November 1, 2012 - Well the hard part is over.  We had our final inspection this past Thursday and received the Certificate of Occupancy from Madison County on Saturday!  We still have some painting, installing curtains, and other minor stuff that we can do while we live in our new home.  Our current home is a   mess with boxes all around stuffed full.  We will move into the new master bed room this week and start making a bunch of trips over the next week or so.

Keep checking back as I post more pictures as we finish the house.

Certificate of Occupancy.
It's been a long process but this is what we have been working towards.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

October 28-29, 2012 - All the contractors are done with the exception of one, so Donna and I are doing some inside work while we wait for the final inspection.  The plumber put in the sump pump but didn't caulk very well so I called him back to finish the job.  He is suppose to come out tomorrow and once that is done we will call for the final inspection and hopefully get the Occupancy Permit.  Still a lot of stuff for us to do inside but we can live in it and finish painting, installing shelves, hanging curtains and stuff like that.

Our first meal in the new home.  Tilapia and potatoes from our own oven!  VERY GOOD!
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Donna painting in the Master Bedroom.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

I spent most of Saturday hanging doors and installing handles.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Installed some shelving in a couple of closets.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

October 17-21, 2012 - Donna and I have been at the house as much as possible getting stuff finished.  We finally decided on what we wanted to do with the upstairs floors.  We are going to have pre-finished wood installed in the game room and down the hallway, while the bedrooms will have carpet.  That should be done this week.

I finished with those items required for the final inspection and we hired our painter, Herb to finish all the caulking of the windows.  Now with the exception of the Elevation Certificate and inspection of the Septic we are ready for the final inspection.

Our painter, Herb finishing on the caulking.  He is an excellent painter and we highly recommend him.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The stove is finally in!  The granite guy had to come out and trim
the edge so it would fit.  He also installed the back splash too.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

He did such a good job on the back splash and you can't even see the seam.
I looked very close and couldn't see it.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

October 17, 2012 - Donna and I have been doing a lot of work at the house and I have been working 4PM to Midnight lately.  Not able to keep the blog up to date.

We have been painting, calling sub-contractors, buying household items (lights, door knobs, etc) and staying real busy.  Had an inspection yesterday and there were a few items we need to correct.  HVAC inspection is complete and the electrical should be done sometime this week.  The Health Department has to come out and certify the septic system and our plumber has been trying to get a firm date/time for that to happen.


We anticipate moving in before the end of October!  We still have some rooms to paint but most were done when Meredith was up to help for two weeks.

Kitchen lights are installed and working.  Sink as well.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

This is the light fixture in the piano room.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Plumber putting in the sump pump.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

View of the house WITH the mailbox in place.  There was a LOT of
rock I had to dig through to get the box deep enough.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

October 5, 2012 - Donna and Meredith are very busy painting the rooms.  As of Friday they have completed the mudroom, laundry, dining room, family room, master bedroom, all the downstairs closets, upstairs linen closet, one of the bedrooms and the piano room is almost done.  It has been so nice with Meredith and Samantha here.  Samantha gets to spend time with both sets of grand parents and while they are staying with us I get to spoil Sam a lot.

The plumber is all almost done and the electrician should finish next week and we can order the inspections.

It's about 8PM on Friday night and the girls have been here all day.
I got out of work in Lexington at 6PM and called to see if they wanted anything to eat.
I stopped at Chipotle's and when I brought it to the house they were so
hungry they jumped off the ladders and DEVOURED the food.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

This is the piano room and it looks very nice.  The picture doesn't do it justice.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

 October 2, 2012 - Stopped by the house to see any changes.  The stove was delivered today and the dishwasher installed as well.  More lights have been put up and Donna and Meredith have finished painting most of the downstairs!  They both sure are hard workers.

Had a surprise when I drove in the driveway.  There was a car IN the yard next to the driveway just sitting.  I called Donna to see if one of the contractors had left it there and she said No.  I called the non-emergency police line to see if they would come out and ID the car so I could get in touch with the owner.  There was no piece of paper on the window explaining why the car was there.  An officer arrived in about 10 minutes and just as he got out of the car this guy (about 25 or so) walks up and actually says "You aren't going to tow my car are you?"  I asked him why he had parked his car on my new lawn and made tire tracks in the new grass?  He said he just parked there so he could go running!!!  The police officer looked at me and was as dumbstruck as I was.  The driver then says "Is this house for sale...I thought it would be OK to park here."  Needless to say the officer tells him unless the two of us work this out a couple of things would happen.  The driver would be issued a civil citation for destruction of property AND Mr. Mitchell would receive a copy of the report to take to Small Claims Court and the driver would pay for the damages.  OR we could work it out together but the report would still be on file in the event he didn't comply.  He agreed to  my terms...I would have the guy who initially put in the lawn to come out and give me an estimate on what it would take to fix it and the driver would have to pay for it.  So now I have to do some more calling and get this fixed!  They driver tried to back out but the car got stuck in the mud.  He called his parents who came out and helped him bet the car out of the yard.

