cute chair autumn! :)

michelle-what a cutie! it was a fantastic weather weekend wasn't it? My pic was actually from Tuesday night last week but it was a great week. :D Summers in MI are the best.

Guys. I am still alive! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. Sorry I've missed so much! I spent a good 20 minutes scrolling through everyone's posts and photos... I love seeing everyone's' homes progress!!

My life got super crazy super fast, but it's settling down now. Had some family stuff, some work stuff, some house stuff... our landlords have listed the property we're currently living in. Not so much fun having to keep a tiny house you've outgrown show-ready, especially while you're trying to pack/move... and especially when it isn't even your house. Grrr!! But we're trying to help them out the best we can. We've even put some of our things into storage to try to make the house seem less stuffed.

We have had a TON of progress on the build :) We're within our 60 days and we have most of the exterior finishes complete and we're done to drywall on the inside. Have had a few snags (for one, the company delivered the wrong color siding and shutters, which luckily we caught BEFORE they put it up... then they got the siding right but the shutter colors wrong- midnight green is NOT the midnight blue we wanted so we're waiting for them to switch those out) but for the most part things are going smoothly. I'll post a few photos but they'll probably have to be in separate posts.

TL;DR: Got crazy busy, missed you all very much. Here are some pictures in apology:

This is my view from the kitchen sink.

Open floorplan... we could not believe how much natural light we'll have.

Stone's on the front.

First time trying this...hopefully the pic uploads correctly. Our GC said they should start framing this week.

Autumn and Michelle, you've had me singing Kid Rock's All Summer Long song all morning. "Summertime in Northern Michigan".

I called about getting temporary electricity to the site, and I don't think they understood my question. They told me I need a building permit, and an electrician. At first I thought, well, duh, of course I need a building permit to BUILD A HOUSE. But I don't think they actually want me to hire an electrician to connect to the power lines in the alley. So I gotta call back and explain better. "Temporary electricity for a construction site" obviously doesn't mean "empty lot, nothing but a pole with no wires to it."

More of a lurker/occasional poster too, but had to post our major milestone.

We failed our final inspection, which we knew was going to happen, but it is the only way to get the County to approve occupancy. They don't have a C of O Inspection, just Final. We had a list of 7 corrections, of which 5 were completed within 24 hours. Completing those 5 and getting them signed off was enough for the county to allow us to move in. The remaining two items (critical areas final inspection and porch ceiling) we'll focus on completing after we rent out our current home and move into the new one. Huge relief. Plan is to move in end of next week as we're focused on minor drywall repair and paint touch up this week. Then a major clean before we move in! Yahoo!

We have a 4X5 buck, his wife (pictured) and two babies as neighbors.

Laundry Room

Rock AND roll NW Hobart! Way to get it done!

I love how close the doe ventured to the photographer:-)

LBC-glad you had a chance to stop back, wondered what you have been up to!

hobart-very cool neighbors and hooray for occupancy - even if it's somewhat partial.

amberm-yes I smile when I hear that song although not so much that you need all the 'funny' things in the song to enjoy summertime in MI. LOL!

ugh. 8 exterior doors delivered today. I rejected 7 of them. They had all sorts of gouges, cracked wood, broken frames, etc. I bought these from the building supply company I've been dealing with for lumber, siding and everything else. These doors were at least double the price as other places. Really disappointed. Am I being too picky?

My phone ran out of power so I only could get photos from two of the doors that were rejected. The rest had similar issues:

This is the top of one door:

This door had about 8 different places the wood was gouged. Here you see a big missing piece by the hinge, as well as a bit of gouge on upper left:

same door, bottom of door frame on right

This frame is cracked

And this is kinda hard to see in the photo, but the wide part of the frame on the right side has a bunch of cracks:

And then there's this:

left:

right:

And this is a NAIL sticking through the door frame, where the door is supposed to close.

These photos are only from TWO doors. The others I sent back had similar problems.

WTF???????????????

