Landscaping

Well, we finally bit the bullet and started on some landscaping. After living here for 2 years we thought it was time! We had a side section of our yard that wasn't cleared and was mostly full of alders. I will try and find a picture when I have more time. Yesterday the excavator started and by the time I got home at lunch time most of the bushes were gone. Here's what it looks like this morning!

Slow and steady!

That pretty much sums up our progress on the house since Nathan has been born. Lately we've been able to get a bit more done as Nathan's been going to bed earlier in the evenings and is getting into a better routine during the day.


Today I finally got a coat of paint on our closet. It's kind of depressing painting walls white, as there isn't much of a difference between the primer and the finished product. Oh well, I know it's done. Tonight we'll move our dressers in there with our temporary racks and then we're set to install the closet doors. Yay!

Peter has been diligently working on our kitchen cupboards. Until a month or so ago I had one drawer (unfinished) on sliders that didn't work. The upper cupboards also had no finish on them. Right now here is where we stand (please forgive the picture colouring - I'm not very good with this SLR camera):


I now have eight drawers. Six of them are completely varathaned and filled with stuff. The other two are filled but will need to be taken out and finished at some point. The first set of sliders we bought were terrible, so we've replaced 6 of the sliders so far with better ones. In the above picture you can see that Peter has made some fronts for the drawers. All the fronts are now stained and two of them are all varathaned as well. They will look so nice once they're attached! We bought brushed nickel drawer pulls.


Here is our upper cupboards all cleaned out with 2 coats of stain on the face frames. We still obviously need shelves in the ones on the left. Also, on the left-hand end of the run of cupboards Peter made and installed his first raised panel (essentially a cupboard door that is fixed in place). I really can't wait to get the varathane on these cupboards so I can put stuff back. My kitchen table and counters are full!


Peter has the doors for this cabinet (under the sink) all made, but they have to be sanded, stained, and finished before we can attach the hinges and install them. It's such a long process! Peter has a goal to have all the bottom drawers and doors on before Nathan starts crawling (for obvious reasons).

So, next on the docket will be to varathane the upper cupboards, install our closet doors, varathane the drawer fronts and install them. Peter also has a few more cupboard doors on the go. It's so nice to see progress again!

What ... a post??

It must be a miracle. Well, in case you don't read my other blog, Baby M arrived (Nathan) on May 20th (read about it here). So, as you can imagine, work on the house has slowed considerably.

One thing we have done since Nathan was born is to get some more drawers installed in the kitchen. None of our drawers were sliding very well and we weren't sure if it was our workmanship or the sliders. We bought another type of slider and it totally fixed the problem - yay! So, we're slowly replacing the 'old' ones with the new ones. Peter recently cut out three drawer fronts and finishing them will be the next project.

Shortly after Nathan was born Peter's Dad came up and finishing crack-filling our bedroom closet. We finally got around to sanding and priming it in the past few days. This morning it looked like this (after Peter sanded it and I washed the walls):


And here it is after a coat of primer. A big difference!


The goal for this room is to get it painted (white) and the move in two portable hanging racks along with our dressers. Then we'll put the doors on (they've been in our back entryway for months) and leave it alone until we have time to design a nice organizer. That could be a couple of years, so once the doors are one we'll consider this project completed for now. I can't wait!

Closing Time

So ... what have we been up to in the last while since I posted? As you can imagine, we're still so excited that we are finally finished enough to get the mortgage. There's been a flurry of activity in the last week and a half getting papers all together and signing everything. We've both met with our lawyer and the banker (twice). After all that running around - today is our official closing date! I feel like we are entering the world of the grown ups after playing around with this line of credit stuff for too long.

According to the bank we should receive our last cheque from them by Monday, and our first actual mortgage payments start in two weeks. I am so glad we got this all straightened out before Baby M is due to arrive.

Other than that, not too much house-related has been happening. We seem to have lost our motivation ;) Peter is actually hard at work building Baby M's crib so the rest of the house projects have been pushed aside for a while. This weekend my goal is to finish caulking the trim in the nursery. Then all that's left will be to paint the trim and wash the floor and the room will be good to go. Not any too soon, either, considering June is coming very quickly!

A Banner Day!

As you know, we had our appraisal yesterday at 5 and .... we passed! The appraiser said we're over 95% done and that she'll make sure she gets it to the 97% we need for the mortgage. I can't believe how excited I am about this. I was ready to run over and hug her when she said this would be her last visit!

