Final Week (Part two)

The plumbers have finished installing our fixtures, with the exception of one replacement faucet part that has been ordered. I think I'm in love with the Toto toilets!! Can anyone be in love with a toilet? This is the guest bathroom.



And just because it's so beautiful, this is a Toto Aquia II dual-flush. The plumbers loved me for buying these and letting them install them. Haha



This is the view of our master bathroom from the entrance. This house is more of a dream come true than we ever imagined.



This is another view of our master bathroom as you round the corner in front of the tub. That's an Aquia II in the water closet.



Ryan installed the lights in the boys bathroom. We can't seem to find the perfect mirrors. In fact, none of the mirrors & towel fixtures are installed.



So, the plan for the next couple days...I have tomorrow to finish packing the apartment. Ryan has some friends & a borrowed work truck and we will empty the apartment Thursday. There are still a handful of tasks to complete at the house, but we need to get moved to avoid paying another month of rent. I'll keep the posts coming. So, we have a C. O., but we're not done yet. I wasn't prepared for this, really. This is completely different from buying a house and moving in.

Final Week!

It was a busy weekend. We were fortunate enough that when the inspector came to check the gas lines, he took a peek around and gave Ryan a punchlist to make the final inspection go more smoothly. Ryan finished up his list over the weekend and the inspector came yesterday. He gave the plumbers 2 items and our friend Jeff came to help with a small electrical item. Today, we passed the final inspection! This photo shows Matt, the excavator, working on his machine. It broke partway through creating our front driveway. The driveway still needs some attention, but they are allowing us to go ahead and move in.



This is the living room. I'm so glad to get all that rosin paper removed so we can enjoy these floors! I'm still trying to get the hang of cleaning them!



Ryan installed our new range and we were able to test out the electric oven with some cinnamon rolls. Convection is an amazing feature!



The shelving is complete, but I'm unsure of the depth of the shelving in the pantry. It seemed to crowd the space more than I had imagined. I have a couple weeks to decide if we want it changed to 12" rather than 17" depth.



This is the shelving in the boys' closet. It's high so we can add a second lower rack if we choose at a later time.

Carpet

We've had some busy days at the house this week. It seems everyone is in there at once trying to finish by the end of the month. Our carpet was drop-shipped from Carpet Hut in VA Beach from our friends who own the store. They helped us choose some great Shaw carpet made from recycled bottles. Some people tell us it reminds them of the old "shag." It's actually called frieze today. Here is the padding.



This is the Master Bedroom. The walls are completed, too.



This is the boys' bedroom. Again, the walls are complete.



This is the shower in the Master Bath. The tile guys will finish the grout tomorrow.



The plumbers finally arrived and have begun some of the final trim. This is the prep sink. We're not sure about the goal of finishing by the end of the month. The plumbers promised to have the gas lines installed and inspected by this afternoon, and they didn't show up until today to begin the work. This means they were not ready for the inspector or the tank delivery. The next possible delivery is next Wednesday, too late for us to have our C. O. in hand by the end of the month.

We have come to truly appreciate the professionals who show up when they say they will and do what they are being paid to do.

More Finishing Details (Part Two)

It's been a busy 2 days, I tell you! I couldn't fit it all in one post! I was going to wait on finding new globes for this dining room light (it came with the white ones at a great clearance deal), but couldn't resist when I found globes in the perfect color. Here's a before/after pic.



Some of the rooms have the final coat of paint. I have found some great rugs and I'm getting so excited about getting set up! This is the middle bedroom.



Ryan's mom and Ashton installed plate covers in all the rooms that are ready. This is the boys' bedroom.



The kitchen is changing, too. There's a new cabinet and end panel surrounding the refrigerator. There are also 3 new pendant lights above the island. If I can only find that pack of lightbulbs, I'd get a bulb in the center!



Here's a closeup of one of the pendants.

