Drywall is here

We are just back from a trip from Illinois to Allegan, and a quick day trip to Warren.  On Friday the Septic guy started digging the septic field and put the extra dirt in the driveway area.  Early Friday the basement insulation was delivered along with the deck framing material.  Late Friday the drywall was delivered and Saturday they started installing.  So we have a slew of new pictures of progress.  Here they are:

Deck framing materials delivered

Dirt from the septic field was moved to fill the drive.

Drywall is waiting to be hung in the great room.

Garage walls have been insulated and waiting for the drywall to go in.

Drywall waiting to be installed in the kitchen.

Electric panel installed.

Fireplace installed.

Sunroom insulated.

Ivan ready to start insulating the basement walls.

The master closet was insulated and is the first room with drywall on the walls and cieling.  We are on our way.

Matt cutting pieces for the basement wall insulation.

Mike's room with insulation.

Septic Field ready.

Septic Field dug out.

Kitchen Organization Ideas

This week they are putting in the insulation and then the drywall starts.  So as we wait, I'm browsing the web on how to organize the kitchen STUFF.  I anyone who knows us knows that Mike has STUFF and I don't like to have stuff cluttering the kitchen.  So here are some neat kitchen organization things I might be using.

I especially like the way they do the lids for pots and pans and the storage of the casserole dishes.  Since we will have mostly drawers and not many upper cabinets, I hope to be able to use some of these ideas.

12 Great Ideas for Organization In the Kitchen

Houzz- Kitchen Design, Bathroom Design and More»

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New York Architect · New York Interior Designer · San Francisco Contractor · Los Angeles Landscaping ·

Inspections Done

We had the inspections for the Electric, Plumbing and Heating/Cooling done last week and everything is good to go.  The framer was coming yesterday and today to do some last punch list items. 

We are waiting for the fireplace to come in, we ordered it a few weeks ago from Cosy Warm Fireplace & Patio in Holland, thinking that a local company would be good.  But some delays are occuring, they aren't scheduled to get the fireplace until late this week, so the install won't be till mid next week at best.    We have the insulation scheduled for late this week and the drywall to start mid next week, so things are moving along, slow but still moving along.

Of course we can't have a new build without some drama, ours started last week.  The HVAC guy decided he doesn't want to finish the job.  Luckily, his contract is with Pierson Gibbs, not directly with us, so Pierson Gibbs will be working with him and the legal issues involved.  I'm sure they will get us HVAC one way or another.   Of course, Mike is the worry wart, so until it is resolved, he will worry.

So hear are a few unexciting pictures of plumbing, wiring and HVAC.

So Much Going On

It's been a few weeks since our last post.  So many things have been happening, I'll try to get everyone up to date.

We closed on the Dearborn house last Wednesday.  Picked up a moving truck Friday night, had two movers over Saturday morning and loaded the truck. Mike drove the truck and Cocoa and I followed in the Vue.  We got to Patti's house in Allegan about 6 and Patti got here about 7.  We went out for a quick dinner and then all crashed.  Saturday morning two more movers came and unloaded everything into Patti's garage and basement.  We headed back to Dearborn to pick up a few things and drop off the keys at the realtor.  When we walked in with the keys, the new owners walked in behind us to pick up the key.  They are a nice young couple, who will hopefully enjoy the house for many years.  It's hard to believe I had the house for 3 years before Mike, so a total of 27 years in that house.  So good bye to that chapter of our life and on to the next one.

So now onto the new house.  The trades, Electric, Plumbing and Heating/Cooling are in the house doing their things.  We hope to have them all completed and ready for the inspections by Monday.  Following are a couple of pictures of the doors that were put in in the Great Room, Laundry Room Entry and Front Doors.

The doors are finally in on the lake side of the house

This is the laundry room entry door.  I wasn't sure it was worth the extra cost to have the tall door, but it sure looks good with the sun shinning in.  Can't wait to see it with the walls, floors, cabinets and washer/dryer.  You know that gypsies don't have washers and dryers, so the thought of having them at my disposal is a wishful thought.

Here is the door from the master bedroom to the deck.  This was a last minute addition to the plan.  So glad we did it, it looks great and the sun cooperated for the picture.

Basement bath tub is in.

Here's an exciting picture, the HVAC runs are getting put installed.

We hitched a ride back to Dearborn on Monday to pick up the car and turn in the keys for the house.  Mike is sleeping on the van floor and Cocoa has the comfy seat for her nap.

Here are Mike and Cocoa sleeping on the way back from lunch after we helped unload the truck.

