Russ, progress.....nice place to be "stuck."

Lily oooohhhh uh...well....I bet it will be well worth it when you are finally in! What is the "new" date?

Russ...looks scary driving through that. Hope your surgery goes well.

mojo...what a view.

lily...do you have any pics anywhere here? Sorry it's taking so long :-(

Lily'smom - I'm sure your home is going to be beautiful. All homes have their positives and negatives. I'm just selective and try to only post pics of the positives (and nicer areas of the home). :-)

Andy - We have many people ahead of us and it's going to take several months before they really start, so we're initiating now to get a power plan in place. So when we are ready to build, we won't be waiting months for them to do what they need to do, since construction needs power to use tools! Having a power plan also impacts Comcast for our internet, which also takes 8 or so months.

Thanks to everyone for the crossed fingers - it worked! They looked at the plot plan and were fine with putting poles where they had concerns - they found some stakes the seller had put in when he got it surveyed. Turns out the neighbors on either side of our driveway entrance have a shed and a wood pile on our property, so that won't be fun to deal with down the line, but we're ready for power in the mean time!

Eversource will be installing two of the 5 poles for free (new customer discount) and the rest will be from a private contractor our GC/builder will find because paying Eversource to do the rest is an outrageous cost.

Lily...you are obviously a person of some kind of design talent so I bet you are underestimating your house. But, I gotcha. I love the description of your house being "shy". Lots to be said for plain.

PNW...what product did you use in your gables (the shingle siding)? And are you pleased so far? Very pretty.

It is so fun reading everyone's updates! Gorgeous view, Mojomom. Russ, I don't think I could drive through that with my eyes open. Good luck with your surgery. Lily'smom, I hope your house comes out of its shell! My home too won't be near as fancy as a lot of the others on here (I can only dream about high end things like cement tile) but it is still fun to share progress!

As for our progress, basement has been dug and now we are stalled for the week because we have a lot of rain in the forecast. Hoping next week is clear so they can pour footers and get moving on the basement.

ILoveRed - The shingles are Hardie Shingles. I believe there are 3 or 4 different widths they use to create this look. We love it and it is widely used in our area and by our builder. Below are some additional photos I have of the product.

Here is a picture before paint.

Here is a picture of it still bundled and on pallets.

Hope this helps.

It's funny how different things work in different areas of the country.

Kelsey... "So when we are ready to build, we won't be waiting months for them to do what they need to do, since construction needs power to use tools! Having a power plan also impacts Comcast for our internet, which also takes 8 or so months."

That blows my mind! 8 months for Comcast? It took us a couple of weeks (~500 ft run). For what it's worth, my house will be almost finished by the time it has power, just because they waited until all of the framing was done to start the process of getting it installed. That's customary around here...you don't have electrical service until you have a meter, and you don't have a meter until you have a building to attach it to. You can't use the electricity without setting up the panel with breakers. So, framing and rough-in work is done without power. When I asked my job supervisor when it becomes a problem to not have power, he said at the point where they want to take delivery of the wood flooring. They want the flooring to sit in a conditioned environment for a period of time to reach the same level of hydration as the rest of the wood. Up until that point, everybody is used to bringing a generator or uses batteries.

PNW Fam of Four- what counter top did you get? Love the hardi shingles too. We don't have it in our budget to do them now, but might change the hardi-plank in our gables to hardi-shingles later on. What area of the PNW are you building? We are in Southwest Washington :)

Lily

Rule #1.... Ya gotta post pics:)

of course, I am just kidding. There are all levels of home here, mine was a small modest retirement build, just over 1600 sq ft. This was our first new home and We were so proud!

Caitlin - We're in Northwest WA! We ended up going with a granite called Andino White. We had contemplated Quartz as well, but this granite really stuck out (along with the fact that it cost about 20% less than the Quartz). It has some really cool rocks that make it look like you are looking down into the slab. I love it even more installed!

Porch bead board ceiling is in and painted, sunporch walls are painted, things are back in their proper place and my dining room has NOTHING in it that doesn't belong there for the first time in months! Praise the Lord!!!!

Drywall is all done. Siding is nearing completion. Trim work is next on the list along with the stone work.

PNW...it does help. Thank you for the pics. Your shingle siding looks really good. I may need to look at the Hardi shingles. I was surprised that the primed comes in looking a yellowish color.

Lori...I love the style of your home. Have you posted your floorplan anywhere?

I guess I’d like to vent frustration with our first major
hurdle. I figure folks here will understand, although I doubt anyone can help.

