Saturday, August 28th, 2010
Since Clair and his crew are drywalling the ceiling, we had to get all of the wiring done first. Nathan and Justin spent the afternoon buying supplies and wiring the basement for surround sound and in case we decide we want a projection TV in the basement. Here's the diagram Justin drew up for us.
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Clair and his crew are continuing to work in the basement. State Electric delivered a good bit of our lights this morning, and they got to work installing the recessed can lights.
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
Today was a busy day. Exhausting in fact. I went to bed last night with so much anticipation and hope in my heart. As we were laying in bed last night, I said to Nathan, "Wouldn't it be awesome if by the end of tomorrow we had the blinds ordered, the concrete guy selected, an answer from Sherwin Williams on the paint, a ship date for the furniture, and DJ started on the yard?" I'm an optimistic person, so I really thought there was a chance that would all happen, and for the most part a lot of it did.

We met with Candlelier at lunch and went over some final numbers and options, and then met up again at 6pm to sign the contract and put down a deposit. We ordered blinds for the family room and dinnette. They said we could have blinds as early as next week, but sometimes with the motorized ones it can take two weeks.

We selected a concrete guy for the back patio – two in fact. Apparently, two of the guys we had bid on the job are actually really good friends, and they decided to do the job together. I think we got a really good price and now we have the expertise of both of them. Mike stopped by this evening to show us the mat he is planning to use. It's a little bit different than a traditional stamp because it just add more of an overall texture, which is actually what we were looking for. We saw this patio at a home in Richmond, VA and really liked it. We are going to have it stained as well. Mike said that he and Troy should be able to get started on the patio next week, which should work out timing wise for the yard.
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
This evening we ordered furniture for the family room. It's actually been a lot harder living here without than I thought it would be. I guess it just feels so temporary since you can't ever just sit down and relax some where. We decided to go with the furniture from Wieser and Cawley. It works really well with the paint color and the floor, and it was a good bit cheaper than the ones we picked at Pottery Barn. The furniture is made by Ashley Furniture; the style is called Lena Putty. It's kind of brownish tan color with a texture.
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
Now that the gas is all hooked up and turned on, Dale from Cozy Heat came back out and got our fireplace insert all situated. This is a view of it with the fire turned on.
Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Clair, Bobby, and Jason started framing in the basement. Yesterday, they got most of the outside walls framed up.
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Today CAS came out and hooked our cable. We've spent the last two nights without it, but we barely get home before 9 o'clock each night, so it hasn't been too bad. We brought up a DVD player just so we could have something to watch as we get ready for bed. I have to say I'm pretty happy to have my Internet back though. Plus it was good to see that big, giant TV in action.
Sunday, August 15th, 2010
Tonight we spent the first night in our new house. We went back and forth all day about whether or not we were going to stay, and then we finally decided we wanted to go ahead and start sleeping here. They still have a good bit of touch up painting to do, so we basically just brought up our bedroom furniture and clothes, but it's a start. We barely got here before it was time to go to bed, so there was a lot of time to try stuff out. I did attempt to make lemonade, and found that the water was a little too yellow before I added the lemon packet. I guess I need to give it a week or two to flush the lines before I make lemonade. We both slept well, and it only took us 15 minutes the next morning to figure out how to turn on our fancy shower. Overall, it was a pretty good first night.

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Today Miller Doors installed our new white garage doors. We decided to change from Walnut to White, and I actually have to say that I think I like them better. I also really like the hardware on them; it really ties them in with the rest of the house. Brent also brought our front doors back yesterday. They are stained walnut on the outside and painted white on the inside. Now as soon as we can get some grass and maybe a little landscaping, the outside of our house will be complete.
Saturday, August 7th, 2010
Today Nathan put up our mailbox. We haven't really changed anything to the new address yet, but some how people have been sending stuff to us there anyway. Several times the post office has asked if we have a box up yet, so next time I will finally be able to tell them, "Yes, we do."
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Today Andy came and installed the granite around the fireplace insert. The color is called Absolute Black. It's actually not completely black, but has a very subtle grey texture to it.