Here are the front doors.  They look great and you can see through the house out the deck doors and to the lake.

Doug stopped by Patti's this afternoon and we talked about the schedules and he thinks we may be in late May.  I'm not holding my breath, but early June would be good.

In the mean time, we are staying at Patti's in Allegan.  Of course, her house is waiting for flooring, painting, trim work, bathrooms completed, kitchen, etc.....  But it's a place to sleep close to the build.  We're off later this week to Urbana, IL.

My Outdoor Shower and Exterior Doors

Not too much new looking this past weekend, but here are a few pictures of the garage exterior doors and my outdoor shower.  We're headed back tomorrow and plumbing and HVAC are working today, so we should see more visible progress. 

I've always wanted an outdoor shower, but ours got cut early in the budget.  We found this sitting in the snow for the basement bath.

The is the back garage door.

This is the entry door from the garage to the house.

This is the garage entry door on the front of the house.

Garage entry door from the outstide.

This is Mike's workroom door to the outside world.

Yesterday we had the appraisal for the Dearborn house.  Hopefully, by week end we'll know that all is well with the buyers financing.  Then we set the close date and go.  Today I'm starting to pack.

Windows are going IN

We had a great drive over to the house yesterday.  The sun was shining and traffic was light.  Of course, sunshine is great, until you get to a dirt driveway with thawing.  This equals mud.  Oh well, can't get to spring without thawing and mud.

The windows are almost all in.  I need to get the exact location for the kitchen window to go over the sink.  But I need to determine the exact location of the sink first.  I'm getting there, we walked through kitchen things with Jan. Hopefully we can get together soon to finalize that kitchen.  But I need to decide on washer/dryer, to finalize the laundry plan.  So many decisions.

This week Mike and I have been TRYING to decide on garage doors, fireplace, kitchen plan, lighting plans.....  Now you know why I'm updating this at 6AM on a Sunday morning.  Sleep is not always happening.  Of course, Mike and Cocoa are sound asleep after a bird hunt over by the new house yesterday, they are both pooped.

We also have more reasons to not sleep.  We have a contract on our Dearborn house and will be closing mid-March.  Yes that is just a few weeks away.  Who would have thought in this economy we would sell the house so quick.  It was only on the market for a week and we had two offers.  Thanks to our agent, Allison Fishwick for a great job.

So now we are working on where will we sleep for the next few months.  They are making great progress, but not quite that good.  

Okay, back to the pictures.  The camera battery went out, so the pics are from the cell phone. 

This is the garage.  They have it closed off and are running heat in here to get the ground to thaw, so they can pour some concrete.

This is in the garage looking to where Mike's work room and the laundry will be.

This is the view from the west neighbors.

Coming up the drive to the house.  The lake is in the background.

Here is the lake front view.  It's hard to believe that last weekend there was over a foot of snow.  Windows are looking good.

This is the lakefront bedroom in the lower level.

This is the other bedroom in the lower level on the right.  On the left is the walk out area to the lake.

This is the family room in the lower level.

This will be the great room.  Once the doors are in to the deck it will be great!!

Last but not least, I think this will be my favorite place, the sun room.  And today there was cooperation, there was great sun. 

Just a few updates on the lower level

We made it over to the house today.  It was cold, although warmer than the last few days, but sunny, which always helps.

Here are a few pictures from the lower level today.  Okay, I changed them, but they still show up on their side.  So for now you just have to turn your head.

The is the upper stairs going to the lower level.

Another head turner!!!  This is the framing for the master shower.  The seat will be tiled.  Although there are a few things that need to be changed/corrected in here.

These are the bottom half of the stairs to the lower level.

This is the wall for one of the bedrooms in the lower level.  It looks really dark because they have all the window opening covered to keep out the cold and snow.

Okay, another head turner.  This is the other bedroom in the lower level, you can see some light in this room, the window covering is not on tight enough.

Let's all hope for a warm up, so they can finish the shingling early next week.  Then they will start to work on the exterior trim.  Things are still moving along well.

Shingling is Happening

So we haven't made the trip over to Allegan in the past two weeks.  We've been busy putting our house on the market.  We have had some showings as well as some repeat visitors.  It is a pain to always be ready to head out of the house and take Cocoa somewhere.  Of course it usually is scheduled for dinner time.  Cocoa loves it, Sonic has become our new dinner spot, since it is too cold to leave Cocoa in the car while we go in somewhere to have dinner.  She loves the tots and the cheese bites.

So Doug has been kind enough to get us a few more pictures as the shingles are going up.  We hope to get over there this Friday.  So here they are: