Wow, it's been a while. Last I did an update post I was hoping for a cement slab. A lot has happened since then! We have windows and walls... and a roof, and a few other not-so-pretty-for-photography things but, it's looking like a house now and less like a mud pit. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you've seen some pictures. But I figured it was time for a post with all the fun (and not-so-fun) details. Wear your crappy shoes and coat yourself in bug spray; it's time to head out to the house.
Last we chatted I was hoping for cement and we got some. It also poured that week (like I was going to need an ark) and of course delayed things a little. Say it with me, DE-LAY. At this point it rolls off the tongue like my kids' names do when someone starts smacking someone else. Building a house is the slowest process on earth. Getting the slab poured took a couple weeks longer than it was supposed to. It rained, they couldn't get the pump truck out in time, the crew needed to be available, yada yada. All those things needed to line up. The stars aligned, a rainbow appeared, a butterfly landed on my shoulder, and finally a giant slab was born. (or something like that)
There were a couple decisions I had to make pre-cement. First was, what was going in the kitchen island. Since my kitchen sink and dishwasher will be in the island, power and plumbing had to be run under the slab (no walls to run it through in an island). Then in the living room, I decided it would be a great idea to have an outlet in the floor. Since my couch will be "floating" and not against a wall, I wanted some place to plug in a couple lamps. However, the electrician needed to know that exact location of that outlet before the slab was poured. So in other words, he wanted me to go out into the dirt and weeds and mark where he needed to run his wires. If I was off in marking it, that outlet would end up in the middle of the hallway floor, in a bedroom on accident, or with my luck, next to a toilet. Seriously. How am I supposed to know where my couch is going to be, EXACTLY, when all I have to reference is a pile of dirt and some trees? I didn't even know if I was in the correct room. So, for that reason, I opted out of the floor outlet. We'll just have to live by candlelight I guess.
After the slab was dry (cured for a couple days) the concrete block went up. I swear those guys had the entire house built like a giant game of Lincoln Logs in a day. It was amazing. I absolutely loved being able to walk through my "front door" and seeing the house that I designed come to life. At this point, with all of the walls open, the house looked massive.
The next exciting step was when the roof trusses went up. We've already gained quite a reputation in the neighborhood since one of our contractors knocked out power to the entire street (yay) and the truss truck got stuck and had to be towed out of the neighbors' yard. Fantastic. I guess I know where to deliver some beer. But, aside from that, the truss guys were amazing. Like little swearing, shirtless, sweaty, monkeys climbing all over the trusses.
Then tar paper, then shingles. I had to choose the shingles from a website (I never saw them in person) which made me nervous but I'm happy with the them. We chose Pinnacle Pristine and the color is Hearthstone. We said all along we wanted a metal roof... until we priced a metal roof. Haha. Holy shingles. It's almost 3 times the price. Shingles it is!
Somewhere around this time the windows went in too.
And finally for the main exterior body of the house, we chose HardiePlank® lap siding in a smooth finish then painted it "Hematite" (very dark gray) from Behr (Home Depot). All the trim is set to be white and is actually a composite material, not wood. So, it won't rot. Yay for us! :) The bottom has been left undone because we're going to have a small band of stacked stone installed there.
The stone wasn't originally part of the plan and was an extra I added. Which translates to us paying for that out-of-pocket. Since it was out-of-pocket, we found a way to save a little money. Instead of having a hefty stone cap installed on top of the band of stone (where the stone meets the siding), we just trimmed the section out with the same trim we are using on the rest of the house. It saved us around $700. Granted, I think the stone cap would have looked nicer, but our savings account is not infinite and I think this was a smart corner to cut. Now I have that $700 to spend somewhere else... like the kitchen or on some floors.
And speaking of... this post is WAY too long to get into the interior. That's for another day. Until then follow me on Pinterest to see all of the ideas I've been saving up. I also frequently ask for advice on house decisions (wood floors in the kitchen?!) via Facebook so look for me there too and help a sister out! They say we might be moving at the end of next month but I'm not holding my breath. If we can be in for Halloween, I'll be happy!
#WTShouse - Sarah