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Thread: Year three of the elephant

  1. #101
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    Porch lights - we can't agree, so currently bare bulbs.
    Screened back porch isn't screened.
    some interior "fixtures" also bare bulbs.
    no water to kitchen
    no countertops
    no microwave
    one drawer is missing
    no floors
    no baseboards
    no door or window trim
    beams are not clad
    cooktop is not installed
    fridge is not moved
    knobs not on cabinets
    woodstove not purchased or installed
    Interior chimney not installed or trimmed
    no whatever those grate things are called in the holes where air comes in or goes back
    ductwork for air return not enclosed
    transition from original house to new space is still an exterior door with a metal and plastic sill
    no exterior steps except to basement (using a long board with 2x4s nailed to it like a chicken ladder, a wooden box, and the too short old deck steps)
    still fine tuning yard grading so no grass or landscaping
    no rail or gate on basement stairs

    otherwise, yeah, it's finished.

    i mean you can play the piano and eat breakfast - what more do you want?
    Last edited by Chicken lady; 8-29-17 at 7:23pm.

  2. #102
    Senior Member beckyliz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chicken lady View Post
    The painting is done. The floor is swept. The switch plates are on, and my great grandmother's dining room table and chairs are set up in the breakfast nook - after being measured, described to the architect, reclaimed from my aunt, shipped over 600 miles in a storage pod, loaded into a pick up truck, carried up to the barn loft and wrapped in old blankets, and finally carried into the house and dusted.

    it may have been ten years since I last sat at this table with my cousin. She will be here for brunch in 4 days.
    This makes me so happy for you.
    "Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. But accumulate for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, your heart is also." Jesus

  3. #103
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    It makes me happy too.

    i took another ther load of stuff to goodwill today. It was mostly stuff that belonged to dd2, but it is still stuff leaving my house.

  4. #104
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    So, we found some porch lights we could agree on and all the lights are done except the center of the entryway ceiling - because, again, we can't agree. So, that is a bare bulb.

  5. #105
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    My cousin liked the table in the space. She's going to try to come back again soon and stay for a few days when there is less going on.

    dh ran the hot and cold water to the sink this weekend. The pipes are just sticking up because we are waiting for the counters. He also moved a rug and a chair down from his study.

    my fountain is set up on it's switch. That happened before the wedding, but I think I forgot to update.

  6. #106
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    Last night dh hooked the drain to the bottom of the sink and the trap is full of water. He wants to call and ask if we can get our plumbing inspection with the faucet hanging over the edge of the sink because they still have his $500 bond for doing his own work and he doesn't want to wait for the counter install. It takes them 6 weeks to send it back after you pass!

    after the plumbing inspection we have 6 months to install the woodstove and put up steps and then we can get an occupancy permit and no more inspections!

    dh is hoping they will pass the woodstove installed on tile backer board because he wants to put off flooring until spring - when I will have the counter paid off and there will be some money set aside so we don't have to finance the whole floor.

    The pay-as-you-go plan is only covering lighting and paint and pipe and such these days. After we paid for drywall and bought the cabinets the set aside was drained and we haven't been able to build it back up. So we are using the home equity line for the big things - like the counters - and the share that comes out of my paycheck goes toward that. We have paid off 10% of the principal on the initial construction loan (my payment will be an extra one toward principal only once the h.e. line is paid off) two unexpected (when we planned the addition or "new children" were dating our original children less than a year) weddings have not helped with the budgeting, but we have been able to feel comfortable with what we did for each couple. The extra interest is worth it (the same amount of celebration would have cost more in 5 years anyway, right?) the money promised for dd2's last year of college this year is already banked.

    anyway, we would like to do some fun things this fall (go to some festivals, eat out a few times - our concert series is already paid for) and have our usual level of Christmas spending more than we would like to hurry up on the floor. Our debt is only the construction loan, h.e. line, and dh car payment. (The interest on the car loan was less than the interest paid on our savings, so the car money sits there) We pay the cc's off every month and get back 1-2% of what we spend.

  7. #107
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    I haven't updated this in a while. Dh passed the plumbing inspection. The drawer front finally arrived, but no drawer box. The counters go in tomorrow, and he has ordered materials to build a movable hearth for the wood stove. He hopes to pass final inspection by thanksgiving. (The remaining work will all be "cosmetic")

  8. #108
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    The counters went in today and we moved the fridge, dropped the cooktop in (still needs to be screwed in place but is hooked up, and put the faucet on the sink. Kitchen is now usable.

    remaining to do:
    Screened back porch isn't screened.
    Entry light is a bare bulb.
    no microwave
    one drawer is missing
    no floors
    no baseboards
    no door or window trim
    beams are not clad
    knobs not on cabinets
    woodstove not purchased or installed
    Interior chimney not installed
    no whatever those grate things are called in the holes where air comes in or goes back
    ductwork for air return not enclosed
    transition from original house to new space is still an exterior door with a metal and plastic sill
    no exterior steps except to basement (using a long board with 2x4s nailed to it like a chicken ladder, a wooden box, and the too short old deck steps)
    still fine tuning yard grading so no grass or landscaping
    no rail or gate on basement stairs

  9. #109
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    Usable kitchen, YAY!!!!

    ... a couple, two or three days of outside work, then the rest is all interior finish work.

    Does this mean you can unpack anything for the new kitchen?

  10. #110
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    I made dinner in it last night. And it is where the coffee is this morning.

    I am not going to have some big "move" into the new kitchen. I am moving things into it as I need them. So dinner took extra long last night as I went back to the "scullery" - as we are calling the old kitchen because it is where you take the dirty dishes - for every pan, knife, spice, etc.

    new groceries get unpacked into the new kitchen, and when things come out of the dishwasher, they come to the new kitchen (I did move all the flatware) and at some point, I will decide "enough." Everything left behind goes. (Or gets moved to the basement for storage - for example, I have an angel food cake pan. It is ds's favorite cake. He lives in Wisconsin now, so I will probably use it twice a year.)

    our next focus is the woodstove because it is the last thing we need to do for an occupancy permit, and because it will be cold soon. We aren't going to buy a new one yet. We are going to move the one we have and plan to get a smaller one for that location later. It always overheated the room it was in in order to warm the rest of the house. The air circulation in and from the new space is much better, but we think we will still want the secondary one because it is at the foot of the stairs and close to the bedroom farthest from the addition. The new Hvac system can be run on "fan only" the old one could not, so we'll see.

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