A view through the window...

While I was out at the house today waiting for the cable guy to show up, I took several photos from inside the house, so excuse the view of the window screens...

The septic guys were there on their bobcat, filling in the trenches with dirt...
The builder had someone doing the rough grading of the yard...
There were many painters there doing last minute jobs and touch-ups...
The electricians were there to install the small lights behind the valance in the great room. Each light was individually packaged and one guy sat there for a long time just unpacking all the lights.
The kitchen guy had put the fans up in the vent over the cooktop. He still doesn't have the vent cover and needs to add some insulation in around the fans to lessen the noise.
After the heavy rain we had last night, it looks like we still have a couple areas in the basement where water is getting in...
DH is heading out to the house after work tonight to see how things are coming along. I think I'm going to stay right here and pack, pack, pack!

Countdown to move day: 6 days and counting! (oh, and did I mention that we're going to a wedding in NC on Saturday? and that we're driving and leaving on Friday? and that we won't be home until late Sunday? well, DH decided he and DS need to stay here and move a bunch of stuff this weekend, so he won't be going to the wedding after all. dd and I will lose out on 2.5 days of packing while we're away - yikes!)

Showers and nieces and vents! Oh, my!

I drove out to the house this afternoon with my MIL, a friend, and DH's 2 nieces from TX who are visiting their grandmother, so they could all see the house. The shower door had just been installed in the master bathroom...

DH and I just noticed that the door is hinged on the left instead of the right. The water controls are behind the half-wall on the left, so the door should have been hinged on the other side to make access to the controls easier.
Here is a photo of DH's nieces, taken from the basement, looking up at them on the attic level...
That view up the stairs isn't nearly as interesting as looking down to the basement from the attic level...
We also noticed (now that the doors are on) that the master bathroom toilet room (or should I call it a water closet?) door is opening into the main section of the bathroom, instead of opening into the toilet area. Having the door open out blocks the light switches just inside the bathroom.
I spoke with the builder. He said that there should be someone there tomorrow to start moving some dirt around. He also said the flies will arrive, as they will be spreading mushroom manure, or something similar that will attract the flies (and it won't smell nearly as nice as it does today!!).

The kitchen guy was working on the in-ceiling vent when we arrived. He said he didn't have the vent cover yet, so he couldn't finish it.

The septic guys are not done yet. It looks like they've run most of the pipe from the tanks to the leech field, but they are still working on something.

I'm heading out to the house in the morning so that I can meet the cable guy. Of course I have a 3.5 hour window of time that he could arrive, so I'll have to find a book to read. I wish I could take some of my sewing things out with me to start organizing the sewing studio while I wait for him...

Items completed as of today are marked in green...

septic tank - almost done - probably 1 more day of work
gas lines - still need to be connected by the gas company
furnace
A/C
painting
kitchen - granite, finish-work, vent fan, pulls, granite backsplash, appliances
plumbing
electrical - lights/fans, valance lights (probably going in Wednesday or Thursday)
gutters
brick/stone/pillars
driveway - concrete, gravel
grading - rough, topsoil
sewing studio - knobs/pulls, upper crown moulding on cabinets
master bath - grout, finish shower, cabinets, glass doors, baseboard stone, granite
stained woodwork on great room walls
closet shelves/rods
pantry shelves
stain front door
paint garage doors, install gaskets
grab bars on guest tub
shower curtain rods in 2 bathrooms
stairs
fix vanity granite backsplash in kids' bathroom, recess medicine cabinet?
top for windowseat
doors on bookcase shelves in great room
doorknobs
carpet (going in on Monday)
fireplace granite surround

Countdown to move day: 7 days and counting!

Step by tiny step...

The house is looking quite finished from the front, except for the rough grading, and top soil that needs to be spread. The front porch looks finished, except for the columns that need to be painted. The builder added a stone-covered pillar in the front of the house to display our house number and for the outdoor light to sit on.
The bathroom tiler must have worked today - the shower has had an enhancing sealer applied and the whole shower is now grouted. The sealer really brought the colors out. The tub still hasn't been grouted yet, but the plumber installed the shower heads and handles.

The carpet was partially finished. They completed the carpet installation in the guest bedroom...
and in the music room...
But the carpet in the other bedrooms and the third floor hallway wasn't done. All the pieces are there and laid out, but not installed. This is the master bedroom carpet...
This is DS's bedroom...
I'm not going to repeat the list of what needs to be finished, as not enough was done today. The kitchen guys hadn't done anything new, the electrician hadn't been back, and if the septic guys were there at all, they didn't get finished.

Countdown to move day: 8 days and counting!

It's looking good...

The electrician and a couple of carpenters were at the house today putting in lights and doorknobs. The cleaning crew was also there making everything look nice. It certainly makes a huge difference to get all the plaster dust off of everything, especially the wood on the stairs and the floors. The wood floors had been given another coat of sealer and they are looking gorgeous. I believe they are doing the final coat on Tuesday or Wednesday.

