Author Topic: My collection boxed up and home construction photos  (Read 50720 times)

Offline ruiner

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #30 on: February 20, 2006, 10:32 AM »
Me too.

Someday I hope to build my own house - looks like you and your wife have great taste though!


Offline Scott

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #31 on: February 21, 2006, 12:10 AM »
Looking good Brent!  All of those boxes and totes look familiar, good luck moving all of that crap!!!! :P  Keep the pics coming, too

Offline Morgbug

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #32 on: March 12, 2006, 03:10 AM »
Time for an update!

Been a while, but we were rather seriously delayed first by a lack of hydro on the site, and then later by a lack of natural gas to the site (though that was mostly the lack of a meter and they can't fire up the gas without that).  So the hydro has been hooked up now for about 10 days.  That's allowed some portable heaters to be hooked up in the house ( and about five or six different lines to be run from our house to other houses in the neighbourhood) and some more work to progress. 

The drywall was up prior to the hydro power being hooked in, but they weren't able to tape it or otherwise finish.  Once those heaters went in they were able to wrap that up and the painting and trim work was possible to complete.

The paint we were allowed with our purchase price was either white, eggshell white or off white ::)  Now I don't begrudge anyone wanting white walls, that's personal taste, but it just isn't for us. 

Through the building process we've been told that we're not allowed to deal directly with contractors and here's a perfect example of why.  To get three colours of paint in the house that are non-standard the builder would charge us anywhere from $2500-3600 :o  Fortunately for us, the painter contacted us rather than vice versa and offered to do up to four colours for $1000.  Now that's an awesome deal compared to the builder's prices, but additionally with that two story foyer it would be a serious bitch to paint.  Both my wife and I are really comfortable doing most things, painting included, but two story work is less than appealing, so we opted in.  As I said, we're happy doing just about any kind of work and we pretty much repainted the house we're in prior to selling. 

For reference sake, the stairwell to the second floor after drywalling was wrapped up and actually after the paint primer was on already:


It looked pretty nice right away and once the drywall is up, it actually starts to look like a functional house.  It does make a huge difference when you actually paint though and you can also see the stairway railings are in, plus the framing/moldings for the doors.  My wife really wanted crown moldings on all the doors and to my dismay, I relented, to a rather kingly sum for that. ::)  I will say they look really nice, but I honestly couldn't have given a **** either way.  The stairway railings are in but for the wrought iron spindles (yep, extra, like anything else).  Same photo again:


A bit different perspective on the paint colour here, though taken from a similar point in the house.  The front door, currently white, will become a dark blue, not dissimilar from the colour in the kitchen you'll see shortly.  Not really much in place in the way of floors at this point, though the subfloors have now been screwed down and the additional flooring, where necessary, that goes under the carpet or vinyl has been laid in in some places.  We'll have engineered hardwood in the dining room, main floor hallway, kitchen and eating area.  The rest will be carpeted. 






The fireplace went in as well, at least the gas burning unit itself.  The brickwork remains to be done.  They've installed the wood area around it as well for the TV and some shelves.  The TV will go on the right, away from the window, in spite of the shelves currently sitting on that side.  I checked the plans and they have it correct, with the shelving on the left, but we'll see if they get it right ;)  You can see the blue of the kitchen/eating area on the stub wall.  It appears dark in all the photos I took.  It's a fairly deep blue, but not quite so harsh as it appears here. 



Looking the reverse direction you see into the kitchen and eating area with the door to the basement.  Tons of work yet to be done in the kitchen but I'm digging the dark colour.  The eating area has a ton of light and there's another window in the kitchen area itself that isn't readily apparent.  It's also a south facing back yard, so ambient light will be pretty intense in there.  So you can see pretty easily comparing the above photo with the one below the blue looks a lot darker depending on the lighting.



We opted for a third colour and let my five year old daughter pick her colour for her room.  All I can say is it's interesting.  We added the fourth bedroom upstairs as an option (yep, extra ::)) and decided she could paint it whatever colour she wanted, since she's not real keen on leaving the house we're in right now.  So it's kind of purply-bluish, but hey, I don't have to sleep in there.  I will say it's pretty entertaining that we painted it that colour, considering it really is sort of a feature room in the house with the bay windows and all.  It's also the second largest bedroom in the house.  I've been gentle with the picture aspect though, you'll still get the idea of the colour ;)



Our "official" possession date is still sitting between May 15 and June 30, though in talking with the site supervisor he figures he could have us in by late April.  Oddly we're a bit of an anomaly and since we haven't sold our house yet, we're asking for some time in May.  I think it will work because it takes some pressure off him, since he's supposed to have 30 houses ready on the 15th of May and almost everyone else wants in sooner rather than later.  He has to do a 2 hour inspection with each home owner prior to releasing possession, so we're trying to make it all work for him and make it easier to sell our house, which still isn't up for sale.  The market is hot and we have no where else to live, so we're trying to time it perfectly, if that's possible. 