More Finishing Details

Ryan's parents are here this week to help us with all the finishing touches. We are thinking it's possible we could still complete this house by the end of the month. It will be tough! Our plumber showed up Friday and temporarily hooked up one toilet. This is nice, because the porta-john was canceled last week on Friday. However, we are ready for him to begin his final trim, so we're unsure of the point of a "temporary" toilet at this point. All fingers are crossed that he'll actually show up soon to finish.



This is the tub in the master bathroom. The men we hired to finish our tile, Bobby and John, have been wonderful. We can't say enough good things about them.



Here is what they have completed in our shower so far. The waterproofing on the repaired kneewall is still drying.



Ryan installed the vanity in the master bathroom today. It has 2 bowls, and that is the shower on the left. The knee wall is against the left side of the vanity and will be tiled.



This is the countertop. Many thanks to friends Megan, Bobby, and Duncan for helping us today with transporting it from Home Depot to the house on very little notice. It's a solid surface and the color is "Sandstone."

Countertops!!

I had heard that granite countertops are heavy and require several men to carry, but I wasn't prepared for this. These guys had a hard time moving the island piece! The stone is New Venetian Gold.



This photo shows our steel hidden granite supports that I shared in my previous post.



Here is what's installed so far. All the appliances have been purchased and there is another cabinet and end panel to install. I can't wait to see it finished! The backsplash will have to wait until after we move in. There's too much to do now.



This is the cleanup sink; the dishwasher will go on the end.



This is the prep sink in the island. I can't wait to have such an amazing work space!

Tile & Granite Supports

The shower passed a flood test, so we began the tile this weekend. We made good progress, but have encountered a problem with tiling a slightly crooked knee-wall and we think we might try to find a tile professional to take over. Ryan is back to work full-time and he just isn't going to be able to get everything done by the end of the month. I guess this is the "final month" everyone talks about.



We did some tile behind the tub but have not been able to do the sides or front yet.



These are the steel countertop supports we had made by a local steel manufacturer. The granite overhang needs to be supported and we didn't want wooden corbels. After much research, we were able to decide on this hidden support system.



Ryan installed them by routing the front of the cabinet and bolting them to the cabinet interior with 2x4s. The granite countertops were supposed to arrive today, but a problem surfaced and they will arrive tomorrow.



Our refrigerator arrived today. I can't wait to see these appliances installed! The plumber should return later this week to finish everything except the (headache) master bathroom.

Counting Down

We hope to be able to move in by the end of this month. We spent the last few days finishing up some projects that have been hanging over us. There is still a lot to do! This photo shows the flood test on the shower floor we waterproofed. We did have a small leak in the basement. We have detected the cause and are trying again to waterproof the drain area. Cross your fingers for us that this turns out to be just a minor snag.



We finished the grout in the middle bathroom and Ryan installed the cabinetry.




The boys' bathroom now has grout and cabinetry as well. The plumber is coming today or tomorrow to install one toilet so we can cancel the porta-john!



Ryan's brother, Adam, and his wife, Laura, came to lend some help this weekend. We were so thankful for their help and great company!



There has been a lot of general cleaning. Ashton and Jenny attacked the basement one evening this past week. What a difference! This photo shows the cleaned basement. Previously, it looked like two small animals destroyed & spread out all the styrofoam packaging from the light fixtures. Any guesses who might have done that?

Ryan's week "off"

Ryan is "off" this week; I think he'll welcome a return to work so he can get a break! Our range arrived yesterday. It's a slide-in Bosch dual fuel range. Thanks to Chris Lint for helping us haul it from Food Lion to the house. The tractor trailer couldn't make it down our lane! Also, thanks to homeeverything.com for the great deal!!



The waterproofing continues with the shower in the Master Bathroom. We chose to use AquaDefense, which is a paint-on liquid membrane. There are a lot of steps to this process!



We hope to do a final coat tomorrow so we can flood test on Friday.



Ryan is still working on the cabinets. The island is assembled and level. He has installed the under-cabinet lighting and trim. They came today to make a template for the granite countertops.



Ryan took a much-deserved break yesterday.