DEMO IN THE VALLEY

Pics from Beast of a Backyard

2010-07-01T10:42:00.001-05:00

Beast of a Backyard

2010-07-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

We bought 35 feet from the people behind us that took over a year to finalize the change in ownership on so we never really got anything done on it and it looks pretty bad. We had been mowing the weeds and it is really uneven. We knew it was going to take a lot to get it fixed up I listen to news radio on the way to school each morning and they were announcing a "Worst Backyard" contest in May.

I took some pictures with my iphone and entered the contest online and then proceeded to send this message to all of our friends to help us out with voting.

Bo and I entered our backyard in a contest to have it redone by Enchanted Gardens but we need your help. Click on the website below and vote for our backyard – “Beast of a Backyard” You only get to vote once per computer so go vote for ours now! Please! Please! Please! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

http://radiobase1.clearchannel.com/front/image_contest2.asp?s=A6889271C4BCB3A3557BA5BEA5B19D84939EB49BB6B4678DD1CF8B998EAFA6BDBD777CA6CCC6C2BCA1897D675D81778E7FA4BC6F8D746C66A6B5AF948C6A618499A7A0737C8568676E6A828BA4A2BB8B7857

I'll post the pics I took later on.

Snow in Houston??

2009-12-26T10:45:00.000-06:00

Yes, it really snowed in Houston and quite a bit! Here's a picture of the house.

The Holidays

2008-11-26T11:35:00.002-06:00

We are now out of most of our boxes and have gotten very comfortable in the new house. We had a ton of people over (more than 50) for the Tech v. OU game and the party was great, the game, not so great. We won't be spending all the holidays at the house but we will be there most of the time. It has been great having people over, getting things put away and figuring out what all the light switches do and where they are.

One bummer note, the wood for the mantle cracked so we might not have a piece of Ike after all.

Would we do this again??

2008-11-18T21:54:00.003-06:00

Now that we are out of the middle of it...the answer would probably have to be...yes! If you asked me 2 months ago - no way! (would have been more like it.) I hated all the decisions that you have to make but there is one thing that I would have liked to have put more thought in to...where the light switches went. Although, on some of the placements we didn't really have a lot of choices because we put in A LOT of pocket doors. Did I mention? I love pocket doors! Bo hates pocket doors - but I won that argument... We leave the doors open all the time anyway, why not have the extra space, right?!?

Anyway, we closed on the final loan yesterday and I think that it finally feels like it's ours. Yeah!

Still a few more things that need to be done/fixed:

-ice maker is broken
-scratches on a couple of doors
-alarm sensor on the windows upstairs
-weather stripping on the back door
-a little paint touch up
-restrictor in the guest bath shower - brrrrrr!
-unpack the rest of my boxes and hang stuff on the walls!

I'm still a little timid about putting nails into my new walls. I'll get over that soon, I'm sure. And, unfortunately, my stupid dog already broke in the carpet in the gameroom AND the guestroom. Yes, she is a stupid dog but we love her.

I'm sure that this won't be the LAST post but it may be awhile before we post again.

Tata for now!

Getting Settled :: Our New House

2008-11-03T23:12:00.008-06:00

Well, I have some wimpy pictures but we are settling in nicely. Here are the list of biggest surprises.

The house is quiet
The kids are fighting less
We are pretty much unpacked other than wall hangings
We act like we've lived here forever
Most everything is done
The extra space is amazing

I'm sure there is more to come. Here are some pictures.

Little one's room

Living and built ins

Kitchen and dining

Living to the kitchen

Our cool bathroom

Yes we are in! No I don't have internet!

2008-10-30T13:05:00.003-05:00

UGH! It makes posting the new pictures really difficult when you don't have internet at home yet! We just got phone service 2 days ago. We hope to have internet up and running tonight. Apparently our modem decided to poop out after only 6 years of use! Darn modem!

Anyway, everyday has been a new learning experience. The 2nd day we were there we back up the sewer line into the bath tubs. That was interesting. Apparently the inspectors left the little inflatable ball used for testing the line, in the line! It was disgusting but now its all working fine - thank goodness.

They had to take the master shower door away on the 2nd day because the finish was messed up so taking our morning showers is rather cold in that WIDE OPEN bathroom! I hope to have the door back by next week.

The heat wouldn't come on so the had to send those people out to fix that yesterday. The kids were freezing on Wednesday morning when it got so cold.

Anyway, I shouldn't complain. It's beautiful - we love it and we are so happy and blessed. I was complaining about the boxes and someone said "you'll have the rest of your life to unpack boxes." And, they are so right! We are just going to enjoy it, every inch of it, even if it is still piled high with boxes!

So excited! It's Moving Day!

2008-10-22T08:26:00.001-05:00

I couldn't sleep at all last night. I finally got up at 5 this morning and started moving the pantry things down there because I was so excited! It is going to be so nice to be able to put EVERYTHING in the pantry and not have stuff sitting out on the counter. Then I left for work at about 7. Bo is handling the movers. I don't like the packing part - I like the unpacking part!

Hopefully we'll have internet and phone down at the new house later today and we'll be able to post a picture of the FINAL thing!

It's so much fun putting things AWAY!!!

Changes!

2008-10-21T12:14:00.002-05:00

If you change your moving date, expect someone to screw up! We moved our moving date from last Thursday to this Wednesday. I spent about 6 hours on the phone last week with all the utilities, movers, etc. get that dates set up and things changed over. Then I had to spend another 2 hours again after the date got changed, telling everyone the new date but of course 2 things got messed up. They turned off the Gas and our DSL on Friday. Internet is no biggie because Bo has a card so we can get on the internet. Gas, on the other hand, is a BIGGIE!

Saturday morning I'm trying to get in the shower before leaving to go watch our Red Raiders whoop up on the Aggies and all I get is cold water. Of course, the first thing I do is yell at Bo, "DID YOU USE ALL THE HOT WATER?" The answer was, "No, my shower was luke warm." Then we figured out that they must have turned it off sometime on Friday - ugh! So I called on our fellow Red Raiders down the street and they came through for me and we all bathed over there on Saturday - I actually took 2 showers over there on Saturday. Thanks - Hank and Jenn!

Since then we have been showering at the new house, which is sooo cool - literally. There is a limiter thing on the shower heads which won't let the water get too hot. In my opinion, it doesn't get hot at all. They are supposed to be fixing that but they have yet to do it. Today I hope!

And, they are supposed to be taking the port-a-potty away today and then we'll post a final picture of the house! WAHOO!!!!