Carson, I've seen USED doors in better shape. And if you paid a premium, I'd be extra PO'd.

Carson- Wow.
I don't see much on here that leaves me speechless- but that does.

I will give you the number of my supplier if you need it privately. I am aghast they even delivered this #%/^ to you. So sincerely sorry.

I know, right? Oh, and another drama from today.... one of the plumbing subs brought his three children to the work site today. ages appx 6, 10, 12-ish. They running around, sitting on the stairs blocking the access upstairs for framers carrying heavy loads of wood. Saw the 6 year old hammering into the side of my stairs a nail he found on the ground... Then another one was sitting on a piece of HVAC tubing and crushed it.

Oh h3ll no! I called the plumber and told them to contact whoever was the father of the children and have them removed from the premises. Told them I was very concerned about liability and safety of both the children and the subs working on site. The receptionist at the plumber said she'd contact the boss and have the boss call me back and take care of it. I never heard. I called three times, and my calls went to voicemail.

I am of the mind that it is the company's job to tell their employees what to do, not mine. So I waited. After an hour, I could wait no more. I found out who the father was (there were 3 or 4 guys there working on plumbing) and told him to get the children out of the house; that they are a hazard and their safety is at risk as well as every else's.

I'm learning to be a b!tch. It's not normally part of my disposition, but today I got a good lesson in not getting walked on and standing my ground. So THERE!!!! :)

carson-you have GOT to be kidding. That is so obnoxious I am stunned...almost speechless. They can't be seriously thinking those doors are gonna pass anything? What like a coat of good paint is going to cover that up. No way. And the kids...oh man. No way, not during construction and not in someone ELSE's house. Ridiculous!

Carson - Sorry you are having to go thru that.

Amberm - I am so very excited for you.

LadyB - So good to see you again. Your house has really changed since the last time we saw it.

NWH - Very pretty scene from that back porch. Nice laundry room too. Congrats.

Dreamer - Woohoo!

Michelle - That looks like one happy little girl. Looks like a fun day.

Autumn - Ok, now that is rubbing it in...lol. It is jungle hot here and you're talking about beautiful sunsets at the beach with perfecto weather? I would lock myself in the fridge if I could fit. Your chair looks perfect BTW.

Fancypants - You are well on your way to having a house. Hope the Sheetrock goes fast for you.

Tamara - I love the design of your exterior. Very nice.

Here is my cabinet color and countertop sample together. I just ordered the countertop this afternoon. A budget buster. Oh well, ya can't take it with ya...

And if you find any dirt on my floor in the pic, I have been giving birth to a porcupine and haven't had time to clean.

JDez -- LOVE that counter! You're right. Can't take it with you. My goal is to die poor -- spend it all right up till the end. With this house, I'm well on my way! ;-P

Carson - Lol. I really hope they'll make it right with the doors.

j-do I see some shimmer in that counter? Love it! My floors are dirty and I have no porcupine in sight. Have you named it? ;) I would be a sweaty mess if I lived down there. For real. I can't imagine the hot flashes I'd be having. Ick!

Autumn, geography has no bearing on my hot flashes!

Carson - You are cracking me up!

L - Yes, there is a bit of bling there...lol. Not my usual style for sure. EDIT: And yes, I had many names for it that I can not repeat on here...lol.

This post was edited by JDez on Mon, Aug 11, 14 at 20:35

@Carson, Wow the plumber sub brought kids to the work site!!! How insane. You did the right thing to ask them to leave! I would have sent them packing immediately (they would have been treated to my stern teacher face for sure).

JDez: Is your counter Cambria Whitney? We are considering that for one bath -- it is gorgeous. Is your picture showing both the floor tile and the cupboards?

Autumn: So glad to see you are done and safely in your beautiful home. Hopefully your son will stay off the barn roof LOL!

@NWhobart, Lady browncoat, illinigirl, musicgal, oicu812, robyn, hoosierbred , Autumn and jackson: Your pictures of done or nearly done homes are all inspiring. The rest of us will get there someday.

