Sub floor is started

We visited today and found the sub flooring has been started. They've also filled in the garage floor with gravel and it looks ready for cement on Monday. The workers were working (on a Saturday) on the house next door. They seemed friendly and waved to us.

We also met a neighbor. She lives just around the corner with her husband. She said they LOVE the neighborhood and that all of their neighbors are our age with young kids. Sounds great! She was helping her best friend move into a newly finished house today and welcomed us to the neighborhood.

Foundation is done!

We knew the first inspection was scheduled for today, so we headed over tonight to see what was new. To our surprise, the concrete foundation is finished. Looks like they'll be ready to pour the garage tomorrow. The house right next door to ours is about 2 days ahead, so it's interesting to see where it is every time we visit. You can click on the photos for a bigger version.

Without further ado, the photos:

The houses in progress across the street. Believe it or not, they'll be building a house in between the two here. Close together, yes they are! The house on the right is almost done. We first saw it with 2x4 studs. The house on the left was just a foundation when we first saw it. That was about a month ago. Three weeks maybe. Crazy, eh?

Standing in the garage, looking at the house. Shannon and Camille are standing roughly where the master bedroom will be.

From the back yard. The big square nearest the camera is the house. The littler square at the back of the photo is the garage. You can barely see Shannon in a blue shirt in front of that black truck.

Colors

I was going through some photos and found this. I'd forgotten all about it, but these are the colors for our house. The darker cabinet and darker carpet were our ultimate choices. We also went with a darker vinyl for the kitchen and bathrooms, but you get the idea.

We'll have laminate countertops with a tumbled stone backsplash, birch cabinets, a vinyl floor, a stone tile entryway, and carpet throughout. We upgraded the carpet from super cheap to semi-cheap. The birch cabinets were also an upgrade.

Foundation is almost up!

The wood mold for the concrete foundation is completely up and appears ready for pouring. It was fun to walk "through" the house today and imagine where everything will be.

We also have a better idea of just how big (or small!) our yard will be. The side yards will only be about 5 feet from house to fence. The backyard will be a bit bigger and it's still hard to tell there since there's a lot of dirt piled back there. I'm glad we were able to get a larger lot...the other lots are 2 feet narrower and 10 feet shorter! That makes a big difference on small lots like ours.

Our House

I'll light the fire

You put the flowers in the vase

That you bought today

Staring at the fire

For hours and hours

While I listen to you

Play your love songs

All night long for me

Only for me

Come to me now

And rest your head for just five minutes

Everything is good

Such a cosy room

The windows are illuminated

By the sunshine through them

Fiery gems for you

Only for you

Our house is a very, very fine house

With two cats in the yard

Life used to be so hard

Now everything is easy

'Cause of you

And our la,la,la, la,la, la, la, la, la, la, la.....

Our house is a very, very fine house

With two cats in the yard

Life used to be so hard

Now everything is easy

'Cause of you

And Our

I'll light the fire

And you place the flowers in the jar

That you bought today

House News

The news is more or less official...we're building a house!

I don't want to butt in on Matthew and Abby's house news (I'm so happy for you guys!) so I haven't really mentioned this to anyone but Mom. We didn't want to miss out on the tax credit so we've been house shopping for a few months. We finally found what we wanted in a new neighborhood not far from where we are now.

This is what it looked like about 3 weeks ago...bare ground with a SOLD sign! We signed the paperwork on August 6 to make an offer. It was accepted a day later and they put up the sold sign right away.

The pic below is an approximation of what we'll have in November. The picture is a house that was already built and was sold a few weeks ago. We toured it and really liked it a lot. By the time we had our ducks in a row, that house sold. So we're building one! Our house isn't fancy...it's in a neighborhood of nearly identical houses (though they actually do a decent job of making them look different). But it will be built with some specifications just for us: the garage will be 8 feet longer, the garage will be insulated, there's an exterior door from the garage to outside (have to pay extra for that!), and we've added outlets. Those are all benefits for the business.

Inside the house, we're upgrading the carpet and the kitchen cabinets. And we're adding a porch to the outside. So a few "wants" are being added, too. Once the house is done, we'll have to put in our own backyard and a fence. That may have to wait until spring, though. Anyway, they've started building already (foundation is in today!) and it's supposed to be done by Nov 15. We should be able to move right before Thanksgiving.

Oh, and for the "little" details: it's 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, kitchen, utility room, and garage. Small backyard but we can finally plant our plants in one spot. I've been lugging these two poor azaleas around for literally 10 years in pots. It's always been my benchmark...we'll be truly home when I can plant the azaleas.