We are in, but I wouldn't say done. We still have some things here and there that need to be completed. One of these days I'll be done enough to post pictures!

Amy

the month of november brought the footings , foundation and to date the outside walls are framed rest of framing and roof next week

The stucco guys just finished the color yesterday, the interior doors with the kerfed edges are about half done. The septic is ordered, water tanks are ordered. I am getting my third bid on the driveway right now and two more bids on the trenching for the power, phone, propane and water. Painting is partially completed and the cabinets are there, but can't install them because we're not happy with buycabinets.com and want to have a bonfire with their cabinets. So....I'm sort of happy and as soon as it quits raining, I'm going to take some new photos and post them. Hoping to be in by the end of January.

We poured footings two days before Thanksgiving, poured the foundation the Monday after. Put in some drainage and backfilled. We are hoping our framers show up on Monday so we have some real walls. They are finishing up one other job and then will jump over to our site.

I'm in selection finalization hell. Signed for special order garage and entry doors today. (Gulp). Fighting with the fireplace guys cause they keep making "assumptions" about what I want. Reviewing all the windows so that order can be placed... UPS delivered my first light fixture today. Bought a pair of leaded glass windows from a 1919 arts and crafts home that was demolished in Detroit for either side of our fireplace in the nick of time to adjust the window order AND found a custom tile maker who I THINK (fingers crossed) is going to work for us. Lots of fun (and stress).

Took our first draw (BIG gulp) yesterday. The good news is some adjustments on the site allowed the foundation to come in several K under budget. I think I'll need it! LOL

After basically no work being done the week of Thanksgiving, this past week was a whirlwind on our site.

DH is spraying ceilings so that lighting can be installed. Trying to keep electricians busy so they won't leave us for another job! :O)

Some lighting arrived and is installed. Very happy about that!

Cabinet makers arrived on Monday to remeasure areas now that drywall is installed. We are next on their list! Yah!!

HVAC company began setting units, and 2 are blowing heat now. Whew.... it's getting cold.

Main floor tile has been laid and grouted, minus our master bath. Master shower/tub area has been tiles and much has been grouted.

Finishers worked 4 days this week (I am with you Kelly!) and are close to finishing the top 2 levels. yahoo!

2nd floor showers backerboard for tile is installed.

I think we wore our crews out. LOL! The only ones to show today were the hvac guys, installing more units so we have even more heat for the house. Hopefully their long weekend will have everyone ready to work hard again next week. Oh I hope so. I've got to get out of this motorhome with SEVEN people in our family! :O)

Here are a few photos:

Master shower/tub area:

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close up of shower:

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DH spraying under balcony. New chandy installed yesterday. Don't worry. He didn't spray the chandy.... LOL! It's actually way up in the air... looks frighteningly close in the photo though. :o)

Glad to hear that we are all moving along... whether it be snail pace or speedy. The point is we are moving along. Yah!

I am starting to see the end. Each day brings more excitement, more final finishes. We got our first coat of poly on the hardwood floors today.

All the trim work is done, except the base in our great room, which will be done when the hard wood is done. I am actually considering having the appliances delivered (they are in and waiting for delivery). Next week will be final paint on the great room on Monday, then plumbers, electricians, tech guys (internet, phone, TV, etc) and security guys all getting done by the end of the week. Then we do a final coat of poly on the hardwood and wait for carpet. We have the exterior nearly done, including the screen porch. We still need the porch column bases rocked and the final columns put on.

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On various hours of the day, I think there is a lot to do, on other parts of the day, I can't believe we are so close to the end. I have our closing set for December 21st, just in time to celebrate for Christmas. No decorating, of course, but we have lots of time to get moved in, no pressure to get out of the house we are in now.

We will be moving in by the end of next week. The privacy wall around the courtyard won't be complete and the brick & stone entry at the end of our driveway hasn't even been started yet.

Both DH's and my family will be here for Christmas - Do you think we can get everything ready?

Master Bath Tub Surround:

Kitchen (appliance panels on frig and dishwasher still need to be installed):

Staircase (wrought iron railings to be installed next week):

Swimming Pool was plastered yesterday:

After about 18 months worth of permitting we are finally good to go! Last week we started clearing the site. Hopefully we will be pouring footings early in the new year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Construction blog

we are on the last stages of finishing up. today all of the trades completed their final work and were waiting around for the inspectors - who never showed up! Once we get the final inspections - all that remains is carpeting the upstairs bedrooms, touch up painting, and then the wood floors will be sealed.

we gave our landlord official notice yesterday - so we see the finish line. the house may in fact be done just before Xmas but we will start the move just after - hopefully waking up in 2008 in our new home.

right now I am reviewing the final tallies on allowances - which thankfully matched up well. the next step is to look over the extra's - which is where the big gulp will be. hopefully my accounting matches up with the builders.

it will be nice when all of this is done!

