Happy New Year to us!

Moving right along....

Here're the doors between the keeping room and the screened porch.  Transom!

Packing list for the doors....

Yup.

Looking good, screened porch ceiling!!

WTF

Knotty spruce makes a really nice ceiling.  Smells good too.

Front porch.

Mmmmmm....!

Inspector Detector in the house.  Literally!

First finish work is underway!

Odds & ends from Friday/Saturday (Dec 27/28)...

This is the brand/model of "can" (recessed light fixture) that our electrician uses.  22 of these are mounted throughout the house, in to which we'll install EcoSmart LED bulb/trim units.  A very "green" choice!

The fireplace unit and accompanying vent have been installed.  No pic yet of the fireplace, as it has not been finished out.

Shiny new vent again.

Well well well...what have we here...!!  These are the 5/4 x 5-1/4" x 16' T&G knotty spruce planks that will be installed as the ceiling in the screened & front porches.  They were treated today with MinWax "Early American" stain and two coats of polyurethane will follow.  After everything is dry and cured, up they'll go and we'll have some beautiful finished (exterior) ceilings.

It is really handsome stuff; can't wait to see it installed!

Here is an example of what the ceilings will look like when finished, from one of RMH's recently-built homes in Cornelius.

Inspection notification from Thursday detailing a few things needed relative to framing.  I don't understand what the inspector is saying, but Mark and his crew do, and that's all that matters.

More randomness.

As previously mentioned, several inspections were completed/passed.  Here is proof.

Borate sprayed all over the place so termites won't bother us.

Here is the box that our main electrical panel came in.  It's a big'n.

The little stickers are three more inspection approvals.

Here is Oscar in sunny repose.  Such a fine profile!

Random stuff.

As of last Friday, the trades had completed all rough-ins and everything passed inspection (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, well, and septic).  Drywalling will begin during/after the holiday weeks, and will be completed about two weeks later.  I presume some or all of the millwork will happen at the same time.  Flooring will also begin soon - tiled areas first, then wood.  Doug from the carpet store came out on Saturday (12.21) and measured the bedrooms.  All interior doors and the breathtaking mahogany front door have been ordered, as were the two garage doors.

Here are some random pics of stuff from recent life.

My baby boy's beautiful, magical ears.  I love him so very much.

Homemade pepperoni & green olive 'za from last Friday evening.

Excellent old Chevy pickups at Auto Investors down in Dothan, AL.

Couple of tasty sushi rolls I enjoyed during my recent trip to S Florida.

Totally choice Chevy II, also at Auto Investors.  LOL @ the microbus!

Frenzy of activity!

Big week! Well pump installed and water line trenched to house, septic system installed, plumbing nearly complete, and electrical going strong as well. Whew!

Encore Wire is a customer of my company, so I was happy to see that the electricians were using their product.

Exhaust fan in master shower.

Nice shiny new tub in guest bathroom; it's deep!

Trenching for the water line to the home.

A couple of the dudes who were digging the (enormous) hole for the 1,500 gallon septic tank had to ride the bucket in & out.

And there's the tank that will hold all of our...err, waste.  lulz

Thing is huge.

We hope to never see this big boy again.

Starting to dig the 4 x 125 ft septic drain trenches.

Into the trenches, which are about 3.5 feet deep, are placed these half-cylinder widgets that facilitate dispersion and drainage of the septic liquid.

That's the range hood vent pipe, and the boys framed a soffit to conceal it (this portion of the run is in the garage).

Two more of the septic lines that run under the back yard.

Big boy!

Framers built up the outdoor shower base as well.  All pressure treated (lots of beefy support underneath this slab of plywood), which will then be heavily waterproofed with RedGard, followed by a substantial mortar base with proper pitch to drain, then river pebble tile on top.

More septic highlights.

Told you they are long runs!

Trench for water line from well pump.  The wellhead and pump control box are out there under the fake boulder-looking thing.

Here's the topside hardware associated with the well pump.  The pump (a 1HP Grundfos SQE) was placed about 300 ft down, and the controller (Grundfos CU301) and other system components  are at the well head.  It's a damn slick setup; we will be able to run three showers at once, and flush a couple of toilets, and heck why not the dishwasher too, without any water pressure loss.  Not that we'd do all that, mind you, but...we could! :-)

Closeup of precision well pump components.

Oh hey, now there's a can in the master shower, to keep the exhaust fan company!

The same back yard, after the septic lines and tank were backfilled and graded.  Like nothing ever happened!

Tradesmen doing their things.

Over the past two weeks, the trades have infiltrated and all sorts of new additions have appeared.  Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC are all well underway.

Follow-up regarding the well...the drillers had to go all the way down to 620 ft (!!) before they tapped into a subterranean ocean.  Once they reached that depth, they found a flow rate of 200+ GPM (we had seen no more than 3-4 GPM on the way down).  A happy ending to be sure!

HVAC ducts began snaking here & there.

The big ol' front door frame is complete.

The built-in bookshelf under the staircase has been roughed out. Also visible is the air return box for the 1st floor HVAC system.

The giant shower in the master bathroom!  Drain is in, PEX water lines are in.

Rough-ins for the master bathroom vanity.

Here is the tub for the 2nd bathroom.  It's a Sterling by Kohler "Ensemble" model, 60 x 32 x 20.  Nothing fancy, just a nice solid unit.

The first of two Trane XB90 furnace units, this one mounted in the attic to serve the 2nd floor.  (The other one will be located in the crawlspace to serve the 1st floor.)

Laundry "room" rough-ins.

A closer look at the opening that will house the lovely built-in bookshelves under the stairs.

That white tube sticking out of the ground is the water wellhead.  At some point in the not too distant future, the boys will drop a 1 HP variable speed submersible pump down the shaft (to about 300 ft), run a 3/4" pipe line to a tank in the crawlspace, and we'll be all set.