|
| Journals |
| Name |
Visits |
Posts |
Pics |
Videos |
| | TheHoskensProject | 50,633 | 138 | 397 | 3 |  Today @ 2:09 PM | Dome-ville, central, FL |
| | Seven-Peaks-Faswall-... | 28,392 | 46 | 302 | 1 | | Sunday | Graeagle, CA |
| | Barrel-Race | 1,446 | 25 | 75 | 0 | | Wednesday | Houston, TX |
| | Tanglewood | 64,727 | 744 | 2,148 | 42 | | 6/2/2013 | Colorado Springs, CO |
| | NorthPoleHome | 23,556 | 31 | 117 | 0 | | 5/5/2013 | North Pole, AK |
| | Dream-Build-Austin-T... | 773 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 4/17/2013 | Austin, TX |
| | The-Last-Rodeo | 5,092 | 21 | 10 | 0 | | 4/17/2013 | Angel Fire, NM |
| | Family-Affair | 6,455 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 12/26/2012 | |
| | Eschete-Dome | 17,393 | 30 | 53 | 0 | | 12/24/2012 | Lafayette, LA |
| | HudsonHouse | 4,068 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 12/22/2012 | Omaha, NE |
| | OwensNewHome | 49,884 | 102 | 381 | 0 | | 11/25/2012 | Chandler, AZ |
| | Miami-FL-country-hom... | 2,315 | 2 | 1 | 0 | | 11/20/2012 | Miami, FL |
| | Beaver-Creek-Ranch | 24,785 | 18 | 292 | 0 | | 11/16/2012 | Hayfork, CA |
| | ChapelHillNCBob | 2,498 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 10/23/2012 | Chapel Hill, NC |
| | The-Skimino-Bluff | 3,047 | 3 | 13 | 0 | | 10/13/2012 | Williamsburg, VA |
| | Octagon-in-Glencoe-C... | 41,154 | 144 | 11 | 0 | | 10/8/2012 | Glencoe , CA |
| | nateshomemtpeakview | 2,010 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/29/2012 | |
| | sherman | 14,978 | 22 | 156 | 0 | | 9/27/2012 | Downers Grove, IL |
| | Omaha | 4,236 | 3 | 8 | 0 | | 9/13/2012 | Omaha, NE |
| | Holy-Hill-House | 10,821 | 35 | 53 | 0 | | 8/27/2012 | Richfield, WI |
| | Omega-CEO | 2,613 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 8/13/2012 | Manassas, VA |
| | JayHouse | 7,296 | 7 | 19 | 0 | | 6/22/2012 | Sebastopol, CA |
| | 302 | 24,601 | 23 | 77 | 0 | | 5/20/2012 | Belfair, WA |
| | SunburnStateHome | 3,351 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 3/6/2012 | Charlotte County, FL |
| | VICTOR-MONTANA | 4,731 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 2/22/2012 | Victor, MT |
| | Houston-72012596 | 3,964 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 1/21/2012 | Houston, TX |
| | Workshop | 12,086 | 6 | 3 | 0 | | 1/8/2012 | Florissant, CO |
| | Our-simple-home | 8,304 | 22 | 308 | 0 | | 12/5/2011 | LaPorte, IN |
| | ICF-Construction | 13,410 | 5 | 0 | 0 | | 11/11/2011 | Elkridge, MD |
| | Little-Help-from-my-... | 8,799 | 11 | 15 | 0 | | 11/4/2011 | Rockwall, TX |
| | YaNYca | 10,988 | 8 | 1 | 0 | | 10/29/2011 | Boston, MA |
| | The-Man-Refuge | 7,475 | 3 | 1 | 0 | | 10/19/2011 | San Antonio, TX |
| | mckernanmc | 8,296 | 3 | 2 | 0 | | 10/6/2011 | Amite, LA |
| | 1860s-Texas-rehabnew... | 37,802 | 43 | 191 | 0 | | 9/26/2011 | Boerne, TX |
| | Large-Family-Compoun... | 4,679 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 9/23/2011 | Covington, GA |
| | Woodchuck-Ridge | 7,130 | 4 | 8 | 0 | | 9/12/2011 | Akron, OH |
| | Forever-Home-Sweet-H... | 14,488 | 34 | 31 | 0 | | 8/24/2011 | Issaquah, WA |
| | Clarksville-MD | 5,887 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 8/22/2011 | Eldersburg, MD |
| | steve-n-carolyn | 12,861 | 4 | 14 | 0 | | 8/21/2011 | Sun City, CA |
| | Old-York | 5,216 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 7/27/2011 | Bridgewater, NJ |
| | Carriage-House | 12,839 | 20 | 28 | 2 | | 7/24/2011 | Ft. Collins, CO |
| | DomeSweetDome | 16,825 | 18 | 29 | 1 | | 6/4/2011 | Suffolk, VA |
| | Goodpasture | 17,091 | 56 | 288 | 0 | | 5/28/2011 | Westminster, CO |
| | TheCastle | 6,771 | 1 | 6 | 0 | | 5/25/2011 | Cheshire, CT |
| | Marks-Log-Cabin | 10,811 | 39 | 221 | 0 | | 5/12/2011 | Altoona, PA |
| | Bill | 13,833 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 5/4/2011 | Tucson, AZ |
| | Mueller-Dream-Home | 6,031 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 4/15/2011 | |
| | Oklahoma-Steel | 7,735 | 6 | 5 | 0 | | 4/13/2011 | Minco, OK |
| | DutchG | 5,608 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 4/5/2011 | |
| | HiddenInOhio | 7,242 | 9 | 13 | 0 | | 4/1/2011 | Elyria, OH |
| | MagnoliaHouse | 5,997 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 3/29/2011 | Houston, TX |
| | Buffaloader | 9,770 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 1/11/2011 | Valley Center, KS |
| | SouthernEcoHome | 20,407 | 20 | 21 | 0 | | 1/9/2011 | Blacksburg, VA |
| | Austrian-Chalet | 10,361 | 7 | 8 | 0 | | 1/2/2011 | Twin Lakes, CO |
| | Vista-Ridge | 9,594 | 21 | 66 | 0 | | 12/21/2010 | Swanton, OH |
| | OurFarmstead | 20,684 | 60 | 189 | 0 | | 12/10/2010 | Pennsylvania |
| | AirparkHome-Remodel | 24,486 | 22 | 46 | 0 | | 11/8/2010 | Hillsboro, OR |
| | Holloway | 8,043 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 11/7/2010 | Petersburg, VA |
| | Building-Our-Lakefro... | 6,942 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 11/5/2010 | Piscataway, NJ |
| | SunburyGalena-Build | 6,322 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 11/3/2010 | Galena, OH |
| | BUILDING-OUR-GREEN-D... | 7,043 | 8 | 0 | 0 | | 11/2/2010 | Pattison, TX |
| | RR-Homestead | 17,821 | 31 | 74 | 0 | | 10/26/2010 | Janesville, CA |
| | Casa-Paradiso-Vieque... | 7,022 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 10/19/2010 | Chelsea, MA |
| | Millerbuild | 8,177 | 5 | 11 | 0 | | 10/1/2010 | Carstairs, AB |
| | VilanoBeachCasa-de-S... | 17,403 | 38 | 117 | 0 | | 9/20/2010 | Saint Augustine, FL |
| | Delisledigs | 8,557 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 9/16/2010 | Jacksonville, FL |
| | h20dave | 8,419 | 4 | 3 | 0 | | 9/10/2010 | Waterloo, AL |
| | Mountain-Idyl | 8,131 | 9 | 0 | 0 | | 9/9/2010 | Asheville, NC |
| | High-over-Lake-Granb... | 11,110 | 12 | 23 | 0 | | 9/8/2010 | Granbury, TX |
| | Homestead | 30,864 | 64 | 85 | 0 | | 9/8/2010 | Smithville, MO |
| | philandjan | 8,983 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/2/2010 | |
| | Commons | 7,292 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 8/21/2010 | Atascocita, TX |
| | Our-First-OB-home | 7,544 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 7/27/2010 | Gardner, KS |
| | Louisiana-Mediterran... | 16,639 | 31 | 187 | 0 | | 7/21/2010 | Sunset, LA |
| | Crows-Nest | 7,033 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 7/20/2010 | |
| | Patterson-Project | 7,704 | 4 | 0 | 0 | | 7/16/2010 | John's Island, SC |
| | Hidden-Meadow-Home | 9,385 | 2 | 10 | 0 | | 7/13/2010 | Murrieta, CA |
| | New-house-in-Selah-W... | 7,385 | 1 | 4 | 0 | | 7/4/2010 | Belfair, WA |
| | Arnold-CA-Alpine-cha... | 16,462 | 22 | 10 | 0 | | 7/2/2010 | Arnold, CA |
| | Working-Wilton | 35,652 | 34 | 301 | 0 | | 6/16/2010 | Wilton, NH |
| | JJ-Residence | 6,753 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 6/7/2010 | San Antonio, TX |
| | Thompson-Valley-Home | 8,057 | 3 | 3 | 0 | | 6/6/2010 | Monticello, FL |
| | Naperville-Webster-S... | 20,939 | 23 | 6 | 0 | | 5/21/2010 | Naperville, IL |
| | Gary--Suzi | 7,979 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 5/7/2010 | |
| | crystal-falls-home | 23,169 | 20 | 27 | 0 | | 5/5/2010 | Cedar Park, TX |
| | Kapoho-Retirement-Ho... | 8,088 | 1 | 3 | 0 | | 5/4/2010 | Santa Ana, CA |
| | NC--New-Construction | 7,806 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 5/3/2010 | |
| | Collins-on-Cobblesto... | 8,329 | 21 | 91 | 0 | | 4/30/2010 | Waynesville, NC |
| | Dwight--Colleen-Hart... | 8,814 | 1 | 3 | 0 | | 4/30/2010 | Vaughn, WA |
| | Riley | 24,824 | 32 | 95 | 0 | | 4/29/2010 | Cave Creek, AZ |
| | The-New-Ries-Homeste... | 11,255 | 19 | 98 | 0 | | 4/21/2010 | Polk/Richfield/Erin/Hartford, WI |
| | The-Season | 6,854 | 1 | 3 | 0 | | 4/10/2010 | Mount Airy, NC |
| | The-Naas-Place | 7,295 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 3/30/2010 | Pittsburg, CA |
| | Phil-and-Lauras-home | 10,291 | 4 | 0 | 0 | | 3/20/2010 | Tulsa, OK |
| | Southport-NC-Home | 13,423 | 20 | 128 | 1 | | 3/18/2010 | Southport, NC |
| | Loris | 17,078 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 3/11/2010 | |
| | Seaton-Station | 7,398 | 1 | 4 | 0 | | 3/10/2010 | Siloam Springs, AR |
| | Backwoods-Project | 11,170 | 3 | 9 | 0 | | 3/4/2010 | Jeffersonville, GA |
| | ICF-in-Ann-Arbor | 22,606 | 29 | 371 | 0 | | 1/25/2010 | Dexter, MI |
| | DancingPines | 8,252 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 1/25/2010 | Clinton, LA |
| | Log-Cabin | 7,794 | 1 | 5 | 0 | | 1/23/2010 | indianapolis, IN |
| | The-Kinzel-House | 7,087 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 1/21/2010 | New Orleans, LA |
| | PahrumpProject | 14,002 | 5 | 39 | 0 | | 1/17/2010 | Spokane, WA |
| | TheBeachHouse | 11,635 | 13 | 20 | 0 | | 1/16/2010 | Shoreline, WA |
| | Artist-Haven-Home | 11,939 | 9 | 7 | 0 | | 1/13/2010 | Kansas City, MO |
| | SOPHIA--SAMUELDELAWA... | 13,165 | 11 | 31 | 0 | | 12/2/2009 | Smyrna, DE |
| | Plant-City-Craftsman | 14,070 | 4 | 10 | 0 | | 11/22/2009 | Plant City, FL |
| | WestermanFarm | 8,529 | 1 | 3 | 0 | | 11/10/2009 | Dickson, TN |
| | Shane | 15,881 | 6 | 0 | 0 | | 10/31/2009 | San Antonio, TX |
| | ADCountryHome | 9,721 | 11 | 3 | 0 | | 10/31/2009 | Fort Worth, TX |
| | ICF-Keller-Tx | 47,140 | 32 | 122 | 0 | | 10/6/2009 | Roanoke, TX |
| | digs | 16,443 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/30/2009 | Tracy City, TN |
| | threegables | 16,604 | 20 | 134 | 0 | | 9/29/2009 | Hartland, WI |
| | LittleLakeCorner | 64,320 | 101 | 604 | 0 | | 9/29/2009 | Groveland, FL |
| | Utah-Casa | 8,608 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 9/28/2009 | Saratoga Springs, UT |
| | Tornado-Reconstructi... | 8,361 | 8 | 0 | 0 | | 9/24/2009 | Port Neches, TX |
| | toolehouse | 44,122 | 89 | 145 | 0 | | 9/20/2009 | Reno, NV |
| | Bobs-Blog | 48,315 | 61 | 414 | 0 | | 9/16/2009 | New Florence, PA |
| | Blessings | 7,248 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/11/2009 | farmville, NC |
| | Schrammelot | 12,698 | 7 | 90 | 0 | | 9/11/2009 | Pierson, FL |
| | PennsmithLostValleyT... | 30,983 | 55 | 215 | 0 | | 9/9/2009 | Dripping Springs, TX |
| | River-House | 7,720 | 2 | 2 | 0 | | 9/7/2009 | Clinton, NJ |
| | SantaFe-in-AJ | 7,577 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 8/28/2009 | Apache Junction, AZ |
| | Dennis-Dream-Home | 24,463 | 38 | 505 | 0 | | 8/27/2009 | Readington Twp, NJ |
| | Massive-Undertaking | 8,782 | 11 | 0 | 0 | | 8/26/2009 | Wimauma, FL |
| | Lafayette | 7,519 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 8/11/2009 | Cramerton, NC |
| | Dream-site-on-the-La... | 8,191 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 8/5/2009 | La Porte, TX |
| | Williams-New-Home-Si... | 7,372 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 8/2/2009 | Windsor, NC |
