THE HUSTLE

Howdy Y'all!

Wishing you all a very safe Memorial Day in remembrance of our fallen heroes, and loved ones.

This last week has just been crazy with all of the work being done at the house. In theory, we are now within 10 days of moving in, but we don't quite see how that can happen, so we aren't anticipating a move before June 10th. (We've told the builder we are homeless after June 5th, just to keep the pressure on.) Every piece of the house is being touched by someone to finalize details, and complete the process as quickly as possible. 

This blog post is going to be somewhat "all over the place" as we touch on all of the current activity, so bear with us. Thankfully, it is all starting to come together as we enter the 14th month of the build process.

The Frog, the Trim Guy, has been busy finishing the vent hood, while Shelley (the Faux Lady) has been putting the Venetian plaster effects on it as well. The idea is to have everyone think it was imported from Italy (yeah, right! :-). So this is your spoiler alert just in case you were fooled.

Frog (aka the Trim Guy) adding the crown moulding. First coat of Venetian plaster.

Jan laying in the cooktop backsplash.

Almost a finished product, minus the top crown, stain and medallions.

Shelley redoing the breakfast area ceiling. 

With almost all of the tile work completed, the Floor Guys started work on laying the wood floors. Most of the floors in the house are wood, with some stone inlays, so they will be at this for about a week.

Master Bedroom floor. (Looks better without the footsteps.

Hallway from the Master Bedroom.

Laying the diagonals in the main kitchen.

Along with the tile work in the Main Kitchen, the Tile Guys completed the backsplash in the Prep Kitchen, and the table light magically got hung.

Backsplash in Prep Kitchen. (Lights are yellow because they are covered for painting.)

Lamps were finally hung!

Outside, the Fence Guys showed up and started installing the metal railings in the archways so that our ranch mates might be a bit safer after an evening of partying! 

Installing the railing around the pool walkways and arches.

Last week we had a wall built to visually hide the compressors and the pool equipment (well, almost). This week the Pool Guys installed all of the pool equipment in preparation for plastering the pool this week, and filling it by Friday. This looks like a complicated setup, but actually works pretty simply.

Stone walls for the compressors and pumps.

Getting ready for plaster and water!

The Concrete Guys started work on filling and grading the next section of concrete in front of the main driveway. This will essentially be a parking area and driveway turnaround section. (Selected Ranger parking stalls for ranch mates :-).

Forming and moving the road base.

Working the dirt.

Leveling the pad for drainage.

Meanwhile, the Granite Guys returned once again to finish the outdoor kitchen area. They installed the backsplash and cut the final holes for the grill and BGE. We now have to wait for the Appliance Guys to set the products, and the Plumbers to connect the propane. You'd think these guys were doctors with all of the 'specialties'!

Almost ready to cook!

The Cleanup Crew finally got the front of the house cleaned up so that we can start on the landscaping activity. We can now see the front without piles of 'stuff' and equipment.

Power washing the stone around the house.

No more stuff!

And, last but not least, the work on the front fountain started with pouring of the main basin. The Stone Guys will return to rock in and tile the remaining parts.

Fountain area.

That's all for now. See ya later!

- Jan and John - 

WE HAVE MAIL!

Howdy Y'all!

It is pretty hard to believe, but this is our 50th blog post! We can't believe we had that much to say, but better yet, we can't believe y'all have stuck around all this time! Hopefully we only have a few more posts left as this project starts to wind down in the next couple of weeks. 

As you can see by the headline, we finally have a mailbox, and our mail will be delivered to the new address effective June 1st! As soon as it is official, we'll post the new address to all of you. (Don't want to jinx anything right now.)

The story on our mailbox was that we were going to delay building it, but the builder came up with a credit on Thursday (imagine that!) and we elected to build it while the stone masons were still on site. They had it poured, paved and set in 1.5 days! (I think that is a record for anything related to stone in our house.)

Mailbox in its formative state.

The completed version minus the address numbers.

Another major milestone in the house, and one which has really held up finishing the cabinet set and final painting, is the construction of the Great Room stone wall. We're not sure why this was done so late in the process, but we have to assume there was a method to the builder's madness. In any case, it is now complete sans the wall cleanup. We can now move forward to getting the Great Room cabinets set in place.

Watching stone dry. (Grates will be painted.)

Meanwhile, back at the pool, the Tile Guys arrived to set the final course of tile along the rim of the "beach". We've been told that the Pool Guys and Plaster Guys will be out this week to set the pool equipment up, and start the final plaster coat. Quite possibly, we could have water in the pool by the end of this week!

