WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?      

For the bathrooms, I don’t want “cookie cutter” sinks and cabinets, so we went looking for those things at a store that sells all sorts of building materials that were cancelled special orders, or maybe slightly damaged.   We got a really cool pedestal sink for our master bathroom and a cabinet sink for the kids’ room.  Our sink had been a special order for someone who decided that they didn’t want white.   The kids’ sink had a scratch on one side that will be up against the wall.  No one will ever see it - and both of these were so much cheaper than they would have been otherwise.   We also got toilets for all three bathrooms, and they’re all the same style.  But, for the master bath toilet, we got one with a higher seat, in the event that - God forbid - someday we would need that if one of us was in a wheelchair.

John is putting a shower in, in the basement, so when he comes home from work he can clean up down there.  It’s just a shower stall and a utility sink.  The kids will be able to use it too if they get messy.  It just makes sense.

The siding also came in and it was amazing to watch it go up, because we had some type of a lift.  The first piece they put up was the corner piece, and they put a piece of J channel down at the bottom.  And then they just hooked into each other, one after the other.  It was really cold outside, so I felt bad for them.   The first side went the slowest, because it was their learning curve.  None of the guys had ever put up siding before.  They were finished siding in three days - except for the front of the house.

SO, EVERYTHING IS DONE EXCEPT THE FRONT?  WHAT’S NEXT?

Siding the front will be next, but we will have to wait until the next time we can get another lift.  The front windows are all in and they look absolutely fantastic, except for the fingerprints that are all over them.  My brother KC sealed the outside of the windows for us, which will protect everything.  We can wait and do the siding when we do the soffit and the fascia.

DID THE BIG TRAPAZOID WINDOWS GO IN EASILY?

They began at around 8:00 in the morning and they were finished at noon.  But those guys are professionals.  It was pretty uneventful.  Nobody got hurt.  Nobody got cut on the edges, which was a concern I had, because it’s clean-cut glass.

Andrew got to help them install the windows.  They said he was really big help in getting what they needed, and was almost second guessing what they needed.  He really loved doing that.

SO YOU’RE COMPLETELY CLOSED IN NOW?

Well, other than the garage doors, which they just called about this morning - five weeks later, instead of just the two weeks that they initially promised.  John and KC will put them in.  KC had worked for a garage door company when he was in high school, so he has experience with that.  So, they’ll get that done next week.

HOW ARE YOUR OTHER QUOTES COMING ALONG?

We did get two quotes in for our HVAC.   John wants to get a third quote in, because the two we’ve gotten are so dramatically different in price.  He just thinks it would probably be best to get a third one.

WHAT ABOUT POWER AND PLUMBING?

We have the lines run.  We have the box on order, and we need to get a trencher to dig the trench.  The problem is, with all that we have going on, we only seem to be able to really work on the house every other weekend.  Usually, it’s Sunday after church and Monday, or it’s Friday and Saturday.  It’s usually just a couple of days a week.  So hopefully that will get done next week.

The other thing we’re going to do is decide where we want everything to go in the bathrooms, so John can start the rough-in for the plumbing - so that when the HVAC guys come, we’ll know everything’s going to be OK with the plumbing.   Apparently the HVAC guys get first choice and the plumbing guys get second choice.  At least that’s the way we’re doing it. 

The next major thing to put a deposit on will be the septic system.

IS THAT ABOUT IT FOR NOW THEN?

That’s about it ‘till next time.