Aww thanks everyone! Harry is such a joy. And he's sleeping through the night now 7pm-7am! What more could a mom ask for? Especially with all the crazy decisions we are making with the house right now :)

Our banquette is huge Andi... over 11 feet long. The seats are all 2 feet deep. The sides are 4 feet long. The angle is 2 inches from the seat to the wall and tapered from there. I didn't want it too slanted for fear of cushions sliding off. We ended up going with hinged storage rather than drawers too for budget reasons. I don't remember off hand out tall the back ended up being since we just stopped it at the window sill. But it looks great and I already love sitting on it. I can tell it will be a favorite in our household!

Grace, you'll have to stay on this forum after your house is finished, and post periodic pictures of Harry so we can all watch him grow. That is one adorable little boy!!

Grace, where are you getting a cushion made? We have. 94"x22" window seat that I need to have a cushion made for. Have you thought that far yet?

graceshan - thanks for the details! That really helps. We are doing a straight bench and it's about 11-12 feet long as well. I can't wait for it to get started. One last question - how high is the bench seat from the floor (just to the top of the seat, not the top of the back)

(I thought I had posted this yesterday already... but here it goes again)

Gracehan - Everything looks beautiful! Just wondering on the exterior shot if you could tell me what products you used? Are the siding and shakes done in fiber cement or is it some other type of material (wood composite, etc)? What brands did you use?

Thanks for the details!

farmhousegirl,

I just realized my response never posted the other day! The floors in our bathroom are a marble-look porcelain tile that our stone place showed me. I don't have the name on me right now and they're closed. I can get it for you if you want. I was set to put the AO Catarina (what I used in DD's bathroom) in the large format in there until she showed me this.

For your second question, did you mean the wood flooring?

I missed posting in the May thread but have no fear, we're still plodding along!
I'm sure that I'm now the oldest build on here since we began last May and have been at it for 13 months now! Oh well good things come to those who wait.... or something like that!

I'm loving the great photos this month!! Babs, you chose a gorgeous backsplash! And of course Harry is the bomb! What a cutie pie!! .... and I love all the details in Harry's house too! :) Can't wait to see his nursery!

Front of the house.... more stone details to finish but ready for the Hardie board and battens. (Doors are temporary!)

Rear of the house about the same.... timbers need their second coat of stain, and the concrete for the lower porch foundation should be poured this week.

Inside the plaster veneer has been finished. A few more days of curing and then when the stone masons are through with the dust outside, they'll be ready to prime.

Garage is ready for the tapered stone columns to be faced.

More photos and info about our move to Virginia on the blog.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.NewsFromTheHill.com

It's been One Heck Of a month. 30 days and we have a house! I continue to be a nervous wreck...although now that things will slow down, maybe just maybe, I can start to enjoy this ride!

[Traditional Exterior design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-exterior-home-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_736~s_2107)

Little concerned for Niki. thought backfilling was contraindicated until the first floor was in. sorry to bring this up if i am wrong.

More updates! We're moving in on Tuesday! I'll have more pictures at the end of the week since they're really finishing up stuff and cleaning things as well. Our shutters, however, won't be put on until after we move in.

Gas lantern was installed.

Entry lanterns were installed:

The appliances were put in. But I'll have to put updated photos here tomorrow with the protective films taken off now that it's cleaned up more in the room. It was a wreck when I took pics the other day. They just removed the films today.

I will show you these:
The microwave drawer!

This was taken when we fired up the burners the first time before the grates were put on:

The refrigerator drawers across from the dishwasher:

The final coat of paint in the guest room:

Our doorknobs:

The pocket office:

Laundry cubbies still have to be finished and a rod needs to be hung:

They put the carpet upstairs yesterday and will put the shoe molding in within a day or so. We did a Shaw low pile with kind of a subtle basket weave type pattern with some major stain resist stuff in it. It does show a little more light/dark traffic marks than I hoped (and more than what the sample showed) but it's the kids' space so I'm not going to worry myself with it. Excuse my thrilled little girl.

Doing cartwheels in her room:

My son's completely obnoxious LSU room (the wall is purple, not almost black like it seems):

I'll take updated ones each day now that the house is getting little tiny things done daily. Yay!!

I'm a little slow with uploading the pics but progress is moving right along:

The roofers were getting started.

Windows with grid were put on the back on the house and not the garage so that will have to be corrected. Windows in the top gable are suppose to have grids as well.

brick added

siding added

You can check out the rest of our build at the link below.