We came up to the house through the field today so that we could check out what the septic guys have been up to. From the patio side of the house, we could see that the support columns are finished. DH was surprised to see that they were square, as the plans had called for round ones. I like these much better...they still need to be painted. The patio columns match the columns on the front porch (which are almost done).

The bricklayers had finished up the brick over the concrete pad and up to the step near the mudroom door. I'm not sure why they didn't have the brick in there before the pad was poured.
I was also very happy to see the bathroom fixtures installed! And they even work now - the water was connected to both. And judging from the partial roll of toilet paper sitting there, the ones in the powder room have also been broken in. :-D
My fear that the refrigerator was still in the garage because it didn't fit in the space turned out to be unfounded (phew!). It was in place and running, as were all the other appliances in the kitchen...
The fireplace hearth is finished - the triangular pieces were not in place the last time we were out there...
I had taken lightbulbs out to the house today so I could see what the kitchen pendant lights look like when they are lit up, but we found when we got there that someone had put bulbs in them yesterday after I left. I like these better now that they are lit up...
I still like the blue ones too!
DD's window seat looks really nice now that it is clean and shiny! I bought fabric for the back of her window seat pad yesterday so now I can finish making the pad (and she can cover up all that gorgeous, shiny wood with her seat cushion)!

This is the leech field for the septic system...
It looks like they had to cut down about 4 small trees to get the septic system installed...
The septic tanks are now in the ground and connected to the plumbing in the house...
Here is one of the outdoor sconces...

Items completed as of today are marked in green...

septic tank - almost done - probably 1 more day of work
gas lines - still need to be connected by the gas company
furnace
A/C
painting
kitchen - granite, finish work, vent fan, pulls, granite backsplash, appliances
plumbing
electrical - lights/fans, valance lights (probably going in Wednesday or Thursday)
gutters
brick/stone/pillars
driveway - concrete, gravel
grading - rough, topsoil
sewing studio - knobs/pulls, upper crown moulding on cabinets
master bath - grout, finish shower, cabinets, glass doors, baseboard stone, granite
stained woodwork on great room walls
closet shelves/rods
pantry shelves
stain front door
paint garage doors, install gaskets
grab bars on guest tub
shower curtain rods in 2 bathrooms
stairs
fix vanity granite backsplash in kids' bathroom, recess medicine cabinet?
top for windowseat
doors on bookcase shelves in great room
doorknobs
carpet (going in on Monday)
fireplace granite surround

Countdown to move day: 10 days and counting!

The septic man cometh!!

Hallelujah! The septic system is going in! We were excited to see the septic man's equipment at the house tonight.
He has been busy digging trenches and holes for the tanks.
The front door has been stained and sealed and the columns have been started. The column bases will have stone on them.
The refrigerator was in the garage (I'm hoping that isn't a sign of it not fitting), but all the other appliances were in place in the kitchen.

The beverage area is almost finished. The glass is in the doors and the ice maker, beverage refrigerator and oven are in place. The faucet has also been installed. I'm not sure why the faucets went in before the granite backsplash - it seems like it will be trickier to install the granite with the faucets in place. The cabinet pulls have also been added.
Here is the main oven, installed under the cooktop...
And the dishwasher is in place...
The main faucet is in...
And it is VERY close to the window trim...we are going to wait until the granite backsplash is installed and then maybe we'll have the window trim cut back a little bit.

The woodwork in the great room has been sealed. It looks much better without all the white dust all over it.
The master bathroom tiler worked today and finished the floor in the shower, the seat in the shower, and the stone baseboard. He will be back tomorrow to grout everything. This is the stone baseboard...
So, thank you to those who voted on the newell post topper. We decided to go with the square topper.
The fireplace mantel has been stained to match the cherry cabinets in the kitchen.

Items completed as of today are marked in green...(I added a couple of items that I had forgotten about.)

septic tank
gas lines - still need to be connected
furnace
A/C
painting
kitchen - granite, finish work, vent fan, pulls, granite backsplash, appliances
plumbing
electrical - lights/fans, valance lights
gutters
brick/stone/pillars
driveway - concrete, gravel
grading - rough, topsoil
sewing studio - knobs/pulls, upper crown moulding on cabinets
master bath - grout, finish shower, cabinets, glass doors, baseboard stone, granite
stained woodwork on great room walls
closet shelves/rods
pantry shelves
stain front door
paint garage doors, install gaskets
grab bars on guest tub
shower curtain rods in 2 bathrooms
stairs
fix vanity granite backsplash in kids' bathroom, recess medicine cabinet?
top for windowseat
doors on bookcase shelves in great room
doorknobs
carpet
fireplace granite surround

So, it turns out that the kitchen granite backsplash has not been templated. The granite fabricators will be there tomorrow to template for them. The carpet is going in on Monday, the master bathroom shower doors will be installed on Tuesday, and the granite in the master bathroom and (hopefully) the kitchen granite backsplash will be installed on Thursday.

Countdown to move day: 12 days and counting!