She also said that her initial appraised value of the house was missing lots of upgrades, such as the garage, radiant heat, wood stove, built-in appliances, etc ... so as long as the bank requests it she will do up another appraisal to give us a better idea of what the house is worth as built.

Not too much else going on with the house ... just had to share the awesome news. A long process will hopefully end in the next few weeks with the signing of some mortgage papers!

Peter and I are busy all night tonight, and tomorrow afternoon and evening. I'm hoping to get the last two window cases painted tomorrow morning but that's all I have planned for the weekend :) We don't want to get too slack now that we don't have the financial motivation to finish the house, but I think the impending arrival of Baby M will help with that.

We got the call ...

**ETA: Appraisal is tonight at 5 ... eeks!

When we got home last night there was a message on the machine that the assessment should be done by the end of the week. Peter called the bank back this morning to arrange an appointment but hasn't heard anything yet. I'll update when we have a time.

In case anyone's interested, I've been slowly going back and adding posts from when we first started building in the 2005 archives. We originally had these at a different url until they decided to stop having free service. Enjoy!

We have slightly slowed down this past week, but we've still accomplished quite a bit. Since my last post, Peter has finished the trim downstairs (pictures will be forthcoming when I get a chance). I managed to finish caulking almost 4 windows (1/4 of the total - yay ... I guess). I have continued with the house clean-up and things are starting to look pretty good. Peter installed most of the trim in the orange room - he needs some strong help to move the desk before he can finish the baseboard along one wall. He also installed the window trim in our bedroom, the nursery, hallway, and laundry room. Wow - he's really flying!

We're still missing trim in our bedroom and bathroom (other than the windows), the laundry room, and the yellow (guest) room. Actually, the half-bath still needs trim, too. Other than that all the trim is on. Peter still has 2 closet doors to install (our bedroom and guest room) before he's finished with doors forever. I'm sure he'll shed a tear on that day ... not ... lol. He's really not a fan of hanging doors.

I will keep you posted on the appraisal.

Encouragement ...

I was reading through last year's posts the other day and came across a list I had made just after the assessor left last time. Here is the post. Here is the list along with updated comments about what we've actually accomplished since that time - I feel much better after seeing all the things checked off!

Big Items Left to Finish (As of August 18, 2006)

• Urethane on stairs (Not really done, but not noticeable)
  
• Hang drywall in third spare room (Done)
  
• Hang drywall in back closet (Done)
  
• Hang, paint and install doorknob on door to half-bath (Not painted, but done otherwise)
  
• Crack-fill, prime, and paint third spare room and second spare room closet (Third bedroom done, second closet not done)
  
• Crack-fill, prime, and paint master closet (Have a few coats of crack-fill on it)
  
• Crack-fill, prime, and paint back hallway (Done)
  
• Finish laying and grouting tile in kitchen (Done)
  
• Build and install pantry and oven cupboards (Done)
  
• Build and install upper cupboards (Done)
  
• Build and install shelves and drawers in kitchen cupboards and master vanity
• Build window returns (Done)
  
• Install trim throughout (About half done)

Not too shabby!

Last night we didn't get anything done on the house. Tonight Peter is planning to install the rest of the baseboard on the main floor and possibly do another bedroom upstairs. I think I'm back to caulking and painting trim ... probably won't be any progress pictures from that, it's slow going!

The little things ...

We made more progress on our list this weekend :) Friday night Peter wanted to get the drawer together that he started a few weeks ago before his router bit broke (very strange occurrence, apparently). He had already planed the boards and had the jig set up, so he didn't want to leave it any longer. So ... he got the above drawer all glued together and left it to dry overnight. He then finished hanging the door and the closet door in the nursery. I got a first coat of paint on the wall in our bedroom. Unfortunately, when I got up Saturday I could see that it needed another coat.

Saturday Peter finished the trim in the hallway (the door on the far right is the nursery door and obviously needs a coat of paint) :


He also trimmed out the inside of the nursery, including the doors and baseboards. Now we're just missing window trim and this room will be ready to start setting up!



Lastly, Peter put the baseboards on in the living room - having them on really finishes off the room (also notice that all the windowsills are white now instead of brown) :



Saturday I got the second coat of paint on the wall in our bedroom - it looks much better now. In the process I figured out how to take our wall sconces down and clean them. Very good to know. After that I spent the rest of the day unpacking and organizing the orange room ... tada!