Clair even had time to install the mantle around it. I seriously love how it turned out! Country Cabinets did a fabulous job with it, and it fits the space perfectly.
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Today Clair and Josh installed our stairs. They are oak treads and risers that have been stained to match our hardwood floors.
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
Today Clair and Josh installed the faucets in our bathroom and finished the plumbing to them. This is the master bath.
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Today Andy came and installed the granite countertops in the bathroom. This is the master bath. The color is Giallo Ornamental.
Sunday, August 1st, 2010
Today Clair came and tiled our kitchen backsplash.
Friday, July 30th, 2010
They also came and poured our sidewalk today.
Friday, July 30th, 2010
On Tuesday, Clay from Valley Supply called and said that our glass shower door had arrived. Originally, when I called to let our Ron Lantz, our installer know, he didn't think he would have a chance to install it until some time next week. Ron called me earlier this morning to let me know that he had a cancellation, and that he could come today.

Overall, we really like the shower doors. The glass is pretty and they look great with the tile.
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Andy Kerns is supposed to come and install the rest of our granite this week, so Clair built us a frame around the fireplace inserts, so Andy has something to glue the granite panels to.
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
The guys painted the gas pipe in the front our house to make it blend in with the siding. It will eventually have some landscaping in front of it, but either way it looks so much better now.
Monday, July 26th, 2010
Clair installed all of the handles on the kitchen cabinets.
Monday, July 26th, 2010
Clair installed the hardware on our bathroom vanity cabinets today.
Monday, July 26th, 2010
Steve came out today and leveled the front yard.
Sunday, July 25th, 2010
Nathan went up to the house and laid out all of the kitchen backsplash tile. It is a natural travertine and can have a bit of variation in the color. We basically wanted to make sure we took out any of the ones that were really white or had funny holes in them.
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
The state road crew came out and added the drain cover to the last drop inlet. We should now be ready to do the final grade next week and smooth out our yard.
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Today they started working in the garage. They trimmed out the two windows.
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
They finished the stair railing today.
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Today they are working on the railing that goes up the staircase.
Monday, July 19th, 2010
They installed the faucets in the master shower.
Sunday, July 18th, 2010
Dad and Nathan went up to the house today and added a few screws to the top of the master closet support system. They wanted to make sure that they hit as many studs as they can to support the weight of the whole thing once we start filling it up. After they were done, Nathan and I swept it out and tried to clean it up some.
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
They installed our garage doors yesterday. Overall, the experience was kind of a let down. The first thing I noticed was that the windows are wrong. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the window grid pattern is different on the big door than the smaller one. Plus, one of the windows is broken. Then when you got up close to the doors, the walnut stain really just did not look right. It is scratched and worn in some places. Kendell was actually able to just rub it right off with a handkerchief. Miller Door assured us that they would make everything right and get us completely new doors. They have been really wonderful to work with, and I have complete faith in them, but it was just kind of a disappointing day.
Friday, July 16th, 2010
The DOH came out and poured the concrete for the drop inlet.
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Here are some new pictures of the kitchen. It has just about everything installed at this point. We are still missing one piece of crown molding, a few kick plates, and my tile backsplash, but you can really see the whole room come together now.
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Nathan and I stayed for a few hours tonight and finsihed installing the master closet. Clair had already installed all of the top header bars, and some of the racks, but we finished off all of the accessories and accents.
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Here are some more photos of the finished railing overlooking the family room.
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Today Andy (from Kerns Marble and Granite) installed our granite countertops in the kitchen. I LOVE them!!!!
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
The DOH came back out today and started working on the second drop inlet.
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Clair is continuing to work on the trim for the kitchen cabinets. It's really starting to shape up in there.
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Today they put up the new coach lights. We decided to swap the two beside the front door for the slightly smaller version. I think these look a lot better in the space.
Saturday, July 10th, 2010
Today we drove out to Country Cabinets to pick up the other bathroom vanity cabinets. This is the master vanity. It is 9 ft long and will have two sink bowls.
Friday, July 9th, 2010
Today they worked on the bead board trim in the Jack and Jill bath.
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Greenscape came back today and finished the retaining wall. Not only did we have them add the caps, but we also decided to have them extend a few of the sections out so it stair-stepped more quickly.
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
They finally finished the siding on the outside of the house. Most of it has been done for weeks now, but there were a few places left they had to finish up. They finished one part above the windows in the sunroom.
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
They had to trim the sides a little bit to make them fit, but the guys got both of our Jack and Jill vanities set into place.
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Today, we came up and added some extra insulation to the basement. Once they frame it in, they will be adding regular R-13 insulation, but this is a special rigid foam board that can sit behind the frame. It adds a little extra insulation value and also acts as a water barrier.
Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
Today Nathan and I came up and painted the basement with a water proof paint.
Friday, July 2nd, 2010
Now that the back of the house is painted, they started adding trim to the basement windows.
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
Today they painted the exposed basement walls in the back of the house.
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Today, they installed the ceiling fan in our great room. It is 70 inch, and very large - should get the job done!
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Clair installed the new kitchen cabinets today.
Saturday, June 26th, 2010
Rick came today and grouted the tub's backsplash tile.
Friday, June 25th, 2010
Today they delivered our appliances. Here's our *red* washer and dryer.
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Rick came last night and finished tiling the backsplash around the tub. I think it turned out pretty well.
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
Today they put the another coat of paint on the sunroom. I'm starting to like the color much better. Plus it's nice to see it with all the white trim.
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Clair installed the first set of the kitchen cabinets. Here's a better look at them now that they are unwrapped and hung.
Monday, June 21st, 2010
The first part of our kitchen cabinets finally arrived today. The guys carried them in and set them in the spots where they will eventually be placed.
Monday, June 21st, 2010
Today they hung the door that leads to the basement.
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
Today they installed our final air conditioning unit. This one is on the left side of house, just behind the front porch.
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
They installed more of our lights today. Both coach lights are on the corners of the garage.
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
They are continuing to install our lighting. This is what the bathroom vanity lights look like.
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Today they started adding the tops to our door and window trim. I know Kendell worked really hard trying to find exactly what we needed to make the craftsman style trim, but I LOVE the way it turned out!!! So at least his hard work is well appreciated. These are the windows in one of the kid's bedrooms.
Monday, June 14th, 2010
Today they installed our ceilings fans. There is one in each of the bedrooms, plus the office and the sunroom. They are all white with a center bowl light. So far they seem super quite.
Saturday, June 12th, 2010
Today Rick came and grouted our master shower.
Friday, June 11th, 2010
Today they started adding the side trim around the doorways.
Friday, June 11th, 2010
We stopped out to see the cabinets again today. They have the frame of the island pretty well put together. You can even see a couple of the doors on the front side.
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Today they started hanging our interior doors.
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Today they finished the siding in the two upper peak of the house.
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
They did this a few days ago, but I'm not sure I ever shared it, so today it is. They hooked up our outdoor water faucets.
Saturday, June 5th, 2010
Today Rick laid the tile in the sunroom. It is definitely different than any of our other tile, but I really love how it turned out.
Friday, June 4th, 2010
We went out to check on our kitchen cabinets today. The cabinets that you see stained is our island. It is 4x9 and the hole you see will be filled by our dishwasher. The large cabinet laying beside it is one of our pantrys. In the back, the tall cabinet is for our double-oven wall unit. Beside it is the other cabinets that will hold our microwave and stovetop. They actually had a mix up on some of the other cabinets, but we think we got everything straightened out.
Friday, June 4th, 2010
They grouted the kitchen tile today. I really like how it turned out.
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
The health department came out and approved our septic system today, so we were finally able to backfill over top of it.
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
Today we installled our septic tank. The tank is a cement tank that we ordered. It is a two-chamber system. We were required to have a 1000 gallon tank, but we decided to go with a 1500 gallon tank just for some extra assurance.
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
They rented a lift bucket so they could work on the siding at the upper section of the house.
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
They are still working on the tile in the kitchen. Here's a closer look at the pattern.
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
They are still working on the bumpout for the fireplace. It will have the same corner trim that the house has.
Friday, May 28th, 2010
The are continuing to work on the siding for the back of the house. Here's where they are at today.
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
They are continuing to work on the siding on the back of the house.
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Clair has been working on finishing the plumbing for our bathrooms. He installed the tub shower units.
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Rick is continuing to work on the tile. Today he grouted the mudroom.
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
They are still working on adding siding to the back of the house.
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Rick worked on the walk-in shower today. The Kerdi system comes with these bands that you place in all of the corners to seal them off.
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
This week they are basically working on the siding and the tile floors. Here's a look at the progress of the siding on the back of the house.
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
They tiled the top our our whirlpool tub.
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Today they delivered our interior doors and trim. We chose a two-panel door with oil-rubbed bronze hinges.
Monday, May 24th, 2010
They started installing the siding on the back of the house. I think we're going to be glad that we decided to do the shaker style over the entire house.
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
Tonight, we attempted to make a cardboard version of our fireplace mantel. Since our mantel will be custom made by Country Cabinets, we can have it any size or thickness that we want. We are trying to get a good feel for what size will work for the space.
Friday, May 21st, 2010
Today Rick worked some more our the tile. This is the studio bath.
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
So, we finally ordered our garage doors yesterday. You wouldn't think that garage doors would be that difficult, but it's a really big chunk of the front of our house, so we wanted to get it right. We decided to go with the Walnut color, Sonoma style with 12-window option. Wayne-Dalton doesn't have a good picture of it online, but if you combine a few of these you might get the idea. This is the Sonoma style, but in a lighter color:
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Today, Kendell's crew installed all of our smoke alarms.
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
Rick put down the tile in our laundry room today.
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Rick, our tile guy, came today and started preping all of the rooms for tile. He put backerboard down in the Jack and Jill bathroom.
Monday, May 17th, 2010
They finished up the hardwood floors. They extend from the family room, through the hallway, and into the dinning room, entryway and office, which you can see here.
Friday, May 14th, 2010
They finished the trim on the front columns. I really think they make the front of our house. The yellow construction tape is just holding the trim on until the glue dries.
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
Here is an updated picture of the outside of the house now that they have added the white vinyl to the outside of the columns.
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
They are still working on the hardwood floors upstairs. They finished our master bedroom.
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
They are continuing to work on the columns out front. After the wood pieces are in place, they had to add corners.
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
Clair is continuing to work on the hardwood floors. He has both kids' bedrooms completed.
Monday, May 10th, 2010
They started working on the upper part of our front columns. They tops are tappered from the bottom up, so Kendell's guys have to build them themselves. They start with a wooden frame.
Friday, May 7th, 2010
Here is a new picture of the front of the house.
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
They painted our mudroom today. The color is called Cloudy Sunset. The mudroom is the first room we enter from the garage, and I think this will be a nice color to come home to.
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
They started painting the first coat on the downstairs today. The main body of the house is the same tanish Beach House color as the hallway upstairs.
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
Here is an updated picture of the outside of the house. We've actually decided that we like the shaker siding so much, that we are going to put it on the back and side of the house as well. Originally, we were going to put the regular traditional siding on the backsides, but we've decided we might regret it later. It is a pricey upgrade, but hopefully one that will be worth it.
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
They are working to construct the pillars that go on our front porch.
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
They are still working on the outside of the house. It was neat to come home from DC and see so much of the siding and stone complete.
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
They are continuing to put more siding on the house. I really like how it is turning out. I knew the "weathered cedar" color was supposed to have a more realistic look to it, but I just think it is amazing how much variance and depth it has.
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
They started putting on the siding today. The *right siding* that is. We like it much better!
Monday, April 26th, 2010
We're still working on choosing paint colors. We have had the hardest time with the orange for the sunroom. I think we've had almost 5 or 6 different shades of just orange.
Friday, April 23rd, 2010
The stone crew came out today and started the prep work for the stone. Everywhere that you see black will eventually be covered with stone.
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
We are still waiting on the new siding to come in, but they guys have just about got all the J-channel on the house and are ready to move quickly when the right siding finally does arrive.
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
They drywalled the ceiling in the family room today. I'm glad I didn't have to do it!
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Today they installed the last window. This is the one at the bottom of the house that looks into the landing of the basement stairs.
Monday, April 19th, 2010
They are getting ready to trim the outside of the windows. First, they put this stuff called Window Wrap around all of them to help seal them.
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
Today was a good day!

