September 4, 2009: Let there be light

On Friday, we did not make it out to the house until after the sun went down. Fortunately, the lighting fixtures were installed which really go a long ways towards making it look like a finished house. For whatever reason, the flash on the camera seemed to make rooms look a lot yellower in the picture than in person.

View of the great room and kitchen. You can see the track lighting on the great room wall (where we'll hang paintings), recessed lights in the ceiling, and pendant lights in the background in the kitchen (there are more lights in the kitchen than you can see in this picture). In the background, Preethi is fiddling with the remote control for the great room fan.

This is the fan Preethi was controlling. It's rather large and moves a good bit of air even when not spinning very quickly.

A different view of the great room which let's you see all three recessed lights on the south side of the great room. There's a total of six recessed lights in the great room. Interestingly, we found that the track lighting did a much better job of lighting up the room (brighter and more even light) than the recessed lights, probably because they aim up towards the reflective white ceiling while the recessed lights aim down.

The track lights.

The kitchen all lit up (except for some recessed lights). We'll have to lower the pendants over the island a little bit.

Lights were in the closets too (here, the pantry)

Light over the sink in the main level bath.

Stairwell lights. Effectively nightlights so you can see the steps in the dark.

The hanging light in the stairwell. Preethi was there when they hung up this light. She said it only took 2 minutes.

Light/fan in one of upstairs bedrooms.

Lights over the tub in the master bath.

The shower in the master bath.

Lights on my side of the master bath.

Lights in a different bedroom on the top floor.

View of the stair light from that same bedroom. Note that smoke detectors are also in.

For perspective on how many lights were put in Friday, here's the boxes for the lights.

Last of the outlets were put in in the basement.

Insulation in the basement. Still a little more to add in a few places like the preceding pic.

The whole house fan is now operational (we tested it for fun).

Laundry room. The last of the hookups were cleaned up.

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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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Aug 3, 2009: Paint and tub tiles

On Monday, we visited the house in the evening. Painting had begun on the ceiling and the first coat on the walls was up in some rooms. Also some tile work was still going on in the master bathroom.

View of the dining room. As painting traditionally starts with the ceiling, that part is about done even though there's not yet any primer on the wall (which will eventually be bluish grey shade you see in the corner (top part). The railings will remain covered for quite a while.

The ceiling in the kitchen.

A railing was measured and cut for the stairs. It'll go down as soon as the painting begins on the walls.

View looking up the stairs. Here you can see where some of the walls are beginning to be painted an off (yellow) white. That color was chosen mostly because we don't really have the furniture we want for the house yer and thought it would be a nice neutral color.

View of the walls in the master bedroom. If you look closely, you can see a gap between the walls and the ceiling. That'll be filled in eventually, but a little gap makes spraypainting the walls easier.

View of the walls in a different second-floor bedroom.

Tiles around the master bath tub. The little row of small tiles uses the same tiles as on the floor of the shower - in theory tying it all together. That's actually the last of the tile except for the foyer.

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July 8, 2009: Baseboards and Wonderboard

We visited the house on the evening of the 8th (Wednesday). The remainder of the Wonderboard was in and baseboard trim was started on the second level. A couple places struck me as a little odd as I'm used to doing baseboard after tile (to get a snug fit) but before carpet (to tuck) so I'll have to check up on it.

Baseboard in the upstairs hallway. This is on top of the hardwood, so it's expected (though staining might be harder).

Wonderboard down in the jack-and-jill bathroom.

Some baseboard down in the master bedroom (this will be carpet).

Wonderboard in the master bathroom.

My "huh?" moment as there's baseboard on the wonderboard in the "throne room". Is just the quarter round going to sit on the tile?

Baseboard in one of the master bedroom closets (carpet).

Baseboard in another bedroom (carpet).

Different view of the wonderboard in the jack-and-jill.

Wonderboard and baseboard in the laundry (tile floor).

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July 6, 2009: Wonderboard and doors

When we visited on July 6th (Monday), most of the second floor doors were in and Wonderboard had been laid for the tile in the kitchen and foyer.

Looking from the great room into the kitchen. The grey stuff on the floor is the wonderboard.

Closeup of the Wonderboard in the kitchen.

Wonderboard in the entry (foyer).

View of doors in the bedroom on the east side of the second level. That's a closet on the left, entrance in the back, and an entrance to the second floor bathroom next to the entry door.

View of the mini-hallway in the master bedroom. Those are closets on either side and the doors to the master bathroom in the back.

View of the upstairs hallway. The doors are all in. That's the laundry on the right and another bedroom in the back.

Updated view of the great room. The window and door trim is all in. Wood is down. Drywall is up.

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