As a bonus I also got the other guest room (yellow) all cleaned up and organized. It's so nice to not have rooms I'd be embarrassed for people to see! After our long day we just crashed on Saturday night, so the construction mess from setting up the chop saw and air nailer in the house is still there. I have a free night tonight so my goal is to get that all cleaned up :)

Details, Details

Work continues at a furious pace as we anxiously await a call from the appraiser to schedule the walk-through. I was looking over our list and it is definitely possible to finish by the end of the weekend. We may also have some of the things checked off our "unfinished" list. I am going to scratch item 4 off the "to finish" list (painting the nursery closet) as you honestly can't tell it's not painted, and there are other things to be done that will make a bigger difference - like painting the marred wall in our bedroom (the white crack-fill really stands out on the raspberry-coloured walls!)

Last night was a productive night. Peter got the door to the electrical room installed along with most of the trim for that door (check off part of number 3 from "to finish") and almost finished installing the closet door in the nursery (from the "unfinished" list!).

I painted the first coat on two more windows in the living room. I only have 4 more to go - 2 upstairs and 2 on the main floor. I also did a bit of touch-up crack-filling on one wall in our bedroom that I had to repaint anyway.

For tonight, I'm not sure what Peter's planning on working on (although I know he has lots to choose from). I'm planning to prime the wall in our bedroom and paint the last two windows on the main floor.

At lunch I headed to the hardware store to pick up covers for our air exchanger pipes (details, details) along with our last interior door (for the nursery) and the door for our closet. The doors should be delivered tomorrow.

Peter has been doing an awesome job on the trim - I can't believe how quickly it's going!

One last detail. Peter's Dad gave us some money for Christmas, with which we decided to purchase a nice mirror for the master bath. The one we'd been using just wasn't cutting it - even I had to bend over to see in it as it was just resting on the counter. Now we have a beautiful 3' x 5' mirror hanging over our vanity - it makes the whole room look so much bigger. The one we were using in our bathroom I will install in the main floor half-bath.

Our friend, Trevor, is also buying our leftover hardwood flooring from us today - yay for extra cash *and* more space in the electrical room :)

I will try to get some pictures tonight!

Apologies

My apologies if this page is loading slowly for you - I didn't realize there was a problem until Peter pointed it out to me. I will shrink the pictures when I get a chance and that should speed things up ...

Busy little bees

Peter and I had a fairly productive weekend on the house. Knowing the possibility of a mortgage is just around the corner has served as great motivation for the last week. Peter worked all weekend on installing door trim and baseboards. Here are three shots of his progress:




I spent Friday night painting some more window trim. I got a first coat on three more windows. I have 6 left, total. We also realized that I should repaint one of the walls in our bedroom. It got pretty banged up when we installed the hardwood. The dents have been crack-filled, but I will prime and paint that wall this week. It *should* (fingers crossed) only need one coat. On Saturday I continued with my quest for organization. Here are the same two shots as before.



I think we're making progress. Unfortunately we still can't check any items off our list, but we've made progress on at least 3 of them!

Channeling my inner Martha ...

Yay for progress. We can check off half of item 1 on our list from the previous post. Peter and I spent the evening building this:


So ... my next job is to translate this:



... into organizational bliss on our closet shelves. I'll be sure and post the after pictures! lol. I feel like I'm on a TLC show!

Frantic and Frenzied

Well, we knew this day was coming ... the bank called today and it's time for another visit from our friendly appraiser.

For those who aren't aware, while we're building the house, the bank requires an independent appraiser to visit the site every three months to ensure that work is progressing. This appraiser is also the one who holds our fate in our hands - she determines when we've hit the magical "milestones", at which points the bank releases a certain percentage of our construction loan to us. The milestones were explained to us as such: Draw 1 occurs when the house is basically weather-tight (i.e. roof on and windows and doors in); Draw 2 occurs when the drywalling is (basically) complete; and Draw 3 occurs when the house is 97% complete.

To date we've received Draws 1 & 2 and are anxiously working toward that magical Draw 3. Draw 3 is magical because once it is received we can convert our construction loan into an honest-to-goodness mortgage! Most people would not be as excited about signing mortgage papers, but after basically carrying around a huge line of credit for 18 months, we are more than ready to get those papers signed and settle into a fairly predictable repayment schedule.

