And TA-DA! The house is done!

We signed the morgage documents this morning. It took a couple hours, but it is almost officially ours! Hopefully tomorrow the loan will fund, and our purchase will be recorded. As soon as that happens, we get the keys!

The house is stunning (if I do say so myself!) It has truly met and exceeded our expectations!

A lot has happened...

It really has been a while since I last updated the blog. A lot has happened! Here is a run down...
It really did get a roof:

and then that night part of the roof blew off! AHH! Talk about frustrating! One step forward and two steps back!

Then came some of the internal pieces: baths, showers, fireplace, furnace, etc.

Then some of the externals started! It's starting to look like a house!

The the insulation and sheet rock:

Exterior paint:

Doors, interior paint, fire place tile, flooring, and driveway:

The inside is DONE!!

It has a roof!

Sort of! I suspect that the roof will be completed today, but it was so exciting to see it look more like a house than a box. I'm pretty sure the framers have figured out that this is my house... they recognize my car and smile and shake their heads! (Yes, I know that I am suffering a little obsessive-compulsive behavior regarding this house... but I'm having so much fun!)

Construction schedule!

We have a construction schedule and a new move date! Originally our closing date was the middle of April, then it was moved to May 31st... now we get to move out the end of April. We will stay with Chad's folks until the house is closed around May 8th! We received the updated information at the builders/buyers meeting this week. I was sick and stayed home, but Chad met some of our new neighbors. It sounds like we ended up with some nice people, which is a relief! When you move, it feels like there is a bit of Russian Roulette involved! So, here is the schedule:

03/31/2010: Windows & Exterior Doors
04/01/2010: Rough-Ins
04/02/2010: Roofing
04/07/2010: Siding & Installation
04/16/2010: Exterior Painting
04/13/2010: Sheetrock/Tape/Texture
04/17/2010: Install Gutters
04/19/2010: Flat-work
04/16/2010: Garage Door Installation
04/23/2010: Trim/Cabinets/Lighting
04/24/2010: Interior Painting
04/26/2010: Attic Blow In Insulation
04/28/2010: Hard Surfaces
04/26/2010: Install Sod and Landscaping
04/28/2010: Mirrors, Wire Shelving & Appliances
04/28/2010: Finals
05/03/2010: Touch-up
05/08/2010: Home Buyer Walk-through
05/08/2010: Projected Completion Date

The Door...

As predicted the last post is already slightly outdated! The the side access door is in! or... well... there is a hole in the wall the size of a door. Hopefully putting a door in is the builders intent! :)

Moving along...

Everyone has been saying "once the foundation goes in it will go really fast." Seriously, I have heard that so much that I think I might be going deaf. That said: they were right... so far. The foundation was poured on the 15th. The framing has gone so fast that by the time this post is up, it will be out-dated. I have two photos posted. One was taken Monday and the second was taken yesterday. Big change! Yeah!

Though it does seem to be moving faster... all is not daisy's. They appear to have forgotten to frame in the side access garage door. I am sure this is just a minor hiccup, and we have made them aware of it! :)

If the neighbors houses are any indication, it will continue to move along quickly. They have put on their roofs and siding and are beginning work on the interior. Now that there is real progress, this "house building thing" is less frustrating, and much more fun! Every time we drive by something is new. This is exciting!

Progress! WooHoo!

After LONG (apparently unnecessary) delays; building has officially begun on our lot. Our lender - bless her - was just as frustrated with these delays as we were, and called the builders realtor. The next day the forms were up, and we had the promise of them pouring the foundation on Monday.

We were pretty skeptical however, as we had been told that at least once a week since mid February. Given that information, imagine our surprise when by lunchtime on Monday... nothing had happened. Another call from our peeps to theirs, resulted in "we are pouring today, we promise," and our cynical response of "yeah, okay."

So you can imagine our out-right shock! when by late afternoon the foundation was poured. Truth be told, the delays wouldn't have felt so long had they only been realistic and honest about what they were doing, and when it would get done.

I guess that just reinforces the old adage that 'honesty is the best policy'... 'the truth will set you free'... 'thou shall not lie'... :) Get the idea?

Driveway Length

So I've been a little worried about parking my (Chad's) truck at the new house. If you don't know already, I bought myself a 2006 Chevy Silverado crew cab long bed back in September.


Yes that is an 8" lift and yes, those are 37" tires. No, it's not for sale. I measured the truck today at it is from bumper to bumper...21.5 ft! So my worry is that my brand new truck won't fit into the dang driveway! Well the design standards provided the perfect opportunity to see if I should worry.

According to the standards, the minimum driveway length for phase two is 23 feet. Sweet! I'll have 1.5 ft to spare! One less thing to worry about...