All my toys are boxed up now, either here, or thankfully with Jim (chuckles) in Minnesota who's sitting on a pile of stuff for me.  From a $$ conserving standpoint it's really helping, because buying something just to open it, ziplock it and pack it away isn't all that much fun.  As mentioned previously, I probably won't see it for months, if not over a year :'(  It's funny too though, I've obviously priorized some stuff based on what I've put into bulk piles and what is kept close at hand.  What seems to matter most are the Kubricks and the vinty figures ;)
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Offline Dan

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #33 on: March 12, 2006, 10:33 AM »
Nice looking place! When you do go to unpack, it will be like the christmas that won't end. That should be a blast.
My oldest daughter is 8, and she loves making lists of the figures and organizing them for me. I don't know if your daughter is the same, but we spend hours going through boxes and have a great time.
Just a suggestion- when you do go through the boxes, even if you aren't going to display something, take it out, take a picture, and log it in a spreadsheet somewhere. I had a conversation with our insurance agent, and he said well documented collectibles are very important in case of a claim. Without a good list and pictures, you can be up a creek without a paddle should something happen.

Offline Mikey D

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #34 on: March 12, 2006, 08:16 PM »
Looking good Brent.  Can't wait to see the finished product. 

My goal is to build my own home.  With me being in construction and my wife on her way to being an architect, we have some serious ideas on what we both want and what we don't want.  I told her let me take care of the home theater / SW room and the kitchen and she can do whatever it is she wants with the rest of the house.  Seems like a fair deal to me.
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Offline jepoy

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #35 on: March 13, 2006, 01:07 AM »
It looks like the house is coming along really well! I hope that I will be able to have a house built someday to my own specs.

Offline Morgbug

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #36 on: March 15, 2006, 08:49 PM »
Talk about disturbing :o  I was chatting with the dude who's doing the heating as we're going direct through him for the central air and the heat recovery ventilator ($5800 from the builder; $3800 direct from him) and he gave me an update on the progress of the furnace and pouring the basement - he figures the house should be finished about two weeks after the basement is poured and set, so about 3 weeks from now :o  Crap in a hat, but I ain't ready for that, so rest assured I'll be making a panicky call to the site supervisor in the morning to hopefully work out a more suitable possession date.  Our last letter from the builder said May 15-June30 as a range, now they're talking about first week in April with only two weeks notice?  Yikes, but that doesn't seem fair.  The site supervisor's a cool dude though, so we'll see what we can work out. 

Lots of work going on, much to my surprise, but I guess heat makes a considerable difference in the speed of work ;)  I wandered in last night not expecting much and boy was I wrong, the cabinetry was half in already and was almost finished today.  I won't bore you with pictures of bathroom stuff or much detail, so just a quick shot of the kitchen.  The island isn't anchored in just yet.



Staircase spindles also went in today and make it look quite a bit nicer.  Additionally all the plate covers for the switches and outlets went in as well.  To my surprise we also have a dehumidifier going in, so a bit of a surprise bonus there.  All the lighting was in the dining room boxed up today as well, so I presume that may be finished by week's end.  I guess the plumbing can't be too far behind either. 



Just a guess here, but there should be an update on Friday or Saturday as well. :o
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Offline stormie

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #37 on: March 16, 2006, 10:28 AM »
Looks awesome, Brent!

I'm just a bit jealous, though. It's good jealousy, though, not that bitter stuff. ;)

Offline JesseVader08

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #38 on: March 17, 2006, 08:14 PM »
Wow, your house is really looking great Brent.  You've chosen some great colours for the interior too - my wife and I experimented with the paint in our current house and I've really grown to enjoy non-white walls.

Be sure you let us know when the house is done - a road trip for a house warming party may be in order.  ;)

Offline Morgbug

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #39 on: March 21, 2006, 10:05 PM »
Yeah, we're kind on not into white anymore.  Most of our apartments were like that and we ended up buying a house without white walls.  We got used to the non-white scheme, so now we're kinda hooked.  But it's not for everyone. 

Lots of work going on, but not much dramatic to show you and I'm sure everyone has little interest in all the light fixtures that went in ::) 

I tell ya though, ya can't let a moment go by without checking.  Not that anyone's trying to screw up on purpose, but **** happens.  Our kitchen will have stainless steel appliances so we got the range hood in stainless and ordered the track lighting in stainless, but guess what, they put in white >:(  They also delivered the wrong lights for the master bathroom but for the most part they've had everything correct. 



The kitchen again, obviously above, but you can see the white and stainless sort of don't mesh well.  The hanging light fixtures are pewter finish, but I can live with the contrast/clash between pewter and stainless though, they're close enough for a guy ;)

Other lights in the house are basically domes in rooms where there's no room to hang, or similar to these in the eating area, foyer and dining room.



On the outside the wrap went on, followed by tarpaper and wire for the stucco to go over.  Entire house is being stucco'd pretty much. 

