July House Building.

Here's my update for July. A LOT has happened in the last month that I will get to - sold house, moved to rental house, etc. All to come, all to come. July was a busy month - lots going for us to pick out and do and for the workers to get done . . .

July 1 – We picked out tile for bathrooms (ended up finding what we wanted at Home Depot) and a few lights for the house (at Lowe’s). This was the deco band we thought we wanted for the bathroom (or one of the two deco bands we were choosing from) but we went with a different one that I am glad we chose. You saw it in the August 15th update.

July 2 – We finally signed the contract for sale of our house! Yay! The sheetrock was delivered and the stone and brick masons begin. Let's get rid of all the GREEN!

July 3 – We met with Rick on brick, stone and the bathtub. We made our first real mistake and it wasn't a very cheap one. Our contractors told us for the space our Jacuzzi tub was to go that it would be best to go with the usual size they use on whirlpool tubs and do a 42x72. But nooooo, we knew in our house we'd lived in for all these years that the big tub took more than our water heater held so we wanted a smaller tub so we didn't have that problem and use a lot of water. We checked the water capacity of the Jacuzzi tubs and went with a 36x60. F A I L Yep, waaaay too small. In fact we tried sitting in it and really were not able to stretch our legs out all the way. You see the 60 inches isn't 60 inches inside the tub but from outer edge to outer edge which equals to about maybe six inches on either side. You're talking maybe 48 inches to fit your legs, feet and bum. Wasn't working. So we wasted some money because the tub was out of the box and cut in to the space before we knew but we took our loss and got a larger one. Our contractors said if this is our biggest mistake in a house this size then we're doing well.

More brick and stone work done. Plus, our open spaces inside the house are really filling in with the sheetrock being put up!

Love this stone with all the moss. I hope it stays!


Isn't it weird how far from the wall they start laying the brick?


Sheetrock!


Sometime around the Fourth, there was a bad storm that came through. We saw that a few of our Poplar trees had "blown" down, however, later when we finally got to go walk in the woods we really found out they had been struck by LIGHTNING!! Yikes!

July 5 – We had our termite inspection at our house we're selling.
July 6 – The house inspector comes.

This is what we have been crossing over to get in our house for a while now.

If you look down - at least a 15 foot drop - you see lots of trash the construction workers have been throwing down. This irritates my husband to no end. I'll admit that I don't like it but every time he looks into any of the trenches along our house and sees what is being thrown in - which will in turn be buried - he's aggravated. I think it's the burying of the trash that bothers him the most. The fact that he can't clean it up later. ;)

This is what we do on the weekends. Or at least what my dear husband does. I help some times (weather permitting - that is, it's not too hot).

Photos from Monday, July 9. We're seeing some progress on brick and a little on stone.

July 10 - We meet with Rick and Ron for more punch list items and to see what's next!

This is the fashion fad this summer. Or at least the "must wear" for our family. Gotta love our Muck boots. With shorts (or capris), no doubt. In this muddy mess, you have to come prepared. I keep a boot tray in the back of my car that sports our shoes for when we come visit.

Our sheet rock is getting mudded and our corners are getting rounded.


Because of all the rain the stone masons were trying to work under plastic.

This is how the workers feel about our house at this point!! LOL This cracked me up when I saw our blue prints in the fireplace. Ha ha ha!!

July 13 – We met with the owner of a carpet and tile store in town for a second floor quote and to pick out flooring. I wasn't too thrilled about this because we had picked out tile we wanted at Home Depot. If we went with him then we had to pick all new stuff (which for the most part was more expensive). In the end we went with the original guy who gave us a quote on flooring and would get the tile from wherever we wanted. Our septic tank went in on this day too.

July 14 – One of the things we have seen on some of the stone/brick houses that we have been trying to figure out how we were going to do it is the stone rowlock. It's also a term we didn't know before and had to learn. ;) Just like Wade and I have always called the lines on windows "panes" but the contractors and window guy calls them "grills". It was hard to switch to a new word when you grew up saying it the other way. Not saying "pane" is wrong but obviously not what the people we were dealing with were calling it so we learned to call it their way. The stone mason put the usual rowlock they use above two of our windows to see how we liked it. One thing Wade especially didn't like was when it stuck way out from the brick. He put it flush hoping that would be what Wade liked. He didn't. I didn't prefer it either but it was one of those things that was a bigger deal to him than me. He didn't like the white of the stone they used against the darker brick and stone. I agree with that too.

