Fall Break

I took a little break over November for the holidays.  And so did our house.

As of Nov. 1, 2012

The roof had been finished quickly and the windows were installed just as fast by the end of October.  Once the roof had gone in, Jonathan and his team of friends went to work on wiring the house.  Just the low voltage stuff: speaker wires, HDMI, cable, etc.  It was only with the help of a certified electrician pal and two guys who had worked for a wiring company, that I let him do the wiring.  Nothing says "Buyer Beware" like "My husband did the wiring..."

At the beginning of November, our house progress had stalled as we waited for inspections.  This time of year is busy for inspectors as new construction seems to appear out of nowhere.  Our new block saw five new houses finished by December 1, and the lot next to ours has been flattened and construction has begun.  Odd, I know, but according to a realtor friend, the busiest time of year for homebuyers/potential homebuyers is around the holidays and immediately after school gets out in May/June.  I have no idea why.

The lighter trim is in the lower left.
The darker trim is on the right.

So as we waited for five inspections during the month of November, Jonathan and I were able to relax with family for the holiday.

Once the inspections were done and passed, construction wound back up again.  And fast.  Have I mentioned how fast these people are?  In the last 10 days, the brick, stone, and siding has started, and is nearly finished!  I had to choose some colors for siding and guttering, and went through a few trials for the trim.  Our builder suggested picking a base color then just darkening it for the trim.  I said, "Sure! Let's do that!"  I did not realize that meant taking the base color (Almond) and darkening it so much that our trim would look like faux Tudor-style beams.  So I nixed the really dark trim and eased it down to be just a highlight.  You can see both in the picture.

The gas lines are in, the electrical is in, the fireplace is in - soon the insulation will go in and then drywall will begin.  We're moving along very quickly, and the beautiful weather is helping that along.  But with the holidays coming up, we'll see how fast we go through December.

Single-Handedly Saving the Economy

Step aside, Mr. President!  And Mr. Romney!  The answer to this country's economic woes is very simple: Everyone needs to act like they're furnishing a house (in the mindset of a 27 year-old, middle-class female).  It's not a credit limit... it's a goal line!

BUY ALL THE THINGS!  AHAHAHAHAHA!  

Maniacal laugh aside, I firmly believe that I am single-handedly saving stores like Crate&Barrel, Pottery Barn, West Elm, VivaTerra, CB2, and many others, simply by building a house.

It's horrible (and awesome).  I can't stop myself.  I've had to shred four credit cards in the last three months to keep myself from using them.  Like a jonesin' Alzheimer's patient, I keep going back to the same websites, and the same stores, and Houzz - just to see what more I can buy.  Like I've never been there before - scouring each page, wandering aimlessly through the online quarry, just waiting to find something that I want.

And it's not like they have new things every day.  They change out their newest items about quarterly, maybe monthly, with a steady flow of their standards.  Crate&Barrel hasn't had a new item since July.  But I keep checking their site - ready to pounce on the next item I can vaguely picture somewhere in our new house.

The leasing office employees at our apartment complex have started taking bets on how many packages will come for me on any given week.  They make fun of Jonathan when he goes in to pick them up, because they're never for him, and he's always very confused as to what he's having to haul back to the apartment.  Pillows?  Lamps?  Plates?  It's surprise every day!

If everyone in this country - or even just half of us - acted as though we were furnishing a brand new home, the economic crisis would do a 180.  Of course, then we wouldn't be able to retire... or we'd dig ourselves into deep credit debt... so maybe this isn't the best plan for everyone, but I'm darn sure that West Elm knows me by name.

Cheers -
Caroline

A Roof Over Our Heads!

The house has taken shape! A very distinctive, house-like shape.

Much of the house is framed in - interior walls are framed, the exterior is covered in Tyvek and SolarBoard.  The roof is covered, but not well.  Jonathan and I visited on Saturday (the 13th) as rain drenched the area.  The roof is not complete so there were large puddles on the concrete in our living room, entry, and dining room.  Of course, Sunday shown bright and sunny and dried the whole thing out by 3:30 in the afternoon so at least there's no standing water.  Jonathan is very worried about rotting 2x4s.

We believe the shingles will go on this week.

Curtis has told us that Jonathan should be prepared to wire in two weeks (around Oct. 27th).  Jonathan and I are saving some money by letting the "homeowner" install the low-voltage wiring, i.e. speaker wire, tv cables, ethernet and CAT6E cables.  So Jonathan has called on his buddies, all tech-nerds and one actual electrician, to help wire the house.  They all seem very excited to help - I hope they remain that way at 9 AM on a Saturday morning.

