Sunday, May 31, 2009

Upper Ceilings Primed

In addition to the primer (first coat) on the ceilings on the main and upper floor, it looks like the trim downstairs got a second coat. Though not done today, we get a better look at the "tamping down" of the pathway into the backyard, and a "macro view" of the front of the house with the gravel pile strategically moved to accommodate concrete pouring tomorrow.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Compaction, Pipes & Draping

A good Saturday of progress. Our excavator compacted the pathway and back patio. Our landscaper placed several pipes strategically so that the sprinkler system can be run beneath the concrete. And our painters taped off the walls in preparation for painting the ceilings, as well as putting a finish coat on the trim and doors downstairs. Onward and upward!

Friday, May 29, 2009

COLORS!

After a month of waiting, at last they're here. Both the upstairs and main floor are now painted, and only the ceilings remain. This is supposed to happen tomorrow, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. We spent the better part of the day talking with our plumber, electrician, landscaper, concrete flatworkers, and cabinet makers. Hopefully everything will start coming together on Monday with everybody getting in to finish up their work. We also cleaned the fluorescent light bulbs out of our local Walmart. I'm informed that they'll be ordering some more (70 down, and another 50 to go).

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Baby Step Forward

Contrary to popular belief, the upstairs and main floor were not painted today. However, they were primed (again). This was to cover the spots that had been patched the day before. So... perhaps tomorrow. Some more work was done downstairs, and the doors are all ready to receive their coats of paint. No work on the yard today as we're at an impasse waiting for the concrete to be poured in the backyard before moving the dirt and placing the retaining wall. We did get all the bids finally on the flatwork, and once we choose a contractor hopefully the majority of this can be taken care of early next week.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

1 Step Back

For the two steps forward we felt like we'd made yesterday, it was one step back today with our painters spending most of their time still fixing "popped" screws and patching the drywall. So no new painting. Hopefully tomorrow. Our excavator did eventually show up tonight, but late so no pictures. We've received two of the bids on the flatwork and are now awaiting a third, so we can hopefully make a decision on that tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Walls Primed!

Wow! For the first time in this whole process I thought to myself "we've got to get some movers lined up". Having the walls primed really takes away the unfinished feeling that the sheetrock walls projected to my subconscious mind. Now that they're done it seems like perhaps we're really "almost there". My guess was that they'd get this done today, and I was happy to be proven right. The painters also did some work sanding downstairs as well. Our excavator showed up late, but was making nice progress on the shaping of the back patio and side yard as I was wrapping up the picture taking.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Moving Along

While we enjoyed a little break from homebuilding by taking a trip to Yellowstone our painters were masking off the trim on the main floor. They also spent time to put a second coat of mud on the spot where they had to pull the screws out of the drywall. Hopefully this means sanding and priming of the walls/ceilings tomorrow. Also moving along was our port-a-potty, which made its way to the street so that the landscaping can be accommodated.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Shiny Coats and Sunsets

We've discouraged our contractors from working on Sunday, but it's difficult to dictate when they choose to work. So, we'll count the blessing of seeing some progress today with a second coat of shiny finish on the main floor, and plenty of patchwork following the priming of the basement. Also included, for Jon's benefit are some nice photos of the exterior with the Idaho sunset as a backdrop.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Priming Downstairs and Fixing Screws

In addition to priming the downstairs trim, the painters today discovered that a good number of the drywall screws have extruded a bit with the shrinking of the walls (presumptively as they've dried out). This means that they spent a good part of the day taking out the existing screws, and putting new ones in. You can see a couple of pictures of the patched areas on the walls. Our painter pointed out that the only real silver lining here is that they're doing the painting and since they were responsible for the drywall they can fix it right now. They figure they'll still be on schedule to have the main and upper floor painted by the beginning of June, so we'll keep our other tradesmen on the schedule.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Glossy Paint and Dirt

Well, things are moving along inside with the painting of all the spindles, the medallion in the dining room and touch-up of the first finish coat on the main floor. We also enjoyed seeing the cabinets in the basement finally covered, as were the windows. So they should be moving forward with the priming downstairs as well. Beyond this we had the excavator moving a bunch of dirt down the east pathway to prepare for the walkway to be poured.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Wainscoated

The glossy white was finally laid down on the trim on the main floor and entry. Looks nice and shiny. Our excavator did also show up for a short time to work on the backyard. We also did have some folks come by to bid on the concrete flatwork and the stucco of the exposed concrete walls.