House Progress

I've been writing about my new house for a while, but I haven't shown you any progress pictures yet unless you count Instagram. The process has been smooth for the most part. There were a few minor hiccups and pleasant surprises along the way. I'm sure that will continue as we head into the finish work that begins this week. It's going to be exciting!

Let's start with the cleared lot before this tropical storm knocks out my internet.

It was definitely strange to see a completely wooded lot cleared. It felt huge when we saw it for the first time without the trees. It's almost half an acre and I realized how large it was that day. You can also see there is a huge downward slope from the back porch where we're standing. I like the idea of having steps from the back porch so I'm okay with that. It's definitely better than having the yard slope towards the house.

After the slab was poured the framing went up fast. Our salesperson called it a framing kit, which made me think of Lincoln Logs.

I was a little disappointed to see the family room windows with just one transom above them. I had asked if we could have three. The one transom just looked odd to me. I was told it wasn't possible unless we wanted to pay extra for "insert technical term here that's so technical it asks a very high price." I decided it wasn't a big deal in the scheme of things and I can decorate around it. If you've been here a while you've seen me deal with the most awkward issues in my current house.

A few days later...a driveway and a second story

Future living room

Within a week the entryway and rounded doorways were framed.

 

I have taken many pictures from the car. The workers are there until dark almost every day. I don't want the kids in a construction zone in case they get hurt. One day the guys were throwing huge pieces of leftover plywood from the second floor to the living room a few feet from where we were standing. I figured from then on we need to get there at dusk to really look around. That was a little terrifying, too. I heard what sounded like coyotes fighting nearby. My husband thought it sounded like wild boar. I ran for the car and left him to figure it out. Even though the house is in a master planned community it's a very wooded area with lots of wild life. I'm going to keep my kids close to the house when we move in until the area is built out a bit more.

My mom checking out the back porch

Stairs!

A couple of weeks later

My youngest son asked, "Are we going to live in the G house?" The great thing about 7 year old kids is they would love to live in a house with a big letter stamped all over it. I guess adults aren't much different because I've seen women carry handbags similar to this.


I'm not sure what my husband is smiling at in this picture.

But, this is what made me smile!

Three transoms! The builder didn't even tell us. He decided he could fit three windows at the top and went ahead and ordered them. I love it!

A close up of the brick and stone

And done!

We were surprised to find the drywall installation going in early. Pretty much everything is going in earlier than scheduled. I'm not complaining!

This view is from the kitchen looking towards the living room. Most the guys had their shirts off as they were working and my boys noticed. I turned around to find my 7 year old half naked holding his shirt in his hands. These boys are crazy!

Here they are upstairs with a friend of theirs. There was a guy working outside the window and my older son thought it would be a good time to say hi. I think their friend was appalled and tried to shrink away from the window.

Ah the arches and windows!

Thankfully, they put in a temporary railing. That open staircase was making me nervous.

Living room

I have no idea why we have so many holes in the wall. My husband says it's right for the speakers so I'll just ignore it for now.

There's something off about these sconces in the master bathroom. The builder already has plans to fix them. This was a change I made during the pre-construction meeting. The original plan called for one light fixture above the mirrors. I asked for sconces on either side of the mirrors so it might have been confusing to the guys used to having them in a different spot.

The wood floors started this past weekend and the kitchen cabinets were supposed to go in today. I'm not sure if everything is on schedule with the tropical storm coming in. I'm more worried that we don't have a front door to protect those new floors. We're expecting more thunderstorms tomorrow so I probably won't be able to get out there for a few days. I'm crossing my fingers everything is okay when I do make it out to see the progress. I'll keep you updated!

If you want to check out a finished version of my house, Shelley at Crazy Wonderful built the same house! I was googling my house plan (totally normal, right?) and came across her blog. Her house is beautiful and such an inspiration as we plan for the décor.