My husband and I both work from home, we own a (very) small
business together. We require an internet connection. Over a year ago, before
we committed to building, we contacted Time Warner to confirm we would be able
to get cable internet service at our new address (not a given in our rural area.) (We live in the
area now, and have cable – we wanted to make sure our new property had
service). The coverage map said yes, and they confirmed on the phone that yes, we could get
cable internet.

Fast forward to about a month ago; we were about ¾ of the
way through the construction of our house. We wanted to go ahead and get cable
service started (yes, while still under construction), so we called to get the
process started, hoping it would actually be hooked up by the time we wanted to
move in. Now, after a month, four site visits by various people from Time
Warner, and numerous phone calls, we are now told that the “node” for our new
address is full, and that they will have to run new fiber from town to increase
capacity. They told us if we wanted service, we would need to pay for that infrastructure
upgrade at a cost of $52,000.

That’s not a typo. $52k for internet service. So, basically,
Time Warner doesn’t want our business. Our other options are not good: 4g
wireless service, which is fast, but has prohibitive data caps, or DSL, which
has unlimited data, but is prohibitively slow. I can only dream about fiber.

*sigh* We’ve talked several neighbors on the road, all have
complained they can’t get service from time warner. We saw cable on the road,
we figured we were fine. It turns out, most have satellite TV, a few have cable
TV, NONE have internet service. Should have talked to the neighbors before we
started.

Oh my am_e, that is brutal. I am so sorry to hear that. My business life also depends on a reliable, low-latency internet connection...it ruled out so many beautiful lots. If I couldn't get Comcast, it was a deal killer.

If you were able to put together 26 people that need internet, you could each chip in $2k. Not an ideal solution, but doable. In fact, you may even find if you come to them with 20+ people who want to start paying for internet service they go "oh ok fine we'll install a node".

We just went through the cable hassle, too. We were told cable was available; in fact, the guy came out to hook us up, only to tell us, 'There's no cable around here." Huh? Luckily, they're under heavy competition these days, and ran overhead cable, then underground, plus a connection point (whatever they call that round thing sticking up out of the ground) for FREE!

Lily'smom- I hope you'll post some pictures. We built a small, one bedroom, very plain and modest ranch, and I couldn't wait to post pictures. Our project was done on a desperately tight budget, but it's home, and we're proud of it!

It's so interesting how different things are in different areas. Andy said where he is "you don't have electrical service until you have a meter, and you don't
have a meter until you have a building to attach it to. You can't use
the electricity without setting up the panel with breakers. So, framing
and rough-in work is done without power."

It's different where we are. For both of our builds, they brought power in early and set up a temporary power pole. For our lake house build, this temporary power pole was set up in April. The main meter was not attached to the house until the end of June. We didn't transfer power to our names until after we had the Certificate of Occupancy. But the builder and his subs did have power on site throughout the build.

Also I agree with what Andy and mushcreek have said about cable. We had no cable in our area for many years. But when there was enough neighborhood pressure, the company brought the whole area in and provided the entire set-up all the way to each home for free.

@mushcreek - you should be proud of your home, it is beautiful.

Lori...very nice. I love symmetry too. Your closet space is awesome for all of your bedrooms. Nice floorplan.

am_e.....oh my. My dh has to have fast and reliable internet. Uh boy. I feel for you. I wish I knew what to tell you. What a pickle.

i agree Mush. Your home is very special.

Yeah, Andy, attempting to rally the neighborhood to try and get Time Warner to provide service is one of several potential strategies we're working on. While I generally love living in a rural area, there are the known negatives. One of those is that our street isn't a "neighborhood" in the suburban sense. Its a rural road with a diverse group of people/houses/income levels, some of whom don't care about internet connections, and/or can't afford them. I may be surprised, but I doubt we could get get a commitment for $2k, $1k or even $500 out of very many people. There are a lot of houses however, so I need to determine how many houses this "node" serves, so I know how wide a net I can cast for support.

I still have doubts though, we've talked to quite a few folks who have tried to get service in the past, and have said others on the road have tried as well. So, Time Warner is already hearing that there is demand on our road, but they still aren't interested in providing service. This is ongoing, however, and I don't we've escalated to the right person at Time Warner yet, so we'll see.

Also, thanks Lori for sharing your floorplan, there's a lot to like.

Andy - Oh that's nice! Eversource set us up with a "temporary" account that they will use during building. We also set up the permanent one in the meantime, but won't actually have the meter and everything for it until the house is done.