| | Cobblestone-Lane | 7,688 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 7/30/2009 | Great Falls, MT |
| | PensacolaBeachHouse | 7,493 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 6/22/2009 | Gulf Breeze, FL |
| | 12YEARSINTHEPLANNING | 8,041 | 1 | 2 | 0 | | 6/16/2009 | LADSON, SC |
| | The-Cortes-Adventure | 13,602 | 3 | 2 | 0 | | 6/13/2009 | Snowflake, AZ |
| | Steinys-Hideaway | 7,950 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 6/9/2009 | Venice, CA |
| | DreamHome | 25,871 | 26 | 190 | 0 | | 6/7/2009 | Orlando, FL |
| | CastleHeims | 17,037 | 21 | 59 | 0 | | 6/5/2009 | Cedar Rapids, IA |
| | Utah-Warehouse | 7,330 | 2 | 2 | 0 | | 5/20/2009 | Fairview, UT |
| | Where-to-start | 9,097 | 6 | 1 | 0 | | 5/16/2009 | Lemoore, CA |
| | Castle-Rock-Lakehous... | 13,238 | 10 | 84 | 0 | | 4/27/2009 | Necedah, WI |
| | Oleg | 17,800 | 3 | 6 | 0 | | 4/22/2009 | San Diego, CA |
| | MoeCompound | 7,351 | 3 | 4 | 0 | | 4/9/2009 | Camano Island, WA |
| | Huckleberry-Home | 7,739 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 4/8/2009 | Williamstown, NJ |
| | Vonk | 16,279 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 4/7/2009 | Zeeland, MI |
| | Small-Timber-Frame | 11,546 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 4/2/2009 | Central Mass, MA |
| | EatonLoch-Haven | 8,318 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 4/1/2009 | Roanoke, VA |
| | windowsnsiding | 7,624 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 3/28/2009 | Long Island, NY |
| | Arkansas-First-Timer | 21,098 | 39 | 88 | 0 | | 3/27/2009 | Trumann, AR |
| | Back-Home-In-Crisp | 9,480 | 11 | 151 | 0 | | 3/22/2009 | Ennis, TX |
| | Victor--Susan-08 | 16,868 | 21 | 121 | 0 | | 3/17/2009 | Ruckersville, VA |
| | Rick-and-Tinas-dream... | 8,857 | 1 | 2 | 0 | | 3/14/2009 | Auburndale, FL |
| | Keener-Road | 10,136 | 4 | 10 | 0 | | 3/11/2009 | Elizabethtown, PA |
| | NC-Newbie | 8,128 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 3/10/2009 | Boone, NC |
| | MadisonGA | 8,271 | 1 | 13 | 0 | | 2/26/2009 | Madison, GA |
| | Techbuilt-Scammed | 9,592 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 2/25/2009 | Rebew, LA |
| | choanne831 | 7,474 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 2/9/2009 | charlotte, NC |
| | WilliamsinVegas | 30,144 | 30 | 119 | 0 | | 1/29/2009 | Henderson, NV |
| | PhilesBryant | 9,292 | 2 | 6 | 0 | | 1/20/2009 | graham, WA |
| | MortgageSmart | 7,615 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 1/19/2009 | Cocoa, FL |
| | QuarterlyHouse | 51,389 | 136 | 99 | 0 | | 1/12/2009 | Orlando, FL |
| | RabbitRun | 16,357 | 31 | 169 | 0 | | 1/11/2009 | Afton, VA |
| | Sonave-Sunsets | 7,777 | 1 | 2 | 0 | | 1/9/2009 | Yucca, AZ |
| | Heart-of-PA | 12,445 | 9 | 16 | 0 | | 1/6/2009 | Lewistown, PA |
| | Krusehome | 8,611 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 12/27/2008 | Lake City, FL |
| | BrunkHouseAlmaKansas | 11,753 | 2 | 6 | 0 | | 12/26/2008 | Garden Grove, CA |
| | Raider-Bills-Tenn-Ho... | 11,765 | 6 | 32 | 0 | | 12/22/2008 | Largo, FL |
| | Andel-Ranch | 24,489 | 33 | 402 | 0 | | 12/17/2008 | Rogers, TX |
| | Elijahs-Home | 8,952 | 4 | 6 | 0 | | 12/6/2008 | Vero Beach, FL |
| | ranch-house | 7,798 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 11/25/2008 | springfield, IL |
| | Howard-Georgia-Retir... | 12,030 | 6 | 7 | 0 | | 11/9/2008 | Harlem, GA |
| | The-Woods-Journal | 8,484 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 11/6/2008 | Doraville, GA |
| | StansTLH | 12,476 | 10 | 9 | 0 | | 11/1/2008 | Tehachapi, CA |
| | Kevin--Kerrys-Dream | 8,800 | 3 | 5 | 0 | | 10/17/2008 | Northvale, NJ |
| | Katabatic-Wind | 9,177 | 4 | 7 | 0 | | 10/16/2008 | Huntsville, AL |
| | Elmhurst-Modern | 10,807 | 1 | 2 | 0 | | 10/14/2008 | elmhurst, IL |
| | Accessible-House | 8,739 | 3 | 10 | 0 | | 10/14/2008 | Munford, TN |
| | Cherry-Valley-Vista | 7,942 | 1 | 2 | 0 | | 10/5/2008 | Duvall, WA |
| | Jon-and-Mollys-House | 14,179 | 1 | 5 | 0 | | 9/25/2008 | Ellicott City, MD |
| | Proctor-ICF | 8,910 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 9/25/2008 | Fredericksburg, VA |
| | Hawaiian-Bungalo | 14,677 | 11 | 102 | 0 | | 9/23/2008 | Holualoa, HI |
| | Pete--Rhiannon | 9,973 | 4 | 3 | 0 | | 9/19/2008 | Springfield, MO |
| | 2008-Cedar-Ln | 13,650 | 14 | 35 | 0 | | 9/19/2008 | Seaville, NJ |
| | dmaceld | 16,756 | 14 | 88 | 0 | | 9/16/2008 | Nampa, ID |
| | Help-with-Goulds-and... | 9,949 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/16/2008 | tampa, FL |
| | Consulting | 7,530 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/2/2008 | Orlando, FL |
| | AlaskaICFREMOTEHouse | 13,152 | 19 | 38 | 0 | | 8/17/2008 | Wasilla, AK |
| | NC-Pond-House | 8,715 | 3 | 2 | 0 | | 8/4/2008 | Wilmington, NC |
| | MargaritaVilla | 8,328 | 2 | 4 | 0 | | 8/4/2008 | Raleigh, NC |
| | Latest-update | 9,635 | 8 | 10 | 0 | | 8/4/2008 | Sierra Vista, AZ |
| | ANDREA | 8,137 | 4 | 0 | 0 | | 8/2/2008 | Dallas, TX |
| | The-Ridges | 10,517 | 11 | 13 | 0 | | 7/31/2008 | Logan, UT |
| | Avenida-Del-Sol | 12,016 | 13 | 52 | 0 | | 7/31/2008 | Peoria, AZ |
| | dream-home-ohio | 8,528 | 6 | 0 | 0 | | 7/30/2008 | Zanesville, OH |
| | Penetang-Craftsman | 8,060 | 3 | 6 | 0 | | 7/27/2008 | Penetanguishene, ON |
| | Tristan-- | 8,349 | 6 | 0 | 0 | | 7/25/2008 | Lebanon, NJ |
| | Dreamy-Design-in-Glo... | 12,900 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 7/9/2008 | Clifton, VA |
| | need-help-Jim | 8,653 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 7/8/2008 | Bandon, OR |
| | deltona-fl-custom-ho... | 9,525 | 4 | 14 | 0 | | 7/6/2008 | Deltona Beach, FL |
| | Ingraham-House-Chape... | 8,719 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 6/29/2008 | Cary, NC |
| | famborgie | 7,465 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 6/26/2008 | Lockhart, TX |
| | 95821-Addition | 17,491 | 7 | 14 | 0 | | 6/24/2008 | Sacramento, CA |
| | Cajun-Homestead | 14,279 | 12 | 93 | 0 | | 6/22/2008 | Lafayette, LA |
| | West-Texas-Ranch-Hou... | 9,861 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 6/18/2008 | Andrews, TX |
| | Quail-Bluff-Pasco | 9,536 | 9 | 29 | 0 | | 6/10/2008 | Pasco, WA |
| | Spyders-Web | 7,592 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 6/10/2008 | Norman, OK |
| | mike-and-tori-darnle... | 10,103 | 5 | 1 | 0 | | 6/2/2008 | Rainbow, CA |
| | Lin-Washington | 7,827 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 5/29/2008 | Fresno, CA |
| | Capernall-House | 8,439 | 4 | 2 | 0 | | 5/15/2008 | Belleville, MI |
| | Hidden-Valley-Texas | 7,949 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 5/7/2008 | Southlake, TX |
| | cosdreamhome | 36,926 | 73 | 147 | 0 | | 5/5/2008 | Colorado Springs, CO |
| | Sowle-Family-House | 10,404 | 5 | 9 | 0 | | 4/29/2008 | South Burlington, VT |
| | Cyberdoc-Residence | 8,366 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 4/25/2008 | San Diego, CA |
| | Fortune-House | 8,218 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 4/17/2008 | Mooresville, NC |
| | Joeb | 20,480 | 4 | 0 | 0 | | 4/15/2008 | Oakland, FL |
| | Alvin-House | 8,279 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 4/14/2008 | LaPorte, TX |
| | Thomas-Home--Raintre... | 17,749 | 27 | 180 | 0 | | 4/9/2008 | Lee's Summit, MO |
| | Greg--Kathys-New-Hou... | 9,493 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 4/3/2008 | Barryton, MI |
| | Where-is-Waldo | 24,908 | 44 | 83 | 0 | | 4/2/2008 | Marion, OH |
| | Nimmerrichters-Fores... | 7,426 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 4/2/2008 | Waldorf, MD |
| | Mayfield-House | 8,074 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 3/31/2008 | Mayfield, UT |
| | beamanhouse | 7,926 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 3/27/2008 | Manistique, MI |
| | Kanak-ICF--Virginia | 12,075 | 9 | 0 | 0 | | 3/26/2008 | Fredericksburg, VA |
| | Sheldon-St | 11,409 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 3/21/2008 | Orlando, FL |
| | Bert- | 18,478 | 3 | 1 | 0 | | 3/20/2008 | Southern, CA |
| | Our-Ohio-ICF-home | 18,717 | 20 | 27 | 0 | | 3/20/2008 | Mansfield, OH |
| | ericdc | 8,421 | 3 | 1 | 0 | | 3/8/2008 | Uniontown, PA |
| | EurekaHouse-ICF | 11,634 | 5 | 15 | 0 | | 3/6/2008 | Berkeley, CA |
| | Superstition-Views | 12,424 | 28 | 160 | 0 | | 3/6/2008 | Mesa, AZ |
| | Blue-Springs-Project | 10,087 | 8 | 23 | 0 | | 2/24/2008 | Broken Arrow, OK |
| | Our-House | 7,672 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 2/24/2008 | Miami, FL |
| | httpownerbuilderbook... | 10,415 | 8 | 3 | 0 | | 2/19/2008 | Clayton, NY |
| | JourneyBackHome | 7,753 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 2/3/2008 | Oviedo, FL |
| | Collier-Home | 9,883 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 2/1/2008 | Little Rock, AR |
| | DDs-ICF | 9,439 | 3 | 3 | 0 | | 1/27/2008 | New Smyrna Bch, FL |
| | EurekaMT-Timberframe | 9,177 | 14 | 3 | 0 | | 1/24/2008 | Augusta, MI |
| | The-Larnerd-House | 10,685 | 5 | 21 | 0 | | 1/21/2008 | Newport News, VA |
| | Casa-Bella | 8,541 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 1/14/2008 | Pueblo West, CO |
| | Gordon-Lake-House | 12,533 | 17 | 51 | 0 | | 1/3/2008 | Oakland, IA |
| | STEPHANIES-DREAM | 9,519 | 17 | 57 | 0 | | 12/30/2007 | Lower Burrell, PA |
| | Florida-Waterfront-C... | 11,987 | 3 | 1 | 0 | | 12/29/2007 | PB, FL |
| | 6158-in-Montgomery-T... | 8,634 | 4 | 1 | 0 | | 12/23/2007 | Conroe, TX |
| | ClearwaterHills | 10,848 | 2 | 6 | 0 | | 12/14/2007 | Paradise Valley, AZ |
| | BobDonna | 7,162 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 12/12/2007 | Sacramento, CA |
| | AboveTheAppleTree | 7,440 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 12/8/2007 | La Farge, WI |
| | Casa-Nostra | 9,394 | 2 | 3 | 0 | | 12/2/2007 | Bangor, PA |
| | Building-the-Dream-i... | 10,874 | 7 | 0 | 0 | | 11/29/2007 | Gladstone, OR |
| | Ingram-Fleming-ICF-H... | 12,590 | 4 | 8 | 0 | | 11/29/2007 | Plant City, FL |
| | inniagara | 6,750 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 11/24/2007 | Niagara Falls, ON |
| | SchnabelEstate | 7,926 | 2 | 4 | 0 | | 11/16/2007 | Avon, IN |
| | WeAreBuildingAgain | 16,719 | 27 | 56 | 0 | | 11/15/2007 | Orlando, FL |
| | Lake-Pleasant | 7,736 | 2 | 1 | 0 | | 11/14/2007 | Erie, PA |
| | Green-for-Dean | 7,834 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 11/10/2007 | San Jose, CA |
| | The-Ponderosa | 9,486 | 8 | 22 | 0 | | 11/4/2007 | Perry, OK |
| | FlagholeRoad | 7,946 | 2 | 6 | 0 | | 10/25/2007 | Franklin, NH |
| | Beckynray | 8,945 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 10/24/2007 | Powhatan, VA |
| | Spicewood-TX | 9,521 | 3 | 3 | 0 | | 10/20/2007 | Austin, TX |
| | Powderhorn | 20,240 | 48 | 176 | 0 | | 10/4/2007 | Florida |
