All Build, All the Time

You all are going to be SO sick of hearing about this, but this is my complete life right now.

We have to move into the house on the 15th.  This is a hard date because we lose our lease on this temporary rental.  Yes, we could move into the RV, but it is not ideal - no water, no electricity.  We cannot set that up without the house being done.

Yesterday was a rough day - it seemed like the builder was just la-ti-da about finishing the house.  However, the appraiser called me yesterday evening.  Yep, that changed his mind.  The appraiser wanted to come today, but I put him off until next week because the house is not done.  Like a lot not done.

However, today we were hopping.  

1. The garage door was installed.  Looks great - huh?  Well, there is a major problem.  In all likelihood the garage door opener motor will not fit.  The garage door is too big due to us adding a loft on top of the garage.  Now, this really is the builder's fault because I made this change VERY early in the process and the door was not ordered until about a month ago.  He should have made the adjustment - so we will see what happens.

2.  The trim work guys were there installing caps on the posts located in the patio, spindles and trim for the stairs in the garage, frames around the mirrors and finishing up any missing baseboards, trim, etc.  They did not finish and will probably take 2 more days.

3.  The cabinet guy was in making adjustments, touching up nail holes, etc.

4.  The electric company was in installing electricity for the entire house!  YEAH!!!

5. The HVAC guy came to hook us up with air conditioning.

6.  The tile guys were in grouting all interior tiled areas. 

7.  Shed guys showed up to replace a part - good thing I was there because I was not notified in advance.

8. I walked around with the gutter guy to develop a plan for gutters and got an estimate.

9. I walked around with the builder and concrete guy to decide and plan on the driveway to the house and also the shed, plus a parking space.  No estimate yet, but I hope to get that tomorrow.

10.  I spoke with the cleaners to see about getting us a clean before we move in.  The construction guys just won't do a good job - they are not about the cleaning. I don't think the cleaners come up to us now - I am still waiting to hear.  I am bummed because they have been with us for about 13 years.  I trust them and they do a great job. 

11.  I made a call to the pest control guys.  I would like the house and shed done before we move in.

12.  I set up propane for the house and made the appointment for install.

13.  Accepted a few deliveries as well.

Everything is functioning like we live there.  The mailman even searched me out amongst 20 people, 8 vehicles, and so much craziness.  He appreciated my oversize mailbox.  He is a great guy - one of the many reasons I love living out a bit - we know our mailman!

Just for fun - these are the beams in our living room - we will be painting the vertical area of the tray the same color as the walls - because it is just too white.  However, you can really see those beams now!  These are over 100 years old from a Mennonite Farm in Wisconsin.  I will get a better shot without the lighting before long.

Overall, I am a bit frustrated about the process.  Our builder is great, but he is unorganized and cannot keep the pace of this and so many things fall through the cracks.  For instance, we had a standing appointment that the electric company would be by to connect electricity on a certain date for about 2 weeks.  On that morning (yesterday), they could not connect it because we did not have the conduit available to run the wires up the pole.  Seriously!  The builder brought it by that afternoon, but we had to set another appointment to get the line up there and really get started.  Thankfully, the electric company came back today and got it going.  This stress could have been avoided by having the conduit there on the APPOINTED day.  Things like that are happening left and right.  Not very efficient.

That is why I am there day in and day out right now.  The contractors are coming to me even when he is there now.  As for the garage door - the builder is ignoring this problem and it is a problem, but tomorrow, it will come to light and he NEEDS to listen to me on this.  Even if they get the motor working, we will have problems.  We may have to leave it until after the appraisal though.  We will see.

Anyway, tomorrow, our wood floors get installed, more trim work done, hopefully the loft air conditioning goes in, tile guy can work on the patio, the garage guy will come and the forms for the main driveway will be set.  I need to set up trash pick-up and follow up with the maids and pest control people.  So much to do, so much to say.....