From our end, my DH and teenage son have nearly finished off the last of the rough in plumbing. It was a steep learning curve for sure. We are also working on venting the bathroom fans. Lots of crawling on the attic to install galvanized steel pipes. And the best, is our kitchen, laundry and vanity cabinets will be ready for pick up at the end of August. They will then all need to be assembled as they are RTA from Scherr's. Unfortunately, they will probably sit in the garage for a while until ready.

Back to working on our lighting plan. I am determined to not just use pot lights, but it is hard with 8 foot ceilings.

Carol

Ontario - Yes, it is Cambria Whitney. That board is my cabinet color. The floor in the pic is in my current house. We are using vinyl planks and carpet in the new house. Don't worry about a slow build. It gives you a lot of time to make choices.

Music - I forgot to answer a question you posted earlier. Yes, we went to the Lonestar state last week. We had a great time. In my search for a screen door, I have discovered that 26" screen doors do not exist unless you get it custom made to the tune of $420. So, I picked up a salvaged solid wood two panel door at Antique Queens in Rockdale. Very nice and helpful ladies. Anyway, we are going to try to make a screen door out of it. One of our carpenters said that if it didn't work out, he would make a door for us. So, even if we make a mess of it, we should still be able to put a screen door on the pantry.

JDez - Great combo!! We are using the same countertop in my 14 year old's bathroom. It's a remnant so got a steal of a deal. The real budget buster is in our kitchen! WoWza!

Carson- You have got to be kidding!! That is absolutely absurd! I would have done exactly what you did with the kids. Who brings their little kids to work in the construction business?? That is just crazy!! So sorry about your doors. That really blows my mind!

Ladybrowncoat - I am so excited for your progress! You are only about a week behind me but might pass me up pretty quick. Our stone is taking FOREVER!!! They are supposed to be done with all exterior by this weekend. Hope that's what happens!!

Just wanted to share that they started the wood floors today! They just prepared the floor and layer out the flooring. Tomorrow they actually start laying it. It looks so much darker than I had planned but I think it will look great with our white & gray kitchen. There is a gray undertone to the wood. It even goes well with the front door. Just about a shade darker.

2nd viewâ¦

We have soffits!!! I love them!!

carson-I can't imagine if I am flashing in MI in 70 degrees what lake I could fill if I was down south. Just sayin - it wouldn't be pretty!

jdez-I cannot wait to see your screen door. I think that is such a great idea. I have to leave mine cracked right now due to the weather or else it's just stuffy in there.

robyn-how they are really moving. Have they given you a tentative move in date? I am sorry if you have already said I am losing track!

ontario carol-hello! Thanks for you your kind words. Would you believe we have yet to have the electrician back for our floor outlets...it's on the list but I guess we aren't really in a hurry for that. Plus I really would like a new couch - one a bit smaller. Fat chance - they were both up there last night. Oy. Dh should finish up today if the rain stays away!

This morning has already been filled with a 3 mile jog and a dog that was freshly bathed and trimmed last Friday getting sprayed in the face by a skunk. Sigh. It's garage living for her for now.

Robyn - Those floors are going to be beautiful. I've never seen someone so excited about soffits...lol.

Autumn - That poor little pup. Bet your garage will be smelling lovely.

DS starts 2nd grade today. I will leave work early to pick him up and then maybe I can go get some work done. Good day all!

JDez- What fun to go antiquing in that part of the state! Treasures galore:-)
I think that is where decorating and building combine... when you find something you like and incorporate it into a new house. Adds so much whimsy and character.

Your Cambria reminds me of the Ice Chip I used in some parts of the house. That stuff is bulletproof! Great look.

I'm in the market for a salvaged door between my kitchen and mudroom. A little bit of extra character. Nothing's grabbed me yet.

Still pluggin' away here. Not much new to take pics of, but here's a few things. I've mostly been working on siding.

Here's a pic of the back of the house, with the siding almost done. I built the deck to facilitate doing the siding, since the back of the house is so high.