Caesar and Jose prepping the mortar base for the tile.

All that work for this.

Pumping out the last of the nasty water.

Jan and Cindy testing out the pool depth.

Not to be outdone, the Concrete Guys showed up to pour the second front walkway, and the first 100 feet of the long driveway. Where this ends is where we will locate the front entry gate to the house. This section was poured in exposed aggregate, and the remainder of the 1000' of driveway will be in smooth cement making it easier to maintain and clean.

Prepping the road base and curbing.

We need to get one of these!

View from the house.

Delivering the goods. Game on!

Working the mud and getting it smooth.

End result. Entry gate will be located at this point.

Side walkway from the front door path to the driveway.

Out back on the patio, the stone masons were busy last week finishing up the outdoor kitchen area, and the Granite Guys arrived on Saturday with the granite pieces. This isn't yet complete, but these preliminary pics will give y'all an idea of what we had in mind. The design has room for the propane grill cooktop, a Big Green Egg, a sink, a sauté burner, and undercounter refrigerator. The other side of the cooktop is a raised bar since every one of our ranch neighbors seem to develop a powf'l thirst after a day in the sun :-). (Lest you get concerned, the 2x4 wood supports are there to level the bar top only.)

In addition to finishing out the BBQ area, the Stone Guys also completed the hearth seat on the patio fireplace. Another item off of the list!

Finally!

And lastly, there has been some activity inside the house as the plumbers attached most all of the sinks, faucets, toilets, etc. One doesn't appreciate how much time it takes to hook all of this stuff up (correctly) until you see a poor plumber contorted like a pretzel trying to connect two fittings. From what we can see, there are only a few items left to connect this week, and then we test!

Main Kitchen sink area.

Master Bath tub.

Main Kitchen cooktop unit. Ready to cook!

That's all for now. See ya later!
- Jan and John - 

ACCELERATING TO A CLOSE

Howdy Y'all!

As we're getting close to completion, the building crew is on a continued tear. We suspect they are all sick of the build site given that we are rapidly approaching 14 months (yep, it has been a long time regardless of how complicated the project turned out to be). At last count, we had stone masons, painters, electricians, plumbers and granite guys onsite at one time. From our end, we are very happy with the activity. As one of our ranch neighbors is fond of saying, "we're only two weeks away from moving in". (Right.)

This week we have the stone masons inside the house finishing the interior Great Room and Foyer wall. This was moving along just fine until we saw the completed arch. Unfortunately, it didn't meet our expectations, so they had to tear it down and start over. The second attempt is much better and will look like what we expected to see.

Setting the wooden buck for the interior arch. 

The Door Guys were back with the wine room door that was removed and replaced with a new one. We've learned quite a bit this go-around about the cooling system, wine probe and insulation. The wine door was replaced because it didn't provide a sufficient "vacuum" in the room for humidity control. Everything is working perfectly now, and just waiting for some wine.

Adding the 'antiqued' look. Pretty artistic.

Do you think I'm eager for a wine delivery?

Following the completion of the tile work in the guest bathrooms, the Glass Guys showed up and installed the glass doors for the shower and tub. The shower glass is a little hard to see, but you get the idea.

Guest Room shower enclosure.

Pool Bath shower enclosure.

Along with the other activities, the Granite Guys finished installing almost all of the granite counters and sinks. The plumbers have been following them from room to room attaching faucets, sink drains and toilets. 

Waiting for the mirrors and the painters.

More mirrors and paint.

Jan's foo-foo master bathroom sink. (Needs some flames painted on it.)

The Concrete Guys have also been busy pouring the Motor Court section in exposed aggregate, and readying the next sections for a Friday pour. By the end of the week they will have acid-washed this section, along with the front walkways.

Motor Court exposed aggregate section (before acid wash).

As you all know, we have installed the rainfall collection system and tank. Unfortunately, up until last week we were bone-dry in the tank, which made us a bit nervous moving into the house with no water. So, last Monday we had 4000 gallons of city water delivered and pumped into the tank. We then commenced drinking a lot of wine and doing rain dances. Well, the Rain Gods felt sorry for us, and delivered 3.4 inches of rain yesterday and last night (great thunder and light show also!). That translated to 21,000 gallons in the tank in one rainfall, and we are expecting more rain tonight. Hopefully, we can get to 35,000 gallons before month's end.

Each ring represents 2000 gallons with the gauge. Halfway to 50,000 gallons!

Texas rainclouds brewing on the horizon.

 But Wait, There's More! 

Jan feeding the happy, happy horses copious amounts of carrots.

That's all for now. See ya later!
- Jan and John -