Wow, it’s been a while since I posted anything. We’ve been really busy with house activities since the last post. We’re at that stage where everything is inside except for the stucco color coat and some doors and window stuff. So, let me bring y’all up to speed.
Since the last post, it’s been crazy. I’ll start the the fun stuff. We’ve had drywall and taping done, and the painters have painted the entire inside of the house the first coat. We have interior doors stained and finished along with the frames. They look amazing. We made an interesting choice for the hallway ceiling on a suggestion from our contractor. She thought a tongue and groove ceiling would be a statement – so we put in a tongue and groove ceiling, stained to match the woodwork. It looks incredible and is a design statement. We finally got the front door windows which allowed us to get the front door installed. The stucco guys have patched in the front door, garage door and base coated the kiva fireplace. We’re ready for the color coat. We also picked up the outdoor sconces from Southwest Lighting. They will be amazing.
We had picked out all the tile and flooring, but when we went to order the supplier was out of stock on most of the tile and the flooring had been discontinued. The supplier wasn’t in control of his stock and had no idea of what was available or not available. We changed to a supplier suggested by our contractor, and we’re really happy. Choices are slightly different, but much better, I think. We’re ordering flooring and tile on Monday next week with the goal to start in a couple of weeks.
We got cabinets delivered on Thursday, and our builder installed everything he could. The manufacturer shorted us two big cabinets which are critical path as they need to be installed before we can do flooring. Our supplier is working on getting them prioritized. Other than that issue, the cabinets are amazing and really beautiful. They will be a statement. The cool thing is that they come with a 100-year warranty. Each cabinet has a serial number, so if anything goes wrong, we call the company, give them the serial number and they replace whatever we need. Crazy good warranty.
We’ve picked out and ordered all out lighting. Now we’re getting all the switches, outlets and plates which are a bunch! We have power to the house now, so all we need is the switches and outlets along with the lightening. Once we done with that and the flooring, then the appliances get installed. The last thing will be the plumbing, which can’t wait for. I really want to get out washer and dryer put in place so we can at least do laundry over at the house and not my brother-in-laws house. Just easier and simpler. Once all that is done, the painters will return and put on one more coat of paint after the HVAC mini splits are installed and we’re ready to go.
Of course, we have a garage door and opener to install, but that will wait until we have the junction box populated. Interesting design flaws in our house. The architect put a Canale (water drain) right over where the meter and disconnects are located, so when it rains, water is all over the box. A short would take out the transformer – so we had to put in gutters to collect the water and drain it out away from the transformer. It takes away from the house design, but we’ll make the gutters match the stucco and they will blend into the wall. We also need to start working on the outdoor cabinets and cooking area so we can get those finished for the housewarming BBQ before it gets too cold. I need to have the workshop cleaned out so I have some room.
We’re getting close and I think we’ll have a certificate of occupancy sometime in the first few weeks of December. As I’m paying for finishing this with 401k monies, my taxes next year are going to be painful. And with a 30% tax deduction, 50k becomes 70k which depletes things pretty quickly. I think we’ll finish this so there’s no mortgage and we’ll take out a small HELOC to finish the pool and landscaping which will give us a tax deduction. All-in-all it’s not been a terrible experience, but it is organized chaos and I’m glad that we’re on site to manage the questions, progress and other things that come up daily.
One thing about our property is the mud. When it rains here, the soil is very slow to absorb the water so when the contractors come, it turns everything into a muddy mess. I’ve spread about 2″ of base coat dirt over the parking and driveway, which helps, but it’s still soft underneath and there’s huge tire tracks and some standing water. Once we’re done, I’m going to have someone come in a fix the soft mud areas and create a good driveway and parking areas. I’ve talked to my contractor and asked her to focus the spend on the items and work that we need to get a certificate of occupancy as soon as possible. Then we can spread the non-essential work into next year to reduce our tax burden and ease the spending. We still have some residual costs for furniture, bedding, blinds and household essentials. It’ll be a bit before we completely settled in, but it’s exciting now.
Jaret, our youngest, is done with fire season. We’re looking forward to him coming back here for a few months to help out with the move getting us settled into the house. He’s missing his dog, so that reunion will be worth filming. I think he’ll probably stay in the trailer when he’s here, but he’ll be welcome in the house. His help will be welcome in getting this stuff out of the workshop.
End of October, I’m heading to Seattle for a long weekend with my kids and grandkids. Looking forward to going out on Halloween with my grandkids and spending time with my kids too. I want to talk to Lucas about my diabetes and let him know that he’s not along in the family and grandpa has diabetes too. And I’ll help him understand the difference between my diabetes and his version.
Well, time to sign off for a while. Need to feed the dogs, get dinner ready and get in a walk. Take care everyone and I’ll post again after I get back from Seattle.
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