The front porch ceiling. Turns out bead board is a LOT of work; overhead, no less. I used a very light stain, and it still needs a finish on it. If you look closely, you'll see two black brackets for hanging the future porch swing on.

Here's a shot of the garage roof, showing my faux rafter tails. The type of roof construction didn't allow for real exposed rafter tails, so I added fake ones made out of pressure treated lumber for longer life. They'll be painted to match the trim when they dry out. The green lamp was fished out of the trash. It came out of an old ship yard in NYC. I made the gooseneck and rewired it. It's really too big, but hey, you can't beat the price!

We've had a lot of rain, so I've been hanging ceiling fans. The first one is from Modern Fan Company. The ceiling will be tin- this is in the kitchen. The second one is a Hunter we bought about 30 years ago, and kept when we moved. It is in the dining room. Lastly is our flagship, a 1906 Westinghouse. Yes, it is over 100 years old! It does run, but I'm going to have it rebuilt for safety's sake. The light fixture was a recent add-on, as it never had one. We use our fans a lot, so we figured we might as well have some nice ones.

Mush, those are great fans. And that front porch looks like a great place for a porch swing. Are those French doors on your deck from a living space or a bedroom area? Your garage door looks pretty good for a CL bargain BTW.

So much is going on at my house I have a headache! Feeling very overwhelmed right now. The wood floors are layed in the kitchen, basement trim is halfway done, still working on stone, stucco starts Thur and I still can't decide on a color, tile was prepped today for laying tomorrow!!

YIKES!!!

Nice floors Robyn! It must have been a zoo at your home with all those subs at once. Progress for sure!

Beautiful work, Mushcreek (kudos to your DIY) work. The siding is beautiful.

Carol

Hi all. Haven't had a chance to catch up on everyone's progress, so much to see! We just arrived in town and were able to see the progress in person for the first time in 2 months. Our builder was great at sending pictures but there is nothing like standing on site to really appreciate what it looks like. We move into our temporary rental this weekend so I will be able to see all the progress first hand from now on. This couldn't come at a better time as they are waiting on my choice of roof and siding colors.

Dang. I hate it when people take pictures of me at harvest. My crop is only yielding ones nowadays.

JDez -- you got the wrong seedlings. Mine has a nice crop of Benjamins!

craftygranny -- YAY! It's true, seeing it in real life is my better than photos. Good luck with your rental.

mush -- absolutely ADORE that 1906 fan! Great find!

Oh Carson, we need to swap seedlings through the GW swap. It is taking a lot of ones to pay for my countertop.

No matter what I plant, I just get 'pennywort' LOL!

musicgal- The french doors come from the dining room. Looking at the back of the house, the kitchen is on the left, dining room center, and living room on the right. We have a nice view of the Blue Ridge mountains in the winter, so all of those rooms face that way. That big triple window is over the kitchen sink, one of my wife's few requests.

mush-you have really come a long way since your last pics. Awesome work! :D Love your fans and your porch. Do you stay nice and cool in the woods there? I have found that we do.

robyn-so soffits and flooring and where's STELLA???? ;)

j-dang I think my tree was excavated and chopped up with a chipper. :(

Sooooooooo...trying to give DH a break because at this stage he is doing about everything and I stink at working power tools. I am so ticked at how dependent I am on him for these sorts of things. GRRRR! I was using a miter box saw to make a couple more pantry shelves and darn it I wrecked it. In my defense I am left handed and it's obviously right handed. I was a good girl, tape measure, safety glasses and whoops there it went. It was pretty close but a little long so I went to trim a teeny tiny bit off and now it's WAYYYY short. ARGH!!! Stamping my feet angry. Oh well.

Neighbor brought over a CASE of raisins. Are you serious? What do I do with all these raisins?? I haven't bought raisins in about 7 years........now it looks like I have a lifetime supply, lol!

