A Nugget and a Doodle

It's going to be a couple more weeks before we have any juicy construction updates for you.  Currently there are a whole bunch of inspections lined up for this week, and the polyseal spray foam is going in, then insulation, but none of those are exciting photos.  So, I thought a little bragging might entertain you in the meantime. This chair is by no means perfect.  It was intended to be my "learning chair" but I fell in love with the shape, and then I fell in love with the fabric so I was hoping I could get it to turn out ok.  I bought it to go in Nugget's new big boy bedroom at the new house, and I'm so so happy with the outcome.  I did learn a lot and feel like I'll do even better on the next one, and believe me the projects are stacking up!  I've got at least 3 more upholstery projects lined up already, and then probably several more that I just haven't decided on. My biggest takeaway is that I'm not a seamstress and I will never be a seams...

This phase is a lot more exciting in person than the pictures convey, but this is the last update before our framing walk-through with our builder where we approve or request changes on all the stuff INSIDE the walls.  After that, the sheetrock is the next milestone!!  woohoo!  Pics after the jump.

Happy birthday to me -- Happy birthday to me -- Got a roof for my birthday  -- Happy birthday to me!! So it's not completely done, and they haven't even started mom and dad's roof, but ours is nearly done and I couldn't help myself from blogging immediately because I was really second guessing our roof shingles, but I love them now that they're up. I'm also marveling at how much more I can appreciate the shape of the house and the roofline now that the shingles are up!  The little french gnome house has taken shape! What a joy to pull up to our house on a VERY rainy day expecting to see nobody there working, and instead seeing that there's no place for us to conveniently park.  Lots of trucks for multiple trades all at once!  I'm so hopeful this is what our builder meant by "catching up" once the house is water tight.  We're still not water tight, but getting close.  The kitchen window went in today as well.  I haven't been inside...

We no longer go up to visit our lot on friday nights.  Now we go up to see our house! The exterior walls, interior walls, and roof are all completely framed.  Right now they're working on all the cornice which collectively refers to everything that encloses the house.  In our case, as our builder will very proudly tell you, that means 3 layers of energy efficient goodness.  There are 4 layers on the corners actually!  His focus on energy efficiency was one of the major reasons we chose him to build our house.  On top of the already superior sealing and energy work they include standard in all their homes, we opted for the additional Rolls Royce of energy efficiency packages, which should put our house in the top 1% of energy efficient homes in the country!  Yay for environmental responsibility!  Yay for our electric bills in the Texas summers!   There are 4 houses under construction in our community.  The other 3 are moving much ...

Our granite was the source of a lot of self-imposed drama (for me - as with everything else, Brent just rolls with the punches).  We need a lot of it ($) and the kitchen is part of an open plan that you see as you walk in the front door so we wanted to find something we love ($$)!  Of course, I tend to only love granite that's not like the granite in every other household in America.  ($$$) My original love   lust    stalker-obsession    favorite was called "Super White" or "White Fantasy" which are both kind of misnomers because the stone is gray with giant white splotches.  It's gorgeous, but it's quartz, and not the super strong kind, but rather a soft quartz that behaves more like marble.  It will etch, scratch and stain.  Some more consumer-friendly suppliers even place it in the marble department to avoid disappointing the homeowners who didn't do any research and wonder why their super durable "granite" counters are staini...

Well the framing was delayed a bit, but the crew of 11+ has made MAJOR progress in just 3 days - enough for a mid-week blog post!  In fact, they started on the roof this afternoon!  I love that our house is so "BAM" as you turn onto the street, and it's all you see in the rear view mirror as you drive away.   This cul de sac is all about us.  :)

I'm traveling this week, which is a good thing because I'd probably want to drive up every day to check on progress.  :)  I'm told the lumber will be delivered on Monday, and the framing will start on Tuesday.  There's no rain in the forecast all week, so even if they are delayed a couple days there should be SOMETHING to see on our usual Friday evening trip up there. Here's all the little bits I haven't updated on individually...as I think I left off with the rough plumbing. After that the concrete guys started on the post tension engineered slab.   In a post tension slab system, steel cables are criss-crossed throughout the foundation area before the concrete is poured.  Then after the concrete is poured and begins to cure, the cables are tightened to add tension and strengthen the slab, making it even more solid than it would normally be.   While traditional re-bar helps hold the foundation together to minimize cracks, the cable tension grid provides...