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 - 

HAULIN' ASS!

Howdy Y'all!

Another week has passed since our last blog post and we are as busy-as-little-bees at the ranch! Apparently, our builder has finished his Parade of Homes house, and can now devote all of his attention to our home. (I'll apologize in advance for any sarcasm.) A horde of subs have descended on the house in an effort to finish it by our drop-dead date, so at least we are seeing a credible push, at this point, to get done. There are a number of crafts working at the same time, so we hope we don't confuse you.

One principal effort started yesterday with the delivery and installation of the granite countertop pieces throughout the house. There are a number of countertops, so it would appear that this is a 3-day install, with a couple of other pieces (outdoor BBQ and the Prep Kitchen table) delayed until next week. It is pretty interesting watching the Granite Guys work since they drill all of the sink faucets onsite. (Kinda scary if they make a mistake.) They also install all of the sinks and bathtubs as they go along, which is a first for us; past houses have used the plumbers. In any case, accuracy is a big deal, so we stay out of their way while they are working.

Main Kitchen Island pictures, with appliances (below).

Kitchen cooktop granite counter (with dusty cabinets).

Prep Kitchen work counter. (Cabinets still to be antiqued.)

More Prep Kitchen work space.

Granite surround for Jan's bathtub.

The Water Collection Guys also showed up this week to install the pump and filtration system for our tank rainwater entering the house. We got a pleasant surprise when the team informed us that they were upgrading our 2HP pump to a 3HP pump at no additional charge. We're also wiring the pump directly to the generator ATS (automatic transfer switch), as well as to the house, in case of a power failure of any type. Gotta have water! In spite of the appearance of simplicity once the installation is complete, installing this puppy was a complicated 2-day effort.

Okay, this goes where now?? 

Uh-oh, I've gotta bunch of parts left over!

Hmm, this wasn't in my training class??

Pumphouse.

Filtration system.

Finished product!

We also saw the return of the Stone Guys this week to start the final push on the outdoor kitchen, compressor equipment wall, and Great Room/Foyer wall. They elected to start the outdoor kitchen first so that the Granite Guys can measure and install the tops. This also turned out to be a bit more complicated since we added a Big Green Egg to the initial layout. But, as luck would have it, it does fit, so they started laying the stone.

Measuring the BGE to slip into the granite countertop.

Outdoor kitchen cooktop BBQ range.

Partially finished outdoor bar top . Cooktop is on the other side.

Jan and Cindy critiquing the outdoor kitchen progress. (Poor stone masons.)

And, last but most definitely not least, the MOST IMPORTANT room in the house is now almost complete. All we now need is the wine!

Where's the wine??

But Wait, There's More!

Brief Artistic Interlude - I call it
"Tank in the Wild"  :-)

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