Inspections passed and fire box is in!

So far we've passed each of the inspections - last week was HVAC and plumbing. This week is electrical. Here's how they let you know that you passed - they leave you post-it notes on the windows. Thanks mystery post-it note leaver! Also, we got to the house yesterday to see our fire box was delivered and installed. This is a wood burning fireplace. Pretty cool! Here's a peak inside...

Shingles are on

Appliances

We've selected our kitchen appliances and are pretty excited about it. For those who visited our "before" house, you'll see these are a major upgrade from our mini kitchen with apartment-grade appliances. In addition to giving our meal preparation a much needed boost (these probably don't set off the smoke alarm when you bake a pizza:), they look cool too!

Here's the oven and hood...

Here's our refrigerator (which will certainly always be this full and this organized)...

Then the microwave and dishwasher...

The things you just don't think of...

Mike met with the builder today for our weekly meeting and discovered that most of our electrical outlets will live in the baseboards. I think it's a pretty cool idea but can certainly say it wasn't something that I would have ever thought of. It seems like we've come up against a lot of these types of situations throughout this building process (flashback to the cabinet molding:).

Also, today the shingles we're put on the roof. I'll drive by there tomorrow to get a pic. Next week will be a series of inspections to make sure the plumbing and electrical work is A-OK. Then, we're meeting on Tuesday to finalize the cabinet selections and get those ordered. Apparently we need to decide on whether or not to have a cabinet that holds trash, a drawer that holds spices, a cabinet that covers the refridgerator and much more. It's really a crying shame that Mike and I are so blantantly unaware that we're just thankful to have a new kitchen. We never thought, and/or knew about all of these other options. What a trip! But, I'll do some digging this weekend on particulars involved with cabinets and then we'll be all set.

After this....we're on to selecting lighting for the inside and out. That should be fun!

Can you see the coffered ceiling?

We're putting in a coffered ceiling in the great room/living room/front room - not sure what we're calling this room. Here's the beginning of it being built... And when it is done, it'll look similar to this...

Bath tubs and showers

We got caught up on some house activity during our visit yesterday - in particular, in the bathrooms. In addition to rough plumbing and HVAC work, the spare bath tub was installed and is in the midst of a water test... ...Our master bath tub will go here once it arrives. (I'm not sure what this means but thought the contractor-to-plumber code-speak was interesting.) ...And here's Mike checking out the body jets in the master bath shower.

Rough plumbing and HVAC

Here are a few pics from yesterday after seeing what the plumbing and heating ducts look like in the walls...

What’s going on at the house this week?

Sorry for our absence. There actually has been activity at the house this week but not necessarily picture worthy. Here’s what’s up…

1) We selected our master bath tub. How super cool is this?? (BTW- just look at the tub, not all of the madness going on in the background.)

2) Our builder made the executive decision to reframe the master shower and make it bigger. Awesome.

3) We’re adding a wall next to the master bath toilet for a little privacy. Another builder executive decision.

4) Rough plumbing happened yesterday.

5) HVAC installation is happening today.

6) We changed shingle color from a medium grey/brown to a dark charcoal grey. I’ll admit, I had a minor meltdown on the shingle color, which in hindsight is pretty ridiculous. It’s what happens to me when I go running. I start thinking too much and then I go straight to 10 - panic mode. Anyway, after Mike insisted I get in the shower and stop worrying about shingle color, we went ahead and made the switch to dark grey. It’ll look really good!

7) And...we’re pretty close on making our final decision regarding the exterior paint and trim colors. We’ll share later!

2nd floor framing

On Friday we were able to get upstairs for the first time, which was really cool. Here are a few pics showing the framing...

And my personal favorite...

We have windows!