We are still waiting on plans to be finished. We are *hoping* when they get back they will be the final set...of course if they are not it is our fault! LOL! We can't think of any other things that need 'refining' but we havn't seen them yet...
Our site has been logged and is now a mess so we need to clean it up, determine our driveway and work on making a usable drive.
We have been talking with the same builder over the last several months and it looks like that will not be working out. So we are focusing on our design and site work and will start talking to builders once we have final plans. We have considered being our own GC and using a consultant and we may still go that route.
It is exciting to see everyone's progress, and the homes near completion are gorgeous!

We're a looonngg way from doing anything significant, but the first stage of our clearing is finished up, which is exciting for us. Next up will be finishing the clearing, and getting a driveway in. The first actual structure will be a barn, maybe by the end of 2008. Once I quit my job and start building the house (2 years?) things will go a lot faster, I promise!

let me see,

we are framed, roofed, shingles on 2 sides, windows in all but one bedroom, that is where they need to bring in the kids tub/shower, finish framing is going on, all 3 sets of stairs are roughed, fireplace is roughed, met with kitchen designer and cabinets are a go. my clawfoot tub arrived, my apron sink arrived, chipped, so it was sent back.

meeting with electrician for initial walk through on thursday, also flooring/tile will come and measure that day as well. appliance decisions need to be finalized for plumber and electrician.

rough hvac/electrical/plumbing will start, siding soonish.

would love to see some of the snow slow down

would love some heat, it is cold in there

will post pictures next week.

J

Finishing foundation beginning of next week, moving on to framing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Masons are Rockin'

Electricity powered up and 1/2 of our lights are good to go for now. Painting is 1/2 finished. Cabinets are 3/4 complete. Flooring is 1/2 finished - we have tile and hw flooring and the tile is nearly complete. Stonework inside and out 3/4 complete. It's been busy around here with lots of people running around and trying not to step on each other. We are hoping for a move in after the new year.... sigh! I plan to have my Christmas dinner in this home, even if I have to cater it in from the house we're living in now!
Fireplace complete, except for the mantle, it will be stained:

Painters are there currently and have color on all the walls. Assuming another coat or two on most of them will happen early this next week. After that we have to clean up the stained concrete floors and seal them. Appliances delivered on the 19th, granite to be delivered on the 20th. I need to be ordering lights & faucets but have yet to do so.

Everything is falling in place for us this month. So far we don't have any liens on our property - our first GC left about $8K of bills outstanding on our job. He's being charged with grand larceny on some of his other "jobs" - the ones that he collected a 10% downpayment and then split without doing any work. Our new GC has been extremely patient while we have worked out the complications of having two concurrent construction loans (bank and SBA) - after 2 months of paperwork (one piece of paper that it took the SBA forever to draft) we finally recieved our first draw. FEMA issued the final elevation maps - we are not in a velocity zone and we will be 1.5' higher than the required elevation.

The framers are hard at work - with the roof framing it's finally looking like a house. The one major oops is that we messed up the upstairs plans and one of the bedroom windows won't be centered over the downstairs window.

Our house is finally coming together as we enter the (hopefully) last 2 months of construction. The exterior stucco and stone work is all finshed. The interior is mostly painted. They are just starting the bathroom tiling and the flooring. After that comes cabinets and then trim. It finally looks like the house we envisioned.

Sheetrockers finished yesterday. Finishers start this week. We have to be finished by the end of January!

We should have been finished by now but we had The Great Thanksgiving Weekend Floor Flood. 8-(

Not much happened once the ruined floor was out until last Thursday when the new trim carpenters showed up. They are on their third full day of work and have almost finished all the trim and if the drywall and floor guys don't show up to finished their work, the trim carpenters may do it.

Oh - we did get permanent electric in last week, so that was progress. ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: The Great Thanksgiving Weekend Floor Flood

woodswell, that is awful. My gosh, what a doosey to deal with. My first thought is "who pays for this mistake?" Does the trim carpenter?

Glad all is getting back on schedule.

Well, woodswell, the paint color and trim are just beautiful! Hope you're back there soon.

We are getting very close. I am *really* hoping to be in by Christmas, but it will be tough. We do have a finished basement that we can move into...and that will be choice #2 to be in by Christmas (if you ask our 2 little ones what they want for christmas, they say all they want is to be in our new house!). We are in a 27' travel trailer, and it is getting quite drafty, LOL!