| | Luray-VA-1stTimeBuil... | 12,016 | 7 | 3 | 0 | | 10/4/2007 | Luray, VA |
| | kittyfhughesnet | 7,668 | 2 | 5 | 0 | | 9/27/2007 | Noblesville, IN |
| | Scott-Family | 8,002 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/25/2007 | Trinity, AL |
| | Taking-the-Plunge | 10,593 | 6 | 18 | 0 | | 9/18/2007 | Springfield, OH |
| | RozBuildingAdventure | 8,183 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/14/2007 | San Pablo, CA |
| | Helpful-Tips | 8,924 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 9/13/2007 | Encinitas, CA |
| | Poplar-Creek-Farm | 10,252 | 5 | 25 | 0 | | 9/10/2007 | Oakland Park, FL |
| | TheWillemsHome | 17,631 | 17 | 5 | 0 | | 9/10/2007 | Galloway Township, NJ |
| | ComfortHome | 8,424 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 8/30/2007 | Dublin, OH |
| | 10000-sq-feet | 33,051 | 22 | 26 | 0 | | 8/26/2007 | La Habra Heights, CA |
| | Bird-house | 9,628 | 3 | 40 | 0 | | 8/22/2007 | Ithaca, NY |
| | Circle-S_ICF_House | 30,848 | 46 | 264 | 0 | | 8/21/2007 | Sparta, IL |
| | New-England-Saltbox | 8,049 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 8/16/2007 | Columbia, SC |
| | RamblewoodatJeterFar... | 8,732 | 6 | 33 | 0 | | 8/10/2007 | Kansas City, MO |
| | Kraemer-Collinwood-H... | 8,441 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 7/21/2007 | Delano, MN |
| | BigOakBuilderTX | 11,332 | 2 | 7 | 0 | | 7/20/2007 | Wharton, TX |
| | Johnson-Family-Dream | 8,371 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 7/20/2007 | Normal, IL |
| | 19225-ROBERTSON-ST | 14,774 | 14 | 25 | 0 | | 7/12/2007 | Orlando, FL |
| | Thattle-Dew-Farm | 8,257 | 2 | 2 | 0 | | 7/12/2007 | Halls Harbour, NS |
| | WindyJ | 12,068 | 11 | 26 | 0 | | 7/2/2007 | Knoxville, TN |
| | Vistoso-Green-Home | 9,485 | 3 | 1 | 0 | | 6/28/2007 | Tucson, AZ |
| | Lewis-Chapel-House | 13,037 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 6/25/2007 | Dunlap, TN |
| | father-daughter | 7,868 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 6/25/2007 | Loveland, CO |
| | davewhite | 8,826 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 6/24/2007 | Nanaimo, BC |
| | NutmegWedgefieldOrla... | 9,877 | 6 | 0 | 0 | | 6/22/2007 | Orlando, FL |
| | 4600SF-Dream-Home-in... | 11,872 | 4 | 1 | 0 | | 6/19/2007 | Mooresville, NC |
| | Coeur-dAlene-Idaho-H... | 9,474 | 2 | 4 | 0 | | 6/13/2007 | Coeur d Alene, ID |
| | Tampa-Bay | 10,954 | 4 | 9 | 0 | | 6/10/2007 | Ruskin, FL |
| | Dream-In-Progress | 11,159 | 5 | 4 | 0 | | 6/7/2007 | Shawnee, KS |
| | todd-in-tullahoma | 8,252 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 6/4/2007 | tullahoma, TN |
| | TheOwens | 8,884 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 6/1/2007 | Dickson, TN |
| | Country-Cleaver | 8,988 | 1 | 4 | 0 | | 5/29/2007 | Springfield, IL |
| | South-Dakota-Lake-Ho... | 9,329 | 6 | 11 | 0 | | 5/23/2007 | Sioux Falls, SD |
| | Gods-Home | 8,458 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 5/18/2007 | Eustis, FL |
| | hammock | 8,370 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 5/14/2007 | Martinez, GA |
| | Grove-St-Rocklin | 8,485 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 5/13/2007 | Orangevale, CA |
| | Gardeners-Delight | 9,190 | 3 | 3 | 0 | | 5/13/2007 | Norristown, PA |
| | Newman-Family | 9,310 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 4/26/2007 | oralndo, FL |
| | do-over-house | 9,316 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 4/25/2007 | Roseville, CA |
| | Mountain-Building | 8,684 | 3 | 7 | 0 | | 4/21/2007 | Hiawassee, GA |
| | Alaskan-Log-Home | 9,791 | 1 | 2 | 0 | | 4/15/2007 | Tok, AK |
| | Warner-Dream | 10,167 | 6 | 0 | 0 | | 4/11/2007 | Astatula, FL |
| | RehmannSchreiner | 10,775 | 18 | 15 | 0 | | 4/2/2007 | Maple Grove, MN |
| | outspokenbikeguy | 10,971 | 4 | 14 | 0 | | 3/29/2007 | Sanford, FL |
| | SmelltheForest | 30,627 | 47 | 148 | 0 | | 3/23/2007 | Colorado Springs, CO |
| | PolkCityProject | 12,422 | 7 | 11 | 0 | | 3/21/2007 | Norcross, GA |
| | DwaynePam | 9,261 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 3/21/2007 | Normal, IL |
| | cypressknoll | 8,470 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 3/20/2007 | Palm Coast, FL |
| | candlepower | 15,324 | 24 | 155 | 0 | | 3/20/2007 | Lansing, IA |
| | Team-Rosa | 9,313 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 3/19/2007 | Springfield, VA |
| | GLOUCESTER | 8,834 | 1 | 2 | 0 | | 3/17/2007 | Newport News, VA |
| | Ohiodreamhome | 9,259 | 4 | 14 | 0 | | 3/16/2007 | Reynoldsburg, OH |
| | Gypsy-Love | 9,813 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 3/12/2007 | Highland, NY |
| | Forrest-Towne | 9,023 | 2 | 2 | 0 | | 3/10/2007 | Brinnon, WA |
| | Dreams-Come-True | 8,285 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 3/8/2007 | Glen St Mary, FL |
| | Almost-A-Country-Gir... | 8,196 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 3/7/2007 | Addison Township, MI |
| | BrandonBuildingBlog | 9,127 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 3/4/2007 | Layton, UT |
| | SafecreteHouse | 10,297 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 3/4/2007 | Raleigh, NC |
| | newbie- | 9,194 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 2/21/2007 | North Plains, OR |
| | BuzzardsNest | 11,502 | 3 | 1 | 0 | | 2/14/2007 | Saint Lucie, FL |
| | woodfamilyhome | 9,879 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 2/10/2007 | Keno, OR |
| | vegascastle | 9,066 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 2/3/2007 | Henderson, NV |
| | newsteel | 9,226 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 1/28/2007 | Florence, SC |
| | Dream-Home-2007 | 9,426 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 1/27/2007 | Gwynn Oak, MD |
| | DelgadosAdobeAbode | 10,169 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 1/18/2007 | San Diego, CA |
| | bobindeltona | 11,680 | 2 | 5 | 0 | | 1/14/2007 | Deltona, FL |
| | Highland64 | 9,705 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 1/8/2007 | New Orleans, LA |
| | SmallProjectSilverSp... | 13,721 | 10 | 2 | 0 | | 1/7/2007 | Silver Springs, NV |
| | BeehlerHome | 18,022 | 11 | 64 | 0 | | 1/3/2007 | Kalamazoo, MI |
| | eveningshade | 9,456 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 12/25/2006 | Evening Shade, AR |
| | Bruce in Petrolia, O... | 8,829 | 1 | 2 | 0 | | 12/21/2006 | Petrolia, ON |
| | smahmud | 8,833 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 12/18/2006 | Alexandria, VA |
| | 1000-hours-to-liftof... | 9,983 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 11/25/2006 | Uniontown, OH |
| | FettConstruction | 10,070 | 4 | 6 | 0 | | 11/24/2006 | Vincennes, IN |
| | Northeast-Ohio-Home | 10,175 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 11/10/2006 | Parma, OH |
| | Buchanan-Mountain | 14,580 | 14 | 59 | 0 | | 11/1/2006 | Dickson, TN |
| | Our-Future-on-Badin-... | 10,054 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 10/24/2006 | New London, NC |
| | nowi-fe-haven | 9,318 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 10/22/2006 | Griffin, GA |
| | klonus | 9,327 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 10/16/2006 | Madison, WI |
| | OurAddition | 13,842 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 10/13/2006 | Chuluota, FL |
| | bigal | 10,374 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/30/2006 | Whittier, CA |
| | Stella-Maris-II | 10,049 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/11/2006 | Orlando, FL |
| | Lake-House | 11,462 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/6/2006 | Kansas City, MO |
| | My-First-House | 23,198 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 9/5/2006 | APO, AE |
| | Angie-Mossy-Oak-Acre... | 12,843 | 7 | 4 | 0 | | 8/15/2006 | Lake Helen, FL |
| | Peaceful-Valley-in-M... | 9,907 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 7/23/2006 | Republic, MO |
| | Lake-Wales-Fl | 9,849 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 7/17/2006 | West Palm Beach, FL |
| | JohnKat | 10,296 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 7/16/2006 | Fort Worth, TX |
| | Cedarcrest | 10,882 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 7/15/2006 | Sparrows Point, MD |
| | MRailey | 11,044 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 7/13/2006 | Dallas, TX |
| | Villa-Di-Capri-Hacie... | 14,460 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 7/10/2006 | Hacienda Heights, CA |
| | New-2-This | 12,961 | 4 | 37 | 0 | | 6/26/2006 | Stafford, VA |
| | End-of-the-Road | 10,666 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 6/26/2006 | Homer, AK |
| | shapiro | 9,963 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 6/21/2006 | Camp Verde, AZ |
| | ShangriLaw | 11,170 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 5/27/2006 | Lebanon, IN |
| | Kokinos-ICF-Project | 12,526 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 5/16/2006 | Los Gatos, CA |
| | Jennifer-and-Darko | 10,626 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 5/8/2006 | Holly Springs, NC |
| | LeFamily | 11,074 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 4/29/2006 | Irvine, CA |
| | jrh | 21,209 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 3/25/2006 | North Bend, WA |
| | Pete-Maniscalco | 11,248 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 3/8/2006 | Welton, AZ |
| | H3brewing | 11,607 | 1 | 1 | 0 | | 3/2/2006 | Cleveland, MO |
| | 85-Hall-Ln | 13,697 | 10 | 0 | 0 | | 3/1/2006 | |
| | Michigan-Owner-Build... | 10,934 | 6 | 13 | 0 | | 11/13/2005 | Ray Twp., MI |
See all journals...
Current Top-Rated Posters
| Rating | Posts |
|---|
| Mark in Seattle, WA | 5.00 | 72 | | Michael in Cave Creek, AZ | 5.00 | 181 | | Kenneth in Lees Summit, MO | 5.00 | 936 | | Neil in New Albany, OH | 5.00 | 9 | | David in Los Angeles, CA | 4.00 | 3 | | Arla in Gilbert, AZ | 4.00 | 2 | | Ted in Marstons Mills, MA | 4.00 | 1 | | Lara in Driftwood, TX | 4.00 | 1 | | David in Ocoee, FL | 4.00 | 227 | | Deborah in Las Vegas, NV | 4.00 | 5 |
|
|
Gabriela's Forum Posts: 19Journal Entries: 38Interview Answers: 47Average Forum Rating: 4.07   Image from Gabriela's blogSubscribe to this journal...
This journal has been viewed 24464 times.
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 8/27/2009
So, I've been having fun decorating the new house and even recently acquired a new dining set, which I must post pictures of. Additionally, the deck plans were approved and we now have our permit, but the summer is quick passing us by. Between that and budget this year, I think we will be delaying the deck construction until next spring. That gives me plenty of time to select colors, material and price everything out, not to mention look for a patio set and umbrella I like.
