Catching up

It's been a while, but SO much has happened since the last post! Had to break it down into weeks here, so this is what you've missed. P.S. there's a surprise at the end for those who make it through the whole post. :)

Feb 19-24
Since we decided to do walk up storage via stairs to the attic above the garage (no more pull down ladders!) AND because it was much longer than a typical garage, they had to brace the attic floor as if it were going to be "living space" even though we're just going to be storing Christmas decorations up there. So the Tuesday after the last update, they brought in the trusses for that and got them up, and framed the roof line above the garage. Over the next few days, exterior walls went up (Wed), windows were delivered and installed (Thurs/Fri) , fascia/cornice work was done, and roof decking was up and ready for the roofers (Fri/Sat). They also put up a HUGE (8x12) cedar beam that spanned the length of the vaulted part of the back patio. It's amazing.

Feb 25-Mar 2
The following Monday, the roofers got started. We picked a StormMaster slate shingle...they have a little different look to them but they are made to withstand up to 160 mph winds, and we get a discount on our homeowner's insurance too. Luckily they got the underlayment on before we got some rain that day but since it was waterproofed at that point, we finally don't have to worry so much about rain delaying things. They finished the roof by Wednesday but still had a few metal roof pieces that they came back and installed on Saturday. 

 
The plumber came back Wednesday to start running all of the pipes and vents that go into the walls before insulation/sheetrock. We had to pick out what our shower fixtures would be so that he could install the right valves. That required a trip to the plumbing supply store, a discussion with Kohler, and a round of "stump the plumber" with Rob. I just picture them all scratching their heads while having conversations with him. If you're curious about the details of this thing, just give Rob a call but basically he's designed what we'll call a human car wash - complete with a ceiling mounted rain shower head, a standard shower head, 3 body sprayers, and a handshower on a slide rail. All with their own knobs and all sorts of complex valves. The remaining plumbing items were pretty standard but this shower will probably keep the plumber up at night for a while. 

Mar 4 - 10
This past week we had the tankless water heater, dishwasher, and kitchen sink delivered - not to the new house yet because things tend to walk off if you don't have doors/locks on. So they are currently occupying the dining room. We also needed to get the electrician a drawing of where the appliances would be in the cabinets but we hadn't picked a cabinet supplier yet. So...I did what I do best, I drew them - to scale - in Excel. I can't be the only person to ever do this, right? I was pretty impressed with my drawings. :)

We stopped by the house Friday morning to walk through with a potential painter so he could get us an estimate and both the electrical and HVAC crews were already running wires and getting things done. The electricians are FAST and finished up most things yesterday, still have to walk through with them tomorrow and fix a few things before inspections this week. You can see all the outlets and light switch boxes in the inside pics now. You'll have to use your imagination to see what's what here, but finally a few inside shots.

Yesterday we stopped by a lighting store to get an idea of some fixtures we need to start picking out, then went to Denton to check out a house the painter is working on now. On the way back, stopped at the Granite/Tile outlet in Highland Village and talked to them for a bit. We'll be sending them our plans and design ideas and they'll get us an estimate back in a few days. Finally time to start making some decorating decisions, eeee!

Next steps -
Tomorrow the fireplace should be getting installed and HVAC guys will finish up. The exterior doors are getting delivered and installed Wednesday when the framer comes back to finish out his punch list. After that, we'll pass inspections (hopefully) and get going on insulation, Tyvek, and drywall. 

Since it'll be a few weeks before any more exterior things happen, here's a first look at our timelapse video of the house getting built starting with groundbreaking in December up until now...in just under 2 minutes. Enjoy!