Here's the gross story of the day...if you've just eaten, I suggest waiting a few hours for proper digestion before continuing to read.
Got off yesterday and took my sister and dad to the house. Dad hadn't seen it yet and I showed him around and snapped some pictures since I had about 5 people ask me about the progress yesterday. Anyway, we left and went home to make dinner. Casey had already been to the house earlier in the day and asked me if I noticed anything funny...I hadn't. Then he dropped some fairly disturbing news on me. Turns out we need to get a port-a-potty out there asap because the subcontractors are taking it upon themselves to poop on our house. I couldn't believe it (not that he would lie, but I just didn't want to think it could happen), I ran and got my pictures. It was the first picture I had taken of that side of the house since we started construction, so I could have just as easily not taken a picture of it. But there it was. We're surrounded by woods, and someone took the time to lean up on the house, pull down their pants and poop on the house. Not once, but THREE times. I'll save you the horror of looking at it so I won't post that picture. I think the builder is going to have a "heart to heart" with the culprits about the issue. Granted, we should have gotten a port-a-potty out there sooner. And I can understand them going NEAR the house in a pinch because of the remoteness of our location...but ON it is just spiteful. Do these subs really want to work or are they glad the recession is stopping the building process? Seriously. That's a great way to not get another job with someone who is actually building in this economy...geez.
Not to mention, last week Casey and I spent about 3 hours picking up accumulated trash from around the house. Food wrappers, soda and beer cans, chew cans...yuck. These subs are freakin' disgusting. Who treats other people's stuff like that?
Anyway, on to more happy thoughts...we have plumbing and HVAC started. Here are the pics...
The front of the house...all windows and doors are in. Window on the left is the master closet and the window next to the garage is the dining room.
I feel like now would be a good time (and probably the only time) to gloat about a small victory for me. If you will recall several posts ago, there was some...tension...about the front door. Argument stemming mainly from a decorative ledge. We "compromised" and got the door I liked but without design-critical ledge that I loved. I had accepted the fact that my life would be lived with a front door that wasn't truly complete in my eyes. The things you do for love...anyway, got a GREAT call from the builder last week. Door was delivered and an error by the company means they sent the door WITH my beloved ledge. And it would take 30 days to get a new one, so Casey agreed to just live with the ledge. It was meant to be, my friends, it was meant to be. So you can't really see it that well from this small picture, but I think if you click on it the picture will enlarge and you'll be able to see the ledge...enjoy, I know I will !
Here's the tub in the upstairs bathroom. Plumbing is all there, we just need water and fixtures and we're set.
Laundry room plumbing is set.
Imagine pink cabinets...or it could be that the pink lines are the general outline of our cabinets.
That's the master shower
On such a warm day, the concrete was getting nervous...sweating like crazy :)
View of the back of the house. I can just see the grill going now...
The view from the downstairs patio, underneath the deck.
More from under the deck.
Closer view of the front of the house.
*Note, had I decided to post the picture of the side with the poop stains, it would have occurred here. That's the chronology of the pictures I took.
This is the other side view of the deck. Hadn't posted anything from this side of the house yet. As mentioned earlier, for some reason I just hadn't taken any pictures from that side.
So there you have it, some more pictures of our lovely abode.
What's under way now? Glad you asked. We meet with the electrician tomorrow to talk about lighting and outlet location and such. Should be talking with the cabinet guy again soon. I've found some new products that I think I want to incorporate into the build. First, since we will be cleaning and staining the basement concrete ourselves, I was concerned about the toxicity of the etching solution. Sooo, I found this stuff called Soycrete. It's a plant based concrete staining system that is MUCH safer to use and provides a more uniform finish than the typical etching/staining systems. There's multiple products, cleaner, stain and sealer...the stain is called Soycrete and the other things have other soy related names. But I'm really excited about it. It's basically the same cost as traditional acid based cleaners and then I have to pay shipping because, surprise, Springfield doesn't cater to any type of environmentally friendly building at a reasonable price. Anyway, so I was looking at the site where I wanted to order some samples and found another great eco-friendly building product. Paperstone countertops. They are basically like other solid surface countertops, think Corian, but made out of recycled paper products and a natural based resin to bind it all together. They look pretty cool so I'm going to talk to our cabinet guy and see if he knows anything about them. Another brand, same type thing is Ecotop. If anyone knows anything about any of these products, let me know! I'm pretty certain I'll be using the Soycrete stuff, so I'll keep you all posted on how that turns out.
The pictures are getting a bit boring, I know. It's hard to tell in a picture now what changes are being made, but I think sheetrock will be the next big visible accomplishment and then I'll definitely post liberally with any of the projects we tackle ourselves. Tiling and concrete staining and such. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands dirty :) As long as it's not with subcontractor filth!
