Hello again! Sorry I am so behind on my updates! There is just so much to do! We poured the pad for the well house, and the back porch. It's nice to finally have the porch done so we can sit out there! We grouted Nathaniel's shower, and just this weekend we finished tiling the girls' bath. It came out really nice, but it was SO much work. We did glass mosaic tiles, which came on 12X12 sheets, but they were flimsy and hard to work with. Now we still have to grout ALL those lines!!!! UGH!

Well, the drywall is completely finished and textured. We still haven't done the basement yet, though. It's kinda low on the priority list! I'm planning to start primering the walls tomorrow, then painting this weekend. The garage doors are getting installed next week, and all the interior doors have been delivered. We will probably start putting those in as soon as the paint is done. The last coat of stucco is going on this week, too.

Sooo, we are moving right along, but there is still so much to do! We had a problem with our kitchen cabinets. One of their employees apparently embezzled a bunch of money, including ours. Instead of letting us know, they just strung us along for nearly 4 months before admitting the truth. So I've had to reorder new cabinets from Home Depot, which will take another 5 weeks, and we have no idea when we will be able to get our money back. Because of that, our funds are a little low again, so we will try to buckle down and get everything we need done for the next draw. Hopefully that will be the last one. We won't be in by Thanksgiving due to the cabinet delay, but I'm hoping for not long after.
So, tune in for the next episode of "Days of our Housebuilding Lives!"

The back porch before the concrete.

The back porch all finished. There's Dan putting up the ceiling for the porch.

Nathaniel's shower all grouted. Now we just have to wash and seal it! It looks much better in person!

The girls' shower. Dan did a really great job! Not looking forward to grouting!

The living room with the walls all textured. It's hard to see in the photo. That's the fireplace on the right.

Okay, I know I'm a little behind! We just spent a week in San Diego, like we do every year. I'm not sure we have ever appreciated it as much before! We spent the whole week just laying around the beach, and now we're ready to get back to work. Well, mostly! ; )

Now for updates! The drywall is coming along nicely! They should be done in another 2 to 3 weeks! The first coat of stucco is completely done! It is starting to look so amazing! I wish we were ready to move in tomorrow!! I got all the tile in Nathaniel's shower done, now I just have to grout it! Dan has been working on getting the dirt ready to pour the concrete for the back porch and the well house. We're STILL not done with the roof! It has rained every day since we got back! What's up with all the tropical storms???? Hopefully they will stop soon so we can finally get that finished up. So many little things to take care of now! I'll try to keep up a little better!

Nathaniel standing in his shower.

The living room with the fireplace. The kitchen is on the left.

The view of the kitchen looking back from the fireplace.

A view of the front with the stucco on. We are going to put a rock facade on the pillars.

The view of the back. It's so nice not to see the styrofoam anymore!!

Lots of good news!

Okay, all good news this time! The stucco guys didn't need any money up front, so they got started last week. All the drywall has been delivered and they started hanging it yesterday. We had the re-inspection with the bank guy this morning and we are all clear! Woo hoo!!

While we were waiting on the inspection, I stained the front door and installed all the door handles. Dan poured the concrete deck for the tub in our bathroom. I don't have any finished pics yet, but I'll post some soon. We grouted the floors and plan to grind them this weekend. We decided to grind the floors smooth after we do the grout so that you can see the lines, but there won't be a depression for stuff to catch in! I hope it turns out as nice as I think it will! Dan ground the floor in our bathroom down and it came out really nice. I've included some pics.

Also, we have decided to wait on the pool until next year. There is so much left to do on the house, and we really want to take some stress off and just get moved in! Since we are going to do the pool ourselves, we can kind of go at our own pace that way and not have to rush--plus, no more bank inspector to deal with! : )

Things are moving along pretty well overall! We still haven't finished the roof. It has rained the last few weekends, of course! So we'll just keep plugging along at it and keep you posted!

The front door after staining. The blue stuff is just tape to protect the edges of the door!

The tub deck right after we poured the concrete. It looks really nice finished!

The bathroom floor after Dan ground the surface. It came out nicer than I expected!

A closer look at the floor. You can see the rocks in the concrete.