Our home faces east, so the sun sets on the rear of the house where we plan the deck. I hate to say it but we're probably going to have to get a SunSetter retractable awning to add just a bit to the expense... it is truly never ending. The entire downstairs is fully furnished now, short of a few coffee, end, and accent tables. It feels great to have a finished landing. We are planning a small dinner party next weekend to get our entertaining feet wet and try out all our new stuff. Enjoy the pics:
Photos
Comments (2)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 7/10/2009
We received our permanent CO last Wednesday (July 1st) after demolition completed and all the appropriate inspections passed. Can you believe there are demolition inspections as well, like you might screw that up?!?@??!#?
Anyway, we will be converting our loan to be our permanent mortgage next week and received the final 10% draw from the bank, which helped us replenish savings we had at project start. We did well budget-wise, but now the real fun starts with interior decorations and such. We got quite a bit of new furniture, but not nearly all we need. The house will be empty for a while, but I am very proud of my recent Home Goods purchases of area rugs and runners throughout the downstairs and also in the upstairs hallway space. I visited about 12 stores to complete the set of large rugs (11x8) down to small 2x4's, but all work great and were well worth the many shopping expeditions. I even got my sister-in-law addicted to Home Goods in the meanwhile.
We also submitted deck plans for the rear of our house earlier this week and are waiting for township approval and zoning sign-off. Hopefully, we'll have a deck done by early/mid August to enjoy for part of this summer. I've been pricing Trex and am really gung-ho about composite decking vs. real wood that requires lots of maintenance, not to mention poses splinter hazards galore!
See pics below: This is probably close to my final post in this blog as we have come to the end of our project. Thank you all for following the progress along and for the well wishes, questions, and comments I've received throughout. It's nice to know others are sharing in our delight and amazement!
Photos
Comments (2)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 6/21/2009
Wednesday night was the big practice-drill event at our old house, just in time before demolition. The fire chief and several deputies arrived around 5:30 PM to set up the scene. They had a generator hooked up to a smoke machine to simulate a fire. They spray-painted all the windows to darken the interior, and waited for the fire companies to arrive. In all, we had four local fire companies participate in the training event: Whitehouse Station, East Whitehouse, Readington and Three Bridges. All firefighters are volunteers in our area and they jump at the opportunity to train their newbies in homes like ours, where the interior layout is unknown and they can conduct a number of iterations and drills. The plan was to smoke out the house, have us homeowners play "victims" inside while they sent in search and rescue squads in to "save" us. Later they practiced venting the fire through the roof in several locations and also breached walls as a form of escape.
My experience being "saved" was quite eventful. I was taken into the house by another firefighter who located a good place for me to hide - in the kitchen behind open cabinet doors and with other debris strewn about. Then the newbie squad was sent in to find and retrieve me. Well they took about 12 minutes to find me (thank God I really wasn't dying) and exclaimed when they realized I was " alive" and wouldn't have to be carried out. They received orders over their walkie-talkies to exit through the front door that they could not find, so they ended up following their own water hose back out the back stairwell. I'm sure it was very valuable training experience for the guys, but it certainly scared the daylights out of me. The prospect of being inside a burning house perhaps unconscious, and relying on strangers who don't know your home to save you is very frightening. It's imperative they have the benefit of frequent and intense training any chance they get because lives are at stake!
All the crews were wonderful and very respectful of our property, they even laid our caution tape to protect the lawn areas! Around 10 PM when they were ready to pack up their gear and call it a night, they all thanked us profusely for allowing them to use the house. It was definitely an experience I'm glad we had! On a side note, had I known so many young eligible men in uniform would show up, I would have planned a bachelorette event in parallel. It would have been superb for my single girlfriends, but live and learn and try another time...
I took many pictures as did they. We planned to swap these in the coming weeks, but below are a sampling of mine:
Photos
Comments (1)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 6/11/2009
I am so pleased to report we have our Temporary Certificate of Occupancy and our Demolition Permit to remove the old house!!! We had to have the tax assessor come out last Friday (June 5th) to ensure the assessment for the COAH fee was correct. She confirmed it was, and we had to pay the remaining 50% of our COAH fee, which was $3,800 (I think I hear a FLUSH...), then another $115 for our demo permit, and we were officially on our way. Some of our old furniture (not much) and a lot of new stuff is now in the new house. I took last week off from work to move and settle in. Lots of fun events happened, including delivery of our new kitchen table and our office desk & matching hutch. Our new recliners for the family room are to die for. I have to admit I've already crashed in them for the night one evening. I also went a bit hog wild with new towels, bed sheets, rugs, drink coasters, garbage cans and place mats. Small stuff to decorate and make the house more of a home. There's still plenty to get and to do, but I'm making lists, checking them twice and crossing off some stuff as we go. We already had a small dinner party at the house which was a gleaming success. There's lots to get used to, but overall the space is amazing, and the hubby and I need pinching every so often to make sure it's all real. Some splurges happened too. The hubby NEEDED a new TV and a new grill to mark the momentous move, and I figured certain battles are worth fighting, just not those...
We still need a new bedroom set for our master suite that does not look like dollhouse furniture. Additionally, we have space for an actual dining room set. Both of these will be heavy hitters in terms of big $$$$$ - so we are pacing ourselves and planning, maybe by years end, to have the bedroom set. The dining set will likely be longer term than that, but I'm willing to wait a while and really get the set I want instead of settling just to fill space. I see these items as once-in-a-lifetime purchases so they should be what you really love.
We have drawn up plans for a new deck as well, but are waiting to submit for permits until the certificate of occupancy is issued. Not sure how much more that will add to our taxes, but I'm bracing myself for that bill alone. I secretly have plans to fight our assessment but need to do a bit of investigation on the right procedures to undergo for that. I just can't believe the assessment by the tax office, especially in these economic times, they seem to assess at market value if not above. It's ludicrous and they need to be called on the carpet for it. I'm just biding my time...
On the old home front, the local fire department has asked us if they can use the old house as a fire-drill training site. They would like to detonate smoke bombs, cut holes in the ceiling/roof and walls and hose the place down to simulate rescue scenarios as part of their training exercises. We are amenable to allowing this, however I have requested to meet with the fire chief personally to discuss some concerns I have regarding our newly-planted lawn and how that might fare with loaded firetrucks all over it? It cost us almost $3K to lay down the new lawn according to county soil-conservation specifications, and I need assurance that any damages will be paid for and replaced by the town as needed after the drill if they choose to use our old home. I also need a copy of their certificate of liability insurance because we cannot be liable for any damages or personal injury incurred during the drill. If they are willing to concede to these requests, then I will happily allow the drill to proceed on June 17th. Demolition of the old home is slated for June 19th, after which point we will qualify to apply for our permanent certificate of occupancy and convert our construction loan to our permanent mortgage.
I also reached out to the bank to find out what requirements they might have for the loan conversion. There is a short laundry list I am working on including the final build survey, an updated homeowners insurance policy, final title insurance, appraisal, new tax bills, etc. We will also need the final cert of occupancy before they will convert our loan. I see that happening at the end of this month, if not by early next month!!! Then I look forward to a long restful period with no projects and lots of us vegetating on recliners...
We are so excited about this project winding down, and the awesome rewards it's yielded, but are too exhausted at the moment to throw any huge parties right away. We will have to pace ourselves on that. Latest pictures to follow:
Photos
Comments (2)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 5/18/2009
We have completed some HUGE milestones these past few weeks! We passed our final plumbing inspection on May 6th. We failed final electrical for a number of reasons initially, not the least of which was the town inspector's incorrect comprehension of UL code... he had to revise his requests and passed us eventually on May 11th. We also passed the final fire inspection with flying colors on May 11th! Finally, we had reached the holy grail of the final building inspection. We attempted to pass last Thursday, May 14th, but failed because our town has a new requirement for a flat pad at the bottom of the entryway stairs the length of the bottom tread and three feet wide. They do not allow walking off the steps directly onto grass, so a pad of some sort needed to be built. The hubby, in his infinite skill, procured some leveling sand and pavers, and built a 21 sq. ft. pad last Friday. We passed final building yesterday and now... LET THE MOVING BEGIN!
We are in a unique situation because we will not receive our final CO until the old house on our lot is demolished. What that means is power, cable, water and phone must all be shut off, the septic tank must be pumped, the oil tank properly removed, and we must be in possession of a demolition permit. Once that's all done we can call the 'dozers in for a PARTY. All our precious belongings must therefore be moved out and into the new place, but we are to live somewhere else??? What??? We decided to skip asking for permission, and beg forgiveness when/if needed. The big move started this weekend with organizing the kitchen cabinets and pantry contents. Small furniture is also moved, and clothing/shoes have been cleaned, organized and pared down. Goodwill, here we come! Big stuff is slated to be moved later this week. Family and friends are coming out to lend a hand and get us carted over to the new place (80 feet away).
We also had our new lawn seeded according to the 'Hunterdon County Soil Conservation District' specifications last Wednesday, complete with hay. I hope to start seeing shoots maybe later in the week. The weather has been cooperating well, sunny and rainy intermittently, sparing us from the exhaustion of watering the yard by hose and sprinkler ourselves. On other fronts, furniture for our new house is sparse. We never owned a kitchen table before because there was no space. We bought one this weekend and are having it delivered on May 30th. Can't wait. That's what this year's birthday presents will consist of, house stuff...
The garage-door guy is coming back soon to install our automatic openers and the alarm/vacuum people are coming on Friday to instruct us on the system functionality and provide the requisite accessories. The new house is pretty complicated from central vac to programmable thermostats, to convection double oven with 15 menu paths, to UV air filtration, to tankless water heating to Cat5 wiring and thorough alarming. We have drawers full of instruction manuals and operating directions, for leisurely reading in the years to come. Installing the double handle set on our front door proved quite fun; dummy handles are a certain novelty for punishment gluttons like ourselves, keeping stainless steel "stainless" is a cruel joke on us all, and smoke/monoxide detector combos have hush buttons that don't hush anything. Discoveries abound in this whole new world but we welcome the challenge and look forward to the many victories that lie ahead.
Comments (1)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 4/19/2009
Things have been progressing at warpspeeds again these last two weeks. After the final loads of fill dirt were delivered, our front, side and rear yards were graded, topsoiled and smoothed out. We passed septic inspection last Wednesday as well, which means our plumbing is about ready to go. Redirecting the well water to the new house and "hosing" it back to our current house has proven a bit of a pain. Not only did the well pump and well ditch backfill require the water to be shocked (read terrible chlorine smell and taste, if you dare taste) but the hose running across our driveway requires connects and disconnects very often. I guess it's motivation to move more quickly into the new place...
Inside, the vanities were installed and the vanity tops were also put in. I had a bit of a dispute with the granite place because they were trying to pull a fast one on us. The original granite project (150 square feet for kitchen, fireplace surrounds, and closet tops) cost $65/sq. ft. with fancy borders, bump-outs, etc., but the vanity tops (four for another 51 sq. feet) were gonna cost $73 per square foot!!! What!?!? Why, I ask??? Looks like I was get punished for buying MORE from them... well, I took that up with the manager and then the boss and they adjusted their ways after being called on the carpet. Really stinks these conversations even need to happen... Lowers my recommendations of marble.com now. Despite everything, the tops looks wonderful in both bathrooms, but I'm having second thoughts about the paint color in the master. Will have to go back to the drawing board on that one. Oh well, some later date of course.
I installed all the doorstops throughout the upstairs and downstairs as the hubby completed 2,700 sq. feet of wood-flooring installation on his very own. I think he might be Superman! Meanwhile, the brother-in-law finished installing all the kitchen cabinetry (toaster garage, wineglass holder, end panels, top and bottom, as well as the light rail). Looks spectacular, but nothing compared to what it will look like once the crown molding is in (this week hopefully). The cooktop and double oven are in as well!!! The cabinet won that standoff finally. Microwave was installed too, but appears to be a dud... ARGH! GE is coming on Tuesday afternoon to inspect their product and fix or replace.
I also found a gorgeous desk and chair set by Hooker for sale from a gentleman out in PA who is closing down his builder business and retiring. I love eBay... the hubby and his brother went to go pick it up yesterday morning and it's now in our new office. It is just beautiful!
Coming up this week, our plumber is scheduled for a full day on Tuesday. He will be coming with three guys and planning to bang out the remaining things and hopefully hook us up to the septic system. I think that means I'll be able to flush a toilet!!!! Very exciting. Additionally, the electrician is planning a couple of hours on Wednesday to work with our HVAC guy and get the air conditioning compressors installed and powered. I have to pick the entryway columns on Monday, and they will be installed this week as well. This should get us about ready to schedule final electrical, final plumbing and then final building before we apply for the demolition permit and our temporary CO. We're planning for our move by the end of May. Lots of cleaning, packing, organizing, and actual moving will be required for that to happen. Pictures to follow later today. Those are definitely overdue...
Photos
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 3/31/2009
Our septic system has been taking shape, but with that came the realization that we will need a tremendous amount of fill dirt to level our backyard. That means 20 tandem truckloads at 18 yards each - YIKES!!!
We have a "gravity-fed system" which means the septic tank must be lower than the point at which the sewer pipe exits the house, and further the leach area must be lower than the septic tank, but because it's a "burm system", the leach area is high, our tank is sitting high, so we need to fill in the surrounding areas in order to make the lumps imperceptible.