Some recent pictures

2008-10-20T14:31:00.004-05:00

48 hours and counting! This is going to be a short post since I am supposed to be working and I get on my guys about this all the time. We can't wait! Oh, and Texas Tech being ranked 7th is making my week! It was a fun weekend in College Station, now it's time to get back to work.

Special thanks goes out the Felix and Cat landscaping (still mad about that ordinance thing), At Home Media (Mark Gannon) and as always Waller Contracting for doing a great job. They will be working on our new office space soon so more on that later.

Master Bath

Living Room

Living Detail

My killer front porch! You should see it now.

Some Landscaping

The Kitchen

Moving Day Postponed

2008-10-15T12:45:00.002-05:00

Due to many factors, we are not going to be able to move in until next Wednesday. Talk about a huge hassle and a BIG disappointment. Originally, I spent hours on the phone calling all the utilities, movers, subscriptions, etc. to tell them to change our address, blah, blah, blah - then to have to turn around and do it all over again to tell them, "Wait, don't do it until Wednesday, October 22nd." UGH!!!!

We can't move in without an "Occupancy Certificate" from the Fire Marshall. The first time he came out, it didn't pass - grrrrrr! Hopefully it will the second time so that we can move it. At least, we can start moving in our clothes and closet stuff. We plan on doing that on Sunday. I think Hadlea and I are most excited about setting up our closets. I'm just excited about having a place for everything and everything having a place!!!

Cabinet Knobs

2008-10-15T12:28:00.003-05:00

I swear the people at the online store www.myhomehardware.com where I purchased our cabinet knobs are going to think I can't count. Over the last few months I have placed 5 orders with them. At first, I ordered 12 different kinds of knobs to see what they looked like in person. Their prices are really good compared to what I found at The Great Indoors or Restoration Hardware. And, now that I look back thank goodness I found inexpensive knobs!

The 12 knobs arrived 2 days later. We picked the one that we wanted to go with on everything. Of course, we want them the same on everything - we're easy. I ordered 50 thinking this was going to be way too many. Well, then the cabinets went in. Paul e-mailed and said we need 129 pulls - 79 more than I had originally ordered, ugh. I got online again and ordered 80 more. Not 20 minutes later, Paul texted and said we need 4 more. He forgot about the bench seat in Hadlea's room and the laundry chute in Hannah's room. So, then I ordered 4 more. Those arrived yesterday.

Last night, I went into my awesome master closet to see 16 MORE drawers, thus I needed to order MORE knobs. Ugh! That company is going to think that I'm the biggest idiot that can't count! Thank goodness they have been working with me on the shipping and their shipping prices are really low and they always arrive only 2 days later. The knobs are very good quality and a really good price! And, thank goodness considering that all in all I really needed 149 cabinet knobs. I would not have wanted to pay $7/knob.

Some thoughts about our city and ordinances

2008-10-13T19:43:00.003-05:00

Bummer, a little setback today. We can't move in until next week now because of a City Ordinance. This is an email I sent to my neighbors to keep them informed. If I get more information I will post it as I might be wrong about details but this is the way that I see things right now.

An Email to My Neighbors

I just want to keep those of you in Spring Valley informed so if someone builds a house next to you or you are building one, you are aware. This type of planning should happen at the beginning when it is easier to move dirt around, I assume, but there seems to be a constant flow of new ordinances and requirements that the city is passing to both protect and control city development – some good, some may be not so good.

The city stated that all water needs to run to the front of the house, we did not know that. Now, the engineering to make this look good while functional seems to be a special feat of skill and budget. After speaking with Art, I am questioning the city's motives about this rule. It is in place to make sure that the water from my property does not flood my neighbor's. In theory this is a good idea, right? Except the following.

We share the back of our lot with a home on Burkhart and the water currently flows away from our home from the backyard into an easement.
We will be building up our lot to create a trough with drains so that no water can flow off of or ON TO our property.
Did I mention the aesthetic issues in doing this?
We are basically building a dam between the houses on either side of us and behind us.
We now have to put in drains (no big deal) that we will have to make sure don't get clogged so that our yard/house will not flood. Plus having to have a yard that is basically not level, playing ball will be fun in the backyard.
We already have gutters with drains that go into a drain that goes to the street on the sides of the house to keep that runoff from drenching our neighbors (no problem).

The spirit of the rule is OK in that it is keeping runoff out of our neighbor's yards. The problem I see is that it basically dams up water in our neighbor's yards. The response I received from the city was that people were complaining about flooding so they created this ordinance. This gives the city the ability to say "the drainage on new construction is right and no water from their property is on yours." Good luck. Here are the problems I have with this.

It seems a bit short sighted in that the way it will work, we will either have to build houses below the current depth or dam the water into our yards.
You are responsible for the water on your property, in theory a good idea except that this is mother nature and there is a natural flow to all of this.
As new homes are developed it will put significantly more water onto the street causing more flooding as it is not running off or absorbing naturally.
New homes will have to water more as much of the water from rain will be captured and moved to the street and not distributed naturally.
My neighbors could still be inconvenienced even if we follow city ordinance because we have basically created a dam that water cannot flow naturally (imagine being between two new houses).
As with many of our new ordinances, we have incurred significant costs including indoor sprinkler systems, warning lights, larger pipes, etc.

All in all, our experience with the city and inspectors has been a good one and it seems they are in a tough spot on this one. But, and this is my opinion, this ordinance puts more burden on neighbors to deal with the problem of flooding while making it easier for city to wash their hands of it.

Again, my opinion, I am no expert but I thought you all should be in the know. If there are some facts about drainage or studies the city did, I would be all ears but man, that is a lot of water in the street.

Landscaping

2008-10-13T11:58:00.002-05:00

Wow! It looks like a real house now. They laid all the sod this weekend and took away the gigantic dumpster so you can actually see the house. It looks phenomenal. Bo and I wanted to sit on the front porch yesterday morning but they weren't quite finished. They still need to put a penetrating seal on it and then we'll move our patio furniture down there and drink a beer on our front porch. Something that we have been waiting to do since we started this process almost a year ago.

Only problem is the port-a-potty is still in the driveway - yuck! I can't wait until they take that nasty-smelly thing away, then I'll take some FINAL pictures of the outside because all in all they are DONE with the outside. Really there is just a bunch of punch work and minor things that need to be taken care of - like our master closet, the cabinet faces for the fridge, ice machine and dishwasher, door knobs, cabinet knobs, bathroom accessories, quarter round, sealing the wood floors, final cleaning, and a few more things. Well, I say minor, now that I'm typing it all out it seems like a lot and the movers are coming on Thursday. I hope it's ready, because I know we ARE!!!!