And yeah, he said 8 months, but it could be sooner. Depends on how many people are ahead of us.

am_e - Yikes, I'm so sorry. Totally unfair that you checked and confirmed and they still messed up.

That was a huge fear of mine when we bought our land in a semi-rural area. Found out we could only get Comcast (Xfinity) instead of FiOS like we have now (Comcast sucks), but it was at least fibre optic internet. I will be working from home 2-3 days a week starting next year, so it was a huge priority.

oh am_e - what a mess. It does seem it's time to work up the chain if they told you it would be available. At the end of the day we're at their mercy when there isn't any competition and it just sucks.

Lori your home is so pretty! I've been fighting my inner symmetry goblins through this whole build because nothing about this house is symmetrical!

brentr we need more pictures - love the look of your house.

artemis you are just chugging along! Everything is looking so good.

The outside of our house is really taking shape and I am 98% in love with it. The 2% hesitation is the color of all of our Douglas Fir porch posts. I dithered back and forth, tested several colors of penetrating stain/sealer (we went with Penofin brand) but they all seemed too dark to me. In the end I decided to embrace the natural color of the fir and we used the clear finish. Or course they are darker than untreated but I wasn't prepared for how the sealer would amplify the orange which had faded a lot since they were put in. I don't hate it, but everything else I LOVE and this is kind of not love. I called Penofin and the good news is all of their colors/products can be intermixed and they recommended waiting 6 months then using their gray Mendocino Mist over the top to tone down it down. The bad news is it will be much harder to do that when we have porch decking every to protect so we'll see. Maybe it will grow on me. Inside we are getting ready to trim and I'm looking at actual paint colors :-D

Side view of house coming up from the creek

Front - siding on the other dormer is done now, too. Getting rid of the red sheathing has made a big difference. The house dwarfs DH there but once the grading is done and the porch floors are in the perspective will change a lot.

DLM2000 - I am 100% with you on the doug fir color issue. We have some outside timbers, plus the entire inside timber frame is doug fir. I must have tried every stain color, only to land on leaving it natural. I'm embracing the orange, and after trying harder to work with its natural color, its growing on me:) (The internet was no help, as there are as many answers as to how to finish/what product to use as there are people answering.) FWIW, the posts look great to me in the photos you just posted. Remember, even when finished, they will tone down/become more gray/less orange over time.

Oh, Lily'smom it's beautiful ! It looks like a pretty, soft yellow but I understand your concern, not everyone is a yellow fan. I happen to love it and my very first on-my-own decorating included yellow gingham which still makes me smile. Now that she's come out of her shell a bit, share some more!

I am not a fan of yellow, but that does look nice. I think because it's not a giant wall of yellow siding.

I love yellow - such a cheerful color. And I love your porch.

Lily..how dare you call her plain. She is absolutely lovely :-)

I love the soft yellow! Such a sweet looking house!

That is a beautiful, soft yellow! And that porch! Looks very welcoming!

I'm pleased to say the exterior of our home is complete as the soffits and fascia went up last week.

The basement slab was poured overnight.

Hydro went in this week too.

Electrical and plumbing are underway and framing is just about done.

We are looking forward to getting our septic started next week. With a new baby and hubby's busy work schedule general contracting our home build continues to be time consuming but we are making progress, slower than we hoped but that's construction for you.

Lily'smom - Your home is beautiful. A nice place to come home to. I have to agree with all the other comments about the color. It looks great and seems to fit the house.

Casa - Looks like you have been busy. Can't wait to see the pictures as your build progresses!

So, I haven't really excited to join any of these threads... Lets say I didn't want to jinx anything...

BUT.. I
will now just to say... We have our land and we are working with an
architect on house plans, driveway location and siting. I wish it all
would move along faster :) But I know we need to be patient to figure
out all the details of what we want. We've been studying the wind for
the past month to make sure we get the siting just right!

197 acres. And this is a 270 degree panorama of our view taken on my phone.

Looks like everyone is chugging along and things are progressing nicely. Our house is 95% complete. We are down to the picky stuff and since our GC is a gem, he has already addressed what he knew I was going to call out. Outside is done except moving a light over about 8 inches so it's centered after the shutter install and a place where they tore a single on the edge. Inside, we will do our punch walk in 3 weeks and close in 4. I'm madly packing. Over all this has been an easy journey and it's because of our GC. Inside pics when the final clean is done.

Lily'smom- I love your house! Funny about that yellow color; a friend of mine went through the same thought process, and ended up painting his house yellow, too.

