Inspection results & decorating decisions!

Let's just pick up where we left off here...

Monday after the last post, the Tyvek guys came out to wrap the house with the moisture barrier and the low voltage guy came out to wire for all of the cable/internet/phone/speakers. The framers came back Tuesday to fix the box for the fireplace on the back patio, and the security system guy came on Wednesday. 

All set for inspections...or so we thought. Rob called the inspector Wednesday to schedule for Thursday and the inspector said "Well, I'm going out of town tomorrow and Friday, but you got your brick ties on? And your lintels?" (Good thing Rob called him because I had no idea what these things are.) Anyway, answer to both was no. So we couldn't do the inspection even if he was going to be there. Lame. So we got the mason lined up and the supplies ordered to be installed the next Monday. We also applied for the septic system permit, got some garage doors picked out to be installed after drywall, and met with a few cabinet guys for measurements so they could make the real drawings. (Just a little bit better than my excel drawings.)

Saturday, we went to visit the Old Texas Wood showroom, where they mill old wood reclaimed from homes in the Dallas area and turn it into "new" flooring. Pretty cool! We decided to go with this over new wood floors and can't wait to see how it turns out...they are surprisingly close in price which is good too. They had so many beautiful flooring options there! We looked at a few other reclaimed wood suppliers online but it's scary not being able to see the product before purchasing, and we liked that these came from 50-100 yr old homes in the Dallas area. Even though ours won't look exactly like what was in the showroom since they are all completely different, it was just neat to be able to see where/how it's made and all that. 

Rob also installed our temporary front door so as soon as we have our garage doors in, we can start locking it up. Someone already took the extra pieces of the cedar beams we had laying around...rude. If you did, please bring them back. We had plans for those! So then Monday rolls around - masonry supplies got delivered, and Tyvek guys came back to fix where the framer had torn out some on the back patio for the new fireplace. Tuesday, the masons came and put the brick ties and lintels on. All ready for inspection...really this time!

Oh, so THOSE are brick ties and lintels...

Annnnd failed. We got 3 postcards of "red tags" with things to fix on plumbing, framing, and electrical items before we could move forward with insulation and drywall. Rob called the inspector Thursday to talk about what all needed to be done and he also happened to mention that we couldn't have anyone working on Good Friday, since it's a town holiday. Or else we get a citation and are stopped for 3 days. Fantastic. So no work again until tomorrow. But he did say that our list really wasn't that bad...and actually better than some of the local builders in the area. And ML from the Owner Builder Network came out Thursday to take a look too and he said he's seen a lot worse...like pages and pages. So I guess that's good? 

Even though it doesn't look like we're making a lot of progress, we are having to pick out lots of other things in the meantime that will go in later on. It's gonna be so pretty! It is a little overwhelming to pick from so many options, but fun too. So far we've had to decide on plumbing fixtures and lighting. Here's what our plumbing fixtures look like -

Kohler toilets, Kohler Pedestal sink for half bath, Delta Touch2O Kitchen Faucet, Rohl Fireclay Farmhouse Kitchen Sink, Kohler Underscore master tub, Moen Brantford Jack/Jill shower & tub fixture, Moen Brantford centerset faucet for Jack/Jill bathroom sinks, Kohler Devonshire faucets for half and master bath. And of course - all of the master shower items, except the knobs.

Friday afternoon, we drove out to Fort Worth Lighting. Apparently they do a lot of the Owner Builder homes and our electrician said they work with them a lot. So we made an appointment to pick out all of our lighting and spent close to 3 hrs doing that. Whew. We left with everything decided/ordered except the front outdoor sconces for the columns and fans. Not too bad though, especially with my decision making skills. Here are a few of the items we picked out there. The lady also assured me we could add some bling to the dining chandelier with some little magnetic crystals...so cute!

Entry fixture, closet/pantry lights, Master bath sconces, semi-flush light for master bath, exterior back patio sconces, Jack/Jill vanity light, Jack/Jill room light, dining chandelier, half bath vanity light, closet chandelier, kitchen island pendants

The next big decor decisions are going to be paint/stain colors, granite, and tile. Luckily, I found out that Restoration Hardware sells their paint samples in a little fan, so I bought that online...well worth the $10 investment. I love their colors and how they all go together, and I think our painter can help us color match what we pick from here.

This week, we'll try again with the inspector on Tuesday after everything gets fixed Monday. If we get our green tags this time, then they can start insulation on Wednesday. Seems like we were just at this point 2 weeks ago. Oh well...we'll get there. :)