House Update #14

Progress is still slow due to the finish carpenter being unable to finish the molding. This is unfortunate because a LOT of things cannot be completed until the molding is in. The carpet, finish painting, some plumbing fixtures, and even some of the electrical work cant be done until this guy shows up. According to our builder, he thinks that he might be able to come and finish up late this week or maybe next, but with our current home closing at the end of June, we are looking at not much time before things NEED to be finished or we end up living in a hotel for a couple of weeks (god I am praying it doesn't come to that!).

This is the list of things that still need to be done/installed: closet doors, kitchen sink, island counter top, foyer chandelier and several other light fixtures, several switches need to be fixed, carpet, molding (of which there is a LOT left to do), plumbing fixtures in the bathrooms and kitchen, utility sinks in the garage and laundry room, appliances installed in the kitchen and laundry room, paint touch ups and molding painted, kid's bedrooms painted different colors, gutters, screens on windows, drainage pits dug in yard and finish grading, topsoil has to be brought in and spread, plants need to be planted including the rain garden, and the concrete for the front and back stoops and walkways and driveway has to be poured. So there is a lot left and our builder has given us a tentative move in date of June 15th. I am extremely skeptical that it will all happen in 3 week's time. I guess we will see. Like I said, I just hope we don't end up without a residence for a week or more. I guess there could be worse things but it doesn't sound fun!

However, all of that aside, the master bathroom tile work was completed this week, as were all of the back splashes in the bathrooms and kitchen and the tile around the fireplace. It looks gorgeous. This tile guy really knows what he is doing. We couldn't be more pleased with the results. I think I have a better sense of vision than Michael does becasue while it is everything that I hoped for and more, Michael is just blown away by how great it looks. The beauty of the bathroom tile also highlights how happy we are with our decision to reconfigure the original bathroom layout. We felt the original plan was not only dated, but failed to take advantage of natural light and space to their full potential. We both feel that the current layout does that nicely. Below is a rendering of the layout before and after. Basically we moved the vanity to the opposite wall and moved the window so that it was opposite the vanity (to reflect natural light). Then we got rid of the corner tub and moved it right below the window, where the vanity used to be. Then we used the entire area that used to be where the tub was, to put in an extra large double shower. The only thing that stayed in the same location was the toilet.