Will post pics soon!

We are awaiting hardwoods and cabinets this week, countertops and finish work next week. Fingers crossed!

Moved in with stuff everywhere. We moved DH's house in the begining of November right after closing and lived with just a bed a few end tables and a bean bag. This weekend my furniture got moved and now the house is full of stuff even though we cleaned out and gave away a lot. No xmas decorating here this year as I have no more energy and just want a weekend to relax.

Good luck to everybody trying to be in before xmas.

Here's the photo of the front of my house. Stucco was completed last week.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Love that pool Mavs fan!

We finsihed up rough plumbing and are finishing up electrical. Insulation is going in the roof and hopefully int he walls next week. My Dad and husband are the main workers now so they plug away at it.

My big project lately has been the stairs. We have a central stair that will be built with large timbers in a routered, solid/closed stringer style with open risers. Like this except ours is a switchback or "dogleg" stair case.

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So I've been working on the plans and then drawing the plans onto the timbers for DH to cut and router. I'm going slow b/c I really don't want to make a mistake. The latest entry in my blog is me working on the stringers last night!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Progress

Oh, man Woodswell. Sorry. I feel picky after reading what you're going through. Mine is really a stress induced rant from expecting 40 people for Christmas dinner here and my house still not finished......

We've been in since August but still with "issues" of different importance. Yesterday I had a wood painter out to try and repair GC's attempt on my wood kitchen island counter. It's 16 feet long so mistakes show. GC got in a hurry with the 2nd coat of finish and totally messed it up. So 5 months and 10 stabs at repairing the finish finally has paid off (painter is that good). Check one thing off the "list"
Then we found out that the reason the house wouldn't get warm during the last snow was b/c the heater was running but not actually "hooked up". We also had a leak in the ceiling yesterday due to a heating hose (in a 2nd unit) that was there but not tightened. Luckily it happened when we were home and HVAC was there anyway for the other issue. Check two more of the "list"
Now with heavy rains from a week ago DH's garage foundation is leaking mud. GC is "supposed" to be coming here from TX to "take a look" (yea right!).
Oh, and we got a call last month from our wood flooring company about "prep" work that GC won't pay b/c he says that was our responsibility (???). Company's been dealing with GC for 3 mths trying to get the money then called us. They said they missed that part of the bill, a computer problem but who knows for sure. All the companies we dealt with signed off but this is a valid bill that was missed that GC now will not pay. But another home GC finished a month after ours is having major calls from cement, drywall, painter companies where GC paid part but not all. Not sure if that family had their subs sign off on their bills or just took GC's word that he'd paid them...but geez.!!!!

At least I have 3 things checked off my "list" :)

Foot note.....
Our GC moved to Texas and was getting out of the construction business into home inspection. We just heard yesterday he just started a home for someone there. I am truly honestly sorry Texas....

I've been lurking for a long time, but couldn't figure out how to post a picture - here goes. We started digout April 29, acting as our own general. Of course taking longer than we had hoped, but the end is in site. Would love to be in by Jan 17, 2008, when my kids our coming home to Oregon for their brother's wedding. Still have finish work (2 weeks worth), all wood work staining (3 days) then finish plumbing, electrical and HVAC and carpet. So......with the holidays and all, they may get to "camp" out in the new house.
last Oct - sheetrock & painting

cabs and floor in

brutuses, it's nice to see your progress (you're still ahead of me, I think it'll be a while before we even think about drywall!) :)

totallyblessed, I love how your master bath is turning out - thanks for the updated pics!

I love seeing everyone's photos (especially those taken in the SNOW!) and reading about progress. Since I haven't frequented GW as much lately as I used to, it seems that a lot of us have come a long way, which is nice!

Here are some photos of our home taken last Monday, which was the beginning of Week 20 of our build:

Front
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Back
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Nancyboregon-
Your home is beautiful! So glad you figured out how to post your pictures! :) We are also in OR and our home has a similar front elevation and angled garage, I would love to email you if you wouldn't mind-and have time with all you must have going on with Christmas, wedding preparation and the build.
Thanks,
Luckymom23

vineyard, you're still going to finished before me, but it's good to know I'm ahead right at this moment. HA! Time is just flying by. I can't believe it's 20 weeks already.

DH just arrived home and said he installed the front door today, but of course he didn't have the camera with him. (Remind me to choke him). Anyway, tomorrow we'll ride out there so we can take some photo's and I'll post them. The door is unfinished, yet still looks better than that ugly plywood that graced our entrance for so long.

It's great to see everyone's progress. Look forward to seeing all those interior photo's.

