Sticks in the Air

Progress this week was impressive! It's amazing what can be accomplished when we have more than one day in a row without rain/snow! The first floor structural framing is in place and the second floor structural members are moving in. I'm particularly excited about the huge amount of space that appears to be in the attic of the garage. Based on how it's framed right now, that space is considerably bigger than I expected. I guess I won't make my brother keep all of my Christmas decorations after all... Keeping my fingers crossed that they work through the weekend because the extended forecast shows about 5 more days of rain/snow on the horizon.

Our flooring adventure has come to a close! It took about 300 emails back and forth with our contractor to get things straightened out and get the pricing finalized but that's another big weight off our shoulders. All of the research and advice that I received was steering us towards spending money on upgraded hardwoods/tiles and sticking with standard carpet, but we still went the other direction anyway. The standard 3/4" hardwood is still a damn good product and the upgrade in carpet for the relaxation areas just felt like a bigger improvement over the standard selection. Plus, it allowed us to do a few extra flourishes in the bathrooms. Jen gets her fancy mosaic tile and I get my wood-look flooring. We let Chase determine whether his bath would have a mosaic tile and he opted to keep it plain white (and saved Daddy $140 in the process!).

I had a meeting with the electrician this week as well and so far they've been head and shoulders above the other contractors we've met with. They answered most of my questions in advance of the meeting clearly and concisely. They had solid recommendations when I was looking for a nudge in the right direction. And their pricing was easy to understand and reasonable. Want another recessed light? $150. Want another exterior outlet? $105. No more guessing as to what our ideas will cost! More to follow with electrical!

On a completely different topic, we've made the decision to do away with cable in the new home. We were Fios people in the last house and din't really have any complaints (other than cost). My dad's Comcast setup where we live right now is pretty impressive. The voice remote, the on-demand functions, the built in apps... I'm enjoying all of it. But then I looked into how much money I could save by cutting the cord. Wow. High speed Fios internet, a PlayStation Vue subscription, and a handful of Amazon FireTV sticks and we can have pretty much the same set of channels we had at the old house for less than $100/month. No brainer, right? 

Framing Week?

Not the most productive week at the job site as we dealt with rain, snow, and bomb cyclones (what?) over the past few days. They did, however, complete the backfill against the foundation, frame and pour the garage floor, and install steel beams in the basement. You'll also notice a beautiful pressure treated sill board anchored to the top of the foundation walls, which means one thing: It's framing time!

This pile of random lumber, OSB, and engineered beams will soon be a house!

Also happening this week, I'll be sitting down with the electrician to review the plans and discuss our confusing list of special requests. I am of the mindset that when it comes to electrical and lighting, we need to get it all done NOW. Having been through a $14k rewiring effort in our last house, I want no parts of ripping out drywall to add outlets or fixtures. I'd much sooner make a sacrifice or two on carpet or tile because those are both items I can mess around with myself down the road. My wife, on the other hand, sees some of my ideas as a waste of money. In fact, our back and forth the other night over 2 additional recessed kitchen lights (about $300 in value) might have been one of the most heated discussions of our nine year marriage! Philosophically, I think we both agree that strong overhead lighting is important. Lamps have gone the way of the dinosaurs if you ask me! We just seem to disagree as to how much is too much... My hope is that the electrician can steer us in the right direction on that one and we can put the inflatable boxing gloves away!. 

The only real fixture decisions we need to make are with ceiling fans and kitchen island pendants. We're waiting on a little bit of pricing info back right now, but these two hanging pendants seem to be the leaders in the clubhouse right now:

Ceiling fans are most likely going to be a Home Depot/Lowes purchase with me installing them myself after closing. I've made a few reconnaissance trips and have a few ideas in mind. Might need to haggle with a store manager for a bulk discount on fans!

Cross your fingers for some good weather and our next update might have some sticks in the air!