September 3, 2009: Last Concrete Poured

On Thursday, we went out to the house during lunch (no pics) while they were pouring concrete and then much later in the evening when the concrete was done.

Preethi looks at the sidewalk. The lines in the concrete are regularly spaced control joints.

Sidewalk viewed from the driveway.

Pads for the propane tank (front) and condensers (back).

Basement stoop. Note that the smaller concrete jobs don't get control joints.

Garage stoop and apron. These have control joints.

Heat exchanger has now been wired up for the basement and main level (the other one is in the attic for the second floor.)

A little oval framing was done on the jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom

The water entry point for the house was sealed.

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September 1, 2009: Final prep for concrete

On Monday, I made it out to the house after work. The brickers had been there to finish off the arch modifications and to support moving an outlet. In the meantime the last of the forms for the concrete were put in as well as the supporting rebar. Some light interior work also went on which I mostly didn't take pictures of (second coat of paint in the garage, some polish on the granite, veneer on the railings).

I hadn't taken this a picture from this location in a while so I thought I would. This is from the tree on the northeast corner. Basically all that's left on the outside of the house now is pouring concrete and seeding (and a couple minor things).

How did the water cross the sidewalk? A little French drain.

Forms for concrete pads on the west side of the house. The closer one is for propane, the one further back is for the air exchangers.

Forms for a little pad outside the basement door. Eventually this will expand when we build the deck, but that'll be a while.

Another view of the basement forms and the forms for the garage stoop.

We're going to eventually have lights out by the driveway entrance controllable from the foyer so wiring is running underneath the sidewalk.

If you look for the off colored brick you can see where the outlet originally was (about chest high).

Some panels on the master tub. They're supposed to be doors, however, for access to controls and shutoff and such.

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August 31, 2009: Plumbing Fixtures

Monday was a busy day at the house. Preethi had been by during lunch and said there were 6 trucks there, which is believable as plumbing work, concrete prep, painting, and the culvert pipe installation were done.

The pedestal sink on the main floor bathroom. We thought the space was a little tight so we used a pedestal sink instead of a normal vanity.

Toilet on the main floor bathroom. (I'm not posting every picture of every toilet). There was water in the toilet, but water had not been hooked up to the house yet. I figure the water was there to a) check for leaks, and b) cut down on septic gas flowing back into the house (not that there should be that much yet...)

The laundry room wash basin (some assembly required).


Faucet for the sink in the Jack and Jill bathroom. One of the things that annoys me about the current house are the faucets do not extend out far enough. This means I tend to bump my hands against the back of the sink when I'm washing my hands.

The throne in the throne room.

Hot water heater was installed today.

The faucet on the kitchen sink.

The master bath jacuzzi tub which we'll use like 3 or 4 times a year (though who knows as we get older and need a good soak?). But it's kinda de rigeur for new construction.

Rebar was added in preparation for pouring concrete in the sidewalk.

Rebar was also added for the apron and the garage stoop.

The garage got its first coat of paint.

Another view of painting in the garage. I didn't know that the painters were going to paint the wood "pure white" while the walls were dover white (the yellowish white).

The culvert pipe. Surface treatment for the driveway is scheduled for later this week.

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August 28, 2009: Forms for concrete

We dropped by the house Friday after work. Some forms for were completed and the hot water heater was delivered.

Forms for the sidewalk. It flares out at both the driveway and the steps.

Forms for the apron and the garage stoop.

The backfill beside the garage stoop. We'll likely need to put in a retaining wall in the not so-distant future.

The hot water heater was delivered. It will go underneath the basement steps.

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August 27, 2009: Granite and front steps

On Thursday, we went to the house twice. Once during lunch to meet with the granite guys and then again in the evening to inspect the results and go on a walk. Work was also proceeding on the sidewalk and the front steps had gone in on Wednesday.

The granite in the kitchen in the evening after installation (all in). Preethi's playing "find the seam".

Your turn to find the seam. I promise it's there. What is easier to see is where the installers intentionally tore out a little drywall. Basically, the granite is perfectly straight, but drywall is not and if you'll be putting in a backsplash you can cover over the hole later.

Earlier in the installation process with the granite around the sink and dishwasher going in.

Same piece as in the preceding pic, but just after being dropped in (not yet glued and the sink has not yet been attached).

The granite around the sink post installation.

A closer view of the island. The island has a 1/4" bevel edge while the rest of the granite has a pencil edge. (granite edge types)

Another view of the installed granite in the kitchen.

We also put granite on top of fireplace. Oddly, the granite and the crown was cheaper than a traditional mantle piece.

The brickers were back installing the front steps the day before and while they were there I asked them how hard it would be to tear out some bricks rebrick a part which I thought didn't look right. (see the vertical line in the mortar in this picture). Turns out it's not that hard for the masons to knock out selected bricks and re-lay a few.

Preethi, Danny, and W.D. discuss the exact path of the sidewalk during lunch.

The sidewalk later that night. The curved wood is actually masonite.

This is mostly to see the bricked floor in the entryway. Still has to be cleaned.

Dan drops off a fresh load of dirt to build up the support around the piers that will support the garage backdoor pad.

Dirt filling in around the pillars. Eventually, the concrete blocks will be covered.

Glass samples we were considering for the cabinets. The left is "ridged" the right is "bubble". We're going with the ridged.

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August 25, 2009: Concrete and Water

On Tuesday, we made it out to the house shortly after work. They've begun hooking up the water to the house, some concrete was poured and drainage pipes were placed in trenches.

Water beginning to be run to the house. This is the end that will connect to the water hookup.

And this is where the water will go into the house.

A bunch of plumbing tubes.

The concrete was poured to support the front steps.

The concrete piers that will help support the backdoor garage stoop. Dirt will fill in around the piers (dirt has a way of receding over time and if there isn't the concrete support the pad by the door will eventually crack and drop off too)

Concrete piers for the garage backfoor stoop viewed from the master bedroom.

Gutter drainage pipes were trenched in.

Preethi saw some dirt in the master bedroom and a push broom and couldn't resist a chance to sweep.

The attic fan in the house was running when we entered (probably kept the house cooler). And yup, it showed up on the meter. We're all the way up to 1 kWh

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