We have progress!

The lines are stretched. Whatever they're called. (The arrows are to show you the string lines they put in.) This week they're supposed to put in the pad. I may actually have a house someday! It feels almost surreal after so many setbacks.

cpartist, we were well into to process of building before we got pregnant. We'll be moving with a newborn... in the winter. Can't say we planned it well. On the plus side, she will have an awesome new bed room.

Aw, rmverb, a first baby, how exciting! It will be wonderful that the house she remembers growing up in will be the one you built from the ground up. We moved in October (10 plus years ago) with our first baby when he was 2 months old. Not to a home we built ourselves, though. Best of luck and congratulations again to you!

cpartist, yay for progress!

Rmverb, I would've bet a large amount of money that she is your first. The buckled in, in the rock n play was a dead giveaway!!

The linoleum palace is getting makeup. I'm really happy with the color choice- can't wait to see the whole thing!

Great color choice Greenwood!

Gorgeous shade choice, greenwood!

am_e - Love your house. I have a question about your stair railing. What are the balusters? Also the dimensions of the railing?

thanks arch123! - I need to go over to the house and measure to answer the question about the railing dims - I'll surely be over there this week, maybe tomorrow. So I'll get back to you.

rmverb, Olivia is beautiful!! How much did she weigh? My new baby is 4 months old and we have a 13 year old. I wasn't pregnant when we started the plans and by the time we found out I didn't want to go back to the drawing board and start over. So we have a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom that has a lot of future expansion opportunities with an unfinished basement and an unfinished bonus room. The baby will share a room with a guest room for a while (obviously not when guests are over) then maybe in a few years we'll finish one of the areas for the 13 year old. Hard to believe she'll be graduating high school in 4.5 years :(.

skw27, she was 7lbs 12oz. We built the house with 2 kids in mind, so we did a jack&jill as well as a guest suite. We also have unfinished bonus space and an unfinished basement... lots of room to grow. However I can't ever see us needing that much space. Together they would add over 2,000 square feet to a house that's already 4,500.

I am back. I was out of town for a couple weeks on a road trip meeting my great-nephew for the first time. I couldn't meet him last winter as I had a broken ankle, and I do hate Florida in the summer. So, I drove down this month to see him and visit some relatives and friends both to and fro.

Effectively, I was away from my build for about three weeks. Sometimes, though...

They did finally get the septic leeching fields in, and the septic tank should actually be in place as I type. This is the house pipe to the tank. Below are the leeching fields with at least four more layers of proper sand to arrive.

Other outdoor work -- south exposure, then west exposure: Note, staining will start to happen SOONEST, as I've arranged for it. We are going for an "almond" tone outdoors, and the recent planking "should" align with the logs themselves. Logs will be a little darker due to bark-like inclusions, but overall this will blend.

Yes, I am holding them to that!

Indoors:

We tested a few floor stains on pine, but this one is STILL too dark, although NOT so on the sample board. It seemed fine on random flooring. I'll deal with it on the bedroom/closet floors but not in the main/public part of the house. I'm bringing up new samples of stain when I get back up there, Thursday. Note though -- I LOVE the lever closet handle! (And yes, this looks worse in the photo than in real life.)

Master bath: Will have removable shelves so that access is enabled behind plumbing. There will also be a door. Anyhow, we now have hardee board for the shower.

Master bath: I need to find over the cabinet lighting that will work in this location -- the wiring will go higher -- I'm tall, so the mirror is tall. (I am asking in the bathroom forum.)

Ok arch123, here is the stair info:

Railings:

Top = 3 1/2" tall, x 2 1/2 " wide
Bottom = 2 1/2 " tall x 3 1/2 " wide (so, same material as the tops rail , just rotated)

railings were made by our trim carpenter, and are doug fir to match the timber frame

Balusters: our GC bought the stair parts from here:

https://www.westfirestairparts.com/iron-balusters/crown-heritage-forged-iron/extra-large-hollow-balusters/

balusters are 3/4" square, part number 2700, flat shoe 2811, angles shoe 2821, all finished in satin black

We're very happy with the stair railings. I remember having a hard time finding detailed information on stair railings so I could decide what to do, so hopefully this helps you/someone else.

Showers are all done. The only tile left to do are the back splashes in the master bath and the kitchen. This tile guy does great work! We just got an offer on our current house and the buy wants to close by 12/30. Now the heat is on the builder to finish this damn house.

The big day finally arrived. Picked up permits for our new home today after I agreed to include fire sprinklers as per code requirements, yesterday. I will report further progress on my old thread from last year. Can't wait to start though it's a damp part of the year in this region (PNW).

Rmverb..may I ask what the tile is in your last two pictures? What tub did you choose?

No slivers of tile and the tile wraps nicely around the corners. Looks like a good tile job.