Ironically, the father and mother (they were very nice) said they had walked through the house during the 'open' construction stage.  I invited all three of them in to see the current status and we had a real nice visit.  The son is a graduate of UM in Ann Arbor.  Also the father and mother were originally from New Jersey and I told them we had lived there for two years as well.  Small world.

Stove ready to be installed.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Dishwasher installed.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Donna and Meredith painted the dining room.  The picture really doesn't do the color justice.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Parking Lot?
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The damage after he had his family push him out.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

September 29, 2012 - Been a few days since I posted something here but not a lot of big stuff going on.  The plumber and electrician have been out a couple of times working on their stuff.  I received an email from our builder and he said all we need for the occupancy permit is final inspections on electrical, plumbing, a letter from the insulation guys on what they did, a termite treatment/inspection and a final elevation certificate from our engineer.  All the paperwork is submitted and as soon as the plumber/electrician finish we will request the inspections.  There is still some stuff upstairs we need to do (painting, flooring and hanging interior doors) but they won't affect the occupancy permit.  Getting close!!

Hot water heater was installed this week.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Light in the Master Bath.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Donna and Meredith have spent some time with samples.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Downstairs bath.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Upstairs bathroom.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Central 'staging' area that Donna uses.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Not sure if you can see it or not but our grass is coming up.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

 

September 21, 2012 - Busy day today.  The concrete guys poured the patio and storage building and after the truck left the landscape guys came in and did the final grading, seeding with a cover of straw.  I'm hoping it will rain tonight or tomorrow to get the seed to germinate.  If it doesn't rain on Saturday I will have to go out and water it with the hose.

Today my Mom and Sister drove in from Flint, Michigan (my hometown) and I took them out to the house while Donna was at school teaching.  Gave them the $50 tour and only charged them $1.93!

Front yard is seeded and I'm hoping those clouds
in the sky will bring some rain.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The pad is poured for the storage building.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The patio and steps is poured as well.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

My Mom and Sister came in from Flint, Michigan for a visit and I took them out to see the house.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

September 20, 2012 - Today when I got to the new house I found the entire yard all graded out and ready for seeding.  Also the patio and storage building are ready for the cement to be poured tomorrow.  It would have been poured earlier this week but with the rain we had to wait for the yard to dry out so the cement truck can get behind the house without making big ruts in the yard.

The yard was graded and prepared for seeding today.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The back yard is also ready for seeding.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The patio is ready for the cement.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Donna in the Great Room.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Washer and Dryer delivered this past week.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The refrigerator was also delivered this past week.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

September 9-15, 2012 - Been a bit since I last posted but both Donna and I have been busy with not just the house but with day to day activities like work and work and some more work...THEN some work on the house!  Life is good though and we have nothing to complain about.

This past Monday, I took a day off of work and rented a rear-tine rototiller so we could prepare the yard for planting grass.  Got started at 9AM and was really getting beat up with the hard ground.  By 1:30PM or so I only had just over 1/2 of the front yard tilled!  A guy stopped by and offered to bid the job.  Just after he gave us the bid ANOTHER guy came by and wanted to bid it as well.  Needless to say it didn't take Donna and I too long to figure out it would be better to have a professional do the job.  It will take them one day to do the entire yard and that includes using a power rake to pick up all the rocks and leftover cement!  Money well spent and it was actually cheaper than we thought it would be.

The wood floors are done and look outstanding!  We are very pleased with the final result.

This is what I completed after about 4+ hours or hard work.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The guy putting up the forms for the patio.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Laying out the form for the storage shed.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Doing some mulch and will add plants later next week.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Done with the mulch.  If you look on the porch you will Jada who
supervised the job site for the day!
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Looking into the kitchen.
Click on the picture so see a larger image.

The wood floors look awesome!
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

September 6, 2012 - Been waiting a long time to see what the floor would look like and that day has finally come.  The guys did the sanding in one day and they stained today.  I worked late yesterday and couldn't get out to take pictures of the sanding process. The stain needs to soak for at least 24 hours and then they will varnish the floors.

The gutters and downspouts were installed on Tuesday.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

We couldn't walk on the floor because the stain was still wet.  Took this picture
from the front door.  This is looking into the piano room.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

The stairs were done today as well.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

September 3, 2012 - Monday after work I met Donna in Lexington and we shopped for the appliances.  She had prices from one store and we compared them with Best Buy and another store in Lexington.  The prices were within a hundred dollars of each other so we went to the other store and asked them what type of deal they could give us.  The salesman came back with his number and we took that to Best Buy.  Talked to their manager to see what he could do and we were surprised when they came back with a savings of almost $400!  Needless to say we bought the stuff from Best Buy.

Placing the order at Best Buy.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

This is the refrigerator that we purchased.
Click on the picture to see a larger image. 

August 30, 2012 - The stairway is done and we are very happy with the work.  Cedar is a true craftsman and very meticulous with his work.  He not only did the stairs but the built-in cabinets in the master bathroom as well.  Next week the floors are scheduled to be sanded and finished.

Built-in cabinets in the master bathroom.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

Stairs are installed and look GREAT!
Click on the picture to see a larger image.

I love the look the the front walk and the small curves.
Click on the picture to see a larger image.