***We aren't the happiest with our builder(Norfolk Homes) but we are making the best of it***

Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog

Babs - it looks fantastic!!! Congrats on coming to an end and good luck with the actual move! Where did you get your door knobs? And foyer lights?

Xclusive, I'm sorry you're not happy with your builder. But everything looks good so far! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Andi_K, our knobs are Emtek. The regular ones are pretty new...new enough that our hardware place didn't have them on display yet so I only had the book for reference. The glass knobs are also Emtek as are the levers we have on the exterior doors, our front door set ( which is put on at the end) and the one set of double doors.

The entry lanterns are Pottery Barn. Boy was that an exhausting search! We needed two and everything I liked was either just too expensive to double the price with two or too tall or too small. I actually really liked two different Troy lanterns. Both were on backorder from the manufacturer. I attempted to order one from an online vendor but the mid-May shipment turned into the beginning of June which turned into mid-June. And the other never came available either. I gave up and had to start over. I saw the PB one and it reminded me of a much pricier Circa fixture I had liked. My friend who works at PB Kids part time surprised me with them. Because of the discount, I got both of these for $40 more than what ONE of the Troy lanterns was going to cost me!!

I'm actually glad these worked out. I love them in the space!

That was a long story! Sorry!

babs711 -Thanks for the info! I've found similar foyer lights and they were just outrageous, so I think I'll check out PB as well! And, I haven't even looked at Emtek, so that's great as well. The house really looks beautiful!!!

Sent from our builder today. Framing done. Roofing next week.

Front of house. Covered porch starting to take shape.
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Back of House. Master bedroom in the near corner
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Inside looking to the back of house. That's a window over the kitchen sink. There will be a window above in the vaulted ceiling.
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Front living area and looking to the front of house. Four windows up front.
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Back corner of the Master
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Mid-month update.

Here is a link that might be useful: build blog

Posted by red_lover (My Page) on Tue, Jun 12, 12 at 16:40
Little concerned for Niki. thought backfilling was contraindicated until the first floor was in. sorry to bring this up if i am wrong.

Thanks for looking out! The backfilling happened after the first floor was framed. The foundation was poured, then the framing of the first floor took place, followed by backfill. Hopefully that was the right order?

I appreciate (SO MUCH!) your knowledge on this. I'm new to building and learning lessons daily :)

Babs and Grace, can I ask what color your cabs and trim are? They are both gorgeous!

Our kitchen cabs are by Eudora in their white shade.

Our other builtins and trim was done in BM Frostine AF-5. But when it went on the wall, I felt it came out a little more off-white than my swatch. But that's fine because I like that it's a bit softer. Thank you!

Grace,

What brand is your vanity with the marble top?

Babs - how tall is your front porch and how high above the floor is your gas lantern? We have been "sized" by bevolo and the lantern on yoke they suggest hits about 7' above the porch. We have an 8' door. I am afraid that is too low. I don't mind it hanging a little in front of the door but don't want it to look tight.

We can always shorten the stem (which is 10") but we have 10 1/2 inches from the porch ceiling to the bottom of the porch trim (whatever that is called) so I am worried about cutting off the yoke so you only see half of it.

I didn't realize how tall the yoke was and unfortunately the yoke is necessary for the gas line . . .

We have broken ground on the day of Halloween 2011 and are an estimated two months away from completion. We have slowed down intentionally as soon as we got to the finishing phase, when we noticed that the haste of the builder was starting to yield results that we were not completely happy with.
I have captured the whole story in a blog, including frequent picture updates of the whole story: http://www.ourhouseofdreams.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Building our house of dreams

babs711 - Thank you

Insulation added and drywall put up. We are moving right along

One of the many verses I put around the house on all of my door headers. I'm sure the GC wasn't to happy but oh well :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog

Xclusive...looks like you are getting close! Looks great! And I LOVE the scripture verses on the door headers!!! Such a great idea.

yikes- i would have made your insulator take out about half of the batts (all of them around the fireplace) and redo them correctly. That is a prime example of how batts should not be installed. But they go the gyp up and taped in 3 days... not bad!

XClusive--I may just have to steal the verses on the headers idea. Loved it! We are getting to the end of the floor planning stage so hopefully in a couple of months we will have some pictures to share on this thread!

Our bricks are here! We went with a Columbus Brick in the 'St Louis' color.