So off I go to locate dirt. Where's Joe Dirt when you really need him? I went on Craigslist.com and found some prospects, but called only to find out "free fill" means we will charge you $160 a truckload to deliver it, OUCH. So then I started driving around our neighborhood and found a sign for free fill. They are 5 minutes away, I called and they were willing to deliver it for free because they want to get rid of it! Great I thought. So we scheduled this morning, 8 AM, for them to arrive with the first load, however at 10 to 8 they called to tell me the dirt appears to be quite rocky (read.... BOULDERS) so they would rather bring dirt from another job site they are working on. Okay, I say, when will your arrive with that? 10 AM was the response, which didn't seem terrible. After rescheduling our excavator and leaving for work this morning, I found out at 11:30 AM that they still had not arrived. So I called and called. Finally, got a call back that they were at my house with two loads of fill at 12:15. Great! So the hubby inspected the fill, it is very dark, quite rocky and looks nothing like the dirt on our site. Come to find out it came from an hour away - not sure what that does geologically to our lot, we didn't like what it looked like and asked them to STOP trucking it in. So two truckloads of crappy dirt and a day wasted later, we are nowhere. This would seem to have been a bait and switch dirt scam if you ask me, but why???
I found another guy that has local dirt and charges $600 a day to truck the stuff... he estimates about 8-10 loads a day so that comes out to like $60-$75 a load. Still money we were hoping not to spend for dirt, but necessary obviously cause NOTHING is FREE! It's very disappointing that we would lose a perfectly good weather day to such shenanigans, so now we have to wait til Thursday when the other guy is available - I just hope it doesn't rain. Our septic is holding up plumbing and water into the house, so it's a VERY big deal, not to mention an annoying delay!
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 3/22/2009
Our front steps and porch landing were completed yesterday. The mason showed up at 8 AM and three hours later we were staring down at a beautifully-done blue stone/limestone porch and steps. He said we can actually walk on it after 24 hours - so I fully plan to test it out today.
Hardwood floors continue to be installed throughout the house. The master bedroom, family room, and as of yesterday, the living and dining rooms are also complete. The hubby's goal is to finish the foyer today and move into the office. That will complete downstairs installations, leaving three more bedrooms upstairs. It will realistically be another several weeks until that is all complete, but with working afternoon and weekends when free from school and schoolwork, it's actually spectacular progress. They look wonderful!
The main staircase as well as the family room overlook got posts and balusters installed on Friday. It finally looks complete, and also far less dangerous than the open space that's been there for many months.
We had somewhat of a septic system installation snafu because it appears the excavator used the incorrect "select fill" for the first 12 truckloads, he had to remove most of that material (about 8 of the 12 truckloads) and bring in the correct stuff to finish the leach area fill of 22 truckloads in total. That's filled now and being leveled. Our engineer will need to perform a perc test on Monday, and hopefully allow him to proceed to the next step (actual tank installation). If all progresses according to plan, we should have functioning toilets by end of this coming week.
Also, planned for this coming week is our well-pump installation and appliance installs. Appliances and cabinets have been interesting. It appears our double oven does not want to fit into its designated cabinet without some significant modification (read cut the heck out of cabinet and pray hard) and the tankless water heater requires all sorts of installation accessories because of its 'direct vent' application. (Read more $$$$ for additional parts). We finally settled on a game plan for the vanity debacle. The hubby adjusted and rescrewed the daylights out of two of these vanities so we can keep them and install in the main bathroom. We ordered two new vanities from KraftMaid for our master bathroom so we at least won't have to deal with crooked cabinet craftsmanship daily, and spent an additional $1,000 instead of an additional $2,200 to replace all four. It was a compromise, but reasonable given the alternatives. We expect delivery on April 7th, and will be able to proceed with vanity tops and plumbing after that.
Photos
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 3/11/2009
We tried to order replacement vanities this past weekend. I met with the Home Depot kitchen-and-bath rep that helped us with our kitchen cabinets, and asked her to price KraftMaid vanities as well. Turns our these cabinets cost $5,900 for four 60" vanities vs. the $2,700 we already paid for the master-bath ones we plan to return. This is twice as much, to guarantee a level and flush cabinet. That is completely absurd, so we are back to the drawing board on what to do. Even with discounting ($600 KraftMaid promotion and $500 Home Depot discount, it will still be $2,200 more that we planned to spend and there's nothing more they can do as far as price.) We need these things, so ARRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!!!
The hubby completed tiling the tub surround and grouted in on Sunday. It looks wonderful! The granite and marble people from marble.com came to make templates of our kitchen, fireplace surrounds and closet tops on Monday. I went to go select slabs yesterday morning. Thank goodness I showed up and didn't do everything over the phone. Apparently the sample number I had on my piece was incorrect and we would have gotten some rusty/orange granite for the kitchen instead. That would have been the debacle of the century as far as I'm concerned... but crisis was averted!
They are coming back tomorrow (Thursday) to install the granite tops and the marble fireplace surrounds. Can't wait til that's in. Meanwhile, back at the house, the hubby is on spring break this week and spent the last two days screwing the floorboards down throughout the house. This in addition to the nails the framers used will apparently prevent most if not all floor squeaks in the future. More tedious but necessary work. The electrician installed our foyer chandelier, which I have been waiting on for weeks now. It's as beautiful as I imagined it would be, so I couldn't help but take nighttime pictures from outside with the lights on... I think I might have overstepped some sanity line of late, but chalk it up to anxiety and sleeplessness...
I put in a request for our last draw from the construction loan yesterday. It appears the bank rep I have been working with all along is no longer working there, so I spoke with her replacement yesterday. I hope things transitioned smoothly and we have no issues with this last draw. We will be needing more money very shortly since our excavator started the septic system on Monday as well. That is a big chunk of change no doubt. We have a 52' long hole in our backyard as of Monday. The county health inspector gave us the green light to proceed on backfill yesterday so the "select fill" truck parade started and will continue throughout the day today. Our engineer plans to swing by later today to pick up fill samples. One coffee can full for every five trucks of select fill... we might actually have functioning toilets very soon!!!!
Photos
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 3/6/2009
These past two weeks got us through 95% of the tilework. Our tile guy got sick and delayed finish by a week, but nonetheless he finished last Saturday (with the exception of our master-tub surround, because it needed some extra attention). The hubby cut access holes in each side of the tub surround and began the tedious tiling process yesterday to wrap that up. He and my lovely brother-in-law also ATTEMPTED to install our four 60" vanities in the master and main bathrooms, but upon actually removing the vanities from their delivery boxes, discovered they are so poorly assembled that all doors and drawers are crooked beyond adjustable repair. These were special ordered from Home Depot, and of course will now need to be returned and exchanged for some other brand that actually knows how to assemble cabinetry. What this means is further delays for our granite installs in the bathroom, but it's unavoidable at this point.
Granite and marble measurements are scheduled for this coming Monday. They will be measuring our kitchen, fireplace surrounds and hearths, and entry-closet tops. The bathrooms will need to be done in a subsequent visit about a month from now, whenever our replacement vanities arrive.
Our granite will be arriving later today and the remaining kitchen appliances are slated to be delivered next Friday. Can't wait to see the whole kitchen come together with appliances AND granite.
Will catch up again soon. I plan to pick granite and marble slabs on Saturday and also select new vanities Saturday morning at Home Depot. I think they might be sick of seeing us, but some of the stuff they sell is very low quality - although they charge good money for it. They should expect complaints or demand higher quality of their vendors.
Photos
Comments (2)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 2/23/2009
Our kitchen cabinet order was delivered on Friday and is as promised. Installations started first thing Saturday. We love the color (Antique Biscotti with Taupe glaze for the perimeter and Cognac for the island). They started with the base cabinets, most of which have been installed, and even put some uppers in. There are issues, of course:
Our microwave plug is too low, so electrician will need to move that up a smidge.
Our bar sink pipes are too far to the left (outside the 18" sink-base cabinet) so the elbows will need to be repositioned - who knows how?
We are missing a 12" cabinet, but will need a 15" wall for that space anyway (this takes two weeks).
Need more spacers.
Three base end panels are missing.
The kitchen sink tilt-out kit is missing.
The base does not have fluted edges, so it looks very plain. (We'll need to dress it up with some on-lays).
We got extra crown molding, but not sure if we have enough cove lighting trim.
The fun continues throughout the week in trying to get our electrician and plumber out here to adjust some stuff. We have to order all appliances this week as well!
We also had a complete fiasco with our Hampton Bay fans from Home Depot. We had purchased two of the Château Crappolla in bronze, and paid our electrician to assemble and install them, only to find out they do not work well with angled ceilings, nor are they very stable (WOBBLE GALORE), not to mention the crooked frames that I'm sure contributed to the extra wobble problem. We proceeded to remove them from our ceiling in a million pieces and returned them that way, much to Home Depot's disgust. $425 of credit later, and $200 in installation costs down the toilet, we went to Lowe's and purchased Hunter fans in the Georgetown design. Their box says they install well on angled ceilings and also have wobble free technology. We'll see!
Photos
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 2/16/2009
We are completely FREE of scaffolding marring the exterior of our house. The Stucco and stone are mostly done except for the front step area. We also had the gutters and leaders installed on Friday. Total shame those ugly things have to be put on, but fortunately they are as inconspicuously located as possible, and I'm getting used to seeing them. Necessary evil.
We tried out our fireplace for the first time on Valentine's day. Ordered-in Chinese and had a little picnic in front of the fire. It was so nice, and gave us a taste of what moving in and actually living there will be like. The wood we cut up and stored in our shed since August does not appear to have cured totally, because starting the fire took all the hubby had learned in his boy scout days... it should be perfectly ready by next fall when wood burning season will be in full swing.
We also had a cabinets delivery last Friday, too bad it was ONLY our kitchen island. There appears to have been a bit of a production snafu, and so the rest of our cabinets are coming next Friday (33 cabinet boxes in all). Our prefinished wood floors and our bathroom vanities are all getting delivered on Thursday, so there'll be plenty of installations coming up. The poor hubby is approaching mid-term exams and crazy school scheduling, so some things will just need to wait until he has his spring break week off. I am terribly impatient to see things in and done, but there's no rushing this. It will happen when it happens.
Our tile guy has started the main bathroom walls, but the floor tiles he picked up were the wrong color. The tile place made a mistake, so they took them back, but have to now call around and see if they can locate the correct color in the 13"x13" size I ordered. They might have been hoping I wouldn't notice the color mix up, but no luck for them. Onto our master bathroom now, he installed the hardibacker yesterday and will be doing the master bath floor today in a cobblestone design. Can't wait to admire it later!
Our security system and central vacuum will be finished today too. I will post pictures later today...
Photos
|
| Side with garage door |
|
|
| Front almost done |
|
|
| Powder room crown |
|
|
| Kitchen hi-hats |
|
|
| Slate princess bath |
|
|
| Slate upper shower |
|
|
| Laundry room tile |
|
|
| Exterior at night |
|
|
| Front complete with gutters and leaders |
|
|
| Hardwood floor delivery |
|
|
| Thanks for the free mud |
|
|
| Definitely some damage |
|
|
| Ouch. That HURT! |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 2/1/2009 7:17:04 AM
This past week brought our electrician back to install all the switches, outlets and dimmers I had purchased. He plans to "liven" the house next week and begin installing our fixtures. Can't wait. We also noticed the sheet rockers had buried 1 outlet-- not really that bad-- and over-routed many of the outlet and switch holes, so we'll need to purchase large covers to hide all that. Chaching!!!!! Not nice.
Trim also started to be installed around the windows and only the doors with finished floors. It looks AWESOME. We are very happy with our selections and the craftsmanship! The majority of our painting will wrap up this weekend, although painting trim is seemingly endless. We also selected the crown and chair rails -- placed the order for delivery on Tuesday. That will go in throughout the downstairs except kitchen and family room.
We also ordered all our hardwood flooring which will be coming in about 2 weeks. That will really finish off the rooms and allow base molding to be installed. What a treat that will be. Although the first cleaning will be hellish I'm sure. Our garage doors continue to be delayed, not because they have not arrived with the supplier, but because installations are backlogged with all the horrible snow/ rain and cold we've been having. Maybe this week. Progress on the outside continues, with our garage part completely free of scaffolding! Now we can actually see the house without all that in the way. Will hopefully help streamline garage door installation too.
We are looking forward to crown and chair delivery this week. Installation of garage doors and continuation of the trim. Tile will hopefully start today and continue this week, even though our tile guy has another full time job-- we hope he has bad weather there, secretly. Additionally I plan to cal the alarm and central vac people back to complete their installations. That should put us in a good place with awesome progress by next weekend, Kitchen cabinets are not due to arrive until Feb 20th, so I have to bite my lip til then. Pictures follow:
Photos
|
| Stone Continues |
|
|
| Stone Upclose |
|
|
| Stone Corners |
|
|
| Exterior Trim |
|
|
| Pewter Living Room |
|
|
| Red Dining Room |
|
|
| Kitchen |
|
|
| Family Room |
|
|
| Foyer & Stairs |
|
|
| french doors to Office |
|
|
| living Room fireplace |
|
|
| Master Bedroom with Tray Ceiling |
|
|
| Master Dressing Room |
|
|
| Laundry Room |
|
|
| Bedroom 2 |
|
|
| Bedroom 3 |
|
|
| Bedroom 4 |
|
|
| Main Bath |
|
|
| Triming Away |
|
|
| Trim Details |
|
|
| FR Windows trimmed |
| |
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 1/25/2009
These last few weeks has us in a terrible cold spell in NJ, so the exterior of our house could not really be worked on. Who knew stucco cracks when applied below freezing...? Thankfully, our guys did not attempt it, but we had one nice day this past Friday (weather in the 40's!) and they made major progress. We decided on the darker trim for our windows, doors and expansion-joint band across the house, and lighter trim on the top and bottom borders. The stone has even begun to be installed, and I can finally see the full effect coming together. It's amazingly beautiful and we're quite proud of our selections now. It took a wrong turn to get us back on track, and the stucco guys even tried cautioning us out of going with the three-color theme (they've never done that before), but as we see it it, we're setting trends in home-trim design!
