The end is in sight

Today we are getting the electric meter and the final building inspection. The oven will be installed today and the travertine tile is down. The last three holes the electrician cut into the walls will be fixed today and the painters will come next Monday to re-paint those areas as well as a few others that have been nicked by the subcontractors. All of the plumbing is installed. We have phone service already. But I have not completed the interior wiring. We should have air-conditioning this coming weekend and I should be able to complete the interior data wiring that is needed for us to move in. The cable is being installed on the 6^th.  The only remaining major item is the carpet that will be installed next Wednesday and Thursday. The mortgage company will do their final inspection next Friday and a week from Monday we sign the mortgage. We will move some of our stuff in on the weekend of 6/14-15 and the rest over the next couple of weekends. We are very, very close to the end of the project.

 

Cheers, Steve

Steve Aughinbaugh

Manager, Plano Engineering Sustaining
McAfee, MS 3S099
5000 Headquarters Drive
Plano, Texas 75024

972-963-7496 (office)

972-989-6770 (cell)

steve_aughinbaugh@mcafee.com

 

We have a drive/taxiway!

We have a drive/taxiway and a sidewalk now. The flatwork is done and we should be able to drive into the garage this weekend and I have a tie-down spot on the “ramp” also! I will get some pictures this weekend to post on the group site. The drywall guys came back yesterday and fixed the holes that the electricians made fixing their security wiring. We also moved the powder room sink light over to center it and that had to be repaired also. The cabinet people may be there today or on Tuesday will all the shelving pegs and to adjust all the cabinet doors and draws to make sure they operate smoothly. The rest of the appliances will be delivered today and stored in the garage until they can be installed.

 

The HVAC team will be there to set the outside AC coils and all the thermostats. We have a cleaning crew coming this weekend to do a thorough clean before the travertine tile is installed starting next Wednesday. Once the travertine is down, we can install the plumbing in the powder room and appliances and get our final inspection …. Then we can close on the mortgage and move it!

 

Cheers, Steve

Steve Aughinbaugh

Manager, Plano Engineering Sustaining
McAfee, MS 3S099
5000 Headquarters Drive
Plano, Texas 75024

972-963-7496 (office)

972-989-6770 (cell)

steve_aughinbaugh@mcafee.com

 

We have lights!

We have lights now, but no electricity. The light fixtures have been installed but we have to wait for the final inspection next week to get the electrical meter. We do have a gas meter. Getting that was a bit of an issue. But a few phone calls to city hall to get them to tell the gas company that the lines had been inspected freed it up to be installed. The staining and painting are done. Most of the plumbing fixtures have been set and all of the granite counter tops are in. The lights and faucets look great. The kitchen backsplash including the gas cook top and pot filler are in also.

 

This week the flatwork is going in. The patio area will have some concrete there and there will be a concrete walk to the front door from the drive/taxiway and parking ramp. The HVAC guys will trim out the system this week and then we should be able to get our final building inspection so that we can get an electric meter installed.

 

The last two weeks have been pretty busy and I am sure that I forgot some of the stuff that was completed. We actually drove to Lubbock this past Friday/Saturday to clean out the rental house there so that we can sell it. We are ready to get our weekends back to just relax and enjoy friends and non-house building stuff!

 

Cheers, Steve

Steve Aughinbaugh

Manager, Plano Engineering Sustaining
McAfee, MS 3S099
5000 Headquarters Drive
Plano, Texas 75024

972-963-7496 (office)

972-989-6770 (cell)

steve_aughinbaugh@mcafee.com

 

Still moving along

The septic tank was set today. It is a three compartment tank that is about 8 feet wide x 18 long x 10 deep and the top is about 4 feet underground. Air is pumped into the second tank to promote and feed the bacteria. The third tank has a basket of chlorine tablets to treat the water that is left and then there is a pump that goes to sprinkler heads that are in the wooded area behind the house that comes on whenever the water level gets high enough. That was probably more than you wanted to know about our septic system, but there you go.

 

The stairs and railing are completed and they look great. We also had the Brazilian cherry solid wood floors installed in the dinning/living room and study.

 

All of the bathroom tile is in also including the radiant heat floor in the master bath.

 

I created a new location for some of the pictures also at: http://family.webshots.com/album/561207017OFYisn?vhost=family if you want to take a look at the history of building the house so far.

 

It looks like we will move in near the beginning of June or sometime in June.

 

Cheers, Steve

Steve Aughinbaugh

Manager, Plano Engineering Sustaining
McAfee, MS 3S099
5000 Headquarters Drive
Plano, Texas 75024

972-963-7496 (office)

972-989-6770 (cell)

steve_aughinbaugh@mcafee.com

 

The stairs are going in

The back stairs are almost done and the front stairway is under way. Both stairs are wrought iron balusters with solid oak treads, risers and railing. The same railing will also go around the bridge and game room balcony. I added a couple of pictures of the back stairs and a picture of the garage doors while they were being installed. On the curved entry stairway it was interesting how they laminated it together and formed it to the curve of the stairway. I added a picture of this after they had taken most of the clamps off.

 

Cheers, Steve

Steve Aughinbaugh

Manager, Plano Engineering Sustaining
McAfee, MS 3S099
5000 Headquarters Drive
Plano, Texas 75024

972-963-7496 (office)

972-989-6770 (cell)

steve_aughinbaugh@mcafee.com

 

Red letter day!

The brick and stone is complete! The brick and stone mason finished the house today including the fireplace hearth and the floor of the porch. The stone and brick look great and the fireplace is impressive.

Cindy and I spent the day picking up the trash in the house, scraping the drywall mud up and sweeping. We are really getting tire of do that! While we were doing that the brick guys were finishing up these guys have work 6 days a week and 10 hour days for the past 4 weeks. They are some of the hardest working people that we have seen and they have excellent workmanship.

I am too tired to write more but I did post some photos of the brick and cabinets.

Cabinets, doors, brick and stone

Well, we have rolled into April now and the brick and stone is almost done. The front of the house is complete except for a few details. I have added a few pictures to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SteveNCindyHome. The brick layers are doing a great job. We decided to take the stone around and over the garage doors and around the back side of the garage to the corner of Nanny and Poppy’s closet. The arches over the entry look great also.

 

The cabinets are in. I added some pictures of them and will add a few more a bit later. The cabinets around the fireplace look great with the stone and wood. The closets are pretty neat as well. It is fun to be able to design the layout your closets. Our trim guys are just great and perhaps even artistic. The detail over the front door and the study French doors are very nice.  Most of the trim is done. Some crown molding and base still needs to be done and should be completed in the next few days.

 

We decided to install Bella Brazilian Cherry solid wood floors in the dinning/living room and the study. Oh, I just remembered and I have to get some pictures of this, but the study has fantastic looking oak beams on the ceiling that one of the trim guys built. So, things are moving along quickly. It looks like we may move in before Cindy’s birthday in June!

 

Enjoy the pictures.

 

Cheers, Steve

Steve Aughinbaugh

Manager, Plano Engineering Sustaining
McAfee, MS 3S099
5000 Headquarters Drive
Plano, Texas 75024

972-963-7496 (office)

972-989-6770 (cell)

steve_aughinbaugh@mcafee.com