Also, a lot of HVAC is in, the electricians are hard at work and the plumbings is wrapping up at this point. We're moving along.

Keep the pictures coming, the houses on here are looking great!

Posted by lzerarc (My Page) on Tue, Jun 19, 12 at 22:25

"yikes- i would have made your insulator take out about half of the batts (all of them around the fireplace) and redo them correctly. That is a prime example of how batts should not be installed. But they go the gyp up and taped in 3 days... not bad!"

Please tell me what did I miss and what's incorrect about how the insulation was put in? I surely have no problem with bringing this up with my builder. I think I have been very meticulous so for with all of the details(GC would probaly disagree and say a pain)...lol I think it will be great knowledge for me and anyone else who is building as well. Please share.

Also have to go talk to builder today about my staircase. Floor plans show an open staircase and thats how it was framed. Oil rubbed bronze spindles were delievered and I was expecting to see them up this morning but to my suprise they had started framing my staircase to be closed! huhhhhhh....more problems :)

wvmama,okpokesfan - Scriptures on headers was not my original idea(saw it in another house I was looking at) but loved the idea so I did it as well. :) I didn't ask anyone about doing it either? Its going to get covered up anyways and doesn't hurt anything so I didn't see any problem with doing it.

thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog

Hi everybody,

This is my first post here - I can't believe it is finally starting to happen. We thought we were going to build last year but oh, well. Turns out there's either quite a few stupid or dishonest people in this world - who knew?

Anyways, we started on May 28 and here's some pictures from the last few weeks.

Foundation from garage, I thought our expensive (to me anyways) septic system deserved a picture - ypu can't see our weeping bed in this picture, it is soooo big, our driveway which coincidentally just happened to curve around the randomly placed port-a-potty,the front of the house, the back of the house (faces south), and the hole where the window over the sink will be (I like to wash pretend dishes there now :-)

It's a pretty small house by GW standards, 2400 sq ft, but I feel lucky and so excited to be able to build it.

Btw, I just love seeing all the beautiful homes here, mine won't be nearly as thrilling but that's okay it would be impossible for me to be any happier with my future home (well, maybe I would have been a smidgen happier if we didn't have to change to vinyl siding ;-)

Xclusive-
Batts are hard to install correctly. Ok, correction- take more time to install correctly. TIme is money, batts are cheap, so most contractors rush it since its "covered" anyway. Batts should be fluffed to their full depth, no compressed and cut to size to fit the space snuggly. All of the batts around the fireplace are smashed in, not cut to fit the narrower opening. Batts should be cut around electrical boxes and insulation tucked behind the box.
I have installed plenty of batts before. It does take time to measure and cut around electric and fit snug into narrower framing spaces. I understand why they do it, but that does not make it right.
Do not want to be a Debbie Downer, but maybe others can learn and catch it ahead of time. Looks to be a great house thought!

Attached is a link for additional reading.

Here is a link that might be useful: Installing batts correctly

Posted by lzerarc (My Page) on Wed, Jun 20, 12 at 19:37

Xclusive-
"Batts are hard to install correctly. Ok, correction- take more time to install correctly. TIme is money, batts are cheap, so most contractors rush it since its "covered" anyway. Batts should be fluffed to their full depth, no compressed and cut to size to fit the space snuggly. All of the batts around the fireplace are smashed in, not cut to fit the narrower opening. Batts should be cut around electrical boxes and insulation tucked behind the box.
I have installed plenty of batts before. It does take time to measure and cut around electric and fit snug into narrower framing spaces. I understand why they do it, but that does not make it right.
Do not want to be a Debbie Downer, but maybe others can learn and catch it ahead of time. Looks to be a great house thought!"

No offense taken at all! thanks for the information, just wish I would have known ahead of time because I surely would have had then take it down and redo it all over again! :) Oh well, hopefully others to follow now know how it is suppose to be done so they can learn from my mistake. I'll know for my next build as well.

Thanks again!

Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog

for your next build... do not use batts at all ;)

Finally signed the contract with the builder. Everything will be with the lender on Monday. Permit process to start at the end of the week. So hopefully progress pics for the July post. I am excited but also want this to be OVER!

Finally get to post another pic! The rest of the foundation...major dirt & rock work (who would've thought dirt & rock could cost so much???) & now floor framing.

A beautiful day for building in Valdez, Alaska! :)

Sorry for taking so long to respond to questions. This month is just getting away from me!!

