Tile – Dust Bunnies and Dog Toys

The Finishing Touches

Published on November 21, 2013 by JennaLeave a comment

It’s been a very busy few days at the new house! We’ve finished the flooring – after several very long nights.

The counter tops are finished and look fantastic.

The tile in the master bathroom has been installed, grouted and sealed.

The stone work on the fireplace is up, although it needs to be grouted. The stone on the front porch still needs to be started.

The appliances have been delivered and are being installed. I can’t wait to use all the space in this fridge!!

The electrical fixtures (switches and outlets) are almost complete and the baseboard trim has been installed and touch up filler/paint is in progress.

I was worried I might second guess some of the lighting selections, but everything I’ve seen so far looks great.

The prop fan we selected for the family room is on order, so a ‘temporary’ fan was installed for the appraisal.

The builder is now back on-site and doing what he can to keep everything on schedule for closing on December 1. Our movers are scheduled for December 4-6, since they believe it will take a day to pack up our stuff, a day to load the truck and a day to deliver. It seems so close and yet so far away.

Unfortunately, all this progress tends to create a trail an explosion of tools and supplies throughout the house. Every time, I’m there and see the mass of stuff everywhere I twitch unintentionally. But I know it means I’m closer to living in our new home, so I’m working my way through it with deep breaths – which seem to worry my husband more and more. 🙂

The appraisal was supposed to be done today, but might have to be finalized next week once everything is at 100%. The energy rating will be done soon and our home inspection is set for Saturday. We’ve also locked in our interest rate for our loan. If for some reason the paperwork causes a delay, the builder has agreed to do an early occupancy without rent to accommodate our scheduled movers and time off from work.

Other than making sure all the elements are finished, all that’s left will be cleaning and finding a new renter for our current place! Our landlord had someone lined up, but hasn’t gotten confirmation just yet, so we’re hopeful that will work out. Stay tuned for posts on more of the details!

Inching Toward the Finish Line

Published on November 3, 2013 by JennaLeave a comment

As anticipated the November 1 closing date has come and gone without the house being ready. We’ve signed an amendment to extend the deadline, but it’s still going to be tight to get everything done. The hubs and I went to sand the sub floor in preparation for installing the flooring on Saturday, but found painting and cabinet installation in full swing when we arrived, so we weren’t able to get anything done. We did unload the half order of flooring the vendor had in stock so it could acclimate on site for the recommended two days. The remainder should arrive tomorrow or Tuesday, so we’ll have to let that acclimate on site as well before installing it.

We had a meeting with the foreman and the realtors today to go over the timeline for the new closing date of December 1. We will work on the flooring every evening this week, and the master bathroom tile should be installed in the next few days so we can finish flooring around that at the end. Then the following week all of the finish work will be done – trim, doors, electrical outlets, paint touch up, etc. The should put us at 95% complete for the appraisal the week before Thanksgiving.

The power line has finally been installed, so there is electric to the house now. They ended up having to take a few more trees out at the end of the driveway to run the line, but getting power to the house is worth it.

You can see the small green box to the side of the house. That’s our electrical pedestal. That side of the house is getting pretty crowded with pips and utility features, so I’ll have to figure out some landscaping beyond my rain garden (which will have a retaining wall made from those tires) to hide them next season.

Inside, things are finally starting to look like the finished vision we’ve had all along. The cabinets look great with the paint color and the tile coordinates perfectly as well. Hopefully I’ll have pictures of that later this week, once it’s installed.

The counter tops are on-site and ready to be installed once the final tweaks are done on the cabinets.

I tested out the flooring next to the cabinets just to get a feel for it, and I’m pretty happy – even with the dusty paw prints! I plan to attempt documenting the install over the course of the week and share that, so stay tuned!

Kitchen and Bath Colors

Published on August 21, 2013August 20, 2013 by JennaLeave a comment

We recently picked out tile for the Master Bathroom shower and jacuzzi tub, so we brought along a sample when we met with the foreman to see the cabinets and counter tops that the builder had shipped up from the lower 48. Here’s the quartz that they picked out. It’s a little darker than I’d hoped, but it works well with all the other colors so I think it will turn out fine. And it’s better than the white quartz they used in another model! I couldn’t imagine trying to keep that clean with my hubby’s cooking habits!

Here’s a sneak peek of the cabinet color and shaker style.

Here’s the combo of the flooring, cabinets and counter tops.

The bathrooms will have the same counter tops and cabinets, so we chose a neutral ‘spa’ style tile and accent for the Master Bathroom.

To save the budget, the hall bath has this single piece shower/tub instead of a tile surround – san’s shower doors.

Our sinks will all be under-mounted squares like this one, except the cut out won’t be rounded in the front as much as this one is.

While we were there we also confirmed that our front porch columns and fireplace will have this stone, which should also coordinate well.

As you can tell, our colors are ‘earthy’ yet neutral. I plan to add pops of color with accessories that can be easily changed out when the mood strikes. We plan to have oil rubbed bronze fixtures on all the sinks and showers to continue the craftsman and spa style. It’s hard to envision what it will all look like together and I think I’ll silently stress about it until I see the finished product. But it’s all part of the process and I’m sure it will turn out just fine.