The adventure of The Skylark is nearing the home stretch!
We have a projected closing date of 12-Mar-2004. That's the best news we've had in a long, long time!
As of 18-Feb-2004, we think they may have poured the garage floor. There was a large gas-fired heater in the garage last weekend. So, that's our guess as to why it was there.
We're expecting some warmer weather this week. Not a major thaw, certainly, but perhaps enough to allow for melt-off so more of the outside work can be done.
The asphalt plants won't open for a couple of months - maybe April. So, we don't expect to have a driveway until later in the Spring.
Stay tuned for pictures from the weekend of 21-Feb-2004...
These pictures were taken 21-Feb-2004:
We have cabinets! Kitchen cabinets and vanity cabinets!
It's starting to look like a house!
These cabinets are over the sink and the sink base. The gap is where the dishwasher goes.
These cabinets are over the stove and the refrigerator.
The doors and trim are staged in the living room, waiting to be installed.
The mantle is in place over the hearth.
Next week's pictures should show the doors and the baseboards and other trim in place or well along...
Update: 26-Feb-2004...
Our closing date of 12-Mar-2004 *IS* firm! In a phone call with the builder, we were told that the house will be ready for move-in by Friday, 12-Mar.
This coming weekend's pictures will show that we have a garage floor. The builder said it was to be poured today. The plumber should be back next Tuesday to finish up in the basement (place the hot water tank), install the toilets, sinks and bathroom plumbing fixtures. The electrical contractor and the heating/cooling guy should be back to finish up in the basement and install the air-conditioning condensing unit (hopefully on the north side of the house as we requested). That leaves very little to do besides place and install the stove and dishwasher.
We're almost home!!!
These pictures were taken 28-Feb-2004:
The Dachteras are home!
Well, almost!
It'll be mid- to late-April before we have an asphalt driveway. For now, we'll have to live with the crushed rock.
We have a garage floor!
Add a garage door, and we'll be in REAL good shape, garage-wise.
The laundry tub is in. That will be so great, not having to fill buckets and such in the kitchen sink.
Lori is taking video of all the new stuff this week. It's a shame we didn't get the camcorder sooner.
The countertops, kitchen sink and the dishwasher are in place.
The kitchen is almost complete!
The other countertop and the range hood are in place.
The plumber and the electrical contractor have both been here since last week. The wall switches and outlets are in, but there's still more electrical work to finish.
The kitchen viewed from the living room.
This view now appears almost as it will when the house is finished. Only the stove and refrigerator are missing.
Wires dangle from the light locations on the ceiling.
The kitchen viewed from the dinette.
Looks rather different than the first day we saw the start of the framing.
The front door viewed from the dinette.
Notice the cartons? There's more plumbing fixtures in the following pictures...
The hall closet has wire shelves, but no doors yet.
The other doors and trim are in, as can be seen in the hall and the second bath.
The second bath has its fixtures now.
The master bath has all has its fixtures now.
The spa tub has all has its fixtures and trim now. Still needs some tile work to be finished up, though.
The hot water tank is in place now, and the gas piping is complete to the furnace and the hot water tank.
The gas is hard-piped to both the furnace and hot water tank - no flexible connectors. Seems more communities are making that part of their building code now.
Also in this picture, but not easily seen: The ejector sump is sealed up now.
Two weeks to closing now! A few odds and ends to clean up and finish up: shutters beside the windows, floor registers, light fixtures, carpeting, a couple of pre-closing items we didn't show here and the final cleanup. Yes, friends, the challenges we anticipated are now before us...
Next week's pictures should show the house ready for our walk-through on 9-Mar-2004...
These pictures were taken 06-Mar-2004:
The carpeting is in!
When we came to take pictures this week, the painter was in putting on the finish coat of paint. That's his stuff in the middle of the living room.
The light fixtures are in!
Some of them don't have light bulbs in them yet, and some don't have all their light bulbs.
That's o.k. We still have about six days before closing on the 12th of March. Considering that ground was broken in October circa. the 7th, that makes it a few days over six months since the work began.
The tile around the spa tub is finished!
The tub still needs to be cleaned, though. We're thinking that the cleanup crew will be about the last folks through here before closing.
We have a garage door!
The builder doesn't provide a door motor. So, we'll do that later on. In fact, we may have to live without it for the first year until the builder's warranty is out.
The blue Cat-5e is for the phone. The roll of coax should be for Cable TV.
The phone company, SBC (formerly, Amertitech) is due out on Friday the 12th to hook up the phone lines. Once that's done, we can complete our home runs in the basement and put in the remaining phone jacks. The builder provides one phone jack without additional charges: the wall phone in the kitchen. We put wires in for each of the bedrooms, and also for the entertainment center since things like satellite TV (and TiVo?) want a phone connection so their box can "phone home" for updates and authorizations.
The Air Conditioning condensing unit location is here on the north side of the house. That way it gets shade most of the day instead of getting full sun.
The refrigerant lines are in as is the power and the control wiring. The yard is not landscaped yet; so, it's still to early to place the condensing unit.
We have shutters now!
This is how the house will look until the top soil arrives and gets smoothed out. We probably won't see sod until much later in the season, maybe late April or sometime in May.
That's us in the driveway. The van belongs to the painter.
This will likely be the last batch of pictures until closing. Then, we'll start the Move-In Time pictures.
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These cabinets are over the sink and the sink base. The gap is where the dishwasher goes.
These cabinets are over the stove and the refrigerator. 
The doors and trim are staged in the living room, waiting to be installed.
The Dachteras are home!
We have a garage floor!
The laundry tub is in. That will be so great, not having to fill buckets and such in the kitchen sink.
The countertops, kitchen sink and the dishwasher are in place.
The other countertop and the range hood are in place.
The kitchen viewed from the living room.
The kitchen viewed from the dinette.
The front door viewed from the dinette.
The hall closet has wire shelves, but no doors yet.
The second bath has its fixtures now.
The master bath has all has its fixtures now.
The spa tub has all has its fixtures and trim now. Still needs some tile work to be finished up, though.
The hot water tank is in place now, and the gas piping is complete to the furnace and the hot water tank.
The carpeting is in!
The tile around the spa tub is finished!
We have a garage door!
The blue Cat-5e is for the phone. The roll of coax should be for Cable TV.
The Air Conditioning condensing unit location is here on the north side of the house. That way it gets shade most of the day instead of getting full sun.
We have shutters now!