Serious business - Stained Glass window - transom windows

One step closer to having the Electrician and Air Condition hooked up and running.

We feel very accomplished this weekend. We finished all T&G wall boards up to the highest electrical outlet. The last few steps, before calling the Electrician in and Air Condition installer, will be installation of light fixtures and the island. 
We even installed 4 out of the 5 interior doors. Thanks to Youtube and THISISCarpentry. His video with a 5 step process worked great and by door number 4, we had it down!  They are square, plum and look great!

In the laundry room we opted for sheets of beadboard on the walls behind the washer/dryer, dog kennels and shelving. These will be painted white to brighten up the small room and give it a clean look. The 3 boards installed easily, even with the 5 cuts outs in the middle section. Measure twice - cut once!

We bought and delivered the kitchen island cabinets. After many hours of discussion, we decided on prefab cabinets from our Builders Warehouse with oak front drawers and doors. The three cabinets (2-30", 1-18") will give us about a 7' island. We are shopping for live edge cedar, or other hardwood, slab for the island countertop.

We changed our plan on the floor, instead of staining or painting we are going to install, can you guess?

 And the REAL fun begins. We have color!!  We have 4 beautiful stained glass windows. All four windows are going to be installed like transom windows over the 4 hallway doors. We did a dry fit of one window and it fit perfect with the custom framework!  This colorful antique window is over the laundry room door.

A little homesteading on the side.  Onion sets IN! More, much more to come.

Subcontractors Subcontractors and more Subcontractors

We have had a lot of activity in our build. We have had subcontracts and more subcontractors working on different projects. The money in our wallet is flying out as we near the end of the big expenses. That is all fine because that means we are getting nearer to having a finished home.

The electrical rough in is done!  Coordinating the A/C, electrical, chimney and insulation guys has been fairly easy. Each of these companies have been accommodating and very professional with meeting our needs.

Culpepper Electrical worked with us to place outlets and fixture junctions where we needed them. Bryan Culpepper made suggestions that improved the overall installation.  Here are a few photos:

With the electrical roughed in the air condition was roughed in also. The inside unit of the 4 ton 18 SEER American Standard heat pump was installed. Platt Heating and Aircondition is completing the installation of the unit.  They have been there when they said they would be and most importantly worked with us to keep the attic space clear. The unit in the attic space is suspended.  Here is what we have:

Just yesterday the chimney was installed thanks to Huff Welding. Another very highly recommended company. Mr. Huff and his staff cut the hole in the perfectly good roof to insert the chimney pipe, attached the supports and cap.  It looks great! We are expecting very high winds today so that will be a good test.

                          



















We took a little time off to start a "test" deer plot.  We are fortunate to have a nice clearing to work with. I mowed the 1/4 acre location and then my husband turned over the ground using the box blade on the tractor. Alot more work is to be done to get this spot ready for seed. Second photo is me helping.

Our fantastic guys from Culpepper Electric were out very early this morning to trench and prepare for the electric line to be run underground. We are getting very close to having live electricity! They also helped us trench our septic and water line locations.  We (I mean my husband) dug and placed the 200gal septic for our grey water yesterday.

That tank reminds me of the Gilligan's Island episode where the little oriental man shows up on shore in a tiny submarine looking thing. Doesn't it look like that?

Next up: Insulation in the next few days....stay tuned.