Okay, sorry for the delay in getting this update posted! We have been working really hard the last few weeks. Where to start. . . . . . .
Okay, the windows and exterior doors are in! Yay! It looks more and more like a real house! We had our inspection Friday for the plumbing/electrical/HVAC and framing. And we PASSED on the first try! Hooray! That was a really big one, and now we are done until the final inspection at the end. SUCH a relief to have that over with! The electricians worked really hard to get done, and we were at the house early each morning and every evening this week to get everything finished. We spent all day Thursday on the last minute stuff, and the children were amazing helpers! I'm so glad we had them to climb around in the trusses to run wires and stuff, so I didn't have to! : )

Okay, now for the not-so-good stuff. We had another inspection by the bank on Monday. After the inspector left, I got a call from the bank saying that they couldn't fund the next draw because we have to be at 60%, and we're only at 54%. The inspector left off all the points for the stucco, even though he told us during the last inspection that he would give us a pass on that since we don't need insulation in the walls and we already have the styrofoam there. Also, he took a point off for plumbing because we didn't have our tub delivered yet, even though it's sitting at the supply house. So we basically have to have the tub on site, and get the stucco guys started before he'll give us the 60%. Oh, and we have to pay $120 for a re-inspection. :( We got a bid from the stucco company on Friday, and hopefully they can start this week. Now that the stuff in the walls is done, we can start on the drywall as soon as we have the money from the bank to pay them!

So, we've made lots of progress. This will cause us a small setback, but hopefully not more than a week at the most. Then the drywall and stucco will get started. We have some odds and ends to work on, like pouring the concrete for the front and back porches and the well. We are going to try to get the roof completely finished tomorrow and Monday. Then it's on to the pool! Wish us luck, we're going to need it!

You can see all the stuff in the roof! The black tubes are the insulated water pipes.

My dining room window!

The french doors from the living room to the back porch. They have built-in blinds! I LOVE them!!!

The front door with the windows in! It's a little crooked because I have to hold the camera over my head because of the slope of the land!

The fireplace is in!

Hello all! Just wanted to give you a quick update! Sorry for the delay in any news, but it's been slow going in the walls! The plumbing is done, as well as the duct work for the heating and cooling. The electrical should be done by the end of the week. The exterior doors and windows are going in this week, so I'll be sure to get some photos up when they're done!

We should be ready for our next round of inspections and draw from the bank by next week. Then it's on to the stucco, drywall, and pool!!!

Update

Well, things are moving along, though it seems kind of slow right now! The progress isn't quite as visible. We have finished most of the roof tile. We only have to do the corners, the ridge caps (they cover the tops where the tiles meet), and the side over our bathroom. We're saving that side for last so we can sort of work our way off the roof. : )

Inside is going well, too. The plumbing is just about done except for a few connections. We got the gas line in for the dryer and the stove. The ductwork is almost completely done, now we just have to finish up the electrical. All the outlet boxes are in, and most of the boxes for the lights and fans. We are going to start running the wires tomorrow with the electrician's help. Hopefully we can learn enough to continue on our own next week. We have two more weeks until the windows are installed. The doors should be done soon as well. It will be nice to have it closed in! After that, we can get the next set of inspections. That should be thrilling, as always!

Some of the plumbing in the walls. This is Nathaniel's bathroom.

You can see the water pipes in the ceiling, as well as some of the duct work.

Dan contemplating the roof. : )

The view of the roof tiles from the back side. You can see the corners still aren't finished!

The view from the front.

Roof tiles

Well, we started on the roof tiles this weekend! I am not entirely crazy about the color!! I want to make sure everyone who comes to see my house knows that this is NOT the color I picked!! They were supposed to be white and almond. We picked them because they had the highest reflection index so it would help keep the house cool. But when they arrived, they had a kind of salmon/peachy spray on them. We considered sending them back, but they already took 3 weeks to get here instead of the promised one week. I really don't want a 3 week delay--I'm on a tight schedule you know!!. So I guess I can live with them. They actually don't look too bad now that they're on the roof. I'm hoping to pick out a nice paint color that will keep attention off the roof!

We got the entire garage side done. Thanks to our many helpers: my brother-in-law Bill and his children Maranatha, Hope, Hannah, and Zane; my nephew Zack; the Buppert family; and Steve and Jake Max! We really appreciate all of you!! We still have a ways to go, but every day we get a little closer! More on the roof this weekend. . . . . .

The tiles all stacked on the roof. That was a job in itself!

The first side we finished! Yay!

Many hands make light work!!

The front side of the garage.

The view from above!