House update

We did our frame walk-thru yesterday.

It was exciting! Hubby did the walk-thru on our previous home, so this was my first time.

The Princess was at school. I had to drag the Bear along with me. I had to carry his heaviness. There were too many sharp things all over. Nails. Plastic. Wood. Wasn't a place for the kid to meander around.

The sales rep and the construction manager did the walk-thru with us.We went through our options list. We verified that all the things we wanted added were in place. Additional recessed lighting (we had two moved a couple inches over). Extra outlets (we had two moved because they weren't placed at the correct height). Extra ceiling fan outlets. Exterior gas hub (for our future built-in barbeque).

When we were doing our walk-through they were installing our fire sprinkler system. Say what? I didn't remember reading that on the standard feature list. Was it an upgrade? If it was then they're installing it when we didn't order it. I guess it's a new standard feature. The hubs and I weren't going to question it. It's a great feature to have. It's also a localized system. This means that if there's a fire indicated in the den, then that's the only sprinkler that'll go off. It would be just stupid if it was a general system where all the sprinklers went off when a fire in just one room. Then we'd have water damage throughout the house versus a fire throughout. We were SO glad to hear it was a "smart" system.

We asked the construction manager about letting 3rd parties enter our homesite. My hubby really wants plantation shutters in a couple rooms (living/dining/den), but those things take six to eight weeks to get built. Anyway, the construction manager told us that once the drywall is up that they'd be okay to have 3rd parties visit the site. We would just have to call him to let him know people were coming out. This way he'd have someone supervise the contractors. He told us that they have contractors out there at the subdivision routinely because they know new homes need lots of things put in before folks want to actually move in. Some folks have landscaping people out there. Some (like us) have shutter or drapery people out. While some others have contractors out there to measure for bookshelves and built-in units for the nooks. But it was nice to see that our builder would accommodate our needs.

Turns out that once all the electrical is finished (today or tomorrow), they'll have another inspection of the place. They've already got all the duct work in for the air and heating units. They've also got all the plumbing done inside. Anway, once that inspection is done they'll blow in the insulation soon after. They use a wet insulation that expands. Once the insulation is dry, they'll put the drywall up. Yes! By the end of next week we may have the drywall up! Then it'll just be the interior stuff (mainly) that'll need to be finished up.

Yes, they still have to put the roof tiles in place. They've got the roof up. They've also got the tiles up there ready to be put in. They just have to get the roof guys in there. They've got other houses ahead of us, so we're down the line. It might be another two weeks before the tiles go into place.

Did I mention that we found our kitchen table over the weekend? About two months ago, the Bear and I went to a furniture that I'd been DYING to visit. We browsed around. Then I saw it. The perfect kitchen table for the house. It's a circular table on a pedestal foot and four chairs. It was even in a dark stain that my hubby would like. They wanted about $600 for the set.For a solid wood table and four chairs? SOLD! Well, I was sold from that moment. But I had to get the hubs in there. It took two months but I finally got him in there. You know what? He actually likes the table. He likes the color. He likes the fact that the chairs are included. He especially likes the price. Let me tell you that when we breezed through Pottery Barn, we saw similar tables for $600. Just the table! Then the chairs were like $80 a piece. Geez! We'll be going back to that store in a couple weeks to order the table. If the house gets delayed any more than we found out that the store will hold the table/chairs for us at no cost until the house is complete. Yeah! Win-win!

Now for the kids rooms, what'll I be putting up on the windows? I'm thinking of honeycomb shades. These are supposed to be good for keeping heat and cold out. The kind I want have mylar in the middle -- so that the room is dark when the shades are lowered. I'd also like to get them with the top/down feature. So I can open the shades up from the top to get light in but keep the bottoms down for privacy. Here's what I was thinking... But I am still leaning towards putting up a simple rod and sheer curtains for a layered affect. But then should I forego the honeycomb shades and put a blackout curtain instead? Thoughts? Anyone? Any interior designers out there?

As for how are we going to go about moving in? The hubs is going to team up with his brother and his father to get all the BIG furniture out of storage. They'll do that the first weekend after we close on the house. No, we don't plan on moving US in that first weekend. We'll still need to get a water softener along with a reverse-osmosis system installed. The hubs wants to epoxy the garage floors before we move in too.

The second weekend after we close will be when WE (the family) will move in. That 2nd weekend, I'm planning on flying my two sisters and my brother-in-law out from San Diego. We'll move all the stuff from this here townhouse to the new house. My younger sister can entertain the two kiddos while I haul stuff. I decided to fly them out (I need to book those flights once I talk to my sisters) so they wouldn't have to DRIVE the 6 hours back and forth. They'd be too tired to help if they had to do that drive. Ya know? Everyone will be rested and ready for moving stuff.

Whew! I think that's enough rambling on about the house situation. Sounds like the kiddos tape is almost done. It's 12:10pm, so I'd better get some lunch pulled together. What to have...what to have... Chicken noodle soup and ham sandwiches sounds like a winner to me. What are YOU having for lunch today?