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 12, 2009: Paint and drainfield

On Wednesday, we went to the house with Kate with a subsequent walk around the neighborhood. A second coat had gone on and the drainfield had been graded.

Preethi and Kate inspect the fireplace. You can see where the paint on the wall and the paint on the trim has been touched up and is looking much better.

View of the pantry in the kitchen. At this point, the paint is starting to look neat.

The graded drainfield. With the fallen tree.


The mostly repaired gutter. The gutter guys forgot the cover (lots of trees = lots of leaves = lots of clogs)


I think this an inspection pipe, through which you (or someone you hire) stick a long pole to determine the depth of solid material in the septic tank. When it's "deep enough," the tank needs to be pumped.

The distribution box is mostly covered.

The tile in the bathroom all together.

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August 7, 2009: Tree falls, and more painting

On the 6th, a storm came through and knocked over a tree onto the house. Nothing significant happened to the house (a gutter got banged up). Preethi said it meant the choice of brick paid for itself.

In the meantime painting continued.

The tree, now laying across the drainfield.

Where the tree broke off.
In addition to the painting, the pipe for the culvert was delivered. Eventually, it'll look like this.

View of the great room where the first coat of the wall paint has been made. It's kinda blotchy at this point, but will look better later once a second coat is applied. You can also see some of the trim beginning on the fireplace (the firebox is pretty big - 42").

View of the kitchen.

View of the dining room. Basically, the kitchen, dining room, and great room are blue while the rest of the house is off-white.

Deer came right up to the backside of the house to munch on leaves. Never left even though they saw me standing 5 feet away (but inside the house).

Another view of the deer.

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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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