Electricians and plumbers and painters! Oh, my!

There has been a lot of action going on at the house the past couple of weeks. Now we have electricians, plumbers, heating & air guys, painters, fireplace installers, and our trusty cabinet guy (Jason's brother Mike, my biggest fan) working around each other and the Amish framing crew.

The electricians are putting in all the boxes and wiring for lights, ceiling fans, power outlets, cable outlets, wall switches, etc. The plumbers have rouged in the baths, run PVC pipes through the house, laid the shower liner in our master shower, and installed Zachary's tub/shower. The heating & air guys have cut lots of holes in the floors and the wall joists to run their ducts, air vents and return vents. The painters have painted all the exterior trim, which includes the the trim pieces around the windows, the beadboard and molding under the eaves, the exposed rafter tails, and the decorative brackets that attach to the eaves. (In the photo, you can see our upstairs front gable with the painted trim and brackets.) The fireplace installers just came today to put in our direct vent gas unit. And last, but certainly not least, Mike drew in where the cabinets will sit in the kitchen and bathrooms so the other guys would know where to, or not to, put pipes and wires.

It's been a circus, but it's great to see things moving along and to see more people working on the house than the framers, who have been there for months (no offense, guys!). I think our electrician and heating & air guy almost came to blows today fighting over space in the wall by the front door, but the heat (highs of 90 to over 100 degrees for most, if not all, of August) probably slowed them down. It's been brutally hot, and I'm surprised anyone can stand to work on our house in this heat. It makes Jason and me very grateful for our cushy air-conditioned work places.

Stairway to ... well, you know

It was the bane of our existence a couple weeks back, but it's been settled now and we're moving on ... but we have not forgotten. What am I babbling on about, you say? Well, we had to compromise our original stairway layout, and we're not very happy about it.

Somehow the way the drafter drew it in the plans did not fit in the allotted space in real life. (Apparently this is not an uncommon occurrence in home construction -- right, Mike and Michelle?) Basically, we needed room for two more stairs up to the second floor, to get the angle we needed to fit within code and to provide enough headroom for the basement door and basement steps.

There was supposed to be a landing on the main floor, with the stairway to one side, a wall across, and open on the other facing sides (see photo). The landing was supposed to serve as a walkway to get from the hallway outside our master bedroom to hallway servicing the dining area, laundry area and garage. Unfortunately, by the time the framers figured out it couldn't be built as it was drawn by our drafter, the wall facing the stairway could not be moved out to accommodate the extra needed space, because it is a load-bearing wall, holding up the main support beam down the middle of the house.

So we had to change our plans and move the landing up higher, add a step to one side, and we'll have to add a railing to the other side. We'll no longer be able to use it as a walkway, which is a bummer, because that was a neat, and unique, feature of the house. Believe me when I say we tried everything to avoid making the change! Now, nobody else would ever know that there's anything "wrong," but we will always know ....

We have windows!

That's what I squealed in Jason's ear yesterday afternoon when he answered his cell phone. What a difference the addition of color makes to the exterior of the house! I can't wait to see how the burgundy windows will pop against the green (Dried Thyme from Sherwin-Williams) siding. In case you are interested, the windows are from Semco, double-hung clad with simulated divided lights -- three over one -- in Vintage Burgundy. We just chose our exterior trim color today, which is Rockport Gray, one of the Pottery Barn colors from Benjamin Moore (Spring 2007) . Mark asked me for the trim color earlier in the week, which caught me off guard since we don't even have any trim up yet. He said we can go ahead and paint the rafter tails and the beadboard on the underside of the rafters. The siding is on order, and the brick for the skirt and chimney is supposed to be coming soon.

By the way, this is my first blog entry ever. Jason has been nagging me for a while to do one, but I told him I like his witty comments just fine. Finally the windows inspired me enough to do it. Be sure to leave me some comments so I'll be motivated to post again!

Ready for Prime-Time

With the vapor barrier on (mostly) and the steps going in, the next week or two should bring windows and brick to the construction site. The brick will only be used as a skirt to the house -- from the first level's floor down to the ground. From there up, we'll have fiber-cement siding (no maintenance! -- Hollie and Jason's best friend :) ). We're really excited about the color we have chosen for the outside.

It's weeks like last week and especially this coming week that remind me how fortunate I am to have a job indoors. The highs all week are slated to be 96-98 degrees. I really feel for the Amish crew, but they sure do a good job!