ILoveRed, I will have to ask the tile people. It's a matte subway tile, but I do not know the brand. I also like the way he used Schluter pieces to trim the edges of the niches and the outside border of the shower. Makes for a really clean look.

am-e, that house is coming along lovely! I really love your stairs -- almost wish I had some (other than the basement ones which don't count).

cp, it is so GOOD they're finally doing something physical on your lot(s)! I'm definitely excited for you!

ILoveRed, I'm sorry... I didn't see your question about the tubs . The tubs are Kohler cast iron Bellwether. Very nice tubs. Love the look and feel of real cast iron. We initially were going to use American Standard Americast, but these weren't that much more.

So, they messed up the house... again.. and it worked into our favor, I think. We kept saying we were missing 6-8" somewhere as we had to increase the laundry room width to 60" as it was 54", and that made my daughter's walk in closet, not so walk-in any longer. We were not sure where it went.

Turns out, the stairs were supposed to be like 48" wide, they turned out like 54" wide. They had to order special treads for them.

The stair person was given a picture when we were asked for what color and stain (we originally wanted it all stained).. he took it literally.. yea...

So, forget the carpet, we wanted stain.. but the first picture is how it SHOULD have looked... the second is how it turned out (he has not painted or stained anything yet)

The stairs are going to be stained to try to match the flooring. The balusters and the post will be white. The rails will be stained.

I think they still need a rail on the upper left. Wife has 1 leg and if she does not have the prosthetic on, 5 steps can be a problem... or at least hand prints on that wall.. heh

Oh, on a side note, I think it looks a lot nicer when the balusters go into the steps as in the bottom picture than when they go into the standard white wood. Either is nice, don't get me wrong, I just think he went a little extra mile.

He did Russ. Your stairs look nice.

Thanks Rmverb...Nice looking tub. I used cast iron in my last house. Two Mendotas. Your tub has slightly more depth (in water) and is almost 2 inches shorter which would make it easier to get into. I may use it in my guest room. Thanks!

Ps. If you get a chance to find out the tile that will be great. No hurry.

Well, I was up again at my build on Friday (and will be up again on Thanksgiving, because I will be going to a community turkey supper there (and bringing roasted Brussels sprouts with onion, cranberry and bacon, to be topped by smoked Gouda cheese). My GC and his wife may also be attending!

Anyhow, updates:

1) we finally got the master bath shower tile. It looks bland compared to what I ordered from Lowe's. So rather than tearing my hair out yet again over the tile (two TWO previous tiles got discontinued!!!), I'm going to re-think the accent tile for that shower. The stuff will work with the floor tile, but it is definitely bland and not remotely dynamic. We'll have to return the accent tile I'd purchased. Anyhow, I think it is a lot discrepancy, not a wrong order. The pattern is right, the tones are too greyish and drab.

2) GC will need to modify the shelving behind the shower -- it needs to be 10-12 inches deeper to hold bath towels properly. If I were awash in "products" it could work but I'm not real "frilly" that way. One shelf for "products", the rest for towels and master bedroom bedsheets. He's willing.

3) Somewhere up in this thread I posted what happened to the office floor stain -- somehow FAR darker than the test staining we did to pick that color. Obviously, I can't stain over it and I'm not ripping the floor out -- so that room and the master bedroom will have that stain, but the guest room, hallway, living/dining area will have a lighter stain. See below -- I picked Minwax "Ipswitch Pine", the second color. (The first looks simply dirty, the third is too red and is reminiscent of watered down fresh blood - my Goth days are over, and the fourth is again too dark.)

4) I have an on-demand tankless hot water tank, yay team! As you can tell, right now I can demand all I want, and nothing's going to happen (yet). I really do LOVE the color coded water lines!

5) And the septic tank is in place. Three outtake holes for that periodic cleansing, and a lot larger a tank than what I have at my current home. Believe me, this is the only time the thing will smell sweet! View from the dining room, and then a closeup into a pump-out hole.

You guys, we are so so so close... should be finishing painting the facade next week (maybe the following since we have the holiday.) We got our furniture delivered yesterday... we basically have none. We have a 1br apartment's worth of furniture in a 3bed, 4bath house now. I can't even think of shopping for anything else at this point.

It looks great greenwood framed! Love that front door and siding color. We're also moving from essentially a 1 bedroom to a 3 bed, 2.5 bath house (almost 3x the space). " I can't even think of shopping for anything else at this point." is exactly my thought right now. Good luck with the move! I'm hoping we'll be moving in January.

Well, after a very slow and painful two weeks where next to nothing had been done (subcontractor issues), our cabinet installers showed up and did some work in the kitchen and all of the bathrooms. The cabinets, while they may appear white, are actually ivory. The walls will eventually be painted a soft gray color, so it won't look like "white overkill".