Here's to saving money, and having great friends!
Cheers -
Caroline

House Update #7

So once they get going, they really get going!

Even after a few short weeks, we have a lot of movement on the house.  The entire outside frame is up. They are beginning to frame in the inner walls.   The roof will go on this week.  The fireplace is framed in.  Plumbing is verified and ready for finishing.  Tyvek is wrapped around the house and it's ready for bricking and stonework.

It's all very exciting.  I'm finding it very hard to control my credit card - it just keeps wanting to buy stuff for the house!

Cheers -
Caroline

House Update #6

Framing has begun!

We were very excited to see that the frame had been started yesterday (Monday) when we drove by to look.

This house plan is based off of another house in this neighborhood, but scaled down in places.  The master bedroom came in one foot.  We chopped off the office a bit.  The upstairs media room took a cut.  We didn't need all the space that the other house provided - as long as it was an open floor plan, which it still is.

One place we scaled down, and I am regretting it, is the main living room.  We took out some square footage to keep costs down, but unfortunately, the hopes and dreams I had for the furniture to go in there may not come to fruition.  I was still picturing the footage provided in the original plans (the 3,700 sq. ft. plans - not our scaled down version).

When Jonathan and I went out last night to look at the progress, we started to walk the house, the rooms, where the walls, doors, and major areas were.  To my disappointment, the living room seemed so small - not what I had remembered.  How was I ever going to fit the masses of people I was planning to entertain in there?  I needed a sofa to fit 16 people at least!  With chairs, and stools, and still manage to move!

But that is my own fault.  For allowing what I remembered get in the way of what we actually have.

Since yesterday, I have perused a few options for furniture and have found that even in our smaller space, I can still get a lot of what I want.  I have a renewed excitement for what this house will be, both big and small, contemporary and warm, open and cozy.

As my ever-optimistic husband reminds me: It's going to be EPIC.  It really will be.

Here's to learning experiences!
Cheers -
Caroline

House Update #5

Despite our rainy weather last week, the sun shone bright enough to dry out our lot this week.  Concrete was poured and the slab is ready for framing.  There are bundles of lumber stacked around the perimeter, just waiting to be made into the frame of our new home.

The garage slab is 6 inches lower than the rest of the house for spill/rain/water reasons.  A garage will never be as water tight as the rest of the home, so our builder takes precautions by lowering the slab to prevent any water that gets into the garage from getting into the house.

As you can see, Curtis has also found us some more dirt.  We will need this to continue to level out our lot and make a great big, and FLAT, backyard. Framing should begin next week!

Cheers -
Caroline

TIMBER!

Part of what Jonathan and I fell in love with about this particular lot was its trees.  Beautiful, beautiful trees.  Being from Montana, I feel less and less at home the flatter my landscape gets.  So if I can't have mountains (and don't try to tell me about the Wichitas - those aren't mountains; those are hills with foliage), I'm damn-well gonna have some trees.

Only one problem: Most new (after 2000) housing additions in Oklahoma clear the land to put up row upon row of cookie cutter houses, wiping out all the trees in the process.  When Jonathan and I stumbled upon the lot we are now cultivating, we were THRILLED to see the lush green belt that lined the lots hadn't been tampered with.  Part of what made us fall so hard for it.

However, as we have found, that luscious green belt has provided a few hiccups in our development process.  I don't begrudge the trees at all, but the issue did have to be dealt with.  If Jonathan and I wanted a large, flat area of land for a yard, two trees would have to go.  Granted, they were dead anyway - so I didn't feel too bad taking them down.

So we called on some friends, Ken Parker and his son, Leo, both pros at wilderness/farming/ranching/chainsaw stuff, to help us take the trees down.  A fair trade as Ken and Leo would have taken the wood for firewood this winter.  An excellent bargain!

What we weren't prepared for was what the trees were: Walnut. Black Walnut, also known as American Walnut, is one of the finest North American lumber species. Along with mahogany and cherry, walnut set the standard for American furniture.  A gorgeous milky brown wood that is prized among lumber producers and woodworkers.  When Ken and Leo started taking the trees down, they realized the trees' value as a decorative wood, and couldn't bring themselves to burn it.

So now what do we do with a bunch of walnut logs sitting at the edge of our lot?

DECOR!

I have contacted a gentleman in Tulsa who thinks he'll be able to turn the wood into some centerpiece bowls and artwork for us.  The trick is just getting the wood to him.  It's a dense, heavy wood and it's sitting at the bottom of a slope.  We're very excited to have someone who can work the wood into something beautiful and unique for our new home.

Now we just need to find a friend with a back hoe that can pull them out for us.

Any takers?

Cheers -
Caroline