The interior continues to progress as well. All our ceilings and walls have been painted and the tile in our kitchen, mud and powder room has been laid. Everything looks beautiful, but selections are just endless. Grout color is tricky too, come to find out it's not really the color on the swatch from the bag, but nonetheless it works (thankfully).
The color palette changed a bit inside the house because the hubby is a little averse to 'Dusty Rose' in the office, so we went more gender neutral with 'Waynesboro Taupe'. Also learned that 9' ceilings should get 42" chair rails, while 8' ceilings should have them at a 36" height. The 42 inches seems quite high to me, but it's definitely a grand effect.
Painting red is quite possibly the most difficult color to pull off. Not only do you have to select a good traditional, bold, but stately red, you have to paint it about five coats to really make sure you get good coverage. We ended up springing for the Benjamin Moore 'Aura in Caliente' because it had the best coverage for final coat, while still giving us the flat finish we wanted.
We also selected marble for the fireplace surrounds this weekend, and ordered our four vanities that should be coming in soon. Settled on what to do with the tops of our entryway coat closets too - it's been a bit of a conundrum at best. They are certainly dust collectors, but we've opted to place slabs of marble (same as around our fireplaces) up there so at least it will be a smooth cleanable surface for the future - many thanks to our wonderful painter for the suggestion. This is the second sub I found on Craigs list, and it's turned out spectacular. We have been quite fortunate that way.
Some exterior pictures follow… interior to come soon...
Photos
|
| Progress |
|
|
| Side view |
|
|
| Stone starting |
| |
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 1/9/2009
I was so proud of my color selections before they went up on my house... then things changed. Considering one-pics colors from an extra-small watch to go on very-large expanses of house, it is very understandable how things could go very wrong. We're definitely victims of this.
Our stucco-application specialists use a product called 'PAREX', which has an elastomeric finish that comes in about 30 different colors. The problem is they are premixed at the shop when purchased and not returnable. We selected 'Warm Sand' for our house wall color and 'Tundra' for our trim colors. The small samples looked like there would be a marked difference in these two colors, but when applied to our house and trim (small section thankfully) they appear almost the same. We had to go back to the drawing board on our trim color. Thank goodness the 'Warm Sand' house color is good! So we picked a new trim color 'Clay Powder', and it looks beautiful. We'll have to eat about four 5-gallon buckets of the Tundra that was premixed, and also some labor costs for reapplication, but we averted a potentially disastrous cosmetic issue. The aesthetic beauty or blunder of the front of the home cannot be underestimated!
We also settled on a painter that will be doing all the trim and doors, stairs and balusters, ceilings and walls. He plans to spray the trim and ceilings this weekend. We are also still selecting colors for each room, but have settled on Benjamin Moore 'Super White' ceilings and trim plus:
'Caliente' for our dining room
'Bennington Grey' for our family room hall and foyer
'Manchester Tan' for our kitchen and mudroom
'Stonington Grey' for our living room
'Driftscape Tan' for our office
'Driftwood' for the powder room
'Alexandria Beige' or 'Cotswald' for our master bedroom and dressing room
'Coventry Grey' for our master bath
'Manchester Tan' for the remaining bedrooms
'Flora' for the main bath Before-and-after pictures to follow...
Photos
|
| See the difference! |
|
|
| Nice |
|
|
| Very nice with stone |
|
|
| Bad news |
|
|
| Color testing |
|
|
| Tile samples galore |
| |
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 1/3/2009
Happy New Year to all!
As the holidays were fast approaching we buckled down to get several very important "utility" things out of the way. In one day the electric trench, water trench and all the lines were laid. Then inspections happened the next day and we were able to backfill everything. Our yard looked like Frankenstein for several days, and there are permanent trenches across our driveway, but all very well worth it. On Dec. 30th our power was turned on by JCPL!!! We quickly proceeded to call the electrician, the propane tank testing company and the HVAC guy, and as of Dec 1st, I am so happy to report we actually have heat!!
We also had all the drywall installed and spackled starting on Dec. 16 and ending on Dec. 24th (some minor touch-ups had to happen but nothing too alarming). The painters started priming on Dec. 31st and are out there today (Jan. 3rd) to finish. I cannot believe how great it looks. The stucco application continues to be a thorn in our side. We made the mistake of going with a "new" company -- actually it appears they are an LLC that recently got out on their own. The problem being they actually already have full-time jobs working for other companies and took this job just to sub it out to another crew that show up on their whim. Not only that, but their workmanship leaves quite a bit to be desired. They seem to work very sloppily and we've brought that to their attention at which point they've had to remediate and are just taking even longer. They also nailed a 2x4 brace through our new roof, causing a leak of mass proportions which they proceeded to blame on our poor roofers. It's been a circus out there. I just pray they finish soon and without further damage to our new house. My hubby is ready to fire them, but we are so far in the hole, it's almost not worth it. I am pleased to report the trim and expansion joint band we selected are just beautiful. I think it's gonna look great with the final color coats, if those ever get put on before we move in.
I ordered our tile (Arpa in Palace Blue) for our kitchen, mudroom and powder room. It should be arriving on Jan 8th. Additionally, our toilets (Toto Ultramax) and tankless water heater are on their way scheduled to arrive next week as well. The base molding, door casings, and all interior doors are on order, coming next week, but our brother-in-law also just purchased a home that needs alot of work so the hubby and his bro are over there doing a lot of much needed demo - so needless to say our trim install will be on hold until after they get settled a bit in the new house.
I have had little luck settling on paint colors throughout the house, so I am off to Benjamin Moore to buy a zillion little sample bottles today and start testing palettes. Otherwise, kitchen cabinets are coming on Feb. 13th and lots needs to happen this month before any cabinet installs can actually happen. Between starting back at work and coordinating all the deliveries these coming weeks, not to mention color selections galore, I should have many sleepless nights ahead!
Photos
|
| Window trim |
|
|
| Front of house |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 12/6/2008
We PASSED insulation inspection last Thursday! Yesterday both the electrical trench as well as the well trench were dug and installed. We are awaiting inspections today, hopefully with good outcome! The stucco and stone scratch coat continued to dry despite very cold weather. It seems to change colors every day. Long promised pictures follow:
Photos
|
| Recoiled kitchen window |
|
|
| Luan master shower |
|
|
| Master tub holds water. |
|
|
| Main tub holds water. |
|
|
| Reinforced rafters for main HC trunk |
|
|
| Stucco wrap |
|
|
| More stucco stone wrap |
|
|
| Biggest hanger EVER |
|
|
| Blue stone for front porch |
|
|
| Propane tank buried |
|
|
| Propane connection to house |
|
|
| Propane trench |
|
|
| Brown coat starts |
|
|
| Scratch coat continues |
|
|
| Garage insulation |
|
|
| Electric trench sanded |
|
|
| Wire and caution tape |
|
|
| Well and electric trench cross driveway. |
|
|
| Frankenstein front yard |
|
|
| Scratch coats drying |
|
|
| Heavy machinery parade |
|
|
| Utility connections to house |
|
|
| Propane tank peeking through. |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 11/27/2008
In the passed several weeks we've been going through rough-in inspections, and are so pleased to report we finally passed the very last (most important one) - FRAMING!
The progress consisted of:
* Passed Inspection: Plumbing rough-in (11/14/2008)
* Passed Inspection: Fire rough-in (11/13/2008)
* Passed Inspection: Electrical rough-in (11/17/2008)
* Passed Inspection: Electrical service (11/7/2008)
* Passed Inspection: Framing (11/20/2008)
* Installed 1,000-gallon propane tank in ground (11/20/2008)
* Passed Inspection: Propane-tank installation and pressure test (11/21/2008)
* Began insulation (11/24/2008)
We certainly had some bumps in the road with our electrical inspections as previously shared. Additionally, we encountered an issue with the framer missing notes in our architectural plans indicating the TGIs were to be tripled up every four feet (especially under tiled flooring). He met with our architect to discuss possible alternatives to the tripling requirement, but no dice. The architect was unwilling to budge on his requirements, therefore it turns out the framer had to install 18 more TGIs both under the first-floor (kitchen area) and second-floor laundry/bath areas to address the issue. He successfully installed these despite having electrical wires of all types in his way. He carefully removed wires, installed the TGIs and replaced the wires accordingly, allowing us to pass inspection with flying colors last Thursday!
We also cracked the propane-tank mafia code and found a company in Pennsylvania willing to sell us our own tank and deliver, install, and pressure-test it!!! Propane-price shopping - here I come! I ordered our kitchen cabinets as well. I will try and scan some renditions of the layout. I also ordered the chandeliers for our home all from the same collection: Minka Lavery Camden throughout, and Minka Lavery Europa in brushed nickel for our bathrooms. I found 'LightingByGregory.com' to be most willing to give bulk pricing, no tax, and free shipping to NJ! Yippee for victory! The stucco was delayed these past two weeks because of the unseasonably FREEZING weather, but they worked well into the night yesterday and are planning to come back tomorrow to finish the scratch coat and let that set for two days. The next week promises milder weather and upcoming color selections to be made. I am opting for a taupe stucco color with a darker taupe/light brown border for our windows and doors. The color palette from Parex is just beautiful with many complementary colors to work with our stone selection (Heritage Bucktown by Eldorado/Stonecraft).
We need to find a gutter guy ASAP because the installation needs to happen as soon as the stucco is complete; otherwise bad weather will begin to stain our new exterior. We are also trying to track down 260 ft. of cable, phone and electrical wire in preparation for a utility trench we plan to have dug between the pole in the road and our new home. We will be direct burying the wire ourselves and going for trench inspection before JCPL will turn on the power for a small ($508) fee, of course. That cracks me up - if you want to have power from their pole and pay for it, you must dig your own trench, install your own wire in the trench, leaving enough on both ends to go up the pole and into the house, and pay them to turn it on, so you can continue paying them forever. That is another racket, if I might say so!
Picking tile will be the bane of my existence for the next several weeks, as will selecting a color palette for the whole house (room to room). I want to be ready once the walls go in. As for garage doors, I've been going back and forth between wanting three-panel doors (larger windows on the top panel) and actually affording four-panel doors with smaller windows. Can you believe three-panel doors come out to $1,400 more? I can't justify the cost, even though they are prettier. Pictures to follow later today. Thanks for sticking with me and reading on as we progress. It's so inspiring to know we've had more than 1,200 visits to this journal since we started this awesome journey!
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 11/2/2008
It's been a long time since I actually had a chance to sit down and document what we've been up to. Hopefully no one thinks we've been relaxing, because that's about as far from the truth as it could be. The electrician wrapped up his work and told us he's ready for rough-in and service inspection. Well, I was dumb enough to believe him and we ended up with another one of those dreaded ORANGE stickers. We did not pass because he apparently neglected to tape the ends of all the wires going out of the house, and what that means is the wires internal components are now wet and he has to replace all external wiring from the switch back to the outside and either place them in a box or tape the ends. Additionally, he seems to have forgotten to install our double-oven connection, and our master bathtub need some sort of connector between the water supply and the motor. Even though we have a double insulated motor, they need to see this has been installed in case we ever have to replace the motor. Additionally, the boxes (both external and basement boxes) need plastic bushing to protect the entry point of all wiring. The electrician was here yesterday and we went through everything with him. He'll be doing his remediations on Monday and we'll try to pass again on Wednesday.
The burglar alarm, central vacuum and phone, data and cable wiring was all done this past Friday as well; however, they seem to have drilled through to the outside of our house in the back by our kitchen window. This means they drilled right through our new siding that was installed on Wednesday, and also the coil wrapping for our kitchen sink casement window. What a NIGHTMARE. So I left them a message yesterday after the hubby noticed while cleaning the house and walking around with our electrician. He was and is LIVID. I went online and stopped payment on the check I had given them on Friday to give them some incentive to come back, look at the damage and discuss the amount they will have to pay our sider to fix it. It will of course need to come off their bill. Very annoying to have to deal with this kind of stuff. Isn’t that why you hire "professionals"? Will keep you posted on how we make out with them.
Our siding crew started this past Monday and made some good headway on the first day, however we had a major snowstorm in October in NJ on Tuesday, so they could not come back until Wednesday when they finished the siding and the soffits. It looked great until our wiring guy got his grubby little hands on it. They went though four boxes of soffit, four boxes of coil and 16 sq. of siding (Dutch Lap in Wicker) for the side and rear of our house. The front and side will be done in stucco and stone. Can't wait cause that starts this week.
Yesterday, my hubby and his bro decided to decorate the front porch with AZEK in prep for the stone/ stucco guy to come through and Tyvek everything and start his magic this week. It took a while to select the right materials and crown molding pattern we were looking for, and then lay it out in plain wood to experiment. They did not finish the project entirely, but it looks great so far. I can actually imagine the railing above the entryway and the columns coming down.