I am happy to report that after today... we have all of our flooring ordered and all of the granite selected for our kitchen, bathrooms and laundry room.

All along that was our goal for today, but I never really thought we would be able to get all 8 different flooring options ordered and granite countertops selected for 6 different rooms. I'm not even talking about just colors picked out; I'm talking about actual pieces of granite with a big stickers that say something like, "Pickens - Master Bath" on it. Now that's what I call progress!

And to top it all off, when we rolled home at 8 o'clock at night after a long, albeit productive, day I walk in to find Mom has dinner waiting for us on the table and all of our laundry done. Does my mom rock or what?!?

Like I said... it's been a good day.
Saturday, April 17th, 2010
The drywaller decided that he wanted to work the weekend, so he was out there bright and early Saturday morning. Most of the interior rooms have the drywall hung at this point.
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Kendell is planning to have the driveway poured tomorrow, so we went out and tried to determine what size and shape we want. The size in our contract price included a 36x20 pad. When Kendell had this staked out, it just didn't look right. It was way too small for the area up there, so we decided to add on. This is the shape that we ended up with. I think we will really like it, and it definitely gives us enough room to turn around and move cars in and out easily. It's going to cost us a little more, but in the end, I think it will be worth it.
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
They finished pouring the front porch today.
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
We typically drive by the house on our way home, just to check out what's different from when we went out at lunch. As we were driving up the road, I saw siding on the far side of the garage. We've been excited to see the outside of the house actually with some of the finished materials on it, but as we began to pull up the driveway, my excitement all went away! From half way down the driveway, I knew something didn't look right. I got out of the car, ran over, and sure enough - that's not the siding we picked.
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
The main drywall guy is working by himself today, so he started taping and mudding the upstairs. This is the main hallway.
Monday, April 12th, 2010
They are planning to pour the front porch on Wednesday, so they got everything framed and ready.
Saturday, April 10th, 2010
The state road guys even made a little retaining wall out at the end our our culvert. I thought it turned out really nice.
Friday, April 9th, 2010
They have pretty much hung all of the drywall upstairs. It really changed the feel of room sizes. Some feel bigger, some feel smaller, some just seem different. This is the room that will be my photo studio - it really looks good now. Is it strange that I like the smell of drywall??? I don't know, it's just such a fresh and clean smell!
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
They have a good bit of the walls drywalled upstairs. This is again the main staircase. It really looks different to walk up the stairs and see a big wall right in front of you.
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
They are still hanging drywall upstairs. Just about all of the ceilings are done. This is the main hallway.
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
The DOH came back out today and worked some more on the culvert and the ditch along the front of the property. They now nave all of the pipes in the ground.
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
They started hanging drywall upstairs. This is one of the kids's bedrooms.
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
There are two windows in the unfinished room above the garage. They blacked the insides both out, so you can't see the trusses from the outside.
Monday, April 5th, 2010
They delivered our drywall today. They used a big crane to place it inside through the back door.
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
They framed a few more areas for the cement guys tomorrow. We decided to go ahead and concrete the area leading to the mudroom door. There just wasn't enough space between it and the driveway to do some kind of landscaping. There will be two large steps right in front of it.
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
They are continuing to work on the outside soffitt. The front of the house is just about done.
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
The DOH has put in three of the eight culvert pipes into the ditch along the front of the property.
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
They also have the dozer guy out there shaping the yard some more. He has made us a really nice, flat back yard.
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
They came today and put some seams in the garage floor
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
They decided to go ahead and pour the garage floor first hoping that the nice weather over the next day or so will dry out the mud, so it will be easier to get the cement truck around to the back.
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
They are prepping the basement getting ready to pour the concrete this week.
Saturday, March 27th, 2010
Today, we drove to Columbus to check out some of the granite yards up there.
Friday, March 26th, 2010
Today I thought I would share some of the other miscellaneous items that they have completed this week. They installed all of our bathroom ventilation fan/light units in the bathrooms.
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
We knew they had been doing a good bit of work in the basement with the heating and plumbing, but neither of us had been down to see it. Today Nathan went down and took some pictures for me. This is a look at the fuse box where they are running some of the electrical to.
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
They are continuing to work on hooking up all the duct work and the furnace. Here's another look at the funance now that it is all wired up.
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
They are continuing to work on the heating. They've started running the duct work to each of the rooms.
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
They started working on our heating today. We will have one furnance in the basement and one in the attic. They made a nice little platform and access area for the furnace in the attic.
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Everytime someone mentions anything about "Nathan and Lori's house" to Faith, her immediate respons is, "Is it done yet???"

