Getting Close

We are still working out the details on what we can afford on the landscape, so in the mean time, here are some “nearly finished photos” to tide you over.

Click on the image above to see a cool pop up sequence of large images.

Rain

After the summer with virtually no moisture to speak of, the fall rains have come.  A huge storm hit on the 8th, bending over trees, hailing, and coming down at over an inch an hour.

Our little wood box made it - no water seems to be making it’s way in anywhere!

The open face downspouts make quite a racket when the water just drips, so we are going to put something at the bottom to try and silence the noise...

For the Little Ones

The girls are getting set up with the tables and the supplies to work their craft as often as their hearts desire...

We received some simple little IKEA tables yesterday, and they will be covered in markers and paint soon.

The dining table can get a break after being bombarded with markers and permanent pens for years now.  I think it will need a full-on refinishing.

Sliding Door

The big sliding door to the Office/Art Room is one step closer to being complete.  I picked up the polycarbonate infill panels from Boulder Plastics a few days ago, and we’ve got them temporarily installed in the door. 

It does glow nicely at night as we had anticipated, however, we still haven’t figured out a good stop mechanism.  It would be nice to have the flexibility to take the panels out at a future date...

Air Conditioning

We broke down and asked Bob to go ahead and put in a conventional air conditioner last week.  The house was doing very well considering the heat wave we’ve had, but when the temp climbs over 95 degrees for over two weeks straight, and topping out at 100, it gets uncomfortable!

Fortunately, we had budgeted a high-efficiency DX cooling unit, and Bob has worked installation into his schedule.  If we get our photovoltaic panel array at some point, I guess we can feel a little better about using the energy for powering this thing.

At 90 degrees and under, the combination of good cross ventilation and ceiling fans in every room is fine, so most of our summer we will be leaving it off.  I’m not a fan of conventional air conditioning, because in my experience, it results in closed up buildings where no one interacts with the outdoors.  With our indoor/outdoor patios, we will see if we can keep a good balance...    

Interior Details

Jeff and crew have been back in to finish up a few of the remaining interior details.  So far, we have been happy with the FSB hardware on the interior doors.  They have a nice solid feel, and the finish is subtle but slightly different than the usual stuff.

Nancy found some nice simple door stops (Linnea) that have worked nicely with the bamboo and solid core doors.   

For easier access into the IKEA wardrobes, we’ve added some finger pulls.  The doors are slick, so it was difficult to grab them.  I wonder how long until one of the kid’s get their finger slammed...  

This final fine tuning is making it real - we are finally in and making it our own.

Moving Day!

Curt, our GC, pulled it off.  By the weekend, we had a certificate of occupancy and the permission to move in by the city.  YAHOO! 

Living out of family and friend’s guest rooms is over, and everyone was more than ready to be in our new place.  The first night we all managed to sleep straight through, and some of us even slept in to 7am (serious sleep in for the kids)!

It’s a very surreal experience.  Living in a place we have been designing and focusing on for nearly two years - it’s now a reality that we are intimately connected to and interact with every day.  Other than having kids, this is probably the most rewarding thing we have ever experienced.

We are in love.

Final Push

Curt and the subs are in the big push to get everything set for final inspections, and ultimately, our CO (Certificate of Occupancy).  We are into the second week of waiting to move in, so tensions are high and everyone is ready to be done!

For now, items like the landscape and punchlist items will have to wait, as code stuff like life safety and proper drainage of our site are more critical. 

The electrical final inspection was completed, with mechanical and plumbing slated for today.  Congrats to Rob at CEI Electric for stepping up to the plate and delivering.

Sub-Contractors

With a number of trades in and out of our project now for the last nine months, the value of a good sub has become abundantly clear.  It’s amazing that so many installers don’t really value what they are creating or feel responsibility for getting it done on time. 

The older themes of journeyman or craftsmen doesn’t seem to be a part of so many trades these days, at least in this part of the country. 

So, when a sub comes in, asks a lot of questions, checks and rechecks what they need to do, and then delivers on time, it’s truly a breath of fresh air. We have been lucky enough to get a few of them, and they will be the ones we look to for the next project.  That’s exactly it, their performance is passed on via word of mouth, or as a  direct reference for the next project.  How can that not be important?! 

Perhaps the tract housing mentality has permeated so many trades, that only super high-end projects get subs of the caliber I’m speaking of.

Painting

Mike and his crew are just about finished with the interior painting.  The superb job the drywallers did is evident in how good the ceilings and walls are coming out after a coat of primer and multiple coats of the final paint color.  We went with all off-whites for now - we may add some accents, but it’s not critical at the moment. 

The off-white of choice is Navajo White (more on the yellow or warm side).  It’s a bit different approach than what we’ve typically done (usually there is more contrast from one color to the next), but this time around we are trying out a more monochromatic color theme.  

Once we move in and experience the spaces in all the various lighting conditions, there will be some fine tuning and an effort to introduce some nice accent walls.