We have hot water now!  Our propane tank is all hooked up and the hot water heater works.  This was particularly welcome because I spent part of the afternoon pulling up poison oak with my bare hands.  I was able to wash up with warm water rather than frigid, fresh from the well groundwater – a vast improvement.  And yes, I know, this was not so bright of me, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.  No rash so far, thankfully.

Other changes – I oiled the end of the counters with mineral oil and finished marking the knob locations for the kitchen cabinets.  

The post Change Log 06.16.09 appeared first on Building A Home For Our Family.

I installed plugs in Matt’s office and finally put a switch plate on the light switch in the storage area.  I finished up the electrical outlets outside.  I also finished painting the kids’ bath, fixed some drywall in there, and did some painting in the master bath.  I started measuring the cabinets for knobs, but didn’t finish that yet. I spent a lot of time with the shop-vac and cleaned up a lot of dust and sawdust.

Matt installed the pedestal sink and faucet, nailed down the underlay in the upstairs bathroom, worked on the oak flooring upstairs, built a platform for the island future in the kitchen, and did a lot of picking up and putting tools and such away.

As you can see from the move-in checklist, we’re making a lot of progress! This week we should be getting our appliances, our propane hooked-up, and possibly five more doors.  Once we have the appliances, Matt will be able to get those in place and then get the counters installed.  Yay!  

The post Change Log 06.09.09 – 06.15.09 appeared first on Building A Home For Our Family.

I did a lot of cleaning up and organizing on Friday and through the weekend to prepare for having someone out to measure for our linoleum install.  I also bought paint and I am working on painting the kids’ bath before the linoleum is laid down (currently scheduled for the 15th).  I’ve put down a deposit and ordered the rest of our appliances (range, hood and dishwasher) and our kitchen countertop.  I’ve ordered five more doors (pantry, utility door and pocket door, master bath, toilet area door for the kids’ bath). I’ve picked out the flooring for the bedrooms upstairs and for the open area and away room downstairs. 

Over the weekend Matt worked on some of the window trim, installed the venting grates for the freezer, hung the door for the kids’ bath, and worked on the underlay for the kids’ bath.  

We also had a plumber come out for the day on Tuesday and he installed all the shower hardware and the hot water heater.  We’re supposed to get our propane tank installed next week, so we should have hot water soon.

FYI – I updated the Move-In List.

The post Change Log 05.29.09 – 06.04.09 appeared first on Building A Home For Our Family.

I spent the day running errands and getting the car serviced.  I did pick up some trim kits for the ceiling cans (the ones from the local electrical place didn’t fit) and some caulk.  Yippee.  I’m going down to the house tomorrow morning though and hopefully I’ll have more to report. 

The post Change Log 05.28.09 appeared first on Building A Home For Our Family.

I didn’t do much on the house today – made a couple phone calls, put another coat of sealer on the temporary master bath counter, and started cleaning in the rooms that will get linoleum.  We have someone coming out on Monday to measure and double check the materials and we need to have everything cleaned up by then.

The post Change Log 05.27.09 appeared first on Building A Home For Our Family.

Matt and I discussed the house and priorities, and I spent some time making some phone calls to various suppliers and subcontractors.  While I was running errands in the morning I bought the correct outdoor electrical covers, two more GFI outlets, and the trim for the cans in the away room.  I installed the GFIs and covers, so all that’s left is gluing the tops on the electrical boxes.  

The post Change Log 05.26.09 appeared first on Building A Home For Our Family.

I was visiting family for the better part of last week, and Matt was quite busy with work, so not all that much got done until the weekend.  However, the tile guys finished the downstairs bath and it looks great.  One of these days I will actually remember the camera and I’ll post some pictures.  The tile guys are now done with all three bathrooms and we hope to have them back shortly after we move in (and scrounge up the money) so they can do a backsplash in the kitchen for us.

Over the weekend we did quite a bit – well, Matt did most of it, really, I did a lot of work outside.  Here’s a summary of what I can remember.  Oh, and the move-in list has been updated too.

• Picked up and installed the counter for the kids’ bath
• Cut and installed a”temporary” counter for the master bath, put one coat of sealer on the counter
• Installed the sinks in the kids’ bath
• Installed the rest of the newel posts and the majority of the bannister and balusters.  There is just one little section to go on the railing! 
• I touched up the paint and scrubbed the downstairs bath, and Matt laid the linoleum.  It looks good, but he’s ready to hire the rest of this job out (yippee!)
• I finished sorting and moving the rest of the scrap pile
• Matt installed the underlayment in the master bath
• I installed one of the exterior plugs, then realized that the remaining two GFIs I need must have been used somewhere else in the house.  Back to the electrical store for me tomorrow…
• Matt worked on the oak flooring on the landing

The post Change Log 05.18.09 – 05.25.09 appeared first on Building A Home For Our Family.

Well, so much for keeping on top of this!

Over the past couple days I cleaned, tidied, and vacuumed upstairs to get ready to lay more flooring.  We received the underlay for the bathrooms, and found that our linoleum flooring may require heat welding to do the seams.  (yikes!)  I drilled holes for the dowels in 73 balusters.  I ordered the rest of the plumbing fixtures.  I contacted a person who does stairs, and had him out to give us a quote for finishing up the stairs. I contacted the propane company and gave them the go ahead to set the tank and hook it all up.

Matt primarily worked on the railing upstairs, but also spent a little time today and yesterday knocking a few things off the list.  I’ve updated the move-in list if anyone else is keeping track.

The post Change Log 05.13.09 – 05.17.09 appeared first on Building A Home For Our Family.

I worked for a little while on the small section of flooring upstairs by the master bedroom, but found it slow going.  It seems like it should be easy, but we’re trying to be frugal in our use of pieces so it takes a lot of work to find the right pieces to fit in that space.  We want to make sure we have enough of this flooring to do the whole space, and since it is recycled flooring from Matt’s grandparents’ house we can’t exactly get more of it!  

Matt, my father-in-law, and I filled in the propane trench, so as soon as the new tanks become available, we’ll be able to get the propane installed.  We have finalized our plumbing too, and I tried to order that today but wasn’t able to get in touch with my contact person.  I also made an appointment for tomorrow to meet with someone about doing the finish work on the stairs.  I tracked down the underlayment for the upstairs bathrooms and that will be coming later this week.

And as I type this Matt is trying to get the newel posts set.  

OK, all caught up!

The post Change Log 05.12.09 appeared first on Building A Home For Our Family.

Matt installed some of the shower trim in the Master bath (ooh, shiny!) and reinstalled the light fixture in the entry.  Unfortunately the beam isn’t flat on the bottom, so the light fixture is a little out of true.  We’re hoping that some shims will help.

Matt and I also met with a mortgage person, got a lot of information, filled out an application for a mortgage.  So long as the appraisal comes out decently, we’re in good shape.  But given the current real estate market, that is definitely some cause for concern.  But the interest rates certainly are amazing right now!

We also picked up all our linoleum flooring.  Now I just need to track down some underlayment for the upstairs bathrooms, and I can get started on that.

The post Change Log 05.11.09 appeared first on Building A Home For Our Family.