The Great Room Is Full Of Cabinets

We weren't expecting much when we made our Wednesday trip out to Oak Haven today.

First thing we noticed was the garage ceiling. It looked like texture had been added to it.

When we went into the house we saw that all the ceilings had the texture added. We had no idea we were going to have textured ceilings so looking up required our complete attention and we didn't see the great room full of boxes until Jay looked down.

Oh my. WOW. Cabinets! Lots and lots of cabinets. All in boxes so we can't see them except for the lazy susan sticking out of one box.

Quartersawn oak with a chestnut finish. No second guessing our choice. It's beautiful.

And, for a bonus WOW, the deck is finished. Looking forward to some yummy grilled meals now that Jay will have room to cook on his Weber.

Second Coat of Mud

On our Saturday trip to Oak Haven we never uttered at single 'wow'. Considering such a little thing as a SOLD sign on our empty lot elicited many wows back in April, the lack of wowing is blog worthy.

I blame it on being exhausted from sorting and packing at our current homes and the high temperature and humidity inside our unfinished home.

It was nice to see that work is continuing and progress is being made. Very very nice. And appreciated. Now that I've had a day of rest, it's almost a wow.

In a struggle to find something to record for this blog post other than more drywall, I took a picture of the empty mud tubes outside the nonexistent garage door.

For a prettier picture, I took the outside of the condo minus the garage on the right because I was too hot and tired to walk back far enough to get the entire condo in the picture.

For those readers who are going to ask about the red rosin paper, it is still on the floor. One of the discussions at lunch after church today was to guess if that means we are due a third layer of mud. There is no more unused mud on site, so I'm guessing not. I think the drywallers left the red rosin paper down for the final sanding.

Wall Mud, Red Rosin Paper, and Deck Boards

We're making a habit of Wednesday and Saturday visits to the new house. One might think we would be checking it everyday, but reality is we are too busy for that.

It's a bit of a drive and the most obvious ways to get there are under major road construction. We don't mind because the end result is going to be a new Costco just a few miles away. We love Costco and our nearest one is in Grand Rapids, so this is a big deal for us.

As we drove up to the house, we could see the drywall mud in the garage. As predicted, the red rosin paper is protecting the garage floor.

Inside we found the entire house finished with the first coat of drywall mud, including the basement. The subfloor is also papered with red rosin paper.

This (above) is the great room looking toward the outside walls.

And this is the bedroom.

Looking out the window, we spotted deck boards. The railings are along side the house ready to go on.

The yard has been graded and is decent size on the northwest side considering this is a condo village. We learned that we are going to get neighbors on Lot 11, the lot we originally chose. There is a forty foot easement between Lot 12/us and Lot 11, which is nice spacing. It will be fun to watch their house go up from the comfort of our home.

After leaving we went to Bilbo's and had Wednesday night fifty cent chicken wings and a pulled pork pizza. Both were excellent.

Porch, Drywall, and Deck Stones

Driving up the house Saturday we immediately noticed the pile of drywall scrap in the garage.

We were so excited we didn't notice until we were ready to leave that the huge construction dumpster was also full of drywall scraps. The entire house is drywalled. No mud yet, but the walls and ceilings are covered.

The front porch railing is in place and looking great.

Drywall in the great room.

Drywall in the dining room.

And that's all the drywall pictures I'm posting because it all looks the same except the laundry room and bathrooms. They have green moisture resistant drywall.

Landscaping stones are under the deck, but haven't been spread out yet.

The yard has been graded and topsoil spread. Somehow I managed to not get a picture of that, possibly because it was about a hundred degrees inside the house and I was in a hurry to get into the air conditioned car. Next time.

Eavestroughs and Dry Wall Ready To Go

Pictures from Wednesday, August 13.

As we drove up the exciting thing was to see two of three porch columns up and the porch railing sitting on the porch ready to go.

We were so busy looking at the porch that we almost didn't notice the eavestroughs.

Insulation is in some of the inside walls where there isn't more duct work needed.

But, this is the most exciting thing. Every room of the house, including the basement rooms, contain the sheetrock needed to drywall.

We had no idea they made sheetrock this huge. This stack in the kitchen is sixteen feet long.

The great room is filled with drywalling supplies. They are ready to go!

The rolls of brownish paper standing on end is red rosin paper. We had no idea what it was for so we hauled out our phones and Googled it. It has so many uses that we still don't know how it is going to be used.

This looks like drywalling equipment to me. Not enough, but a nice start.

Tomorrow, Saturday, we're planning a trip out to see what's been done since Wednesday and check out where that red rosin paper ended up.

Insulation and Deck Joists

On our Saturday inspection of Oak Haven we were surprised and pleased at how much had been done since Wednesday.

Note: I have switched from putting picture captions before the pictures to putting picture captions under the pictures.

As we pulled up to park we could see the insulation in the garage.

That window has been in our garage for months. It does not belong to our house and someday it will be taken away. We hope.

Most of the interior has blown in insulation. This is a view of the television wall in the great room.

Up in the still visible attic there are measuring tapes for when they blow in the ceiling insulation.

For future guests who are concerned about the basement guest suite, there is plenty of good insulation in the basement walls as well.

An outdoor water faucet on the mostly south side of the house, not to be confused with the outdoor water faucet on the mostly north side of the house that was shown in a previous blog post even though they look identical.

