WHAT’S GOING ON?

The new exciting thing is that we got the first quarter of the garage floor poured.  It went really well.  No one wrote anything in it, that I know of.  We have three more parts to do, because we’re doing it in quarters.  We’re supposed to have more rain again later this week, but John was going to try to have the guys pour another section then, since it’s inside.

Also, we now have concrete steps coming from the left side of the back of the house - that will come around to what we’re going to use as the main entry door, which is actually the side door in the plan.  We had those steps poured at the same time as the garage floor.

Inside the home, we have stairs built to the upstairs.   They’re just kind of temporary steps for now, they’re not full treads.  They’re actually just 2×4’s but at least they’re better than the ladder.  We’ve ordered the actual treads, but we haven’t gone to pick them up yet.   But at least now have something that we can actually sit on.

SO, WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP?

The next step is the Tyvek.  Once the Tyvek is on, we can put in the windows.  We’re going to try to get that done by next week.  I’m not sure if we can set the insulated double hung windows in before the siding, or not. 

We got our quote for the siding today.  It’s a style called board and batten.  It’s a vertical siding and we chose a light brown color.   I originally wanted a darker color, but it was going to cost an additional thousand dollars, because it was a “superior” color from the manufacturer.   I decided it wasn’t that important.  I’d rather spend the money somewhere else.  It will still look very nice.

It looks and feels like wood, (it’s vinyl) but it has an insulating backing that will help with the heating and cooling.   It was more expensive to get the insulation, but it will pay for itself over time.   We’ll be ordering the siding this week.

This weekend, we’re going to try to do at the end of the week, is to go over the electrical plans.  Because, I need to make a decision about where I want electrical outlets - if different from what the plans call for.  There are lots of things to consider, like, I have the option to put them underneath all the windows for my Christmas lights.   As I walk around inside the house, I’m thinking, now where would I want electrical outlets?   That’s one of the perks of building your own home.

The other thing we need to make a decision about fairly quickly, is a central vacuum system.  It’s better for our breathing - and our children’s breathing - inside the house, because the vacuum is actually out in the garage.   So that will go in at about the same time as the electrical, and the security system.   The central vac people are also the security system people, so that will work out.   We have quotes on all of that, and we just need to get our deposits in, and to give them the time frame. Another thing that we’re doing is, the HVAC guy is coming out next week to talk to us.

WHAT ABOUT ELECTRICAL - STRINGING THE WIRES, ETC?

John will be doing most of it.  I’ll help pull wires, but I won’t touch anything once it’s live.  We have a friend who is a certified electrician, who will help him get everything live.  Then, we’re hiring a company to come out and do the final OK.  We need to have something called a “cut card” from our electrician, to give to PP&L before the turn on the power.

We’ll be getting new power poles shortly.  PP&L came out and dug holes where they had sprayed hot pink marks on the ground.   I’m supposing poles will be next.  It just seems like everything is moving along so quickly, now that there’s a roof on and we have walls.  Everybody wants to get in at the same time.

WHAT ABOUT PLUMBING?

We haven’t talked a lot about plumbing yet, but we were just having a debate the other day about tubs.  The debate was between one piece and two piece tubs.   Also, John is concerned that we get a whirlpool tub that will fit into the master bath, and so that we won’t have to take a wall out to get it in there.  We want to get a large tub, and we’ll need to get an additional hot water heater.  But I’m OK with that, because this is one area where I wanted to splurge a little.

THAT’S A LOT OF STUFF GOING ON.

Yes.  And, all at one time.