Babs: I haven't yet decided about the cushions but I'm considering making them myself.

Andi: I believe the bench is 18" from floor to bench. I want to put a dining table there so we just took a measurement of typical chairs.

MGDawg: We used Hardi siding for both the planks and the shingles. We did the color Boothbay Blue w/ the 15 year warrantee.

Laberglund: our trim is all Benjamin Moore Super White and it matches both whites on the cabinets. Thank you :)

natashak: We purchased the small vanity from Home Decorators Collection and the larger (2 sink) one from Kitchen Bath Collection. Both came with marble counters and sinks.

We are hoping to move in by the end of July so we are ALMOST DONE!!!!!!

:)
Shannon

We are getting so close. Our front porch posts are almost up and painting has started. I know they are funky colors but we really like color. The only hiccup we have had is that evidently the hard wood flooring we picked out may not make it. We are looking at other samples now. Evidently Anderson flooring does not have the greatest customer service in the world. We ordered it back at the beginning of May and they have been unresponsive to our flooring rep. Other than that...things are coming right along.

Kitchen color:

Dining room:

Master bedroom:

@dnilsen love your stone. Please share details... And are your shakes hardi?

In process of framing. First floor about done, starting on second this week.

Hey mfowler. Our stone came from General Shale and it's real stone. It was a newer one they had. I will have to get the name of it for you. Yep..those are hardi shakes on the house. That's not the color they will be but close.

I'm making some real progress building our small ICF home. I'm an old man, working alone, but I'm getting there. In the last month, I got the basement slab poured, and erected and poured the ICF walls. Next up will be building the floor deck, then stack up the walls for the main floor.

June has been VERY productive for us! They have completed all framing inside and out except for the stairs and on bathroom upstairs. Roof is papered and ready for shingles next week. Roofing ordered, brick lot choosen and being delivered hopefully this week, hardie on order and rough in for plumbing to start next week too. Busy, busy, busy!
Here are a few pics...
Front porch with DD bedroom window above

Its funny how we have gone to referring to the build as "the lot" to now calling it the "new house" because it finally looks like ONE!!! Yea!!!!!

After about a week or so with visible changes to the outside, it is nice having the brick work started today. Inside electrical is getting finalized as far as light/outlet placements go.

Aucorley, we laughed about the 'lot' becoming the 'new house,' too.

lzerarc, what would you use instead of batts? Spray foam? Fill us in!

I haven't posted yet this month!!! Eeek! It's amazing how fast things change. Most of the work lately has been inside plumbing and electric.

We just got stone put up.

Sunroom :)

And my kitchen window. I'm super excited about this window. This pic is a bit older because the sliding glass door was installed a couple weeks ago.

Mom23Es, I love your windows! What kind are they, if you don't mind my asking?

where exactly are the headers over those windows and doors?

I was wondering the same thing lzerarc.

Athensmomof3, I'm so sorry. I just saw your message. We moved in on the 19th and it's been a whirlwind. I got back to work this week also. So between moving, the kids' busy lives, working and trying to get settled, I haven't been on the board.

Are you talking with Chad? I worked it out between him and our builder since he had the measurements. I'll look when I get home. I had asked that where the top and bottom parts of the lantern meet hit somewhere at the top of the doorframe or the top of the door. They took the measurements and went from there. We have the traditional sized lantern.

Farmhousemom23- our house has all jeld wen vinyl windows. I wish we could have done wood, but it wasn't in the budget. Oh well. These will be easier maintenance anyway. They are all "low e" windows too- thats what all those big stickers/papers in the sunroom windows say. ;)

Whallyden and lzerarc- I didnt even know what you were talking about until I googled for pics of headers. I'm assuming it's fine since we've been passing inspections. They did add extra wood to the tops of windows since I took the pics, but I thought that was just as a courtesy to help hang drapery. Should I be more concerned? We are framing exterior walls with 2x6s, in case that matters.

Athensmomof3,

Our porch floor to ceiling height is about 10'4". The bottom of our lantern is roughly 7'2" above the porch floor. I say roughly because I was standing out there with the tape measure myself. There may be a half inch variance here or there but that's pretty darned close. We do have a small threshold up to the door. But that should help. Let me know if you need anything else. I drive around our neighborhood and looked at the houses with gas lanterns and liked the ones best when they fell the way ours does. Some were hung higher but I never saw any hung lower. Well, I saw a couple and didn't like it at all. This seemed like the perfect placement to me. Good luck!