Practicing What You Preach is Tough

The first resident

No more mud!

A sampling of our haul

Front with porch cavity

Once the stone and brick were completed last week, the yard was littered with mounds of unused concrete, brick pieces, and stone chunks. Instead of having it all go in the dumpster or being mixed in with the dirt that will be used to grade the yard, we decided that it would be a much better idea to put it in the cavity of our front porch.

The mason finished the outside wall of our front porch last week, but the cavity hasn't yet been filled with dirt and finished with concrete. The mason had thrown into the cavity a few used buckets and empty bottles, which I pulled out, but it gave us the idea of filling it in with more substantial matter. We collectively hauled to the front porch what probably amounted to about 800 pounds of concrete, brick, and stone pieces, plus a huge piece of bent rebar that's been rusting in the yard for two months that was too big to put in Patrick's truck for recycling.

We've tried hard to make the house as sustainable as we can afford, so it made sense to reuse these materials. First, we've already paid for them, so why not use the materials to their fullest extent instead of throwing them in the dumpster? Second, the concrete, brick, and stone will add considerable strength to the front porch. Third, diverting the waste stream to a usable space means that we use fewer raw materials, saving money and natural resources. It was backbreaking work and we were all exhausted when we finished, but it feels really good to be able to put ideas on sustainability to work, even when building a fairly "conventional" house.

I've said before that we go to the house each weekend to clean up the messes that the workers leave. We find not just construction waste such as nails, wood, drywall, etc. but also drink cups/lids/straws, discarded banana peels, food wrappers and such. Yesterday, we spent hours sweeping up drywall and plaster dust and getting plaster blobs off the floor. We also found that about a cup of unshelled sunflower seeds along with other trash had fallen in the gap that is the base of our kitchen island. It blows my mind that people working on a new house would be so careless as to throw their trash all over the place or leave it where it falls. Building a house is, of course, a huge financial undertaking and it's disturbing to see that people treat our future home with such disrespect. The sunflower seeds-if they weren't removed by us-would spend the life of our house rotting and attracting rodents and insects. And we wonder why our indoor air quality is worse than outside air quality?

On a much lighter note, I picked out the tile for the bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry room this week. Fun stuff! I fell in love with one particular tile as soon as I walked in store and ended up designing the kitchen around it. When I got home that night, I realized that the tile is in the same pattern on our dog's collar--hilarious! I guess I'm fairly consistent in my taste. I could pick tile all day!!

I also got all the paint colors nailed down (seven, plus trim). All that's left to pick is the door and cabinetry hardware.

I can hardly believe that we're getting so close to completion now. I know it's another two months until we're in, but still, it's hard to contain our excitement at this point. Patrick is always sad to leave the house after cleaning and is trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it really won't be much longer now. The trim carpenter will be there this week and will hang interior doors, install cabinetry, and make bookshelves and a mudroom bench. The driveway, back porch, and part of the sidewalk are poured and curing. The back deck should begin this week. There's no denying it's coming together now. And we are happy!

Putting on a Pretty Face

After seeing nothing but concrete and framing for so long, it feels good to watch the house finally take shape. On Friday the painter started putting the exterior paint and trim on the house and today the masons began installing the stone, with the brick to follow in a few days.

The driveway should be poured next week when the masons are done (or done with the section near the garage anyway). Apparently the price of concrete goes up on November 1 by $5/sf due to the need for a "winter mix". We should definitely get the driveway in by that time and are hoping to have the sidewalk poured, but at least the largest remaining concrete expense will be covered.

The blown-in cellulose is in, except for the attic/ceiling space, which will be done right at the end so that the drywall has time to properly cure. The GC says this will give the ceiling plenty of time dry, which should keep it from sagging. Sounds good to me.

The plumbing nightmare continues. We still have no selections, nor do we know the price of anything except the initial Kohler request. I keep asking, as does the GC, but still nothing. Who needs plumbing anyway?

However, we do have the geothermal wells and pumps in now! It's an open loop system so we have one well in the front and one in the back, but it can also be used for irrigation and is non-potable! With the geothermal system, as soon as we have permanent power we can start heating the house. I'm so happy we went with the geothermal. I hope it really delivers the projected savings.

What else? I picked out the countertops last week. I picked out granite for the kitchen and master bath. The guest bath has a gorgeous travertine, which is more fragile than the granite but since the space won't be used as much as the "lived in" rooms, I'm hoping it will hold up well. In the kids' bath we put in quartz since I fully expect them to leave toothpaste squeezed on the counter and myriad other staining materials. And, hey, the countertops were only $56 over budget!!!

I ordered the last of the lights this week (Yea, holding out for another sale actually worked!) and am so excited to think about how this is all coming together. Check out the photos and tell me what you think.

The Selection Sprint

The past few weeks have truly been a whirlwind. After getting the cabinetry just right, we moved on to selecting flooring. Because Patrick loves it, we've selected a prefinished handscraped Golden Teak for the main level. Personally, I'm not crazy about the handscraped finish, but he really had his heart set on it. I'm sure I'll come to like it in once I've lived on it. For the basement, we've selected a bamboo. I really wanted to install cork in the basement, but it was prohibitively expensive. It's not that cork is badly priced, but we had initially wanted stained concrete in the basement, but that was when we were laying radiant heat. Without the warm radiant heat underfoot, the concrete wasn't at all appealing. Cork was. But the budget was a mere $3K. I actually found a cork on sale that would've come in on budget, but it was nearly black and with our tan-colored dog with long toenails, it didn't seem like the best combination. After much back and forth, we found a bamboo that comes in under budget (at least until you consider installation, but it'll still be close). However, we did put cork in the master bedroom closet because that'll feel nice and warm on cold winter days. Besides, it's the sale cork.

I think I spent about 30 hours online last week looking at plumbing fixtures. The plumbing game seems to be a complete racket. They don't tell you what you have for a budget and have this arrangement where everything requires a change order. Why do we need a change order when nothing has been changed, I wonder? Just to bump up the cost?? Anyway, you go down to the supplier and spend hours selecting your products, keeping your fingers crossed that you'll end up on budget. Quelle surprise when you don't.

After finding very little that I even liked (on budget, that is) at the showroom and feeling overwhelmed by the cost of it all, I spent a day-plus on the Kohler website picking out the faucets, shower sets, tub sets, toilets, sinks, and kitchen faucet and sink that I want. I received the quote today and it's high--at least I think it is since I don't actually have a budget number from the plumber. The thought of going through all this again makes me feel a little ill, but if I find out I'm horribly over, I'll probably take another stab at it. I did manage to find a cast iron claw foot tub for just over $1K, which if you've been looking you'll know that's an incredible steal. Really. I'm sure it'll require a change order since I'm not going through the local supplier.

What else? I've ordered ceiling fans for the master bedroom and living room and am looking at fans for the kids' rooms and the deck. I figured I'd let the kids have one that they want instead of me choosing a plain one. Hey, it's their house, too.

I did the electrical walk-through last Friday. It was such a crazy week last week that I was completely unprepared for the walk-through. Thankfully, it was Friday afternoon so I had the weekend to think about it some more. I sent my GC an email with about 20 changes on Sunday night and ended up taking my Sharpie to the house early Monday morning to make changes before the electrical crew started. BTW, it killed the electrician that I wouldn't let him put a recessed can in the guest room, which I found pretty amusing.

Other things: the fireplace has been installed. The plumbing has been laid. Insulation should go in later this week, and I'm hoping that we'll have a front door very soon. What's next? Tile and countertops.