As for a name, we informally refer to our place as 'Timely Manor', as it was built in a timely manner; almost four years worth. Some one on here years ago mentioned the name, so I adopted it for our place. Some day I may paint a sign board for the front porch. Why not- we are supposed to be having fun, aren't we?

Lily'smom - I love the color and your house looks great. My current house is a pale yellow (Jersey Cream by SW) and I absolutely love it. It makes me smile every time I drive up. I wish I could paint my new house the same color but since we're building right next door, probably not a good idea. :)

We demo'd existing house on the lot in July and we FINALLY got the final plans from the architect. Now working on getting our permits with the city so we can finally start!!

We are moving along.... Still waiting to de idea what color of stain to do our front door, I don't know if I should match it to the hardwood floor or go totally different?! The picture of the front of our house looks odd because you can't see the fro t door since it has to be protected until it's finished. The coffered ceiling looks a bit different than I pictured in my head but I think it will separate the living room and kitchen area nicely.

Love the color Lilysmom! Fits her perfectly. Funny you should mention a name. We've been trying to come up with a name for our homestead too and just can't seem to find something that fits. We have 11 acres with a main house and guest cottage. Lots of oaks, lots of wild life but still can't come up w something!
Here's some more pics of our home. I had to laugh at one of the comments about the moving date being this past July; I feel ya. We're hoping to finally move late October/early November. Things are moving along. Cabinets are being installed. Everything looks great. One major hiccup has been waiting for the plumber to come fix the piping for our claw foot tub. Everyone tells me they are a pain but hoping ours works fine!

Here's the sweet cottage. My mom is going to live here; we can't wait to send the kids to her house at any time of the day or night! ;)

Lily's mom - it's BEAUTIFUL! So perfect.

Lily'smom, I'm so happy you posted a pic of your sweet house-I love the yellow and the mix of siding. I remember last month you made a comment about the turmoil you'd go through if anyone tore up your plan when someone asked if you posted it anywhere, it made me LOL.

April Z, I've loved seeing all the pics of your house and definitely love the cottage!

Doc5md, it definitely takes longer than expected especially living on acreage but it's worth it!

Time11130, I'm with you on the door stain question, I was wanting to stain my doors a little different from the floors but can't decide yet! I'm loving your exterior.

Casa di Villani, I have a new baby too but can't imagine being my own GC. I'm at the house all the time with my baby in a front carrier. Your house looks awesome.

My debacle with the exterior brick continues but the mudroom floors just got finished so at least SOME brick (it's actually porcelain tile) is making me happy! The grout dust is still there but you get the idea. The pic is from the garage and the door ahead is a side entry door.

Here's my exterior brick with some mortar scratched away to make it lighter (left), where I tried to whitewash it (middle, fail), and how dark the rest is (right).

The fireplace unfortunately has the same brick as the outside. They pulled all the dark mortar out of the fireplace and were going to add white (not the one in the pic below-whiter). I'm just not loving the brick-I know it will look better with white mortar but right now it's hard to see past it looking like a 1970's basement fireplace. Plus it's just not what I envisioned.

This was what I had in mind

I'm wondering how labor intensive/expensive it would be to pull it all out and put the porcelain tile but cut down 2" in length to tie in with the mudroom... I don't like the size of the mudroom tiles (they're 2x10, I wanted 4x8) but that size was the only color porcelain I found that I liked. Man, everyone is gonna hate me soon! But my GC said we're not doing so bad since this is the first thing in the entire build I haven't been happy with.

Mortar not in yet, yucko. Sample board is the color "white" but not white enough. I just bought "Avalanche" which is whiter.

This was right after they pulled all the mortar out, some bricks came out too

Lily, your home is beautiful. I personally prefer the simplicity of your clean lines and I think you managed to find the perfect yellow.

Skw - I really like both your sample board and the whitewashed brick. You mentioned the sample board isn't as light as you wanted. Did you like the whitewash? Hope you get to a happy place. I LOVE your mudroom!!

aprilz - can I send my kids to the cottage too lol? Not only is it adorable, but I love the concept of extra help with kids when you need!!

susha - so exciting to see things get started. It's a perfect time of year for framing.

time - we decided to go darker on our front door than the floors, which have a medium stain. If threw my builder off s bit lol. I'm trying to imagine his reaction if I'd brought in a totally different color lol. I say change it up!

char - congrats! Do you have a move in date? Love seeing a nicely manicured tree out front.

doc - wow! That is a gorgeous piece of property. Will be fun siting a house I'm sure!

I will move over to October with updates, but didn't want to skip some comments here. :-)