A Level Playing Field

2008-10-10T21:42:00.002-05:00

Today they leveled out the yard to start landscaping. We're moving in five days from now, we can't wait. The carpet is on the truck so they laid the pad and tack strip today. By the end of the day Monday the house will look pretty darn cool. Not that it doesn't already.

Blinds and mantle

2008-10-09T19:10:00.005-05:00

Everyday I get so excited when something else is completed. They installed the blinds today and they look awesome! Thanks Steve! I haven't been able to sleep for the past few nights just thinking about moving and unpacking and putting things away. I'm like a kid right before Christmas! I can't stop thinking about it. I'm dreaming about how I'm going to organize the kitchen and my desk and unpacking all the stuff I haven't seen in a year. It truly will be like Christmas for all of us since everything has been put away for so long.

Mark Ford (the sup) is doing our mantle himself. We decided to use the heartwood from the pine tree that fell in our backyard. It is going to be really rustic looking. It won't be stained for a few weeks because you have to let it dry out before staining. I don't really care. I just think it's so cool that we were able to "save" part of the tree that has been part of this neighborhood for as long as it has been in existence. We started counting rings and lost count at 60 so that tree has been around for a long, long time. And, I hope that it will be around for another 60+ years as part of this house!

One Week Away

2008-10-08T22:02:00.006-05:00

Today was amazing! We are only one week before closing and the house is well on it's way. Paul, our contractor, has done an amazing job and we are excited about the house and cannot wait. While we are very appreciative of our friends Jacque and Terry for renting their home to us, it was a godsend being just four doors down, but man we are ready to be in our own house. We have been in flux for the last 12 months and it will be good to be settled.

Here is what has been done.

Completed the outdoor lights
Finished the wood floors
Put down the floor boards
Many of the lights have been installed
The appliances are in
Fixtures have been installed
A list of punch items have been done

This week, the appliances, carpet, landscaping and other things will be either completed or started. It is amazing how well this is going. Our closing is next week and we are ready to go. The pictures of the house really say more than any words can.

Master bath detail

Living Room

The stairs

Kitchen and living

Kitchen

Bathroom fixtures

Master shower

View from the front yard

Handmade craftsman exterior lights

Living room floors

Living room with wall detail

Finally, Ike is Gone

2008-10-08T21:56:00.003-05:00

So, the last remnants of Ike were gone last Sunday. I am just getting these posted but they are amazing. Heather posted about this earlier.

As Heather said, a large piece of the tree fell into our backyard. We are having the contractor craft our mantle out of the heartwood of that tree.

You should have seen this hanging over our new house! Ugh.

The Appliances Are Coming!

2008-10-07T22:15:00.002-05:00

This week is the week. They will start the landscaping, get in all the appliances and finish up all the painting. We close next week! What a time to be doing that. I owe the internet some new pictures and information. I will get that online this week.

Toilets and sinks and faucets, OH MY!

2008-10-02T19:38:00.002-05:00

I never thought I would get this excited about a toilet - HA! They have been working fast and furiously over this past week to get stuff done since we need to close by the 15th. Everything looks so good. The kids are so excited to get into their new rooms and I'm ready to have a place to put backpacks when we get home from school. Not having power for 15 days really set us back on construction. Apparently, in a humid climate such as ours, you have to dry out the wood floors for 3 or 4 days before staining them, so we are in the drying out phase. But, other things are happening right now, like installation of lighting, fans, light switches, faucets, cabinet doors, door hardware, etc.

Bo and I went down there last night at 11 pm because they have actually installed a lot of the lighting, so cool!!! It was really neat to see it lit up at night and how different everything looks. We're getting closer everyday!!!

Phone and Internet

2008-10-02T19:32:00.002-05:00

Hooray! We have phone and internet back. I have been a little behind in posting because we haven't had phone or internet for 19 days - thanks to Ike! I need to call the phone company and see if I can get a credit. Maybe that will help offset a little bit of the cost of all the gas we had to buy for the generator - ugh!

Things are really moving on the house now. We are trying to beat a rate lock and need to close by the 15th in order to get a 5.5% interest rate on a 3/1 ARM. In this volatile market, we feel like this is the best deal we can get at the moment. We'll be refinancing in 3 years if the rate adjusts too much for our liking. I guess we'll see what this "bail out" does to the interest rates...

A crane comes to our rescue

2008-10-02T19:07:00.006-05:00

Sunday was a big day for us, plus a tad bit stressful. The branch that fell off the neighbor's tree into our backyard and took out the power for 15 days, caused the tree itself to go into some distress. It was precariously perched over the neighbor's house. You couldn't really see the "break" from the neighbor's backyard but when you went into our backyard it was really scary to consider how much of the tree was actually gone and understand the enormity of this tree and the eminent danger that that tree has caused. The tree trimming people estimated that the top portion of the tree (from the break, up) weighed approximately 35,000 pounds. It only took a minute for the neighbor's to decide that the tree had to go.

It was SOOOO huge that they had to bring in a crane to take it out. They brought in a 100 ton crane around 9 am on Sunday. It was too small. Then they brought in a 250 ton crane along with another 18-wheeler carrying weights to stabilize the crane while they took the tree out. It was a little heart-wrenching watching this little guy being lifted by the crane and deposited in the tip top of this "broken" tree. He repelled down with chainsaw in hand, all the while wrapping rope around the tree. When he got to the break, he fired up the chainsaw and started cutting. The crane had to lift the tree up to get it off of itself and once it broke loose, it started to swing like a wrecking ball right toward our chimney. OMG!! The crane operator, like a surgeon, simply lifted it up high enough in the air that it didn't make contact - whew! I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest!

With the remainder of the tree, they were going to chop and push in 12 inch sections, however the tree was so big around they couldn't do that so they even had to use the crane to take out the bottom portion of the tree. I didn't watch that part but the neighbors said it was even scarier than the first part being lifted out.

I'll get Bo to post pictures later but they really don't do the whole process justice. You really had to be there. Needless to say, after we got power back late Saturday night, we had more tree debris to get out of the yard, which is still sitting out by the street. Who knows when they'll pick all that up?!? The electric people were great but they definitely aren't arborists. And, after cleaning up the yards (AGAIN!) Bo got poison ivy - ugh!

I am so ready to get settled into this new house and get some sort of normalcy back into our lives. I truly can't believe that it's October. September was a total blur!

And the Lights Go On - 15 days later!!!

2008-09-27T23:34:00.004-05:00

Well, the army of line trucks showed up in the neighborhood today and we just got power tonight – boy did we need it. I think there were some neighbors that might have gone crazy. Again, amazing neighborhood, we cooked out with about 50 of our neighbors and their kids tonight. We had a blast and watched the power come on, it was outstanding. Now we have to take pieces of a 60ft tree out of our backyard and the big thing is they can run the A/C to dry out the wood floors. The A/C needs to run in this climate for 4 days before you can seal wood floors. Pretty interesting. They look amazing so we'll see how that goes! We have hopes to close on the 15th now but we shall see, it will be close.

