WATER+WORKS

Matthew passed the framing inspection (YAY!) which means that we get to put up sheetrock!! So the insulation is being installed quickly – because everyone knows that once the sheetrock goes up, everything really starts moving!

Maybe you’ve heard me say, “things are about to really start moving” a few times before… maybe you’re a little tired of hearing it… that’s ok, because THIS time I mean it! Stay tuned!

Our house has keys!!

i decided to scrap the plan i had for using off the shelf doors and fabricate my own. you know, because i like to make things difficult. the good news is that it will allow the window and door system to be more seamless, and let us have glass in the door which was something we couldn’t have afforded if we were buying them. the bad news is that it is a little challenging to install traditional door hardware in a door made of 3/16″ steel tube. not one to back down from a challenge, i simply employed almost every tool i own, and a day and a half of my life. but now we have five doors with handles and deadbolts. and you need a key to get in the building. well, you can still walk THROUGH the doors because the glass doesn’t come in until thursday, but after THAT you’ll need a key!

Bye bye red, hello white… actually, white dove. After what felt like years staring at that dingy red brick (ok, ok it WAS years) this paint job has given our house an exciting transformation.

An even more dramatic change took place on our ceiling! Matthew and Will kept saying, “trust us, once it’s painted white you’ll like it” and they were right… it made a HUGE difference.

this project has been a (not so) delicate balance of time vs money. the idea is that i don’t have any money so i’ll do the work myself at the expense of the move in date (which has been pushed back so many times i don’t even remember what i originally promised!). the decision to do the electrical work myself certainly saved us a bundle, but i think it may have cost us a month! because i may know what i’m doing, but i ain’t fast…. the good news is that it’s done (well, it’s roughed-in)

and by the way, if any of y’all have glanced over the 2008 electrical code, you’ll appreciate that some of that junk isn’t exactly intuitive. the existing breaker box in the building had 8 spaces…. the one i just installed has 42. and there are eight more outside.

Progress is being made on our house even though I have been bad about documenting it… I promise. Roughly 97.82% of the glass has been set. The electrical work is nearly done. The new roof has been installed. The alarm system is being wired. The front yard has been leveled. The painters have even begun priming the house… enter rainstorms. And I will make some time to show you all of this very soon.

This is the (very large) door that Matthew created for our kitchen. Eventually there will be a small courtyard space off of the kitchen. So we’re imagining throwing the big door open and heading outside on those gorgeous days of the year when the weather is just right for outdoor dining (all 6 of them).

Peri doesn’t understand that it’s a door - she keeps walking straight through it. Hopefully she’ll break the habit once the glass goes in!

Attention all future guests: this is your bathroom. Well, it WILL be your bathroom. We intend to finish it out with, you know, tile and walls and other good stuff. But you get the idea, right? It has a jetted tub and a separate standing shower, so you might have to fight me for it. This is a completely different layout than the original plan. Matthew wasn’t thrilled with the design so he wrestled with it, and wrestled with it - and voila! The bathroom feels like such a big room without adding any more square footage (ok… a little space was added, but it was for a good cause).

This is our den window. I’m a fan of it. The left section is the door to the backyard - so we don’t have to stop watching that Friends rerun to let the dog(s) outside. The “glass guy” came to measure the panes last week, so we should be installing glass throughout most of the house soon. In other news, plumbing is ready for inspection. HVAC is starting to be installed this week. And after the air vents are installed we can finally put on the new roof… and it’s time for the new roof. With all this rain and a holey roof, the house is constantly soaked, and it just feels wrong!

Matthew decided he wanted to change the roofline on the left side of the house, so a bit more demo was required. I know, I know… I said the demolition was done. And I believed it, too. But I think this will be good. I’m not quite sure what he’s going to do with the roofline, but I saw some sketches and his ideas are cool. So we’ll just trust him. This time.