Even more pictures (Week 25)

More Pictures (week 26)

Enjoying our new house (Week 26)

It's been four weeks since I last updated the blog and that's because we have been so busy moving in, tending to the landscape, and enjoying our new home. We often comment to each other that we can't believe this is OUR home, it's just so nice. We started moving in on week 23 and finished the weekend of week 24. Tim is still working on several minor punchlist items, such as installing shutters. We have all our most used items unpacked and items that are still boxed up are out of sight and out of mind right now. We still need to hang pictures and many of the dust catchers (ie nick knacks you set on shelves)need unpacked. Most evening we work on watering grass and planting trees, bushes, and flowers. The grass is at the point where I will mow it for the first time today and there are still some spots that will need re-seeded. Looking back on this experience, both Katie and I really enjoyed the process and would do it over if we had to. We are happy with all of our choices, including those where we choose options that went over budget. Due to limitations on the number of pictures per post I have several additional posts with current pictures. Click the "Hatfield House" blog title to see all posts.

Staircase and exterior paint (week 22)

The wood floors are complete and they installed the carpet in the bedrooms today. Tim has been working on the staircase. We really like the square newel post we picked for the base of the stairs. Jose has been working on repainting each of the interior rooms. He has also painted the hardiboard on the front and back of the house. I spent the weekend on a tractor tilling the yard. I sowed 240lbs of a fescue/bluegrass grass seed blend, 100lbs of starter fertilizer, 50lbs of lime, and 40 bales of straw. Now we just need a little bit of rain to get it to germinate. The garage doors were also installed this week. The doors are all insulated so it will be nice working in the garage in the winter. I also had them install high lift doors and a jack shaft garage door opener which provides for more room above a vehicle. The door openers are the neatest gadget in the house because the opener button shows the time, temperature, and automatically senses movement in the garage and turns on the door opener light so you never walk in to a dark garage. All the appliances are wired up so we have been cleaning out cabinets and we moved several boxes of dishes in to get us going. The only things we have left at the concrete driveway and steps, bricking the steps and mailbox, glass shower doors, and a few punchlist items. We plan to start moving a few pieces of furniture this weekend.

Appliances are installed and yard work begins (Week 21)

The plumbers came back this week and hooked up all the faucets, toilets, hot water heater, and installed the connections for the refrigerator and dishwasher. The replacement wood floors arrived on Tuesday, which after spending two days acclimating to the climate of the house, allowed for installation to start on Thursday. Tim has been splitting his time between the house and a remodel project at Valley Building Supply. Tim worked on the floors Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. He finished the installation in the living room, foyer, and most of the dining room. He just needs to finish the dining room, start the office, and the upstairs hallway. We also received in the wood stair treads, banister, and pilasters for the staircase. Early this week, or maybe it was late last week, the excavators finished moving the dirt that was stored on the adjacent lot and leveled up our back yard. We really needed the extra dirt, it looks great. After talking to several people I decided to take some advice of purchasing some compost from the local mushroom plant to amend the soil to help grass grow. They filled my 5x10 utility trailer so high that the mound was almost taller than my 4Runner. I bought 3 loads, one for the front yard and two for the back. I'm sure I could use a few more loads but it was so time consuming waiting in line that this might have to do. Katie and I assembled our new kitchen table that we ordered. It has been in boxes at her office and we couldn't stand waiting any longer with the kitchen so close. Billy, the electrician, is supposed to be back to finish up some of the final electrical work this week. I also expect Tim will finish up the wood floors. We moved a few boxes of plates and glasses to the house this week so we can start washing dishes while Tim is finishing up. We expect to move some more in next weekend over Easter weekend.

Granite, concrete, septic, and deck (Week 20)

I skipped writing an update last week because there wasn't much that I could show. This week however several big steps were completed. Early this week the granite counter tops were installed in the kitchen and master bath. They decided to cut the kitchen island out of a solid slab which weighted approximately 800lbs and took 7 guys to lift in place. Last week Tim started building the back deck, which he worked on today as well with the installation of the support posts and hand rail. All he has left to do on the deck is to install the pilasters below the handrail. Yesterday the excavators started digging the septic system. By lunch today they had the tank and all the fill lines in place and ready to start covering them back up, however the local city inspector took the day off and told them they couldn't do anything else until he looks at it on Monday. Jose has been working since last weekend painting the bonus room and repainting many of the rooms upstairs. I scheduled Bellsouth and Dish Network to install telephone and TV service today. By noon I had a little TV in my media closet playing satellite TV/radio while I wired the alarm system. Yesterday Katie and I received the master bedroom light we ordered. We found a really nice light we liked at the Pottery Barn however after scouring the internet we found the identical light for sale on Overstock.com for over $100 less than the Pottery Barn price. I stayed up last night putting it together and this morning the electrician installed it in our bedroom. The other big milestone was the pouring concrete in the garage and front porch. The concrete in the garage was 4-6in thick and they did a good job finishing the concrete and providing a gentle slope. The HVAC has been up and running the last two weeks which makes it nice to come in and work on the house in comfort.
Next Monday the plumbers are scheduled to come in and complete the finish plumbing including installation of the water heater, toilets, and faucets. Tim ordered all of the supplies for the staircase and they should be ready to be installed next week as well. Tim had previously stopped installation of our wood floors because of a concern with how the ends of the boards fit together. Turns out the manufacturer was out of our floors so they shipped wood to the factory in Alabama to be milled and finished. The new floors should arrive on Tuesday and Tim is guessing he will have them installed by Thursday. Today was an exciting day with all the work that was going on. Tim has discussed possibly being done in about two more weeks which has Katie and I really excited to consider starting to move in. It is close!

