It's Been Awhile

Ok, it's after midnight and I can't sleep.  Lot's of things are continuing, but doesn't quite feel like we are getting things finished.

I don't have any new pictures, but need to take some in the morning and post progress.

We had lots of rain this week (torrential downpours).  The gutters worked great, but the new grass areas had lots of pools of water. So we had the landscaper back out to survey and once things dry out, we'll do some adjustments.

The best news was that the electrical, plumbing and mechanical inspections all were done and we passed.  Then the building inspection was done late Friday and another pass.  So we can pick up our certificate of occupancy in the morning from the township.  Great News!

We still have a few small items to complete on the electrical side of things.  One of the garage lights (giant garage lights that Mike wanted) hasn't come in yet. The whole house surge protector still needs to be put in, with so many electronics in everything (washer/dryer/fridge/oven/cooktop) and the massive storms we've had this week, we think this was a wise decision.

The paint is done except for touchups in the interior.  But the touch ups have taken a lot longer than I'd like.  The we need to have the garage interior painted.  Then more touchup on the exterior.  I never thought painting could be so time consuming.

Ivan got the interior railings completed and installed.  Just need to have paint and stain done.  There is that paint time again.  They are looking great and I'll have some pictures minus paint tomorrow.

He worked today on getting the crown molding on the cabinets, along with the skins and end door panels.  I didn't get a chance to see them done today, so I'll get pictures in the morning too.

Oh, I almost forgot, he got the deck and railings installed last week.  It looks great.  Now we just need to get the gate built so Cocoa can go on the deck and we don't  have to worry about her taking off after the geese, deer or to just go take a swim.


We were suppose to close on the mortgage this afternoon and that didn't happen.  Got the paper work about 11 this morning and they wanted details on the cost, by each trade person, along with a release that they each had been paid.  I had most of the releases and email them.  Then I filled out the cost sheets and took it to the closing.  Of course that opened more questions.  So needless to say we didn't close.  I came home with several assignments, get the remaining releases and provide them credit card statements (or individual receipts) saying how much we spent out of pocket.  So I had to email them 6 months of two different credit card statements to show what we have spent, along with the remaining releases.  They got about 18 attachments with about 60 pages of detail.  I can't imagine that anyone will really go through them all, but they have them now.

Of course the cost detail that they wanted wasn't in the same excel spreadsheet format that I had, so I redid the details in their sheet.  If anyone is doing this in the future, I have a great sheet from Chicago Title that they might want to have from the start.  I imagine that most title companies have the same type of sheet, so this might be a good start for someone.

So I still have a few trades with a few items outstanding, so I can't provide them with all the releases they need.  So that is a separate mess.  Now you know why I can't sleep tonight.  They have rescheduled the closing for tomorrow, no wait that is today now, at 4:30.  So cross your fingers.

Well in a few hours I'll head over to the house and get some pictures to share on the progress.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get some sleep before then.