's where they blocked it off. If so, it will be tall! If I remember correctly, it's about at shoulder height. My shoulder height. I really liked the large mantle that was in the model home. I was thinking we were going to get a little baby fireplace since they said the large sized one in the model home was an upgrade. I'd be okay with a tall and narrow mantle. We'll see what happens, but I've got my fingers crossed!

Lastly, they fixed a lot of our plumbing issues that were mentioned in my previous blog. Yay! So the master closet wall was moved out, and it's now as wide as I am tall. The second bathroom sink is no longer in one of the spare bedrooms. And the backyard water spigot wasn't in the dining area. They're all now within the walls. Thank goodness! And we also got our tub in the second bath. It's a shallow one, which is probably a standard builder grade tub, but we don't imagine it will ever be used except to give our little pup a bath... or the occasional regatta guest. I wish it wasn't in yet though, if only for the reason that it's white, and I'm afraid all the dirt will stain it and make it look dirty :( I guess I should go cover it better next time I'm up there.

That's all for now. We got an email from the designer last Friday regarding the prices for some of the upgrades we requested. Some were ridiculously overpriced in our opinion, so I had to ask about it. It just seemed outrageous, and although I know they're there to make a profit and nickel and dime us for anything not standard... some of it was crazy. I'm waiting to hear back from her with some answers to our questions. I'll share with you in another post, another day. Until then... have a good night!