Monday, April 2, 2018

Another House Update

When my house is done, what else will I have left to talk about??

Anyways, after February being a horribly frustrating month with the lack of progress on the house, I am very happy to report that March was a MUCH better month. If you want more pictures, check out my Instagram account on the right. I'm too lazy to post them right now on the blog.

First: our septic guy was able to come out and dig the tank and drain fields. Our septic designer got the drawings done and permit submitted to the county, so the areas should be backfilled this week.

Second: the electrician came and did the rough-in, including outlets, cable, switches, etc. He listened to what we wanted, made recommendations, and was super efficient. One thing is for sure, Lexar does not skimp on the outlets--a lot of other builders do!

Third: the siders finally started with our Hardie board plank siding. I can't even tell you what a relief that was as we were told for weeks/months that they were starting. I was really starting to get anxious (for good reason too) about the moisture level in the wood since the lumber was exposed to and unprotected against the elements for so long. The siders showed up and worked really fast one day, then didn't show up for another 4 days after that. It was very frustrating to say the least. Also, we were told we needed to backfill the septic prior to the siders starting, which really stressed us out. The timing was poor because we booked the septic guy over a month prior to starting because we expected the siding to have been completed already. Luckily, the siders just put some wood coverings over the holes and got to work.

Anyways, the house looks so GOOD with the siding on. Lexar puts trim around ALL exterior windows. I emphasize this because again, some builders skimp in this area. A lot of tract homes around here do not have exterior window trim in the back or side of the house, making the expensive homes look cheap. Nobody will really see the back of our house other than us due to the slope of our lot, but it doesn't matter. The trim for the windows and doors are really nice touches.



Fourth: the trenches for our permanent power and water were dug. The bad news was that nobody was telling us we need to call in our permanent power with our company, so that put us back a week. Our power company wasn't available for a full 7 days for the transition from temporary power to permanent. So, that means we will be ready for inspection for electrical and rough-in after Thursday this week

Fifth: the garage walls were finally installed between the 2-car garage and the 3rd car garage.

Sixth: our wood moisture levels were measured by Lexar. Bad news: still high (between 17-30%). It should be below 15% prior to insulation. So, we bought 3 more industrial high-CFM fans for our crawl space and house (we already had 5 in our house!!). One fan we bought is called Monsoon and it is one seriously strong fan.

Our project manager still says May for completion date, but that is a tight schedule for 60 days. We are thinking more like June. Anyways, we had to ask for a construction loan extension, so hopefully we'll hear back about that soon.

Thanks for all of your kind words and support. This has been one crazy ride, and I don't plan on doing this ever again.

Update: Curious about our progress? Click on this link to see all of our home building updates, or check out my Instagram account.

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