Fireplace Update

Well we signed our approval for the fireplace in the center of the wall. Kinda funny how we 'approve'...but not really. So we found out the why's behind it. On Nov 7, 2007 the city council approved the Holdner Farms Phase Two design standards. In those standards, corner lots have a primary front elevation and a secondary front elevation. To make a long story short, the fireplace is popping out to outside (see post below) on the secondary front elevation and it breaks up the solid wall that would have been in violation of the design standards. So they claim.

Being the skeptical fellow I am, I decided that I would like to see some documentation. So I asked Mr. Google some questions and to my surprise, to quote Carl on the movie Sneakers, "It's fascinating what fifty bucks will get you at the county recorder's office!" Since we live in a digital age and because I'm really good at research, I found a pdf of the Holdner Farms Design Standards. Check it out:


In hindsight, we could have perhaps talked to the builder about putting a bay window or some other feature to break up the wall, however, we need the house built. Feb 15 marked the 60 day countdown until closing and any delays at this point risk us not meeting the closing deadline. Therefore, we threw up the white flag on this one and surrendered this front to the city. Sigh.

Building Permits!

Well we have word from our agent that the city has finally signed the building permits! The builder is supposed to start construction soon (today??).

The issue with the delay was the fireplace in the corner was not acceptable to the city. Therefore, it needed to be moved to center wall. While we really wanted the fireplace in the corner, it's not a deal-breaker for us and we will just move forward. Our agent is still following up to find out why the fireplace can't be in the corner but the important thing is the permits are signed and construction will (hopefully) start!

Here's the new floor plan that was approved this morning. the only change is the fireplace location...

Bromton Grey~~~~~Larrington~~~~~~~White

Here is the Color palette for the exterior of the house. The Brompton Grey is the body of the house, the Larrington is the gables and the White is the trim and columns. In the pics here the BG looks really grey, but its more of a subtle mossy green.

What do you all think?

Last night we went to what I thought was our first appointment with the design center... apparently it was our only appointment. We got to choose everything from cabinet color, to flooring, to fireplace tile... all in one fell swoop. When we first walked in, the designer let us know that we would most likely be there for hours. However, we were done in about 2 hours... it took almost as long to sign off on what we chose than it did to make the choices!

It was very enlightening! Chad and I have very similar taste (much to my surprise), so the choosing went very fast. Their playroom kept Levi entertained almost the entire time! There was dress-up clothes galore... poor Kaetlyn (home sick) thankfully doesn't have a clue what she missed! The design center itself was very nice. It had a very classy, yet comfortable feel. The designer was helpful, but not pushy. It was a really great experience!

I was in my element! You can see some of our choices in the photos, but they just don't do the colors justice. I did get the dark cabinets (YEAH!!!) that I had been drooling over at Home Depot the whole time I worked there! :)

We didn't upgrade much. We added a gas fireplace, HVAC system and an outside side garage door. Other than that, everything is pretty much your standards... laminate counter tops, off white carpet, vinyl floors. The colors are pretty, though. It will have a hardwood entryway floor. Last we heard they are planning on breaking ground next week.

Now comes the hard part... waiting.

YEAH!! Good news! We thought we might have to pay an extra $5,700.00 for a sewage hook up to the city. Turns out that it is a fee the builder pays! Whew! That's a load off! We finished up the loan stuff tonight and the builder says that they hope to break ground NEXT WEEK! I can't believe it... this is going so fast! It is a far cry from trying to buy the house in Pullman (which never happened). That always felt like it was forced. This has flowed so well! It's wonderful.

The builder asked us to make an appointment with the

design center by the 18th... something I am very happy to do! It is the fun part of building a house after all. So I jump on the phone to call their design center contact number... and spend an hour wading through their automatic phone system.

A very frustrating hour later, I discover that the number I was calling was not for the design center... in spite of it being labeled "Design Center" on the builders website. I did get the right number and it took less than five minutes to make the appointment.

My mission was a success! Wednesday we get to go choose colors and make all the fun decisions!BUT do you know what is really great? They have an enclosed area for the kids where they can play, watch movies and have snacks while we do our thing! If we can't find a sitter, we are all set.

Someone was thinking of the mother!

Here is what our house should look like when it is done!

Though the colors will probably change.

Dark moss green and brown with cream accents?

Hmm... this is going to take some thought!

I'm looking to see if I can find the floor plans to post,

but we are the last to get this particular one so the

builder removed the plans from the web...

I'll post them if I can find them.

*****

Here are the floorplans!

The beginning...

This week we embark on a new adventure. We are building a house. We managed to strike a deal with the builder and as you can see from the photos; lot 11 is ours! This is very exciting... our first house! We are really excited over an empty lot, hence...

"No Place Like No Place!"