On a side not, I had a discussion with the neighbor behind us. It looks like we are going to capture that land sooner rather than later. He is a very nice man and willing to work with us on financing so our yard just might get bigger, sooner!

The piece of tree that landed in the back yard of our new house. They are taking the rest of the tree down tomorrow morning, it is unsafe to sleep in our neighbors house since there is a giant piece of tree leaning over it!

Countertops and Floors

2008-09-26T00:13:00.006-05:00

This week they have laid the flooring, added the stairs and begun to complete the granite countertops. Heather picked a great color and the house is looking great. The should have the appliances in by next week and we are working budget right now to get it where we need it. Typical overages are around 10% and we are at about 2.5% right now, thanks Paul the contractor!

Pretty exciting times, we're ready to be settled. Especially after Ike.

NOTE: We still don't have power at the house or office!

The Bar in the kitchen/great room

Working to secure the slab over the sink

Sink and contnertop

Detailing a seam

The new stairs and their wood

Our bookshelves and area for the TV

The new driveway!

2008-09-18T10:34:00.004-05:00

Our new driveway is being poured today and I hate that I'm not there to see it. We are still in Granbury with my aunt and uncle because our house is still without power. We have been entertained and very well taken care of. Mostly I hate that we're not there because I wanted the kids to put their hand prints in the new drieway so we would have a little momento from this time. Bummer.

We are planning on coming back tomorrow even though they are saying that it will probably be next week before we have power restored. Most of the work is on hold in the new house until we have power restored but they are able to do a few things, like the driveway, fix the roof, etc. They are also checking the sheetrock and insulation to make sure it is all okay.

Hurricane Ike Blows

2008-09-16T10:22:00.008-05:00

In more ways than one! Hurricane Ike blew through on Saturday, September 13th around 1 am and didn't stop blowing until after 6 am. Getting prepared on Thursday and Friday was fun for the kids and even a little bit for the adults. We bought all the needed supplies like water, batteries, etc. I did all the laundry and one last load of dishes in the dishwasher because I wasn't sure how long we would be without power. After all the chores were done we hung out on the driveway with all the neighbors and their kids. Cooked on the grills and just had some neighborly fun - this picture is of some handy work by 2 of the neighborhood guys at the expense of some neighbors that decided NOT to ride out the storm. The kids played golf in the front yards, rode their bikes. There wasn't much to worry about on Friday. It was kind of like a summer day with everyone home just a little extra wind and some dark cloud cover but it never rained. We were all hoping and praying for the best.

That changed come early Saturday morning. The winds woke me up at around 1 am, plus this strange blue light that kept flashing and a bzzzzzzzzzz electrical sound. I finally got up and checked to see what it was and found that it was the transformer south of us sparking and arcing. I couldn't go back to sleep so I started watching TV to drown out the sound of the crazy wind. Bo turned off the TV around 2. He was tired of listening to the 24/7 coverage, which did get to be a little much. He couldn't sleep either. We lost power around 2:15. We had a neighborhood pool betting on when we would lose poser. Bo said "never" and we all hoped that he would win but it was Leslie D that won - she had 2:30 am. The rest of the night was restless and scary. All of the neighbors started texting each other to make sure everyone was okay. It was nice to have that reassurance out there. We all said that our kids were sleeping through it, but we sure didn't. The winds finally settled down around 5:30 and I think that most of us went back to sleep and slept until around 8:30 or 9 since it was such a rough night.

Bo and Hank got up and walked the neighborhood to find that many of our neighbors, like us, had dodged a bullet. Others were not as fortunate...they had 2 and 3 trees through their houses. Everyone was okay but properties and trees were severely damaged. They cleared the drains of debris so that the streets could drain and then us girls and kids went walking the streets to check on our neighbors and to see if anyone needed anything. Most streets were impassable. Root balls of some of our oldest and largest oak trees were standing on end - taller than most men. Pine trees snapped in half. Shingles were laying everywhere. It was scary to listen to the wind but even scarier to see all the damaged it had caused.

We feel so blessed that we sustained minimal damage. The house that we are renting had some shingles blown off and debris in the yard but nothing major. Unfortunately our new house didn't fair as well but not near as bad as some. Also, it is fortunate that we are where we are in the construction process because it is mostly just roof and sheetroock damage. The new house truly dodged a bullet.

We have a 100+ foot pine tree on the west side of the house and one of the larger branches about 40 feet up snapped off and just barely missed our house, landing in the backyard just feet from the house. This picture isn't even of the whole tree. One of the smaller branches did however punch a hole in the roof over our dining room and playroom which caused some flooding in those 2 rooms. Also, the flashing around the chminey had not had been completed so it leaked around the chimney so we have sheetroock damage in the greatroom ceiling and the walls in the dining room and playroom but we hadn't installed any flooring or baseboards yet so that damage is very minimal. When the pine tree branch fell it also took out the power lines so our backyard is filled with a pine branch and the fence and power lines are down in the backyard. As of today, we are still waiting to have power restored. They are saying it could be up to 2 weeks.

The real kicker was that we were all without power so we couldn't watch the news and had no idea that it was going to storm again early Sunday morning, nothing related to Ike but a cool front moving in. We ended up getting 6 more inches of rain. We didn't think we needed to tarp the roof of the new house because we thought all the rain had moved through, but that was a mistake. We probably wouldn't have needed to replace all the sheetrock but with the new rain that moved through we will definitely need to replace the sheetrock in the ceiling of the greatroom and the walls in the dining room and playroom.

The kids and I left on Sunday and headed for power and mostly A/C. We also took one of our neighbors, Nadine, who lives alone to her daughter in North Texas. We couldn't stand the heat and being without power, plus my son got a cold and was miserable. We are staying in Granbury, TX for a few days. Both of the school districts that my kids go to and I work in are going to be closed until Monday, September 22nd. All the guys stayed home. They are cleaning up and having a little fun at the same time. They hooked up the satellite, TV and beer fridge to the generator and were going to hang out and watch Monday night football last night. I think that the guys are glad that they got all us women and children to higher ground (hahahaha!)

All in all we feel blessed that we are all okay and all the things that were ruined can be replaced. Others were not as fortunate. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone!