The appraiser last visited us in August (I know - the bank has been lenient on the 3 months thing, which we appreciate). At that time she said we were 93% complete ... so close! After that report, the bank (have we mentioned we're big fans of our bank?? CIBC in case anyone's wondering) actually gave us a little "advance" on Draw 3, so the amount we're waiting to get from them isn't significant, it's the mortgage itself we want to get settled. Anyway, at that point we had not fully completed the hardwood. The kitchen area was not tiled. Many of our cupboards were not yet built or installed (no upper cupboards or the tall unit with the oven). We had no trim in the house, and I don't believe the downstairs bath had a door. The nursery was not crack-filled or painted.

Peter asked the bank if we could have another 2 weeks before the appraiser comes. In those 2 weeks we hope to:

1. Finish the shelves in the office closet and clean up that room and the yellow bedroom!! I know this doesn't really make the house more finished, but it will certainly make a better impression.
2. Finish installing and get at least a coat of paint on all the window casing and trim.
3. Install the door to the electrical room and finish trim downstairs (interior door and baseboards left).
4. Paint the nursery closet (it's primed and will be painted white, so it won't make a big difference - just nice to get it out of the way)

If we can do that, when the appraiser comes we will have the following things unfinished:

1. Drawers and cupboard doors in kitchen.
   
2. Bar counter - this one is a biggie I think, as it's one of the first things you see when you come in the door.
3. Two closets not painted (one basically crack-filled, one not).
   
4. Closet doors not installed in bedrooms.
5. Shadow-striping and chair rail in upstairs hallway (I don't think this one is a big deal, since those things are optional).
   
6. Door and baseboard trim throughout upstairs.

What do you think?? Do we have a chance? At least knowing that we have a deadline of two weeks should give us some motivation!

Panels and painting and trim, oh my!

Wow - 2 posts in a week. Don't die of shock!

In my last post I forgot to mention that Peter built his first raised panel over the Christmas break! It looks so professional - he should go into business. It still needs to be sanded and stained.



Saturday Peter and I went to pick up our piano. However, I did manage to paint the nursery as well. I bought the paint a long time ago and was a bit concerned it wouldn't be appropriate for Baby M's room. I am very pleased with the colour, though!



Other than painting the nursery we didn't get much done this weekend. Last night Peter got a second coat of crack-fill on the master bedroom closet. He also measured and calculated what we needed to trim the rest of the house. Today he picked up the rest of the trim that we need at Home Depot at lunch. When I came home, this is what I found:


Looks like we have our work cut out for us!

Finally an update!

I'm finally ready to sit down and give an update on house progress over the past few months, including a few pictures :)

So ... let's see. The last update was showing the window trim on the main floor. I am still plodding away at caulking and painting those. It seems to take forever for each window, but it looks so good when it's (almost) done:


Peter has also built the returns (sills) for all the upstairs windows. The window in our bathroom is installed with the trim and caulked with one coat of paint. Two other windows have a coat of paint on the returns but are not installed with the trim yet. There is no hurry to get them installed as I'm still working on the downstairs ones.

Over the holidays Peter built and installed the rest of the kitchen cupboards, along with our microwave / vent hood combo (notice the pregnant belly sticking out there!):


Also over the holidays Peter installed the trim around the exterior days. They still need to have their corners finished, be caulked, and painted, but they look pretty smart just as they are:



The final thing we've been working on is the nursery! Yay! I don't have any pictures yet, but Peter has finished crack-filling the room and I got the primer on this week. The goal for the weekend is to get the ceiling painted and the first coat on the walls. I would also like to get two more windows caulked. We'll see.

Have a great weekend!

Quick note ...

Happy New Year!

Sorry for the lack of posts! There has been lots of progress on the house thanks to Peter over the last 6 weeks or so. He got the rest of our cupboards on the wall, installed our microwave / vent hood combo thing, is currently building the window returns for upstairs, and finished crack-filling the nursery ... Good thing, since we're going to need that room in about 5 months! We are expecting our first little one on June 9th. We are very excited!

As a result of this turn of events I have started a blog just to blather on about whatever comes into my head, which is most often cross-stitch, baby stuff, flylady / housekeeping stuff, and to do lists. Anyway, if you're interested in those mundane things you can pop over to here.

I will try and take some pictures of Peter's progress over the weekend and put them up.

GO CANADA GO!!!