Finally, I got some good pictures of the back of the house! It has been really muddy in the back and I couldn't get back there. The brick are all finished and were washed today. The porch has been painted- still waiting for the ceilings to be painted.
I love the arches on the back. I have visions of having a fire pit down there in the Fall and enjoying the peaceful evening!

This is the latest front view. Athletic Landscape has been working really hard at building the fortress walls. The driveway is built up now so it is easier to get into the house. Everything got built up too high, and we may have to add a rail around the porch. I am not happy about that, but what do you do??

Still no picture. The out side of the house has changed a little. The trim is primed and looks a whole lot better. The biggest change is on the drive way and yard where Sammy and Andy work in the rain, sleet and snow to fill in the drive with piles of gravel!
Gilberto and crew are cleaning this week and the hard wood floors will go in next week.

The house is moving along very quickly. I have not taken a picture in a long time- Hopefully today.
They have been working on the driveway which had to be built up and a wall built to hold 40ish dump trucks of gravel! The sheet rock is all up and they are sanding it. We hope to get cleaned up and put hardwood down right after Thanksgiving.
I have been busy picking paint colors and details to go on the cabinets- which I saw. David and I went to A1 Cabinets to see what was finished! They are beautiful! I need to get pulls to go on all the doors and drawers.
The outside has been primed and will be painted soon. Still waiting on the bricks to be washed. There is alot going on outside the house and not everyone can get where they need to be!

Inside pictures of my craft room!!!!!! The kitchen/ breakfast room...

The family room.

I have been waiting so long for it to look like a real house!

The house is moving right along. The brickers finished today. When the ground dries a little I will post a picture of the back of the house- It is beautiful! The porch has arches on it that are so nice. One can see them from the street behind us- so not a total waste on the back of the house.
The porches have been pored, insulation put in, and sheetrock started!
We are looking at a March move in- if all goes well.

October 20th

Here it is all finished except for the window we are waiting for. It should be here on Wed. I love the window.
My pretty front door!

October 17th

This is early in the day... Then a little later!

October 16th

Watch how fast the brick goes up!

I ran to the house early today to snap a picture before the Amigos finish the brick on the front. The sun was bright in the sky, but I think you can make out the progress on the brick. Check out the picture below for the work those guys did on the chimney!

How pretty is the chimney??? I love the way it looks! We are going to ask that the other chimney be bricked like this too. We didn't think that the second chimney could be seen from the street, so we were just going to put siding on it. We realized that we can see the chimney from the street, and we like this one so much, we are going to do it again!

October 14th

The brick has moved around the end of the house.

We are waiting on the front door and a window that was left off the order. Then the bricking can be completed. The architect designed inverted coins to go on the corners of the house. Some were skeptical since we had never seen this style. I know you cannot see it in this picture, but the are fabulous! Very unique, clean looking and down right cool!

October 13th

We have brick! The back of the house has been bricked in the Jefferson Tudor from General Shale. I love it! This is a view from the back of the house. I really like the detail around the window and across the wall. We have an address!

Get ready for big changes. The brickers are working around the back of the house. They are so fun to watch because they throw the bricks three at a time to one another! I smoosh my fingers when I move one brick! I have spent a lot of time thinking about and designing cabinets, lighting, and paint colors. It is a little soon for that, but I am interested in the final product. It is hard to think about, but each room is a whole package.

Here comes a series of pictures showing how far the house has come in the past week. Last post was waiting for shingles... Now we are waiting on brick!
Spent most of Sat. with Ralph the cabinet man. We drew all the cabinets up in the computer. I am going to sleep on the plans then get him started this week!



The pink stuff is insulation that goes under the brick. David has sealed all the cracks and holes he could find in the house. The outside insulation is suppose to save big bucks in the longrun!

We have shingles!!! I went by this morning to pick out the trim color- and there is a roof on the house! The shinglers were tied up there with ropes like the boys repelled off the climbing tower this weekend. I thought it was funny that the framers were talkinga bout how crazy the roofers were because they were tied to the roof- I believe the framers were the ones who put the roof up there!?

The plummers are about finished putting in tubs, showers, faucet pipes....After meeting with the cabinet guy, I only had to move two pipes to get cabinets to fit!
















Blair helped David seal up all th eholes and cracks! This house will be super air tight!