The tall cabinets to the right side of the oven are large built-in doors that allow access to our walk-in pantry. The walk-in pantry turns to the left and goes about 10 feet and stops somewhere behind the oven/microwave. The below picture shows them with one of the doors open...

On the left hand side of the kitchen are the fridge and beverage center cabinets as seen below...

The picture below is our double vanity in the master bathroom...

Yesterday morning we met the trim carpenter at the house to discuss closet shelving and they already had the majority of the interior doors installed. Of course they still need to be painted, but we were just glad to see someone working...

After completing all of the trim/shelving in the house, he will finish up the work on the stairs. The below picture shows how they custom built and shape the handrail to get it to match the curved stairs. The handrail is actually clamped to the outside of the stairs in this fashion. The small area under the stairs will be where our little rat terrier will sleep...

Wow some great progress is being made on your homes! Some beautiful pictures too, makes me wish I had bought a drone to document our construction. @cpartist congrats on your build I'm happy it is all working out for you.

We also have a new addition to our family, our first baby was born late September so the pressure is on to complete our home. General contracting and working on a lot of the construction ourselves has proven to be a bit challenging with a little one.

However in a few more months it will have been two years since we purchased our land and I'm so excited we are finally at the drywall stage! It feels like we are turning a corner. Hopefully we should be decorating the interior including the nursery in no time. Below are our latest progress pictures.

The front of our home

septic tank install in the backyard

great room insulation

master bedroom spray foam and fiberglass batts

Trim color going on...

If someone would have told me that I would select an Eifs color with an Orange tint to it I would have laughed. But, it is starting to grow on me. We will use a really dark brown color for the trim. Hopefully that will tone the orange down a little bit.

Murfy...it looks fabulous with your stone. Love your stone btw!!

Maybe it's the light but doesn't come off orange to me.

New to this thread. Background: We started planning in April of 2015. The first plan was great but a bit too large and complicated, so we reworked it to make it affordable. It is very similar to the original but a bit more streamlined. That part took place this summer/early fall. Since then, we waited on bids and then permits. What's been done: Driveway is in (1100 ft.), we have a well, Farm Electrical panel is up and waiting for the inspection and then the electric company to run lines up to it, and our builder is intending to start digging Monday or Tuesday depending on weather, I guess. This makes me nervous as we live in Illinois and we really wanted to get started a month ago as winter is going to be setting in pretty soon and we wanted to be enclosed before then. Our builder is experienced and well recommended and he thinks it will be okay, but I'm nervous about it. Apparently subs and inspectors don't seem to have any sense of urgency about the upcoming weather.

murffy the color looks fine to me in the photo.

housequester, we started with our plans in March of 2015. We finally broke ground on Monday.

@cpartist, It's nice to have someone so close to our schedule. I hope you keep posting here; it'll be interesting to see where you are in the process as we go, being only a week (I hope) ahead of us. Where is your build?

We are in SW FL and if you're interested in our build, you can read about all our woes by searching Cpartist's saga.

So they were supposed to dig for the footers last week. Turned out there was a problem with 2 trees being in the way. So they didn't dig until Monday.

Then Tuesday morning the city was supposed to inspect, then the rebar and footers were supposed to be poured on Tuesday afternoon. Well guess what? Yep. No footers.

Apparently they had a problem removing the two trees. They came back to remove the trees today, but the inspector can't come out now until Monday, (of course with the holiday). So now we are scheduled to pour either Monday afternoon or Tuesday. Yeah, right!

housequester - we are on the same schedule too. Builder just finished blasting and are starting to dig for the foundation. Hoping to get the foundation started next week. We are building in Maine so I understand the nervousness. We are too but have been assured that it won't be an issue. We are 6 + weeks behind schedule due to a variety of reasons!

Rough plumbing inspection passed. Corten siding is almost 1/2 up. slow and steady progress .

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! So much to be thankful for including being able to build a home!

Thanks! +1 on the Thanksgiving wishes to everyone! I'm thankful every single day for being able to live where we do!

Makeup on, wreath added. The Linoleum Palace is looking very festive! Thankful for our home and this process being almost over!

So far the stone looks awesome. Really compliments the siding.

It does look great rmverb.

@rmverb, what stone did you use on the exterior? It's really pretty.

It's Environmental Stoneworks ledge stone and the color is Vail.

We closed on our lot yesterday! Finally! To save time we started schematics while in escrow and our schematic design is in for design review with our DRC. If that goes well, our architects will start on permit-ready plans in January. Right now it feels like we'll never get to the fun part - building. Hopefully early next year.

They finally put the rebar in the ground today. Now the question is when do they pour?

After everything being pretty quiet the week before Thanksgiving, we had lots of action today. The plumber, electrician, and hvac contractors were all at the house today.

Counters are in:

We have activity! They actually started digging our basement today. I never knew I could get emotional at the sight of an excavator!