The stone/stucco guy came by on Friday night to discuss some things and see the site once again ready for him to start (having soffits in) is critical. He asked us to have the excavator dig out the front and side a bit more so he can go down a course or two with the stone border we selected. I will need to call him today and hopefully have him come dig Monday or Tuesday.
I also final ordered our entire kitchen yesterday from Home Depot. They are Kraftmaid cabinets in Antique Biscotti with Taupe Glaze (perimeter) and Cognac for the island. I initially had them do the design, and then I took the design to Lowe's and asked them what they could do to beat the price. They offered 10% off, a $500 gift card and a free 39 in. sink base. Then I took that back to Home Depot and told them what I was getting. They of course wanted the business and not only did the 10%, free base and $500 gift cards, but took another $1,000 off. They got the project! I love the kitchen and can't wait to see it in. Too bad that won't be till at least January or February.
On other fronts, it is very interesting how propane companies in NJ work. They will not sell you a propane tank for you to own and shop propane rates. They will install their own tank on your property and basically lease it to you for a "markup" in the per gallon charge for propane. Additionally, once you have a tank installed by one company, that is the ONLY company that will ever fill the tank. Free market competition is essentially squashed. We are working to find a way to buy our own tank so we can have the ability to price shop propane as we see fit.
Our big plans for this coming week are to: 1. Pass electrical rough-in and service inspections. 2. Wrap up plumbing and schedule rough inspection. 3. Finish front porch AZEK install and roof. 4. Have front and side of house Tyvek'd (special stucco backing) 5. Resolve hole situation with alarm company and have siding guy come out and fix it. 6. Schedule date to purchase and pick up our propane tank. 7. Schedule service trench dig. 8. Have framer fill out framing checklist and schedule framing inspection barring any other complications with electrical or plumbing.
Photos
|
| Tub deck widened |
|
|
| Siding starts |
|
|
| Siding continues |
|
|
| Corners on |
|
|
| Soffit up close |
|
|
| Kitchen window BEFORE |
|
|
| Deck ledger |
|
|
| Siding left in the rain |
|
|
| Siding complete in rear |
|
|
| Siding almost done |
|
|
| Holes drilled through siding and coil |
|
|
| Up close siding hole |
|
|
| Up close top hole |
|
|
| Front porch started |
|
|
| AZEK up close |
|
|
| Nice profile! |
|
|
| Inside corners |
|
|
| Soffits and coil |
| |
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 10/10/2008
Today we had three separate trades working all at once in our new home! Not sure we'll ever see that again. The framers were installing our basement stairs finally, the HVAC guy wrapped up his work almost entirely (except for finish and outside-air units) and the electrician continued with wires snaked through to every nook and cranny of the place. It is really changing appearance quickly. We learned a couple of cool tricks about drawing on our plywood floors to indicate where we want ceiling lights to be located. It gives a very good visual before the high hats go into the ceiling. I also discovered some spots where the HVAC vents were completely off-center to the location of lights or too close to them entirely. Fortunately, Dave, our HVAC guru, is amazingly patient with my never-ending requests to "move slightly this way" or "center here", etc. We also selected our outside lighting fixtures for the garage and the front and rear doors. I picked pewter-gray-color fixtures with frosted glass that will tie in nicely with our gray roof and our taupe stucco/siding combo.
The bidding wars of course continue. It's amazing how the local phone and cable company want you to subscribe to their service, but wiring your house, well that's a fee. Connecting your house to their pole, another fee. Even better, you actually have the nerve to want wire from the pole to your house, well 250 feet of it at a "small" fee coming right up! Incredible... so I have several alarm-system, central-vacuum and surround-sound installation companies that have submitted bids so far. They are of course all over the map, and it looks like we're going to have to split the work across several companies to come out ahead. That doesn't bother me, it's just the coordination and scheduling complexity. They also do TV, phone, and data networking wiring as well and we're planning to have that done in the next week or so. JCPL will be coming out to the field next Wednesday to meet with our electrician and my hubby to discuss the location of the main box, meter, and the configuration of our trench from the pole in the street. Apparently we can direct-bury the wire, however the trench needs to be lined with sand (not quite sure why, but I will learn some additional useless information here as well).
We had some snafus on our house plan that caused the mason to place our center-support-beam notches in the wrong spot, so our framer had to cut a new notch and install the beam in the correct location. This or course causes some follow-up work. The correct location for the notch is NOT filled solid with concrete, so we are going to have to mix some additional concrete and figure out how to get it poured down that tight space. Not looking forward to this, but accepting an "honorary" engineering degree will be most appropriate after the fact.
Our master bathtub came finally, and it is oval. We ended up with a slightly smaller model (7042) instead of 7242, and the framers made the platform for it today. It is easier to angle corners for an oval tub, and it will fit into the space beautifully. Our plumber likes to come do work every other day or shows up about once a week of late. I worry we will not be complete with all the plumbing work he still has to do before our inspections need to happen. I am trying to be patient but losing it quickly. I'm giving him one more week and then it's going to be hardball. I had initially wanted to do Moen showers and Danze faucets but noticed the brushed nickel finishes are very different across manufacturers. It's not a bright idea to mix manufacturers in the same bathroom certainly, so I switched gears and stayed with Danze for our shower as well. It's a rain head and a multifunction hand shower with slide bar. The other really nice thing about Danze is they supply the valves with their trim so you are not buying separate products (translates to more money for Moen and others that pull that trick).
Electricity has been a lesson in itself. Who knew a five-way switch actually only has FOUR locations? Or that fans with lights have endless ways of being wired... having a switch right by the master bedroom that shuts off lights is an awesome convenience, as is having the outside floodlights switched from the master bedroom. Eyeballs and high hats come in six and four-inch sizes, and even though the electrician will tell you there's little difference, that's not true. The six-inch are much more light than the four, and depending on your purpose for the space (accent or task), you will select different ones. The foyer must have one receptacle by code, but putting it against a narrow wall you will walk by all the time makes it completely useless. We changed ours to go in the stair nook. Will you have wall or corner mounted TV's? That determines what height your receptacle should be at. Closets don't usually get outlets, but you probably want to put one in the master at least, and on and on... we are second-guessing ourselves constantly at this point.
My next two week's goals are to select a wiring, alarm and central-vac company as well as our stucco, stone, siding and soffit, fascia guys. They should be able to start as soon as our electrician has made all his outside holes with wire hanging out. Picture of progress and fixtures follow.
Photos
|
| Floodlight wire, garage side |
|
|
| Wood burning fireplace vent |
|
|
| Gas fireplace & HVAC vent |
|
|
| Basement stairs above |
|
|
| Basement stairs below |
|
|
| Doubling up hangers |
|
|
| Kitchen-lighting locations |
|
|
| Master-tub deck |
|
|
| Master tub |
|
|
| Exterior sconces |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 9/25/2008
Our basement and garage floors were poured last Thursday (Sept. 18th). It took approximately 34 yards of concrete for both, which meant three-plus trucks - this also did our front porch area! Challenges abound however - our main staircase was delivered without protective covering (not sure why). This was installed on Friday and looks great - my poor hubby had to wrap it in plastic sheathing and then make treads out of plywood to place over it, so we can still have a nice staircase when all the construction is complete. On other fronts, I was so proud of my master-bath-ordering prowess, too bad it's too big for our space. I initially went with the Lasco 7242 tub, but since it's a rectangle, framing closer to it is out of the question. Fortunately, our framer alerted me to the issue immediately and I was able to cancel the initial order and now have the 7042 (oval) on its way. It will take until Oct. 21st to arrive, but I feel loads better about still having a big tub that will fit the space. All our plumbing faucets, fixtures and valves have arrived and are beautiful. I ordered everything online at BuyPlumbing.net and am very happy with their quality and timely shipping. (Jessica Roll there is SPECTACULAR to work with and was even willing to give us additional discounts because we are ordering our whole house from them).
Our plumber and HVAC guys both started promptly at 7 AM Monday morning. They seem to have negotiated how not to interfere with each others piping, tubing and ductwork quite well. We have since been surrounded by PVC and round-insulated ductwork throughout the home. Finding appropriate spots in our floors to have air supplies and returns placed was a bit challenging, but fortunately Dave is quite accommodating and listened closely to my concerns about furniture placement in relation to everything else.
Our basement staircase is being made and I booked our fireplace installer to come out and start installations tomorrow. The front door has also been installed but does not appear to be very flush or square? I have the lumberyard rep coming out to look at it and advise what can be done to remediate the situation. He will also be measuring for interior doors and trim - exciting part coming up! Our tray ceiling in our master bedroom was also framed this past week and look absolutely grand! We passed our second bank inspection for progress and received our second draw of monies - so far we seem to be staying ahead of paying subs and managing budgets pretty tightly. Hoping to keep up that pace throughout the project, but it is an accounting reconciliation challenge that's occupying a good deal of my spare time.
Next week's goals include finalizing electrical fixtures, so I can place those orders. We also must continue the bidding wars on stone/stucco, house wiring (including alarm, Cat5, central vac, surround sound and telephone/TV), insulation and sheetrock. I probably really need to finalize the kitchen layout and order the cabinets soon (since those will take about 12-15 weeks to come in).
Pictures to follow later today, hopefully.
Photos
|
| Garage slab |
|
|
| Basement slab |
|
|
| Top front step |
|
|
| Powder-room plumbing |
|
|
| Front door delivered |
|
|
| HVAC invasion |
|
|
| Front door and backordered window in |
|
|
| Door installed out of Square! |
|
|
| Main staircase in |
|
|
| Gas fireplace living room |
|
|
| Wood burning fireplace family room |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 9/9/2008
It's amazing how windows really make a house. We had them all installed yesterday and they look SPECTACULAR. There is one window on back-order (our sunburst window above the main entrance), but otherwise all others are in, including our slider door to the backyard. I have also selected our front door, but have yet to place the order. Double doors introduce interesting terms like "astragal". I never thought I'd have that word in my vocab. Well, with that comes considerations - what color should the astragal be, etc... complexities abound in the selection department. I am also still researching toilets, but think we will be going with the Toto Ultramax WaterSense toilet - should it be "right height" or "regular height"?
We notified our HVAC guy he's won the job last night. He plans to come out Friday morning to meet with our plumber to discuss his proposed ductwork/appliance layouts, and work out any conflicts with copper piping the plumber thought he might be laying in those same spots. May the best man win. Our door hinges and hardware came in the mail today. I ordered brushed-nickel door levers and hinges for the interior of our house and they are beautiful. Can't wait to have interior doors to put them on, but I get ahead of myself. Our basement and central staircases are being made as we speak and should be ready for install by end of week. We have to schedule our basement and garage floors pouring before stairs can go in, so it's very likely not happening until next week sometime.
Photos
|
| Front view |
|
|
| Front angle |
|
|
| North side |
|
|
| Rear view |
|
|
| Garage side |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 9/7/2008
Despite some setbacks last week, we were able to close on the house prior to the huge storm yesterday! Yippie!! The rafters for our family room were installed and the sheathing was completed on schedule for us to have inspection on Friday morning. We were fortunate enough to PASS sheathing inspection at 10:30 AM, and our roofers arrived at 10:50 AM. They worked until sundown Friday evening, and had most of the roof on; then started again on Saturday morning at 7 AM. By 2 PM the entire roof had been installed! What a relief, because it started to rain quite heavily right about then. We were able to go to a wedding Saturday night without worrying about our new house being under water. We enjoyed the evening and came back mid-Sunday morning to wonderful weather and another walk through. Little water got inside, despite having window openings.
Our windows will be delivered and installed tomorrow. We had some other snags (financial) this past week, as well. Our surveyor finally come out to do the "as-built foundation location" - that will get us our first draw of money from the bank - we SO NEED IT! It also turns out that the lumber company has not been honoring its quoted unit prices for our deliveries, so I decided to go through all our invoices to date and found we were overcharged $2,404 + tax. I brought this to their attention immediately and they have committed to refunding our money. It stinks that I had to find the issue for them - very SCARY, but good thing - we've "found" another $2,400 that we initially thought was overruns. We're narrowing in on an HVAC guy and also did a walk-through with our plumber on Saturday morning. He plans to start roughing-in on Thursday or Friday of this week. I have to get on ordering all the rough-in valves as well as the tubs. This will be my goal for the week. Pictures follow:
Photos
|
| Roof material arrives |
|
|
| Sheathing almost complete |
|
|
| Roof almost done Friday night |
|
|
| Last return getting shingles |
|
|
| Slider door gets awning |
|
|
| Outside looking in |
|
|
| Love that roof color |
|
|
| Rear complete |
|
|
| Garage awning |
|
|
| The view |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 9/4/2008
This past week has seen progress with some annoying setbacks. First off, our township requires 1,000-lb. straps to be attached to the garage walls and headers for something called "narrow wall construction", although our walls are anything but narrow. Code considers you "narrow wall" if the wall is less that 12 in. for a one-story structure or less than 24 in. for a two-story structure. We are two story and NOT less than 24 in., but that doesn't faze our code-enforcement office in the least. In fact, we had to special order 10 straps and have them shipped overnight, too bad the wrong ones came. We'll be reordering the right ones soon... hopefully.
The rafters delivered for our family room were several feet too short, so more lumber, longer lengths, higher prices. Overrun galore by several thousand - what are we gonna do, say no? We'll have to recoup it elsewhere - which I'm working on already. Lastly, our framer's van broke down on Tuesday, so they had no transportation and we lost a whole day of work. They came yesterday and worked from 8 AM to 7:30 PM, making major progress. The goal is to have a sheathing inspection tomorrow morning so the roof can start going on tomorrow (Friday). Apparently, a hurricane is on its way toward us on Saturday, and we want to have the roof "papered in" if not shingled by then. We'll staple tarps to all the window openings, but the roof covering is key!