Luckymom23 - Thanks for the compliment!!! You know that you stress so much about everything, wondering how it will all fit together, so when it does it feels pretty darn good. Email is great: nbeyers@centurytel.net. chat with you later. nancy

Well, we're past our second deadline, but things are quickly moving along(after I personally called all the subs and did the damsel in distress thing)! Lighting is almost all done, plumbing almost all done, ceiling fans in, brickers laid stone on the fireplaces, granite finally installed (after weeks of waiting), and they started on the backsplash. We're planning on moving on the 20th, no matter how many people have to be killed in the process!! :) The house suddenly looks like a "home" just in the last two days. I worried so much about all the finishes "going together" that now that most of them are up, I told DH "I can't believe we have such good taste!!" I'm so excited I can barely sleep!!

I was so happy today! I went out to the house and there were 6 guys there working!! I almost fainted. I was so happy that when I left to head home I turned around and brought them all back beer! LOL!

All the cabinet doors where off (funny cause they just put them all on!)ready to be stained, all the doors through the house were off to be painted, the trim was all caulked and ready to be painted. They put the attic stairs in but when they went to pull down the stairs it was way short so they had to take it out and leave to get the right size. Not a big deal to me but it was a pain for them to get it up there and in. I felt bad but I told them I bet next time they will open the stairs to check before they nail it all in and trim it out! LOL!

So, DH JUST got home from work (8:30pm) and he wants to drive out and take a look. Just waiting for my sister to get home so we can leave and go check it out! I am excited to see what was done :-)

Kel

By the way, EVERYONE's pictures are beautiful! There are some very wonderful homes on this board!

We finally started framing! Yay! So far, we only have the first floor though. :( A lot of photos are in the house blog, but here are a few:

Here is a link that might be useful: Our house blog

brutuses,
"My first thought is "who pays for this mistake?" Does the trim carpenter?"
The company that the trim carpenter worked for is paying plus since the trim carpenter quit, they've brought in a different crew who is much faster and more accurate than the first guy. They are almost finished with all the trim - just one more set of doors to hang and trim out and then all that is left is the baseboard in the room where the floor has to be replaced.

The floor guy brought the new flooring yesterday and relaid the sub-floor today. He will put the new floor in and do the finishing next week.

brutuses, "Glad all is getting back on schedule."

happykate, "the paint color and trim are just beautiful! Hope you're back there soon."

Thanks - we're very happy with everything that has been done. It looks like they may finish up before Christmas - at least all the work. I told the GC that he might schedule the final cleaning for the week between Christmas and New Year. We'll be out of town so then we could come back to the new house finished, clean and ready to move into. ;-)

Trying to get the last of the roof on before the Snow (14" expected on Sunday). The plan is to get the rest of the windows installed by Friday. Keeping fingers crossed.
Roofer was supposed to start work next week. Nothing like builbing a house in the winter.

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We are still trying to get our roof on before the snow comes also. It has been a slow pain in the butt. There has been a ton of blocking, 8 billion hurricane straps, and special rafter tails. It has really slowed us down. My carpenters are wishing I had trusses! Plywood will go on hopefully at the end of the week.

We got the dwv plumbing done this weekend. So that is good.

I will try to get some new pics up soon.

Mike, it does feel like 8 billio hurricane straps when they are going on but you'l appreciate them. I know we do already. We had a tropical storm or possibly a stage 1 hurricane a month ago and the house never made a sound while our current house rocked and creaked al night!

Everyone's homes look gorgeous. Wow! :o)

Vineyard, thanks for the compliment. ;o) I am anxious to see your photos. When i try to force show them, the little red x just pops back up. Is everyone else seeing Vineyard's photos? Shoot.... I want to see too!! :o~

I feel compelled to chime in and remind any newcomers about where it all starts. Two years, two months, and two weeks into the "process", we do have progress! Our GC just asked us if we could move the patio to the other side of the house so he could find a better place to site the house. I redrew it that way, adding another screen porch door for access.

So now he has sent the site plan back to the surveyors to get their final plan--the one that allows us to get our building permit. (**that long hoped-for event**)

AND our GC is asking for a lot more detail about our mechanical systems, trying to reduce costs on those. And he is organizing the huge volume of information we've sent him. I know that because he called and sited documents and dates. It is a very complex house, mostly the mechanicals and building envelope. So, I know he is finally getting an accurate cost ready for us. His initial price had to come down by $50K for us and he said by carefully pricing out the big stuff he can take out the "fluff"-i.e., the padding that usually substitutes for the actual prices.