Front:


Back of house from the southwest corner (back facing yard ideal for swimming pool 8))


The furnace has now been hooked up as well, so they're "cooking" the basement.  In other words they're heating the basement and drying it out before pouring the concrete floor.  Then they need to do the insulation and vapor barrier as well.  Not sure if they do electrical outlets or not at that point - I hope they do otherwise we'll have to mess with the insulation to get them in and I won't be very happy about that.  My brother-in-law is pumped about finishing the basement so we'll see what happens with that ;)

The plumbing, final electrical hookup and flooring remain to be done, but I can't imagine we're more than 2-3 weeks out, which is way sooner than the last letter they sent us ::)  We'll see what happens with that. :-X

Sorry for the odd sizes here of the pics ??? but photobucket is being a little inconsistent.  I usually opt for 50% size so the page width isn't screwed up, but for some reason these ended up at 25%.
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Offline Brian

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #40 on: March 22, 2006, 11:36 AM »
Wow, the house really is looking great Brent, I'm quite envious.  It looks like it will be beautiful when its all finished up, and I'm sure you and the family are anxious to get all moved in (aside from the pain of moving anyways).  I'm in the same camp as you guys with the non-white walls.  The first place we lived, we had all white walls and basically didn't mess with them, but when we moved into this house a couple of years ago, we've painted every room in the house...all in different color schemes.  I don't think we'd do it any other way now.  Looking great Brent!

Offline Scott

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #41 on: March 22, 2006, 10:09 PM »
Didn't think about them acutally pouring the floor in the house when the furnace was installed.  I'd still be a little concerned with frost in the ground (could be several feet below grade...) but you should be OK.  Not sure if you ever asked the builder about that.

Looks great  Brent!

Offline Morgbug

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #42 on: March 22, 2006, 11:42 PM »
Well according to the site supervisor, they'll heat the house for a week prior to pouring the floor.  I was in there yesterday and it was pretty darn hot in the basement, probably around 90 F.  The ducting for the most part isn't in yet, so the furnace is just cranking hot air right into the basement to warm it up, dry it out and get rid of the frost.  There's also been electric heat on the two other floors for about a month now, so it's been warming inside the basement as well. 

I did ask initially as well when they poured the foundation walls and they had a heater in there for a week as well.  I'm still nervous about it, but not much I can do now really. 

It is really weird just seeing the furnace hanging there supported from above by ducting and a few connections.  My initial impression had been it had to be sitting on something, but that's clearly not the case. 
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Offline Morgbug

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #43 on: April 4, 2006, 04:23 PM »
Nothing, and I mean nothing, has happened since the last update.  Haven't checked since Friday and will go by today to see. 

New letter stating possession date is May 15th.  We'll see if that holds.
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Offline Morgbug

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Re: My collection boxed up and home construction photos
« Reply #44 on: April 5, 2006, 12:02 AM »
Well whaddya know?  Something happened.  They've been quite busy in some respects but not so much in others.

Didn't think about them acutally pouring the floor in the house when the furnace was installed. I'd still be a little concerned with frost in the ground (could be several feet below grade...) but you should be OK. Not sure if you ever asked the builder about that.

Looks great Brent!

I think we can satisfactorily say the frost is out of the ground right now :o  The basement is a frigging swamp.  The image below doesn't quite convey it, but there's a lot of water in there so the basement has yet to be poured.  But they've begun the work on the plumbing that goes under/in the floor.  Not clear which it is; I know a good chunk will be below, but not sure if they'll pour it with channels for some of the piping and then cover that with a relatively thinner layer.  Probably not since it might adversely affect the strength of the concrete.  Either way, it won't get poured now until the first of May or thereabouts, so lots of time to dry out.

Our soils are very heavy clays that are truly mucky and suck your boots right off, so I wouldn't want to be the guys that were doing the work in there right now.  You can see the piping for the future bathroom in the southeast corner here, beyond the suspended furnace.



The sump pit is also being mucked around with  ;D at this point.  I presume the lines will all be cleaned or have been covered to keep the mud out at this point.



The only other thing of note that has happened is that the bricking has gone in for the fireplace and it looks way better than I'd expected.  I thought it was going to be too gray for the wall colour but it worked out really well in my opinion.  So all that's left to be done in the family room is the carpet and it's ready. 



I've been informed that the driveway and walkway won't be poured until after the May long weekend due to frost heaves and concerns along that line.  That's cool by me and it'll probably be longer judging by the way other things have gone. 

There's remarkably little to do in the house yet:
Plumbing finished and hooked in.
Dishwasher to be installed.
Sinks to be installed
Carpeting/hardwood to be installed
Baseboards to be installed
Doors put on.
Front door and garage door to be painted.
Driveway and walkway to be poured/placed.
Ducting to be finished for heating/AC system.
AC unit to be installed.
Heat Recovery Ventilator to be installed.
Basement concrete poured.
Basement walls insulated.
Hot water heater installed.

Well, ok, there's a little more than little to do yet. ::)  But a ton of work for us to do after we get moved in as well:
Finish front yard/landscape (might try to go with zero grass).
Garage door opener installed.
Deck in back.
Fence.
Pool. :P (actually this won't go in prior to fall at the earliest to let the soil settle)
Basement and Star Wars room - might get started prior to the start of 2007 8).
Landscape/trees in back yard.
Shed in back for all the crap that can't go in the garage ;)

What am I missing?
« Last Edit: April 5, 2006, 12:09 AM by Morgbug »
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