Let there be light (week 18)

I don't have many pictures this week but we reached another major milestone with the connection of temporary power on Friday. I pulled up to the house on Friday morning to find Sweetwater Utilities Board working to pull wire from the transformer to our meter box on the side of the house. To my surprise they brought with them a new street light! I have been calling the city planner for 6 weeks and all I got was "I don't know", "I have to much paperwork on my desk to look", and "No, there aren't any more left", even though I knew there were. Luckily last week I talked to Delane Dacus, who we bought the lot from, who then talked to Mr. Plemons the original developer of the neighborhood. Apparently Mr. Plemons helped our city planner find the time to locate the lights because while the utility board guys were there they told me they found 10 more lights and they were going to go ahead and place them around the neighborhood. Friday night Katie and I went back to the house once it was dark and we got to see the house inside and out with all the lights turned on. I can't believe I didn't take a picture. All the rooms look like they have enough light except for maybe the master bathroom. We can always go back and add can lights in this location. I was also pleased when I pulled up Saturday morning to find a bulldozer moving lots of dirt. They moved some dirt on Monday to start getting the driveway up to grade. Saturday they finished grading out the driveway, adding dirt in front of the house, adding and sloping dirt on the side of the house, and adding dirt in the back yard to level out the yard immediately behind the house. We still need one full day of grading to finish up. The forecast is looking good for Monday and Tim has alot planned while the weather is good. Tim is planning on installing the back elevated deck and the HVAC guys are scheduled to install the heat and air on Monday. Tim is also working with the excavators to install the septic tank and fill lines. The counter top crew should be back early next week to install the granite and then the plumbers can do final tie-in. We are getting really close now that final connections are being made. Tim has been holding off on putting more of the wood floors in until all the subs finish their interior work to ensure they don't get scratched up.

Cabinets, lighting, tile, and stone installation (Week 17)

Finishing touches continue to be installed bringing all those choices together so we can finally see how everything looks. Patrick and George from Lowe's Cabinet and Lighting Gallery in Cleveland arrived with the cabinets and vanities on Monday and worked all week to install them. Back when we met with Kim at Just So Decorating she was a little concerned with our preference of going with Brazilian Cherry Floors with Cherry cabinets with a dark Cabernet stain. Now that we can finally see it all together we are very pleased with how they look. Billy, our electrician also returned this week to finish wiring the electrical switches and outlets, install the grounding system, and install the interior lights. The electrical inspector is supposed to be back this coming Monday which will allow for connection of temporary power. This will allow us to get rid of all those extension cords and turn on the lights. Last week Katie and I decided on man made Ledgestone in a Bucktown color for the fireplace surround. Katie wanted a color that was a tan/gray mixture and I wanted something the was primarily gray. We went with the Bucktown which is a tan/gray mixture however now that it is up it is definitely predominantly gray. Luckily we both think it looks really nice. Tyler, the "tile guy", finished up the tile work this week by grouting the tile he had already started last week and completing the master bath tub surround and tile shower. We are really pleased and excited about the master bath. Everything looks fabulous. Gutters were also installed. We didn't get any earth moved this week and the forecast for next week isn't favorable. Something is going to have to change or the inside of the house will be done and we won't have a septic system, driveway, lawn, or deck. Next week Tim is planning to start installing wood through the rest of the main floor of the house and hopefully the electrical inspection goes well.

Soffits and floors (week 16)

The finishing touches are starting to come together. The Brazilian Cherry wood floors arrived Wednesday. Tile came in at the end of last week and was installed this week. Next Monday our cherry kitchen and bathroom cabinets are being delivered along with the interior lighting fixtures. Tim and Travis worked late several nights this week to make sure the hard wood floors were installed in the kitchen, breakfast nook, and keeping room. Likewise Tyler, the "tile guy", installed the tile in the upstairs bathrooms, laundry room, and powder room. He prepped the master bathroom for tile which will start Monday morning. Tim also worked on putting up the crown molding on the main floor and the 7 1/4 in. baseboards. I finished building the tall doorway headers and finished the sheetrock I installed several weeks ago in my media distribution room/closet.

We had several nice days of weather this week which allowed a crew to install the soffits on the exterior. That really helped put a finished look on the exterior. There is a chance we will get some warmer and somewhat dry weather this coming week. Tim is hoping the excavators can bring in a high lift dozer to start the final grading. The construction site has really turned in to a mess so it will be good to get it cleaned up and leveled.

Next week should be really exciting with the cabinets and lighting. We should also see the tile installed in the master bath. At this point it is hard not to be excited that the project to so close to being complete. We keep getting asked when we will have a party and or cookout. I have a feeling we are going to have to hard several house warming parties with everyone who has been interested in the new house.

Coffered Ceilings (week 14.5)

My latest project with the house has been to build coffered or beamed ceilings. Many of the Frank Betz house plans include this architectural detail, however ours did not. So...when we decided not to build the vaulted ceiling in the den this made the perfect place to add this detail. It has taken me three days to build the beams and I still need to add crown molding between each of of the squares. Tim has been busy this week working of installing the interior doors and other trim.

The house of 9 colors (Week 14)

Paint and primer were delivered Monday afternoon and the paint work is 95% complete. The painter ran out of paint for the foyer and garage, but everything else is done! We had rain and snow all week, again, so no exterior work was completed this week. Valley Building Supply received two boxes of flooring to help us decide. We chose the Brazilian Cherry. Tim is wanting to start trim work this coming week. The forecast is for rain and snow Tuesday through Thursday, again.