lights

We finally have lights!!! It has been a long painful process, but most of the lights are now up. It is so nice to see lights it makes the house look so much more complete. There has been a lot of work done this last couple of days. The fireplace mantle was put up, most of the lights installed, electric work finalized, and the drywall people have patched all of the holes. Tomorrow the painters will come in and touch up everything. This should make everything ready for the carpet and hardwood floor guys to start. The power for the garage doors was installed and the house is now secured minus the front doors.

Dining room chandelier.

Front entry chandelier.

Looking at front entry chandelier from top of stairs.

Sconces by Juliet balcony.

Light and fan in the play room.

Mantle awaiting to be stained.

Kitchen pendants.

Family room ceiling fan.

fireplace

This week there was a lot of work done. Outside the house the mailbox was made the yard had dirt brought in a leveled out. The air conditioning units were installed and the electric meter was installed (finally after a week, I guess they have up to three business days after the set appointment to get it done and since the appointment was Thursday that means that guy waited all the way until Tuesday). Outside is almost completely done except for the gas meter which should go in this week. (he has 7-10 days to do it and is nearing that time) The summer kitchen is waiting on the grill to come in and then it should be built. Inside the fireplace wall was covered with stone, the AC controls were installed, Alarm system installed, and the house was cleaned in preparation for the finish work. This week will start with the lighting being installed. The drywall guys to patch all holes and nicks. Then the painters will come in and stain the rails and add the second coat of paint. Once that is finished the carpet, wood floor, and appliances can go in. We are getting close to move time and we are getting super excited.

Garage side of the house where the electric meter, and 2 of 3 AC units installed.

Mailbox still needs house number block to be placed in the front. Also you can see how the have grated the yard and brought dirt in to level out.

Stone around the fireplace.

Another view of stone around fireplace. waiting on mantle and sitting hearth stones before grouting.

My favorite part. The Bidet!!!! Even Jaeden is excited to use it so he "doesn't have to wipe anymore."

Driveway and finished tile

In Houston we have been having an abnormally dry year and have not had any rain in fact we are about 17 inches under the normal average rainfall. That being said when we went to pour our slab it rained and postponed it by a week, well it hadn't rained in months until we were ready to pour the driveway and as you guessed it rained the day we were supposed to have a driveway so we got delayed a week with that. I am happy to say that we now have a driveway, sidewalk to front entry, air conditioning pad, and pad for the back doors. The tile guy has finally finished after having camped out in our house forever, who knows what he did all day as it seemed like little progress was made everyday. In the end he did a wonderful job except for the fact that he did not put in a place for the shampoo and soap as per plan, so know they are in there with a section torn out and working on putting it in. Inside they are working on electrical and low voltage trim out. We should have power to the house soon as well as light fixtures. That is if lighting inc can ever get going. (I recommend no one ever use lighting inc as they were HORRIBLE to work with and very slow!!!!!). It is crunch time because we want to be in the house in about 3 weeks, so they are trying hard. Outside the house is almost done they have framed out the mailbox and will be ready to build. They will also be starting the outdoor kitchen soon. They also should be putting in the air conditioning units outside and doing the final grating around the house.

This is the guest shower tiled.

The kitchen with finished tile and faucet installed.

Closer view of back splash tile.

Driveway!!!

Sidewalk from driveway to the front door.

tile and faucets

This week we have finally seen some accelerated progress. We complained about how slow the tile work was going and that there was only 1 or 2 guys working at a time and so the builder gave the tile company a deadline and all of a sudden multiple tilers were present and the work accelerated. We also told the builder that we really needed to be in the house by mid to late July and things began to speed up. It has been a frustrating couple of weeks as Jess and I (mostly Jess) have been battling the lighting company. We feel that they were extremely overpriced so we finally accepted about half the items and the other half we went and bought them at home depot ourselves. Home depot had similar fixtures for half the cost. They are currently finishing the grout around the outside stone. The septic tank has been installed in the ground. The large dumpster has been moved from the driveway. They should be forming up and pouring the driveway and sidewalk to the front door this next. ( I hope) On the inside they have tiled the 2 upstairs bathroom showers and installed the sink faucets. The upstairs baths only lack the light fixtures and toilets as well as the shower heads. The master bath shower is almost finished with the tile. The shower seat was formed and all wall tile was put in place. The shower floor tile has not been don as of yet. The jacuzzi tub is being tiled and will be installed soon. The back splash tile in the kitchen has started as well. The guest bath shower has not yet been tiled. All sink faucets have been installed. Bathroom and cabinet hardware has been installed as well. We are hoping that lighting will be installed next week. The upstairs is almost finished except for the carpet, lighting and touch up work.

Start of the kitchen back splash. It is a slate tile with decorative glass. This part will be behind the stove top.

Kitchen faucet. This is one of those that turn on by touching anywhere on it.

Powder room granite, faucet and cabinet.

This is one of the two upstairs bathroom showers. They are tiled the same.

Cabinet and faucet in an upstairs bathroom.

Master bath slate tile. This is the back wall above the seat. There are windows on each side.

Master shower looking from one end to the other.

Travertine tile work on the master jacuzzi tub.

Looking at one of the two master shower entrances. To the right of that leads to the toilet and bidet as well as Jessica's closet.

Railing and tile part 2

This week they have been working on the balcony and stair rails as well as continuing with the tile work. We were pleased to see that they finally have rails and a banister on our stairs, bridge, and balcony. Now we can let the boys roam around more upstairs without working about 1 of them flying off of the openings down to the first floor. They are now putting up the wall tile in the bathrooms. They are getting ready to pour the driveway and side walk.

The Iron rails on the Juliet balcony.

Iron rails on bridge

Stairs with the iron rails.

Front entry tile. looks like a hardwood floor.

tile and railing

After spending the week in Vegas, Jess and I were very excited to get back and see what had been done on the house. We were very happy to see that the stair and balcony railings had been started and most of the tile had been placed. There is still some floor tiling left as well as the bath tile. The stone outside has been finished except for the grout. They have also started the septic tank. This week they should be finishing the tile and railing. Outside they will start preparing to pour the driveway. We continue to get anxious about getting in the house as it seems like that day will never get here. We are also trying to finish up the lighting selections.

Finished stone minus grout

Banister for Juliet balcony railing

Banister from the bridge

Stair banister with starting of iron railing. you can also see the entry way tile that looks like wood flooring. It is dirty from all the workers walking on it.

This is the hall tile that connects the guest bedroom to the kitchen. This is that same tile that is in the utility, mud room, guest bath, and pantry.

Stone......finally

After weeks of not knowing which stone to use we finally decided and now the stone has started to go up. The outside of the house now looks more finished and more like the final product. They are still working on the tile. Over the next week the tile should be close to finished and maybe the stairs and balcony railings with have been started. Jess and I are getting anxious to get into our new place and every time we see change it makes us more excited.

Stone finally on the front of the house.

Stone on the front garage.

Stone being put up on the front entrance.

Master bath travertine tile.