The deck joists are in place. We're going to have a beautiful 12 x 16 deck with hopefully fewer mosquitoes than I have living in the Almena Swamp.

Deck from the back yard.

The deck is about four feet off the ground. There will be stones underneath once the landscaping is done.

Almost Ready For Insulation

Inspections have been completed on the electrical, plumbing, and heating. Windows have been covered with plastic (we don't know why), and the insulation has been delivered.

The siding is finished with the completion of the far left office room. The garage front, on the right, will be brick.

Couldn't resist taking a picture of one of the outdoor faucets.

Most exciting to me, the lumber for the deck has been delivered. I know insulation is more important than a deck, but the deck is more fun to watch. The insulation is only exciting because once it's installed the drywall can go up. Drywall is going to be totally thrilling. I may post a picture of every sheet of it!

Pappy Byrne, ??? to August 7, 2014

Twelve years ago Bob asked me to show him a Papillon. I went to Petfinder and brought up a picture of a bedraggled middle age Papillon with one broken ear who had been rescued from the streets of Cincinnati. Bob's reply: 'We should get that dog and take care of him.' And we did.

Pappy spent the first two weeks at our house mostly under the bed in fright. It was obvious he had been abused and neglected. But even the first night, in the dark hours, he crawled out from under the bed, jumped up beside me and snuggled in to sleep.

After the first two weeks, he started doggy school. Trainer Gail gave us instructions on how to retrain his fear into trust and love. Pappy was a very intelligent dog and quickly learned that life could be safe and fun. He also learned how to play and have a good time.

I read that Papillons were bred in the 1500's to be companion dogs and castle mousers. Pappy loved hunting on the back three acres and caught mice, voles, and shrews. He walked along on the leash and would suddenly jump into the weeds and come out with a creature in his mouth. Unlike a cat, he didn't play with them. When he caught them, they died.

I guess that is noteworthy for a Papillon. I always wished he wouldn't but is was inborn and he loved it.

Pappy went to doggy school for seven years. The first thing he learned was obedience. He was a very smart dog and learned it well, but his greatest pleasure was to be there with his dog friends.

This picture is one of my favorites - Pappy in a chair at the doggy school Christmas party. He wanted those cookies so bad, but he was a good boy and knew it was a big no no.

Pappy hated dressing up, but would do it for me if I wanted. We only did it on very special occasions, like the doggy school Halloween party. Pumpkin Pappy.

His very favorite thing at doggy school was the agility. Before his eyesight started to fail, he would race around the course and do everything with gusto. It was a sad day when his depth perception became so poor he was relunctant to play on his formerly favorite equipment.

Today a very old Pappy went to the Rainbow Bridge to meet Bob, Glory, and some of his friends from doggy school. I am sad but it was time. Maybe a little past time. He was a much loved dog and I will miss him.

A Dozen Progress Pictures From a Bruptle Week

Life has been happy but busy since Jay and I got together a little over a year and a half ago. Getting married but not living together and deciding to build a condo has not made things more serene. Until about six months ago I used the word 'fracas' to describe a week where most plans had to be abandoned for something more urgent and unplanned.

Jay is a precise man, even more precise than I am. (He would make a great knitter.) He looked up the word 'fracas' and decided I needed a better word.

fra·cas
/ˈfrākəs,ˈfrak-/
noun
noun: fracas; plural noun: fracas; plural noun: fracases

a noisy disturbance or quarrel.
synonyms: disturbance, brawl, melee, rumpus, skirmish, struggle, scuffle, scrum, clash, fisticuffs, altercation; More

He was right, as he sometimes is.

We tried out a few words, but they didn't accurately describe the situation. So he made up a word: 'Bruptle'.

I needed to write all that because last week was a bruptle week. By noon on Monday I knew that I may as well just say 'whatever' and forego all organized plans. And that was the way the week continued until today when we both decided to stay in our our own home and sleep in and recover our strength and sanity.

And that is the long explanation, without boring narrative of bruptle events which would make the explanation even longer, of why I only have one blog post this week even though work on the house continued all week.

The ditch along the mostly north side of the house was filled in and the peak above the office was sided with shakes.

Porch rails have been delivered to the garage. May be a bit premature since the porch isn't poured yet, but it's nice they're on hand.

The master shower has a drain. Hey, when it's our house even a shower drain is exciting and picture worthy.

There are cans in the ceiling for the recessed lighting.

The deck rail was mounted so the siding people could side the back of the house. And they did have it sided by Saturday.

The water heater was installed in the mechanical half of the basement.

The furnace and air filter were installed but not functional.

There is duct work in the basement and duct work in the walls. There is also duct work in a bedroom spot we did not agree to in the walk through and right where I need to put my bedside table. We've requested it be moved and they've agreed to move it, but it hasn't happened yet.

Ducts are a new thing for me. I've been living with hot water heat for the last 50 years, ever since I left my original home. Looking forward to the air conditioning that ducts allow.

There is now a bathtub and shower in the basement. Wish I could have seen them get it down there. It couldn't have been easy.

The garage peak has been sided with shakes. The front face of the garage will be brick.

We opted for three recessed lights across the front of the garage instead of carriage lights on the brick. The canisters are in.

The front of the breakfast room has been sided. Almost done with the siding now.

Brother Dave from Oregon was here Friday and Saturday and enjoyed seeing the house. He was not bruptle. He was a blessing. If I hadn't been brain dead by then, I would have remembered to take his picture.