The fully shingled (boys off the roof finally) barn - AKA 30x40 mancave:

This post was edited by Autumn.4 on Wed, Aug 13, 14 at 20:48

Hey Autumn- I think you are talking to robyn about soffits and floors- and I have no idea who STELLA is.

BUT- I do have a dedicated piano mover hired now. A regular mover who will collect our big stuff next Tuesday. And an appointment with the elusive Geraldo Rivera tomorrow to see the gate go up. It had better be a flippin work of art, he's put us off so long.

So you know you are really moving... when you take the music out of the bench.

Very nice L.

Music - Hope Geraldo shows up and makes up for all the waiting. I still haven't listed our house but I am about halfway packed.

Mush - Your house is beautiful.

Crafty - Wow. Looks great.

Robyn - Love your floors.

music-oh yes, I thought I typed Robyn....but no I typed music! Sorry, I do *know* you apart. ;)

jdez-do you have a date in mind for being in?

Autumn4 - Was really hoping for Labor Day but we aren't going to make that date. So, I guess now I'm hoping for end of Sept.

Damn, I'm jealous of all of you living far enough south to be able to grow money trees. :P

Autumn, I can't keep raisins in the house. I use them in oatmeal cookies and muffins, as well as a dish we discovered in South Africa, bobotie. Mmmmm. But DH loves them as a snack. He gets peckish, heads to the pantry, and eats my raisins. I buy raisins at Costco. A case would likely last a couple months in this house.

Yesterday, one of the window people called to check up on me. Since we don't have a framer until October, and I'm waiting on a quote from Direct Buy to see if it's worth getting a membership, I haven't placed a window order yet. So she gave me the name of a framer who can start immediately, for 40% less than the guy we booked. Hmm. The first dozen or so framers I talked to were just not available. So BIL offered to do it with one of his buddies. Apparently they did it on his last house, and they did it cheaper and faster than the crew on his other house a few blocks away. But then I got the quote from the guy who could start in 2 months, and his price shocked BIL, so we booked him. And now I have someone even cheaper. I've gone from not being able to get ANYONE, and now I've got 2 people less than BIL's estimate.

But I'm a little nervous about booking this guy. He's a little TOO cheap. But DH is panicking about the money, so saving that will help. And the window people have given him a glowing recommendation. But then, we may not even be ordering windows from them.

Amberm - ha, the decisions are tough. On the really cheap guy...He might be legit. Just talk to him, check references, etc. I hope he is for real.

Looks nice Autumn! I think you should make a pie with the raisins! That's a unique neighbor gift. Haha!!

Ran over to my place this afternoon and almost ran smack dab into my cabinets! I didn't realize that some had been delivered!!

Update on our front. We finally got the builder to finialize the spec/cost sheet to fit our budget. He was estimating some things way to high since this is a custom build and the first time he is doing this home. We were pre-approved on our loan so I took the final plans, spec sheet, cost sheet and signed contract to the bank yesterday.

They will be starting the appraisal process now and it may take 2 weeks. They did throw a curveball our way though. They want us to have our well water tested prior to closing on our construction plus loan. That would be great it there was electricity to the well, but we had'nt had the new powerlines run yet. So I call my well digger and he said that he would take care of it for us, but he'll have to do a flush and put clorox down it first to make sure there is no bacteria since we had the well drilled 2-1/2 years ago. That's how long this house building process has taken us to get to this point. So hopefully the water test won't take long and we'll be able to truck right along.

Prayers would be welcomed! With all that we're not even sure when we will break ground and our lease will be up the end of December and the cost to go month to month is crazy. So we may have to move in with my MIL which I don't think I can handle for very long.

Our builder said 4 months from framing to move in but we'll be in the middle of a midwest winter so who knows how many weather delays we'll have.

Everyones build and process is looking great and I can't wait to show our progress pictures soon I hope :)

Robyn - Getting cabinets is a huge milestone. Happy for you.

Renee - I pray a lot. I'll mention you...lol. I know I would need prayers galore if I had to live with my MIL.