A lot of the sheetrock had been mudded at this point.

Here are the hoses they'll use to run out in our back "yard" for the septic system. Yes, that is a lot of drainage! I forget how many hundred feet they had to do.

Our huge attic vent has arrived. It will be painted tan to match our trim eventually.

Do you think we have had enough rain? When it rains ANYWHERE in our area we have found it ALWAYS rains at our place. That will be good when I have a garden one day but not so good when you're building a house! 

July 16 – I met with Kent to talk about pulls and knobs for the cabinets in the house. Wade and I went to Lowe's and picked out the bathroom hardware - towel rings, robe hooks, toilet paper holders, etc. We went with this style: Allen & Roth Mitchell in brushed nickel.

I don't remember if I have stated that I finally decided that I wanted brushed nickel for my white kitchen cabinets. That opened a can of worms for me because I also wanted oil rubbed bronze for my door hardware. I spoke with several people and decided a way to make it work. I am having ORB door hardware and light fixtures in most rooms of the house - just not in any room that has running water - kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room. LOL One person I spoke with said as long as it looks like I did it on purpose and not like I didn't have a plan then I can make it work. I had mixed finished in our house we have lived in for several years and never really noticed. I'm hoping no one else will in this house but if they do, they'll see a rhyme and reason (especially now that I've pointed it out).

July 17 - Our awesome contractor, Rick, searched high and low and found a stone that is sold as Texas stepping stone at Lowe's to try for our stone rowlock. We like it! It's more of a brown and we think it looks better. He went to at least two of the Lowe's stores in our area (thinking he drove to another also) to get all the darker brown ones he could find.

July 18 – We met with Rick to look at a recent house he and Ron have worked on to specifically look at trim and the levels of trim they do. He also had our flooring quotes.

July 19 - One of the men who knows how to work the backhoe dug up two of the trees we wanted out. Wow! The one was huge.

To show how BIG the trees were!

Slowly getting somewhere on the building of the house.

Andrew's favorite part of coming to the house when it's been raining. He is ALL BOY! Thank the Lord for Muck boots! Ha ha.

July 20 - We wet with Rick and Ron at our house to talk about brick, stone, hardy board, etc. I also met with the lady at the lighting company to finalize the order.

July 22- I picked out the flooring I want for my craft room. I wanted something that went along with the wood floors in the house but not something that looked like I was trying to match it (in color anyways). I decided to do a laminate in that room. I want something durable and something that can be swept in case glitter, glue or paint gets on it. That meant carpet was out. The wood floor we're using everywhere else is too expensive so this is what I picked. I think it will look really nice with the black shelves my dad built me.

July 23 - Our amazing "light lady" met me at the house to hold up various sizes of outdoor lights to see what size looked best. Really, I could not recommend this sweet lady enough!!

July 24 - We have the appraisal of our house done (the one we're living in).

July 25 - We went to look at a house to possibly rent that our realtor found for us.

House to date:

July 26 - We arrived to check on the house this evening to find the doors and trim had been delivered. I can't wait to see all of it up. ;)

PLUS, my FRONT DOOR IS IN!!! YAY!! I have been anxious about this. It will be stained walnut.

July 27 - The painters start with prime! And the garage is bricked. They also have the stone rowlock above the dining room window. It'll really accentuate that beautiful window!

Dining room:

 This is the bonus room that will be the school room/office.

Every time we go to the house we can hear the buzzing of mud daubers. They seem to be trying to take over the house. Wow! I have to post a picture soon of what they have done in the basement. Amazing! I have watched them a little. Pretty fascinating. We were told they don't sting you but upon researching that, I have found they can sting but mud dauber stings are rare or uncommon. So it doesn't mean I should be fearless of them.

July 30 - More shale has been delivered (we'll have a small fortune in shale!) to fill in the trenches around the house.

They have been putting the hardy board up around the dormers and a few other areas. We are using Nichiha fiber cement boards. I like the addition of this extra building material to add a little different look.

The tilers have put down backer board in our bathroom so they can start the tile. 

July 31 - Almost all of the hardy board is up. It looks good and will look better once it gets painted.

The poured shale into the front trench so now we can walk into the front door and not feel like we're walking the plank.

I'll end July with a picture looking out from the front of our house at the beauteous mountains! I can't wait until I get to wake up every day to see this wonderful part of God's creation.