Down the Backstretch They Come

2008-09-01T22:22:00.004-05:00

Here we are, about 5 weeks from completion. Cabinets are going up, walls are being finished and flooring will be going in soon. We will most likely have a new driveway this week! The house looks amazing. We picked out electrical fixtures this weekend and Heather is going to pick out the granite tomorrow. All the picking should be completed by then. We selected some great fixtures for the dining and the outside. The exterior lights are made in the US by Arroyo Craftsman. They create authentic craftsman style lights. Beautiful. We picked our lighting out at Lighting Unlimited on Richmond here in Houston, Eli helped us. Between he and our contractor we couldn't miss. Pics to come when we get them off Heather's phone!

We are very excited to be moving to our new home so the first boxes were packed this weekend. We are ready for all that new room and to have our McParty soon!

Color!

2008-08-26T21:26:00.007-05:00

They started painting yesterday and they are flying. I am really excited about the colors we picked and they are doing an outstanding job. They finished the tile in our master bathroom so most of the tile is complete and we are ready to roll. They stained the beams yesterday and they look amazing, it is really getting exciting.

We are still working on the financing. I spoke to my business banker and he is working with us, time to get creative! We need to shave off all the interest we can.

Girls Room

Boys room

Living and back wall

Stained beams

Master tub

More Tile, Colors and Stains

2008-08-23T00:21:00.009-05:00

There has been a lot going on down at the house this week. They have made amazing progress.

They started to stain all of the natural wood and it looks amazing
They will be staining the beams this weekend
They have primed and begun painting the non-stain trim
The doors are in and the garage door looks great
Painting will begin next week
The master bath tile will be completed this weekend
We have the majority of the faucets in

Coming up will be the following items.

Select the light fixtures
Determine the extent to which we want to complete the home A/V distribution

Here are some most recent pictures. With the financing challenges in the market the decision to lock in a loan gets more and more difficult.

The color in kid bedroom 1

Color in kid bedroom 2

Color in kid bedroom 3

Downstairs colors

Exterior view

Back wal imagery

A vew of the kitchen

Kids office areas are here.

The front door stained

Detail in one boy's bathoom

Mud and utility room

The floor in our bathroom

Details in our shower area

Tile

2008-08-22T16:16:00.005-05:00

Tiling was an interesting process to watch. There is definitely an art to tiling. We think it turned out really cool!

The picture at the top is the tub in the girl's bathroom. The picture at the bottom is the shower stall in the guest bathroom.

God is watching out for us!

2008-08-22T12:26:00.003-05:00

Whew! This is one of those - "Thank the Lord" situations. The kids and I had gone to the carpet place and spent about 2 hours there. With 3 kids it was a little insane, to say the least, but I was so impressed with the sales lady. She was so patient and never once got upset when they were playing hide and seek amongst the racks. :-) I left there with 3 sample boards (ready to ring necks and pull my hair out!). But very pleased with our choices.

We mulled over the decision for a day or so. I never knew that there were that many shades of brown to contemplate. Anyway, we finally settled on a frize style carpet in "Dry Tortuga." Sounds gross but it really is a nice shade of brown. Our builder called and called and called the carpet salesperson wanting to order the carpet. He finally went over to their location after he never got a return phone call and discovered that they went out of business - ugh!!

Thank goodness we did not pay for our carpet, only to have them run out on us. We consider this a huge saving grace!!!

Front door and garage door

2008-08-15T16:25:00.006-05:00

We have a front door and a garage door. They are both amazing. They are both very much in line with the "craftsman" style. I'll post pics later. It's kind of weird to finally see it with a front door and a garage door (when they are closed). I guess that means that this is really going to happen. We have a lot to coordinate in the next few weeks...the transfer of utilities, lining up movers, closing on the final loan, the actual moving, etc., etc., etc. I hate the actual moving part so I have to say I really hope that this will be the last time we move - EVER!!! It had been 10 years since we moved and then to do it twice in the past 7 months-ugh! I feel really bad for all those people that have to do it ALL the time. They must be gluttons for punishment.

How ironic is this? The day after our cool, new garage door was installed at the new house our garage door broke at the rental house. GRRRRRRR! The cable just snapped. I'm sure that's probably because that cable is as old as the house, say, oh, maybe 55+ years old. So I guess when you look at it that way-wow-it lasted a really long time. I'm just glad none of us were home when it snapped. I've heard horror stories about people getting hit by the spring and sustaining major bodily damage.

More later on the tile and cabinets...

Interest rate woes

2008-08-14T19:38:00.002-05:00

Quite frankly the interest on our construction loan has been phenomenal. That rate is whatever the prime rate happens to be, which thanks to Mr. Fed Chairman, Ben Bernake, right now is 5% - wahoo! When we first took out the loan it was 6.00% and over the course of the first few weeks of the construction period it dropped 1% which really helped us out. Initially, when we first started talking about doing this the prime rate was 8.25%. So we were pumped when the Fed started cutting rates.

But, now for the bad news, the 30-year mortgage rates have only gone up and up over the past few months because of all the fall-out from the subprime mortgage scandal and today the 30 year was 6.43% which isn't too bad. Unfortunately for us, because our loan will be over the $417,000 cap to be insured by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. What that means is, we have to get a "jumbo" loan for any amount over the $417,000. The jumbo interest rate is what is going to kill us. Today the jumbo rate was 7.61% - yikes!

We have some other options like 5/1 ARM or a 3/1 ARM both of which kind of scare me, but if oil prices keeping leveling out and the dollar keeps going up that may be the way to go and then when the interest rates fall to a more palatable point we can refi and lock in a better rate in the long run. But I did find out from the lender that if you do an ARM you better not do a Home Equity loan because you could find yourself in a big bind when you do go to refinance. We found out the hard way that once a "home equity loan" always a "home equity loan."

I guess like the stock market, everything is a gamble. I just hope we don't crap out. (That's a pun for those of you that visit Vegas...) 7 - get it, 7 is a bad number here! :-)

Keep your fingers crossed!

Mimosa Tree

2008-08-07T22:17:00.003-05:00

Bo's favorite tree has fallen in the backyard but it hasn't quite hit the ground yet. It's not a very big tree but it's perched on another tree at the moment. It's like a buddy trying to hold up a friend (boohoo)! It seemed really healthy so I'm not sure what happened - dry weather and then some rain due to Tropical Storm "Edouard"? Anyway, I just hope that's the only tree we lose. I love all of our trees! Just one of the many reasons to stay in our fabulous neighborhood - all the big beautiful trees. Hang in there, TREES - only 7 to 8 weeks left and then I'll be HOME!!!

Tile and Various Other Things

2008-07-29T00:06:00.008-05:00

Bath tile with detailing

We're really excited about the tile and selections we are making. Color, texture and form are all coming together and I am psyched. For the first time today we put together paint, tile and accents and it looked amazing.

The girls shower with inset.