The most exciting visible thing going on at the house is the carnish going around! Here is the last photo, but not the most recent. I have trouble getting to the house with the camera!

Moving right along

Today we met with the plumber to go over every sink, tub, and drain. It is so exciting to really think about how each room is going to look. I feel like we are getting closer- even though we are still a long way away! One thing I did that is a huge help to me...I got a sketch book (a notebook would work) and I sketched how each wall in each room will look when we move in. This is hard in some places, but a general idea is good. Then when I walk through with the plumber and the electrician, I have already thought about each cabinet with sink, light, plug...It makes the guess work go away!

The king and his castle! David is posing for the picture.

Today they worked on inside stairs, putting sheeting on the back of the house, and finishing the porch.

Mom and Dad came to see the house for the first time! It was fun going thru the house like giving a tour. It helped me look at it with different eyes. I see that I need to raise the door height, and open a door that I had closed off. Not too many changes!

House is moving along. Last week I found the perfect counter top for my kitchen. I found it at G&L Marble in Birmingham. It was on hold for someone else, and when they decided they didn't want it, It became mine!!! The colors are perfect, and it is a good granite that has movement- which I like.

The house is moving along- faster than I can keep up with the pictures! This shot is from last week. Today they are finishing up the sheeting on the roof. David opted for solar plywood to help keep the attic cooler! Cool!

See what I mean about going up quickly- the very next day...


Blair climbed to the top of the attic and took this picture. You can see into Jones Valley from up there! David wants to put a window in the attic so he can look out!? Whatever!

The rafters are quickly going on! The poor guys are on the top of the house on the hottest days we have had this summer. I don't know if they agree, but this part seems to go fast, so maybe they won't bake for long.

Another shot of the front of the house. It is hard to see any big change, but every day there are a few more boards!

The biggest change is the addition of stairs to the second floor. I am so glad because there was this really creepy ladder that you had to climb to get up there- I did not like it! There are still no stairs from the ground level to the first floor. They are waiting to get things more stable so it will be safe for people to be in the house.

July 24th House

I have forgotten to take the camera several weeks now so there is a big change in the way things look. All floors are up- and the joist are going in on the top floor! There still are no stairs, but I think that is a safety thing. It is so high up looking out the top floor. I would hate for anyone to fall.

This is the view from the game room window on the top floor! It is like being in a tree house!

The framing is moving along, the first floor is finished and they are putting up the joist for the second floor! I can really get a feel for rooms now, and am anxious to spend some time at the house drawing furniture in with chalk. I would like to play in the kitchen, keeping room, and masterbath. The cabinets are so important ot me so I can stuff them full! I am also thinking about my craft room so I can get Blair busy on the tables I want him to build.

Here is the front of the house!
And a shot from the side.
It is amazing how quickly this is going up. We go down every night and place furniture, and hang out in 'rooms'. Everyone has told me, and it is true, that things look really small right now. I had dreamed up lots of space, and was worried we had gotten too big. Now I can see that the house will still be cozy and we have the space where I wanted it. Big pantry, laundry, craft room!

Moving along...

The framers have been very busy. There are interior walls on the first floor now! We go to the house every night and visualize rooms. They are starting to make sense and I am getting re-excited about painting and decorating.

Moving on Up

Here are the latest photos from the house. The basement area (my craft room) is framed and they are putting the flooring for level 1! It is really starting to look like a house.

The framers have been working so hard and have completed the first level of framing. They were working on beams to support the joist yesterday morning when I took them a cooler of water. We didn't get back yesterday afternoon, so I can't wait to see how far they got. The framing part is so exciting because there is visible change everyday! We are blessed with dry weather too - it is hot, but dry!
I met with the window guy at Gobble Fite. We are ordering Weather Shield windows. These windows were recomended to us and after I did a little research, decided they were good enough for us!

Here is the completed basement framing! It is hard to get it all in the shot so I just took pictures of my craft room!

Craft room Craft room closets

Walls go up!

OMG! They really started today. Ricky Harbin the framer and his son, and another guy worked hard today getting the walls up. There was some crisis with the rough opening for the windows. The Gobble Fite guy who had these measurements was on vacation, and Ricky needed them . I had a copy of the quote and rushed it over. Problem solved!