Construction Blogging: A Good Week of Progress!

The past few weeks have been a little disappointing progress-wise (what else is new, right?).  Our builder was on vacation one week, and our project manager was on vacation for about two and a half weeks.  So, during that time, pretty much the only thing that got done at the house was our countertop installation (done by a sub I hired directly). 

As has been typical, that was not without its share of heartache.  A few of the sink holes were cut just a little too big (sometimes automated cutting isn't all it's cracked up to be), which allowed the unfinished top parts of a few sinks to show through in some places.  That was a no-go, so in lieu of cutting completely new countertops (please, no), our countertop guys are working on getting slightly larger sinks to fix the problem.

We also decided we didn't like the way the powder bath vanity looked when it was situated up against the wall just inside the door, so we decided to move it to the right a few inches, which necessitated a new top being cut (because they had previously cut the top to adjoin the wall and it didn't have a finished edge on one side), but that was one of the tops that had the sink hole issues, so we killed two birds with one stone there.  And it's a small top, so no new slab was necessary.

This past Monday, all of our people were back in town!  Tuesday, I worked from the house because our carpet installers were coming, and our tile guy was coming back.  Both are subs I hired directly, and I needed to be there to provide some direction to them.  I was super pleased to see these two trucks pull in shortly after I got there:

Phillip and Luis are both home, and things are moving again!  The two of them got a bunch of appliances installed:

Please tell me why in the world the "Frigidaire" label in the microwave door is off-center?  This microwave and oven is sold as part of a set.  Why in the world would the two labels not be directly on top of one another?  This will likely drive me crazy for the rest of my life.

I'm having a bit of a crisis with the colors of my kitchen (and powder bath, and upstairs bath) cabinets and countertops.  I mentioned in my last post that the cabinets didn't match the sample door color, which was, of course, what I used as a color reference when picking out my countertops.  The cabinets look much more yellow than I expected, and that just isn't really working well with the white/gray countertop color (the countertops have some ivory in them, which would've worked with the color I thought the cabinets were going to be, but they don't really have any yellow).  Making matters worse, the cabinets look completely different depending on the kind of light that is hitting them.  When we turn the lights on in the kitchen, they have a more cool white tone, so the cabinets look whiter.  In the natural light, depending on the time of day, sometimes they look straight-up yellow (they remind me of my Mammaw Brooks's yellow bedroom).  

I have been literally sick over this color issue, as I really, really didn't want to ask my cabinet guy to repaint the cabinets, and I didn't want to deal with the delay (not to mention the cost) that would come with selecting and cutting new countertops.  So my quest and obsession for the past couple of weeks has been to select a backsplash that will pull the two together.  I have been through a LOT of tile samples, y'all.  Maybe half of the samples Frazier's has in their showroom.  I've hauled so much heavy tile around in my car that my gas mileage has dropped.  

I neglected to take a picture of the back of my car packed full of tile samples, but I did think my console was humorous.  I mean, doesn't everyone need a tape measure and a chunk of granite at the ready while driving? 

Josh at Frazier's has the patience of a saint.  I know that I have been a total pain in the butt over this backsplash.  With his excellent assistance, though, I think I've finally found something perfect.  We won't have the backsplashes installed until sometime in October (hopefully well after we move into the house - fingers crossed) due to our favorite installer's busy schedule, but I don't even care.  

Other than that, the painters have also been at the house staining rails, stair treads, etc.

I was concerned that they decided to do this two days before our carpet installers were supposed to come, as the only place we have carpet is in the two guest bedrooms and my office upstairs.  Everyone knew when the carpet guys were supposed to come, so if they weren't able to walk on the stairs, I was going to be quite unhappy.  But the stairs were dry by the time they got there, so all was well.

Phillip and Luis worked throughout this past week getting plumbing fixtures and bathroom accessories installed.  AND, I saved the best for last, WE GOT OUR NEW FRONT DOOR ON THURSDAY!  They were able to re-frame and install it, and they even got the sheetrock put up over the top of it on Friday (I didn't get a picture of that):

I love this door, and I love the totally different way the house looks now that we have these bright windows in the door  instead of a huge piece of black plastic covering the door.  It's still a big door, but we wanted a big door (just not a gargantuan door).

We've got some work to do to finish the stone on the front porch now that the new door is in.

As for the old door, I'm a little sad because it's a really beautiful door with no home at this point, but I also have to laugh, because y'all, this thing is HUGE.  It looks even bigger sitting in the garage than it did when it was in the wall!

That appliance sitting in front of the door is a full-size refrigerator.  The door makes it look like a washing machine.  Shout-out to Ben's Big Ass Fan you can see in the reflection.  He's pretty proud of it, but the door kind of makes it look like a Little Ass Fan.  😄

So, seriously, if anyone needs a beautiful 9-foot door, hit me up.

The third try at the correct windows for the corners of the living room vault is supposed to arrive tomorrow.  Actually, it was supposed to arrive Friday, but who's really counting anymore?  We have a ton of stuff that can't get done on the back porch area before those windows are in, so we really, really need those to get here...and to be correct.  Fingers crossed for that.  

In the meantime, I'm spending a ton of time going through the whole house with a Shop Vac trying to get as much dust as I can out of there.  It's a futile effort, but I need to feel like I'm doing something.  

I hope that my next few posts detail even more great progress and that I can tell you in a few weeks that we're moving in.  All the progress from the last week has me excited again, but I'm also more than a little apprehensive that it's just toying with my emotions, as this whole process has done.  I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and just hoping it's not a train!