We are using simple tile upstairs and using a lot of slate downstairs. We like the textures and the character of the slate. Heather had a great idea to do an accent of small, smooth river rocks in our bathroom floor and on our shower floor. It is only a detail through the bathroom but the entire floor in the master are nice, smooth stones. Foot massage every day! We had our honeymoon at the Devil's River here in Texas so it brings in a little of that for us. Pretty cool. Heather and Paul worked pretty hard to find the right slate to match everything so thanks Bean!

River rock and slate with the paint chip.

The kids are excited and we are excited for our littlest one to have her own room. Sleeping with creepy Elmo looking at you every night and the scary Darth Vader mask make for one antsy child. We're hanging in there however.

Crown molding and trim

Exterior over the porch and front door.

I think the garage door is supposed to be there in the morning, can't wait to see that!

More on the Trim and Doors

2008-07-26T15:24:00.007-05:00

Here are some pictures of the trim and doors. They, along with the toe kicks, cabinets and wood floors downstairs will be stained. We're really excited about how all of these finishes will come together, especially with the windows we've put in the house.

Here are some images.

Granite Countertops

2008-07-24T21:51:00.003-05:00

Today, the most forwarded article from the NY Times was What's Lurking In Your Countertop? about granite countertops which we are supposed to pick in the next two weeks. NICE. So where did this Radon thing come from and what the heck is it? It was out of nowhere and all of the sudden there are detectors and inspectors. I hear commercials about little children getting sick in PSAs from the government.

Doesn't the microwave emit too many weird things? We were worried about putting our daughters plastic bottles in the microwave until we found out exactly what type of plastic it was. We're still scared to do it now. Either way, at the end of the day, it's another thing to think about in the process.

Like we needed that!

The Window Trim

2008-07-22T20:17:00.005-05:00

No pictures today but man am I excited about the window trim in the house. It is really very cool and fits the craftsman detail. I will definitely take pictures of it and post them. The garage door will be in next week along with the crown molding which is also very cool. We are having to scramble around a bit for tile. NOTE: Make sure that if you are ordering slate tile, there is a tolerance on the varying color. The tile we picked ranges from grey to light brown, it was pretty unsettling when they pulled out the samples.

BTW, did I make a comment about the porch?! Sweet.

Patience, Patience

2008-07-21T21:55:00.005-05:00

A number of things have happened in the month since I've last posted. We are cranking away to make decisions but man the house looks good.

There's texture on the walls
6" makes all the difference in the world
The doors are in (mostly)
We have gotten into one fight over silly things
The stone broke the seal on the front windows so they had to redo it
We can't get our contractor to write anything down (he's doing a great job)
The house is painted outside
The porch looks really cool, we just need the deck
We have lost all of our cushion and we're about a week late now
We are aiming at the end of September
We are thinking October now
We can't wait to get in there!

We are ready to move in. Renting pretty much stinks but we're dealing with it. I am ready to unload all my boxes and get into this deal. They should be putting up toekicks and getting into the tile very soon. The neighbors are ready for this deal to be done, whew! I sure am ready to have an office at home too! The littlest one is having a hard time sleeping in her "scary" room so we're ready for her to have her own room. Elmo and Darth Vader have that effect on people.

On another random note, there is another house going up on our street, stucco and brick. I wish stucco would go out of style. These builders don't give a crap about the aesthetic of the neighborhood. We are supposed to get signatures to have a two story house and they didn't do it. The funny thing is, as a branding guy, it seems like if the guy walked around one night, introduced himself and got some signatures we would welcome him, speak our mind but respect him. Basically, the guy has lost a lot of goodwill and we are thinking of suing him just to be a pain. We are also thinking of starting a HOA for Spring Oaks.

I think we should. We're vested in this neighborhood.

The stone goes up!

2008-06-19T19:07:00.005-05:00

No pun intended, but our stone ROCKS!!!! I love, love, love it. The stone on the fireplace will have to be cleaned up a bit because when they were taping and floating they got a little "goo" on my cool stone, but other than that it looks awesome.

Every day I get a little more excited about moving into our NEW house with all the neat features like a fireplace, a laundry room, storage space, a big master closet and bathroom. I'm not sure if I will miss the whole family being in our old 4' x 6' bathroom - even the dog used to try to get in while everyone was in there. Yeah - I'm pretty sure that will be one thing I do not miss!

The Walls Go Up – Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T21:33:00.019-05:00

Last week was a big week. We finished MEP (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) and have started a number of things. The house now has the following:

All power and electrical
All Plumbing
Gas (don't laugh)
Low power for AV and Alarm
Sprinkler system (the neighborhood requires it)
Sheetrock is up and the first pass of tape and float is done!

We've picked paint colors, tile and most of the finishes. I think I'm picking the pavers tonight.

So the newest additions to the house are the stone around the chimney (they will do the outside of the house next week) and the cover on the roof of our cool front porch, we get a lot of compliments on the porch. BTW, we put a TV outlet on the front and back porch! We'll be in during college football season, man I can't wait. We are still on schedule for September, if the rain will hold for three more days the house will be water tight... we hope!

Front of the house so far

Here's the front porch!

Front porch ceiling, if you look close you can see where my speakers will go!

Hank, the neighbor, from our front porch. Fellow Red Raider!

My daughter and her friend in her bedroom

View of the living room from the entry

View for the living room from the landing

Stone on the chimney from the back door

The kitchen from the playroom

Beams and sheetrock in progress

What's under all the sheetrock, we're going for efficiency.

It's summer - already!

2008-06-02T13:39:00.002-05:00

Whew, we've finally made it to SUMMER - yippee! I haven't posted in a while because of all the normal things the happen in May - birthdays, end of school parties, programs, awards ceremonies, recitals, Mother's Day, and on and on and on.

Anyway, things have been moving fast, as far as I can tell.
*Fireplace has been installed
*Low voltage wiring (alarm, sound system, etc)
*Shingles on the roof

We got red-tagged again for electrical. The city inspector thinks we need ONE more outlet in the house. The electrical outlets are supposed to be every 6 feet. As far as I'm concerned we've got about 112 more than we did in the old house so I'm thinking that one more is not really going to make much difference but whatever the city wants - the city gets, like a fire sprinkler system and one more electrical outlet! Wahoo!

Sheetrocking (or as my oldest calls it Shamrocking) is supposed to start late this week. And, we need to go pick out our ceramic tile for the laundry room, bathrooms and the kitchen backsplash. It's so exciting.

Electrical and Plumbing

2008-05-20T20:59:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since our last post. There has been a ton of progress and the house is looking great. We cannot wait to get on the front porch and hang out. Our neighbors are more excited about the porch than we are! Here is what has gone on...