Despite her hesitation about the unfinished house, Mamaw convinced her to come check it out today. She had a lot of fun running around checking things out.
Friday, March 19th, 2010
They framed in our master shower. It will be about 4x6 when finished.
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
They are continuing to work on the wiring and plumbing. They finished our washer and dryer hook-ups.
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Today they worked on some of our soffit. It has a pretty beadboard style
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Today they completed our transformer and connected our our electric box
Monday, March 15th, 2010
Today they started working on the plumbing in the house
Monday, March 15th, 2010
The blueprints show an arch way in the entrance part of our front porch. We are still trying to decided whether or not we are going to keep it or not.
Friday, March 12th, 2010
Here are a couple of pictures of the front door after it was installed.
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Today, they finished the roof. They also finished installing most of the windows.
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
They are continuing to shingle the house. We were told they should finish up today. As you can see, they are all the way over on the garage now.
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
They are continuing to shingle the roof.
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Today they delivered our windows!!!
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Today, they delivered our shingles. The roofers got to work right away on the left side of the house.
Monday, March 8th, 2010
With all the sunny weather the ground has finally dried up some and our backyard isn't a big pile of mud anymore, so Nathan walked out back and took some pictures from there.
Monday, March 8th, 2010
I haven't been in the basement since it got really cold and muddy, so Nathan went down and took some pictures for me.
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
Today we went out to the house and tried to make labels where all of the lights should go. This will make it easier for Kendell and his crew to know where we want what.
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
They completed the plywood on our entire roof today.
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Today they added the roof line that connects the trusses over the main part of the house and the garage.
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
They continued working on our roofing plywood today.
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Today, they started adding the plywood to our roof.
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
They completed the trusses over the garage
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
They added the electric box to our house today. As excited as we are about finally having electricity, we're not overly thrilled about where the box has to be attached to our house. We are having stone three-fourths of the way up the garage side and then the vinyl shakers at the top. At least it may blend in with the colors of the stone and siding.
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Today they finished adding the roof trusses. They had completed most of the house last week, but were waiting for the trusses that are placed over the garage to be delivered. First, they completed the area over the one-stall garage which enclosed my photo studio area.
Monday, March 1st, 2010
They worked on the house a good bit today. Most of what they did were things that needed to be done, but not things that you might necessarily notice. They added overhangs all the way around the roof.
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
Today they started placing our roof trusses
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
They have completed most of the walls at this point - both interior and exterior. They added the outside wall that closes in the staircase on the front of the house.
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
We stopped out at the house on our way home, so I was able to take a few more pictures of the progress from today. I'm am very excited to announce that... we have stairs!!!
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
They are continuing to add walls to the second story. All of the walls in the back of this photo are new from today.
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
They continued working on the upstairs today. In this picture, our master bedroom is on the left and our master bathroom will be on the right.
Saturday, February 20th, 2010
Today, they added the subfloor that runs on top of the garage trusses
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Today they started placing the trusses that run over the garage.
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
After a week of snow and bad weather, they were finally able to work on the house again today. I'm sure they spent most of the morning shoveling out the six inches of snow that had accumulated on our floor.
Friday, February 12th, 2010
They were finally able to get some work done on the house today. They started adding the second story subfloor.
Monday, February 8th, 2010
It's still pretty cold out and there is lots of snow on the ground, but Kendell's guys managed to get a lot done in spite of all that. They said they really appreciated us clearing the snow out, and that it saved them a few hours of work this morning.