I finished the entire lighting plan and gave him that, with every fixture and LIGHTBULB. Like you guys told me I needed to do. I emailed the GC my document with links to online sellers for every fixture and LIGHTBULB. The good thing is, when the lights go in, we'll have an exact reference document to go by.

I'm taking a short break for Christmas preparation, but will resume my "life's work" on Monday. When it's done, I'll start writing my book, "Selecting 101 Different Lightbulbs, or How I Lost Four Years of My Dwindling Life To The Unexpected Ordeal of Building a House."

Happy holidays, all! Your houses look wonderful!

Well the mad rush is on to get the roof closed in. Framer was planning to get the roof and then windows in before the storm on Sunday. Roofer is scheduled to start tomorrow. Guess, what? We are also getting a storm today, with expected snowfall of 8"-10". Oh well, can't control the weather. Hope this doesn't hold things up too long.

We are going to be on hold soon. We got a few inches of slush/ice today and Sunday they're calling for over a foot of snow :( We are happy with the progress so far, see website below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Home Progress

Oops, totallyblessed, here are my photos (and lots more are posted on our blog):

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Home Building Blog

vineyard~

How did you draw MY dream house? How did you get in my brain and do that?

Goodness, that is gorgeous. I didn't look at your blog yet.... will peek at it later though. Are you in AZ or CA by chance? Looks like a home I'd see in one of those locations. Curious to know where you are building.

Gorgeous!! Thanks so much for reposting photos. I still couldn't get those others to show... I tried when I got back on this thread just now. Glad to see you were on here at the bottom of poster. Great eye candy. Thanks! ;o)

We finally have drywall. Looks like a real house now on the inside. They should finish hanging the garages next week. Then the nail inspection to follow before texture. Things are starting to move rather quickly for us. It's been a long year (started 12/06) but hope to be in by Mar/Apr 08.

Everyone is moving along! It's great to see the progress and I love to see the photos of all your houses and their locations.

Vineyard~
I've been checking your blog out periodically too. Isn't it nice to get that roof on? I also like your favorite website: Jauregu.com. Lots of ideas there.
Your lot is amongst an established winery? My DH's plan is to plant a couple of acres along the driveway with grapes. We haven't quite figured it all out yet, because we have to do the research on what type of grapes grow best in our area and what do we want to do with them...

totallyblessed, *blushing* thank you for your kind words! We're building in the San Francisco East Bay. Oh, and don't worry, the photos in my last post are the exact same photos as what was supposed to appear in my first post, you're not missing anything. I'm going to our homesite again tomorrow and I'd like to get more photos taken, as long as the house looks likes it's somewhat progressed from last time! :)

krislrob, oh yes, I was SOOO excited to see the roof tiles loaded and very, very happy with the colors (I think there are 10+ different colors/textures total) after all. It was hard putting colors together using the little sample tiles, but I couldn't be happier now that I see it all together! Anyway, yes, our lot backs to a winery that's been there since 1980. A couple of acres is manageable to DIY and viticulture is quite interesting to learn, so best of luck to you both with your future grapes!

Here's ours...finally took pics last week.

They're finally wrapping the outside! Stucco should be happening next week.
Our stone masons are not going to start until the first week in Jan. When my builder told me this last week, I started to throw a fit and suggested finding other masons but then I realized it was just a few weeks away and it's not going to hold up anything else. We'll be going out of town for Christmas (spending it with family and friends who live in a "real" house - and not a dump like our rental) so it will be nice to get away.

Inside "guts" of the house are ALMOST done...electrician needs to finish up. Hopefully sheetrock next week!

After the Thanksgiving weekend flood, I wasn't sure if we'd get done this year. But the new trim guys are almost done, the floor guy put in the new sub-floor Wednesday and the painters are scheduled for Monday.

IF - and that is a very big IF - the drywall guy will get his a$$ out here and fix the crooked arch, we might possibly be able to get our CO next Friday. At least that is what the site manager is hoping.

We'll have a few more things to get done - the library shelves to install, a custom build in the living room for our stained glass fireplace, and some cabinet doors that are still missing - but we'll be able to start moving in just after the first of the year. That is, unless something else goes horribly wrong. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Framing is basically complete. One window needs to be replaced as it arrived damaged. Waiting on exterior doors to arrive, supposed to be here tomorrow, but now being told by the end of the month.
Roof shingles are currently going on, and the mason is hard at work on the fireplaces and chimney.
Hopefully the electrician is getting the electric connected to the house. We are going to put any further work on hold until we do have electric because the fuel for the generators is cutting too much into my budget. We should be back in full swing mid. January. This gives the mason time to work uninterrupted by other crews.
I of course am overly anxious to see things move forward.
Happy Holidays
Jenn