The siding is almost complete
Roofing will happen this week
They have roughed in all the plumbing
The electrical is roughed in
The A/C system is in
All the windows are in
The Tyvek and home shield is done

Now we're working to make sure the plugs are in the right place and that all the little details are right. The craziest thing is trying to figure out where everything should be and it can drive you nuts! We're really excited.

The front of the house from the East

View from the office

View from the backyard

The living room ceiling

Hadlea's room from the front

Side of the house

We Have a House!

2008-05-09T00:03:00.002-05:00

Man this is cool but we have a house. A lot has happened since last we posted but all the windows are up and they should finish the rough in for the A/C duct work this week. They start plumbing and electrical next week. Holy cow! We've learned a number of things in the past week, not all bad!

Our loan misfortunes continue. While not horrible we found out that the Fed cutting the rate is not always good. Mortgage companies loan with bonds, bonds go up when the interest rate goes down this much. Thus, we are currently paying a bit higher rate than anticipated
Making changes after the fact is bad news. Check every detail. Nothing major but when you see a new house you think of all the things you forgot to discuss, everything, right there in front of you. Ugh.
The Government Stimulus Package has a provision for increasing the amounts of conventional loans so less people have to take out a second loan for purchases over $400K. The bummer for us is that it doesn't apply in Harris County! I'm calling my congressmen.
The back of my house is killer! Can't wait to see what the front looks like with the porch on it.

I'm pumped about our windows in the back. I'll add pictures later, for some reason it won't let me post them.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

2008-05-07T11:54:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted in awhile but things are going really well. We have just been super busy with the end of the school year and choosing all of the things that need to be chosen like tile, shingles, shakes, siding, paint colors, cabinet knobs and drawer pulls, and on and on and on. It seems like everyday another decision has to be made. It's fun but also nerve wracking at the same time considering once I pick it I probably won't ever change it (kind of like the old HORRIBLE 70's tile I had in 2 rooms of the old house - which was the first thing I was going to change when we bought it 10 years ago and we NEVER did!

Wind Storm Inspection – Check!

2008-04-22T21:29:00.011-05:00

So things are still moving along. There was an inspection today and they have been approved to put up the weatherproofing and start to close the house in. Very, very cool. Not really a whole lot to say, more wood, more nails and the house just keeps getting bigger than we thought it would be. Pretty crazy.

Stairs!

2008-04-21T22:39:00.003-05:00

So, it has been a bit since we've posted some thoughts but it is amazing what a week will do when there is no rain. The house is a little ahead of schedule and we should have windows in a week or two. I would post some images but I can't find the cable and everyone is sleeping. The house really is amazing, we are getting very excited. Too bad we won't be done until September or October! The following has happened:

The entire roof is framed in
We have spoken with At Home Media about home automation and distributed audio
The walls are close to complete
The windows have been submitted for construction
The porch is taking shape
We have begun to pick the stone (expensive!)
We have STEPS to the second floor
We underestimated how tall this house is, whoa!

We're having fun, more about what's going on later and I will put up a new image gallery this week but this thing is flying. It was cool to see the kids move around upstairs and see their rooms.

It was cool for me to talk about the wiring and audio system! We will have speakers on the front porch. Cool!

We have a roof

2008-04-16T20:45:00.003-05:00

WHOA! We actually have a roof now and underneath a second story. I guess we've been too busy to note that. It is all going so fast, I can't even believe it. We are starting to make decisions on windows and other little things here and there like... Do we want the shower stall to go all the way to the ceiling or just up to the windows?? BTW - we decided not to go all the way to the ceiling - that equals more tile which equals more money.

I kind of wanted obscure glass in the bathroom, but it was going to be more than I wanted for not really the look I wanted, so I decided we would figure something else out. (so much for being a prude.) I guess my privacy is pretty safe until the next door neighbors decide to go 2 story.

We are really trying to go with a more rustic, craftsman style look, while keeping it timeless and simple. I hope that we are staying true to that, but I guess we won't really know until it's all said and done.

Holy Cow a Frame!

2008-04-08T23:57:00.009-05:00

The past few days have been amazing. The entire first floor is complete and they were prepping for the second floor late this afternoon with the trusses. We are so excited. You can see the rooms and about how big things are. The house is so much bigger than what we have but it seems so small in this stage with no sheetrock or enclosures. We can see how big the great room is and we know how small the playroom is.

BTW, we designed the playroom to make sure that the kids could have fun, do homework and watch TV in it but it is not a room that would be comfortable for more than 3 or 4. The idea being, if we get that many kids in the house and it is a nice day, they would be more comfortable outside... see the thinking... what about that! Hope it works.

Another hot topic... pocket doors. Other than a few childhood hang ups, I am over my hatred of pocket doors and I have come to agree with my wife, swinging doors waste space. I just hate the rolling thud they make but oh, well! We are having pocket doors where they can fit!

And one more thing, the foundation guys were great, the framing guys are a bit more "interesting" so we are steering clear.

Our Porch

2008-04-01T18:30:00.008-05:00

We have an 32'x 8' porch on the front of the house. Today, they framed the grade beams and steps into the house. The porch is raised two feet and you walk down one foot back into the home. I think we've said this is a "front yard" neighborhood so we have a "front porch" house. They pour the beam and last of the concrete tomorrow afternoon and then they start framing this Thursday! We're pumped!

And, they trimmed Heather's tree!

Time is flying!

2008-03-28T14:08:00.003-05:00

It absolutely blows me away that just a little over 3 weeks ago we were tearing the house down and now we have a new slab. Wow - this process has gone fast. The builder has warned though "Just wait, things will slow down once we get inside." I have been warned... ;-)

Anyway, an update on the tree - we have been able to save the big tree up to this point. We are getting it and another tree trimmed next week (just to be certain that they don't end up inside one of the upstairs rooms.) They are also going to fertilize it, to give it some extra oomph for all the trauma it has received through digging for the piers, plumbing and electrical. Poor tree!

Now, we need to get with a designer to start picking all the finishes and such. Boy, there are A LOT of decisions to be made. Shhhhhhh - Don't tell anyone, but I've lived in this 50+ year old house for the past 10 years with most everything "original" so I will probably go with whatever the designer tells me - within reason, of course!

We have a slab!

2008-03-27T20:38:00.011-05:00

Well, they did the first pour on the slab today and it looks great. They covered it with sack cloth so I can't really look at it but I am excited to see how it turned out. They brought out the giant truck again and pumped the concrete into the form. The process is really cool but man am I glad we have made it to this point. We are supposed to get the plans and cost for the home automation tomorrow, we shall see what that is going to cost. I can't wait to listen to my iPod on my front porch after throwing the ball with my son.