Today they completed all of the interior walls of the first floor. The room on the left is the sunroom, and the room on the right is our mudroom.
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
So unfortunately the weather predictions were correct, and we got quite a bit of snow yesterday. The new house was pretty well covered.
Friday, February 5th, 2010
Yesterday, they placed the layout for the first floor. From this picture, you can actually kind of see where all of the room will be placed.
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Today they started framing in the garage.
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
They put up the other side of our two-story family room.
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
For any of you that know us well, you know that we have had a long road getting utilities to the house. They finally started work today on getting the ditch opened up and the lines run from the neighbors house.
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
They're continuing to frame in the house and set up some of the walls.
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
They completed our subfloor yesterday.
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
They finished the basement and finally got everything moved away so I could take some clear pictures. This is a view of the basement from standing in the garage.
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Today they back-filled the area around the basement with gravel and installed our french drains
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
Today the worked to add a waterproofing material to the basement walls. I believe it's basically a hot tar that they spray on, and when it dries it acts like a rubber coating around the walls.
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
I thought I would share some pullbacks of the house, so you can really see what it looks like now.
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
So today, they removed all the moldings around the concrete walls. By the time we got out there, they had them all off and stacked in the middle of the basement.

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
They finished putting up all the walls around the house and now they are ready to pour the cement in tomorrow.
Monday, January 18th, 2010
Today they put up the moldings that will hold our basement walls.
Monday, January 18th, 2010
They also dug out the area for the garage footer.
Sunday, January 17th, 2010
Yesterday they delivered the moldings for our basement walls. The will pour the cement in next week, and this will give them a brick wall look to them.
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
Yesterday, they dug our basement, and today they are pouring our footers. Since we are working in the winter, Kendell decided to make our footers extra wide. The plans called for about 20 inches, but Kendell used 36. In the corner, you can see the rebar that goes underneath.
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
This is probably my favorite view of the lot right now. This is from the top, middle of the right side. I just love how big and flat our yard is going to end up being.
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Now that most of the top soil is off, they actually started taking some height off of the top of the property.
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
They are supposed to start on the excavation work next week on our new property, so we decided to go out today and take some pictures of the ceremonial first shovel full.
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
I've been getting several questions about the new house ever since I posted this blog entry and mentioned that the colors were a little wonky, so I thought I would come back and add a few more details about what we have picked out for the house.

This is the picture online with the closest representation of the colors we are going to have:
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
We are officially trying to sell our current house. We just feel like it might give us an extra feeling of security if our house sells before we are too far along in the process of building our new house. My parents have graciously offered to let us stay with them for a few months once our house is sold and the new house is finished, so we already have arrangements made for the interim. So, if you know anyone looking for a nice, little house in South Parkersburg, please pass our contact information along to them. A virtual tour of the house can be found here:
http://www.echoparkdesigns.com/house, along with the price and details about the house.
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
We met with the dozer guy last night to discuss some things we want to do with the land. For the most part it is pretty clear and flat, but there is a definite slope to the property. We are hoping to level that out some and raise the area where we would actually be putting our house. So while we were out there I took the opportunity to take some pictures. I'm hoping to get some shots at each stage in the process from the way it is now until the house is complete.

Here is a view of the property from the left, front corner.