Category Archives: Home Building

Family, Friends, Home Building, Milestones, News, Year in Review

2010 year in review

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** I started writing this in December, but I never was able to bring myself to finish this entry. 2010 was a tough year. 2011 is a fresh year and as sad as it is to move on from some things, its truly a fresh start in many ways. — March 21, 2011 **

2010 is going to be remembered as very tough year.  There were personal highs and very deep lows this year in our lives.  This year will be the year of a new beginning with our house.  We celebrated the house with some close friends on Saturday night to celebrate and thank them all for their support, love and help along the way as we have gone through the process of building.  Without them, we couldn’t have completed the build.  And that was a large, very good night for us to celebrate. It represents a big milestone in our lives. As part of that night, we asked each of them to bring a photo for our family and friends wall. Its one of the final touches we are adding to our house. We purchased a “tree of life” metal wall sculpture made by a local artist as the focal point of that wall and we are surrounding the tree with photos of all the people who are most special to us. The photos we adding at the party were just the beginning as we have lots more people to add to our wall. These strong relationships are so valued and needed for us to be healthy and their support in the last year has helped us pull through some difficult times. Continue reading 2010 year in review →

Green Home, Home, Home Building

Landscaping has been added

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Landscaping has been added around our house and the driveway has been created.  Our friend, Robbie Prince, and his company, Carolina Outdoor, has been on-site this week and working on building flower beds around the house and putting in bushes and flowers.  He suggested Magnolia trees at the corners fo the house, holly bushes, loropetalum, and a crepe myrtle at the corner of the back porch.   We are extremely happy with the results.  He will be adding mulch to the beds today and finishing up.

Family, Friends, Green Home, Home, Home Building, News

House completed, and we’ve moved

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What a busy month it has been.  Our house was completed on October 30 and we received our certificate of occupancy.  The next day, we celebrated Peyton’s birthday and we were able to show the house off to Jen’s parents who came into town for the birthday celebration.

After receiving the certificate of occupancy, we still had a few minor things to be completed in the house – trim paining and the such – but all the major construction was completed.

We moved in the following week and although we planned to move furniture and rent a truck on Saturday, with the help of some of our fantastic friends, we were able to move in the last furniture late on Friday night.  My cousin Brett, his wife Trina, and our friends Annie, Madelyn and Russell all were huge helps in moving us in so quickly, as well as unboxing when we got to the new house.  My mom and dad came in on Friday during the day and helped unbox and move some of the bigger furniture, too.

Saturday night, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner welcoming us to the neighborhood.  Our neighbor and friend Kendall fixed prime rib on the grill.  Tammy and Kendall hosted all of us so that we could meet our neighbors and celebrate our new house.  Tammy also prayed for and asked for blessing over our new home.  Afterwards, we gave a tour to my cousin Amanda and her boyfriend Justin – and they helped us unpack some more afterwards.

Peyton is really enjoying her new room.  She loves sleeping in there — and a bad habit she developed in the rental house has disappeared.  A lot of nights in the rental, she would come into our room during the night – around 3am – but that hasn’t happened once in the new house.  She loves her room and is really comfortable in it.

I’ll be posting some new photos soon of the completed house.

Green Home, Home, Home Building

Nearing completion

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The punch list is getting shorter. We are crossing things off the list every day and we are nearing the end of our build. We are planning the big move for the first weekend in November. The house will most likely be done earlier than that date, but Peyton’s birthday will be the same week that we expect completion. We are planning a birthday celebration when we would otherwise move. And that just means excitement all around.

In the past few weeks, the front steps have been laid, the back patio has been poured. The electrical trim has been almost completed – all (except one) of our lighting fixtures have been installed. Our appliances have arrived and have been installed. Electricity has been turned on and permanently connected to the house.

Since my last update online, the counters have been installed and most of the plumbing trim has been installed. The tile has been installed on the floors and in the master bath shower. The bathrooms have all had their final coats of paint on the walls.

The week to come will be impressive. This week, we will have hardwood, paint and final plumbing installed throughout the week.

Green Home, Home, Home Building

Trim, paint and cabinets

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Trim has been installed.  The walls have been primed with their paint colors and our cabinets have been installed throughout the house.  The tile floors have been started.  All of the tile materials arrived yesterday and crew began installation.  Also, if all goes well, we will be moving in sometime next month!  We are excited about that…

Green Home, Home, Home Building

3 months of progress on the new house

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Earlier this week, we marked the three month mark for our home build. I spent much of the day sitting on the new screened porch – just enjoying the breeze. The day before, I attended my Granny’s funeral. The past month has been extremely emotional and trying as she has struggled and ultimately passed on. I have been fortunate in my life not to have lost many of my family members during my (soon to be) 30 years. So, while I was surrounded by an amazing new home that has moved from a dream, to paper, to being built, the time has been bittersweet.

It is very amazing how much has happened with the house in just three short months. The lot was cleared in early July and then footings were dug and poured on July 13 and 15. Since that time, we have an actual house on site. At the last draw (a couple weeks ago), we were an estimated 60% completed on the house. Today, I would personally estimate that we are closer to 70% complete.

Inside the house, we have finish carpentry going in – crown molding, baseboard, interior doors and door trim throughout in preparation for the painters to come in next week. Our cabinets have arrived from the factory and should be installed in the coming week. Outside, our front door has arrived and been installed. The siding around the front door (the very last section) has been completed and our shutters have been installed. On the outside, the only things I see left are finish electrical, steps and painting some of the trim around the porches.