Finally, we selected our roof color. We were torn between Weathered Wood and Pewter Grey (Timberline 40-year stuff), and ended up with Pewter Grey. I think it's the most universal color regardless of stone/stucco and fixture colors we end up selecting. Pictures follow:
Photos
|
| Gables taking shape |
|
|
| Living/dining room side |
|
|
| Rear view |
|
|
| Rear corner. OH, NO! Rafters too short! |
|
|
| Future kitchen |
|
|
| Which roof color? |
|
|
| Sheathing starts |
|
|
| Future main bath |
|
|
| Front sheathing done, windows and doors covered! |
|
|
| Side view |
|
|
| Garage/front room and side rafters finally going in... |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 8/28/2008
This second week of framing has our house really taking shape. We experienced some delays because the mason placed an important support pier about two feet off from where it should have been, so we had to have him come back and pour a new footing in our basement. That happened on Monday, and framing has continued since. The bidding wars also continue for fireplaces, HVAC and stairs. It's been insane, but we are retaining humor throughout, thankfully. The last and highest HVAC bid came in at $44K - we must look really stupid... gotta laugh and move on, at least we know who's NOT getting the job. We're also trying to get our first draw from the bank, but waiting on a foundation-location certification from the surveyor before they will release any money. We're sweating bullets and bleeding money. Never saw, much less had, a $50K credit-card bill before. Live & Learn... check out the pics:
Photos
|
| First floor done |
|
|
| Measurements look good |
|
|
| New front steps |
|
|
| Second floor decking |
|
|
| Chardonnay stone maybe??? |
|
|
| Front entrance inside out |
|
|
| Garage |
|
|
| Master bath from master bed |
|
|
| Roofline taking shape |
|
|
| That's it! I'm jumping! |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 8/22/2008
Framing Day Two and Day Three (yesterday) have really changed our landscape significantly. I actually walked through our first floor rooms yesterday evening and can envision the house more and more. We made some minor modifications to extend walls between the living and dining room, and to eliminate the half wall between the breakfast and family room. Also made some door openings wider, from 2' to 2'6", to accommodate larger humans (I don't know any of those!!!)
Pics below:
Photos
|
| Second day of framing |
|
|
| Wrapping up deck |
|
|
| My color palette inspiration |
|
|
| First wall goes up! |
|
|
| EOD First Floor is UP! |
|
|
| Mid-day progress |
|
|
| Living/dining room side |
|
|
| Rear of house |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 8/19/2008
The last several days have been eventful. The foundation exterior was waterproofed over the weekend by yours truly (the best hubby in the world), and the exterior drain and interior stone were spruced up by the excavator. Monday, we FAILED the foundation inspection because the block next to each basement window was not filled solid. This is apparently a "NO NO" when it comes to Radon code, so we got our first (of hopefully not many) red FAIL stickers. Hubby fixed the issue right away and inspector came out again today (Tuesday). We subsequently PASSED and are on our way. The lumber was delivered in two batches today and our framers started at 9:30 this morning. They have been making some progress, although more behind than they expected. They are still out there framing at 7:30 tonight. I've taken tomorrow off to select a front door, fireplace inserts, and exterior stone/stucco combo. I hear the roof will go on in no time, and I need to make sure everything is color coordinated and planned out well. Wish us luck! Here's some pics:
Photos
|
| Filling walls solid |
|
|
| One third of the way through |
|
|
| Still going |
|
|
| Scratch coat goes on |
|
|
| Backfilled ready for framers |
|
|
| First lumber delivery |
|
|
| Deck partially in |
|
|
| Second lumber delivery |
|
|
| Lumber look |
|
|
| Framing progress EOD 1 |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 8/13/2008
In four days, our mason and his crew have been able to build up our entire basement (2,979 blocks), garage, and one of the two fireplaces. They are amazing and just so hardworking! Because it is happening so fast, I have to say when I return home from work each day, the progress just takes my breath away. Then, of course, the panic attacks emerge, during which the measuring tape comes out and we have to confirm all lengths and widths against the plan. So far, not only has he been spot on with all wall measurements, but when placing a level on each of the walls, everything checks out PERFECTLY! Again, not only is he amazing, but he has a need for speed!
We have scheduled our framer to come out starting next Tuesday. Additionally, the mason will be applying a scratch coat to the exterior walls (below grade) in preparation for tar application. My hubby has his weekend of tarring cut out for him. I will be on the sidelines cheerleading, picture-taking, and perhaps adding feathers to the mix... stay tuned!
A pressing issue is whether we will go single- or double-entry door. The consensus seems to be double doors are grand and beautiful, but now I just heard they tend to be very drafty. That just threw a real monkey wrench into the plans. More research is obviously required!
Photos
|
| More block delivery |
|
|
| 13 courses up |
|
|
| Home stretch |
|
|
| End of day three |
|
|
| Inside looking out |
|
|
| End of day four: I see garage bays! |
|
|
| Front of garage |
|
|
| Front steps |
|
|
| One more fireplace to go! |
| |
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 8/10/2008
On Thursday, August 7th, the first order of block, mortar, sand, rebar and other sundry items were delivered. We ended up with 17 pallets of block on the first delivery, and were ready for our mason to arrive. The mason came on Saturday morning at 7:30 AM and worked through 3 PM. He and his crew were about to erect three of the four basement walls, with 9 courses on the side and back walls, and set corners for everything including the garage. We plan our next delivery of block and material on Monday, Aug 11, and he will be coming back Monday through end of week to finish the job. He anticipates it taking him approx three more days, weather permitting, to lay all block (approx 3,000) and scratch-coat the outside wall to prep for tar-coaling and backfill. Gotta inform the framer of our unexpected speed here. Hopefully he'll be able to start our job next week.
Photos
|
| Block being delivered |
|
|
| 17 pallets later |
|
|
| Mason arrives, sets up equipment |
|
|
|
| Two hours later |
|
|
| Setting corner, Portuguese-style |
|
|
| Oh wait, where's the plan? |
|
|
| Outside looking in |
|
|
| 9 courses by EOD! |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 8/6/2008
Yesterday, the mason crew arrived at 8:30 AM and built all the forms to pass inspection at 1:30 PM. We had a concrete truck parade after that, pouring all the footings up through the garage as well. I can't believe how quickly it went, and that we actually passed inspection on first try. That was a VERY pleasant surprise! Mason said the footings will have to cure for two days, and he will return on Friday to begin the blockwork!
Several members of the mason's crew came back this morning to remove the wood off the footings, just in time for the excavator to arrive and begin the perimeter drain installation. I mused about the utter destruction that is going on and they assured me they would be cleaning up after themselves. Sure enough by the time I return from work this evening the whole long trench they had dug to bury the perimeter drain to "daylight" was all backfilled - you would never know what they had been up to this AM...
Check out pictures below:
Photos
|
| Mason crew arrives |
|
|
| Form workerbees are unbelievable! |
|
|
| Concrete pour |
|
|
| Pour continues |
|
|
| Waiting for third concrete truck |
|
|
| Cured overnight |
|
|
| 'Big orange' retired |
|
|
| Drain to daylight |
|
|
| Trench continues |
|
|
| Are we at daylight yet? |
|
|
| Drain installed, stone filled |
|
|
| Loli-column forms need love too |
|
|
| Step up to garage |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 7/31/2008
Today, our excavator arrived around 9:30 AM and worked through 5 PM to dig our foundation and make the hole ready for the mason. The equipment is spectacular and progress very impressive. Please check out our pics.
We also had our construction to perm loan closing today at 2 PM. We arrived at our attorney's office around 1:50, signed tons of paperwork for the next 30 minutes and emerged victorious, with our homebuilding hopes and dreams more tangible than ever. We returned home to admire the ongoing excavation and take more pictures.
Windows have also been ordered today. They should arrive in about five weeks, which is when the framer should be about ready for them. Attached is our window quote:
We also made reservations for a celebratory dinner out at our favorite restaurant to mark a most momentous day.
Photos
|
| Excavator arrives |
|
|
| BEFORE |
|
|
| Ground leveling |
|
|
| First bucketful |
|
|
| Men at work |
|
|
| Big Orange is Huge |
|
|
| Last corner |
|
|
| Look how deep! |
|
|
| Good job |
|
|
| AFTER |
|
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 7/30/2008 6:02:09 AM
The excavator came by last night and set up his equipment to show us where the finished 1st floor will actually be in the new home. It looks kinda high to me, but I have to remember we are standing in an 18 in hole ( top soil has been stripped) and we have to raise the grade enough to work "gravity" to our septic system in the backyard.
he plans to deliver his massive equipment today and dig for the foundation on Thursday. Apparently the machine he will bring over will barely make it into our driveway and we should expect the asphalt will start getting destroyed as more and more machines and delivery trucks will be coming up and down it. SMALL price to pay for a new house, although I have not budgeted a repave at the end.
Pictures to come once hole is dug
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 7/25/2008
So today was surprising, but wonderful. I received a phone call around 11:20 am from the township building enforcement folks indicating our permits were ready for pick up. I went down there right away and paid the $5,400 permit fees AND was disgusted to find out our lovely state (NJ) just passed approval to raise the COAH fee from 1.0 to 1.5% of building assessment, so this raised our total fee from $5,100 to $7,400 -- that was very unpleasant, since I think of this as a "tax" by another name. That was a huge increase -- a fridge or other appliance as I see it! Far be it for me to complain though, or take away from the fact that we HAVE ALL OUR PERMITS! We're tentatively scheduled to close our loan this Thursday, the 31st, and now I'm waiting to hear back from the excavator to schedule groundbreaking!!
Godspeed to all!
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 7/17/2008
7/16/2008: We're finally approved by the Readington BOH, so what that means is the county should approve us soon, and then our building permits will follow shortly thereafter!
We were the 6th application heard on the evening of 7/16/2008. The board denied the 1st four applications asking them to come back next month with more information and clarifications. I was very worried that we would follow the same route because the board seemed to be in a certain "mood", but the 5th application seemed to turn the tide. Not sure if they were getting tired of asking questions, but that one seemed to go better. Finally, when they got to us (final review of the night), they asked plenty of questions of our engineer and we had a bit of a scare with one of our soil logs that ended up failing ground water monitoring but which we replaced by digging another hole. In the end all went well and they saw fit to pass us! Thank goodness -- what a hurdle that was to get through, but we passed and I was hoping to get a certificate of graduation or something. No such luck!
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 7/3/2008
Today (July 3, 2008) we found out that we will be on the July agenda for the Readington BOH to review our application and hopefully approve it so our building permits will come in before month end. It has been a long time coming, but we are finally going to be heard and we have done several revisions to our application since initially submitting on April 22nd. So, we think it's complete and ready for the approval stamp!
We are also pricing block and concrete for delivery as soon as we are ready to dig our footings and begin the foundation. Prices look very good!
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 6/25/2008 6:20:12 PM
Today was truly momentous. Our lot will never look the same. Last week we had a huge maple tree cut down, and today we had a tracking pad and silt fence put up. We also had all the topsoil stripped and stockpiled and never before could we quite envision a new house. We are on OUR WAY!
Pics attached below. Steven and Gabriela are celebrating tonight!
Photos
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 6/22/2008
Here's our front elevation and the first and second floor plans.
Photos
|
| 1st Floor Plan |
|
|
| 2nd Floor Plan |
|
|
| Front Elevation of our home |
| |
Comments (0)
Posted to Dennis-Dream-Home by Gabriela in Readington Twp, NJ
on 6/21/2008 11:52:40 AM
Project History:
August 2007: Contacted Readingtom Twp for information on building process.
Sept 2007: Contacted Architect to have plans drawn up
Oct/ Nov 2007: Went before the Historical Commission for approval of our plans (we are in the Staton Historical Area). Approval received
Jan 2008: Conducted Percolation testing to check viability of new septic system to support 4 Bedroom home. Perc testing passed.
Jan-April: 2008 Conducted required 8-week ground water level monitoring as required by Readington Twp.
April 2008: Submitted septic designs and soil conservation plans to Readington BOH, HCHD & HCSCD. (Pending approvals)
April 2008: Applied for Construction to perm. financing. Received commitment letter, valid to close loan by July 2008.
April- Jun 2008 : Viewed & selected basic subs: Excavator, mason, plumber, electrician, Lumber & Windows supplier, etc. Finalized budget.
Jun 2008: Submitted for all building permits
We are so excited about getting closer to our loan close date and therefore hopefully our groundbreaking date. Barring any significant issues with our permits and approvals, we hope to break ground in early August at this point.
Below are some pictures of our architectural plans and also an attachment of our current budget:
Comments (0)
|
| Top Forum Evaluators | | Mark in Provo, UT(510) | | Maria in Cincinnati, OH(49) | | Gail in Glencoe , CA(14) | | P in North, FL(7) | | David in Fredericksburg, VA(5) | | Michael in Cave Creek, AZ(5) | | David in Soddy Daisy, TN(3) | | Chelesy in Pleasant Hill, MO(1) | | Chris in Platte City, MO(1) | | RogerC in Phoenix, AZ(1) | | Jeff in Hartland, WI(1) | | Brian in Dome-ville, central, FL(1) |
|
|
|