Foundation Time

2008-03-26T21:33:00.002-05:00

Well, tomorrow is the foundation pour, we're pumped. Things are moving along as long as the rain holds off. We'll see how much we get done for the rest of the week but it is supposed to rain until next Tuesday. They finished the rebar today and the termite block and weatherproofing earlier in the week. They will do the raised parts of the foundation early next week and then START FRAMING! Holy cow! More tomorrow.

Blue Skies, Perfect Temperature and Grade Beams

2008-03-20T22:41:00.010-05:00

Man, the weather has been amazing here the last two days, which meant that the grade beams went off without a hitch. The grade beams "sit" on the top of piers and provide the foundation extra stability. If there is a tornado we'll all be holding on to our foundation.

They ordered 6 trucks of concrete and needed 8, busy day at the job site. All this means that we will, weather willing, be pouring our foundation next Friday. It's perfect timing for driveway drunk!

Little plug for our contractor. He's done a great job preparing us for the things that are coming up, feeding us little decisions and listening to what we want to do with the house.

The Rain Came and Went

2008-03-19T23:21:00.013-05:00

Interesting how things work sometimes. It did rain yesterday and into the night but it was only 1/4 of an inch an our contractor covered the site so they were rolling again today. They are now pouring the grade beams tomorrow and we're pumped! About the time thing, the contractor said today that "It's not just the rain, it's the worrying about rain that causes delays too." They waited a day to dig some of the trenches for the beams. They had to work double time today to get them dug and in there.

Here are some specific pictures of the prep work for the grade beams.

Rain, Rain Go Away...

2008-03-18T20:24:00.005-05:00

... Come Again in November!

The funny thing about construction is one day of rain can cause a weeks worth of delays. Today, it rained. We'll see tomorrow whether or not it caused a delay, it was only heavy rain for an hour. They had covered the site in plastic. They're supposed to pour the grade beams on Thursday. Since we have a commercial grade slab the pouring process takes a number of steps. A couple things I've noticed.

To begin building the house during the spring is more stressful.
The house looks smaller than it is with the frame of the slab only.
Paranoia sets in when you start to see plumbing go underground.
Getting around a construction site on crutches is a pain.

I am starting to freak out about where the outdoor bibs are and such. Doesn't really matter right now but this is where I start worrying about the details. We'll get some new pictures up here soon.

I have to thank my cool wife for taking care of me after the surgery. Also have to thank my neighbors for being so cool. Being out on the driveway with them makes the decision to build this house even better.

Save my tree!!!

2008-03-12T09:03:00.005-05:00

We are having concerns with the big tree in our front yard. I love that tree and want to keep it at all cost! The kids have grown up swinging in that tree. It took forever for us to even get the ropes up in the tree to get the dolphin swing hung 10 years ago. We are doing our best to design the front porch steps to come down at a different point to save my tree. I know it will all work out, but I gotta have my tree... :-)

Move it back...

2008-03-11T22:36:00.004-05:00

Decision time.

As usual, I was in meetings and running all day. The builder was calling, texting and emailing me, I didn't see any of the messages until it was too late. When I saw Heather tonight she let me know "we moved the house back three feet." OK...

Well, we have a big tree and we are trying not to lose it so we needed to move the house back. The backyard gets smaller and the front yard stays huge, I love it. Front yard neighborhood anyway, that's why we have the cool front porch. Now we have to make sure the steps don't walk right into the tree. More on that later...

They surveyed the lot and put down stakes for the foundation. Looks like they are pouring piers tomorrow (we have a commercial grade foundatation not post tension). Hope it doesn't rain. Probably overkill from what some people say but when you have an Aggie engineer for a builder, nothing but the best.

Oh, and by the way. You can get this thing for your bathtub that keeps the water warm. $300 is a small price to pay to keep your bathwater warm. Later.

And it rains...

2008-03-11T00:50:00.002-05:00

So, the piers are supposed to be poured this week but, you guessed it, rain. Even though we are not even a full week into this, seeing the equipment just sitting there is driving me crazy. We're in for a fun time if I am already feeling that way. There is a little bit of anxiousness in all of this but we are happy with the process so far. Oh, BTW, did I mention the little thing about paying off a home equity loan... never mind.

We are finally getting settled into the rental house and life goes on. I am having surgery on the knee this week so that will be interesting trying to hobble up and down the street to see construction for the next month but I bet I can get Heather to pull me in the wagon for a couple weeks while I recoup. I guess I can beat up the contractor with my crutches if he gets out of line (kidding Paul). Later.

And the walls came down

2008-03-05T11:07:00.003-06:00

And so did everything else. Tear down started a little before 7:30 this morning and the whole house was down in about an hour. Wow - that was exhilarating but also sad. We've been in this house for almost 10 years and brought home 2 babies to this house - the first was already around when we moved here. But, all the things that were wrong with it, I will be SOOOO glad to be rid of, like not being able to run the water anywhere else in the house if someone is in the shower otherwise you fry their butt. And, not being able to run the toaster and the microwave at the same time without blowing a breaker.

GONE! GONE! GONE! All of those things are GONE but all the wonderful memories that we have from living in that house with our friends, family and neighbors will always be there no matter what! And, here's to a lifetime a making more memories in a electrically-sound, structurally-sound, awesome new house with water pressure and endless hot water!!! Yippee!

The Process So Far

2008-03-04T21:30:00.004-06:00

Well folks, as stated in the prior post, we're tearing the house down. To this point we have completed the design, exterior, engineering and electrical. We've learned a ton of things including the following:

Not everything fits on the foundation, if you try it'll cost you
My wife had to have a mud room and her own desk
We approve almost everything, we're easy customers
Some insurance companies won't insure a house that is less than 51% brick or stone
Once a home equity, always a home equity, you can't pay off a home equity with a construction loan, that's a big one
Demo work is fun
50 year old plate glass windows are hard to break with a baseball

We'll come up with more as we go but to this point, the fights have been few and pretty minor. But we still have the interior finishes to pick.

Signing our life away

2008-03-04T10:14:00.003-06:00

We closed on the construction loan for the new house, yesterday. It rained all day, so hopefully that will bod well for the weather during the construction process. What a crazy time! We had a salvage sale a couple of weeks ago and sold almost everything - including the kitchen cabinets, the hardwood floors, all the fixtures and other stuff I didn't even realize people would even want to buy. It is true what they say "one man's trash is another man's treasure."

The house will come down tomorrow. We are going to let the kids do a little demo this afternoon so that they can feel like they helped tear it down. My oldest said she wanted to run the tractor tomorrow. Not sure the builder would be up for that - ha!