Stone & Drywall Continued

Tuesday, the masons finished the stone, except for our house number which isn't ready yet.  They put the grout in between the stones.  Not sure if it's called grout in masonry world, but you know what I'm talking about. 

The stone work turned out really good, but I wasn't expecting the keystone at the top of the window to be brown when everything else is grey. The one on the virtual tour in PA with the same stone, has a grey keystone.  I don't like that it sticks out like a sore thumb and it's really bothering me.  I'm going to see if we can get it switched out.

The drywall guy was working on the corners.  He put up the special sheetrock corner pieces everywhere.  They're metal reinforced corner strips.  Two other guys also came to drywall the garage since there wasn't enough drywall when the first crew was there late last week.

Garage-left side

Garage-right side

The dumpster had not been emptied yet and was starting to overflow.  My husband called Todd, who is filling in for Doug's vacation this week, and he called back within 3 minutes.  Every time we've had a question or concern, there's not much of a wait, if any, for a response.  This has been our experience with all of Wayne Homes' employees and we've been pleased so far.

Tuesday afternoon we also went to Tower Industries to finalize our contract for the quartz countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Dean at Tower was really helpful.  We also decided to upgrade the kitchen sink from stainless steel to Silgranit II in black.  It's made of 80% granite and resists scratches, stains, and heat.  The bathroom sinks will be white porcelain undermounts.  They are planning on coming out to make the templates on 7/24 and they should be installed before the open house, which is scheduled for 8/5.

These are not our countertops.

Wednesday and for the rest of the week is just the drywall being finished.  The smooth ceilings we chose need a little more attention than textured ceilings.  The sides of each drywall sheet are tapered, but the ends are not.  So he's feathering out the ends of all the drywall 3 trowels wide to make sure it turns out right.  He said he's done 700 houses, so I'm sure he'll do a great job.  It should all be done Saturday.  I think he said our house has 11,000 sq. ft. of drywall.

Our pups also got to see the new house today.  There's a dog park about 1/2 mile away, so we brought them with us to check on things.

Mud and Stone

All the drywall is done except for the garage walls.  I don't think they had enough at the time, but more was delivered today.  According to the neighbors, the 2 man drywall crew was hammering away until 11:30 Saturday night.  At least one neighbor was less than thrilled.  Today, a different guy came to mud the drywall.  It seems he's a 1 man show.  By around 4:45 this afternoon, he had taped and put 1 layer of mud on all the seams.  He was putting up the corner pieces around the house when we got there.  Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Great Room

Looking towards kitchen from great room

Office

Office Closet that could count as a 5th bedroom it's so big

Looking into kitchen from sunroom/breakfast room

Looking into the sunroom/breakfast room from kitchen

Master bath

Laundry/Mud room-it also has a large closet on the right

These pictures are from today.

Kitchen--There's only 1 working electrical outlet in the whole house right now.

I'm really excited that the stone was started today, too!  They're all separate stones, not vaneer sheets.  I was kind of nervous because I had only seen a picture of the stone on another Wayne Homes house.  It came in from Pennsylvania and is called Blue Ridge. 

One thing that we didn't think of until it was almost too late was a stone/concrete with our house number on it.  Thankfully, we thought of it a couple weeks ago and then the stone install was delayed for other reasons.  The same company who is installing the stone is providing the house number stone too.  It was not expensive, but I'm glad we thought of it just in time.  It will go to the right of the front office windows.  You can see the open space for it in one of the pictures below.

Prep

Space for the house number to the right of the window

Tomorrow we are meeting with the countertop company to finalize things and line it up so they are installed for the Open House on August 5 (scroll down to "Litchfield Tradition").  We also spoke with the driveway contractor and set up a tentative install date for the week we're supposed to close.

Drywall

       

Thursday and Friday the well company finished their work putting in the holding tank and pump.  The plumber came on one of those days and ran the main gas line from where the outside connection will be to the furnace and fireplace and put in the shut off valves.

Friday afternoon the drywallers started.  They were still working today (Saturday) when we went over around 4:30.  It's so hot outside, I don't know how they do it.  We left them a big cooler with ice and water.

Garage ceiling-Attic access and wiring for garage door opener

Dylan's bathroom

Laundry room!!

Our walls have arrived!

On Tuesday, the drywall was delivered and put in the rooms where they will go.  There are three types of drywall:  ceiling drywall (that is fire-rated), the standard drywall (for most walls) , and mold-resistant greenboard (for around the showers & tubs).  As a reminder, we paid extra to get the greenboard in the bathrooms.  It's not standard. 

They also dropped off all the boxes of joint compound.  We decided to cover the register openings on the floor and tub/shower drains to prevent any drywall dust or joint compound getting into the furnance/AC and causing trouble later.   The drywall installation should happen anyday now.  It was supposed to start today, but they must be running behind from the holiday yesterday.

Mold Defense (bathrooms) & Fire Check (Ceilings)

The well company came back and finished running the wire & water line into the basement.  All we need is to have the electrician & plumber make the final connections and we will have water!

HVAC

Yesterday and today the HVAC was installed.  The ductwork was installed and the wall cavities for air intake were sealed.  The furnace was put in place and the 2 exhaust lines were ran out to the back of the house.

Brackets for AC unit

Furnace drain

We're also having issues with the dehumidifier not draining through the hose.  The water is going in the bucket even though the hose is hooked up.  I found some helpful reviews on Amazon and we'll try to fix it tomorrow.  Either we missed a small black plug to prevent the water from going into the bucket, or we need to shim the whole unit so it tilts and gravity can work.  I'll let you know if any of those work.  Otherwise, I'll be returning it to Sears.

The open house is supposed to be August 5, not the 4th like I mentioned earlier.

Insulation

Sorry I haven't updated.  It's been a busy few days.  We thought stone was going up on Friday and it did not.  It should be done next week.  The masons are a bit behind. 

Friday and Saturday my husband did some more insulating.  The first garage wall took him 2 hours until he got a system down.  The other wall took about an hour.  Then the bathroom insulation took another 2 hours.  This was all spread out over 3 days when he had time.  (The yellow insulation with the blue writing is what we bought.  The contractor used the pink insulation with the pink writing.)

Laundry room

Half bath

Saturday, the contractors insulated the house.  They spray foamed the areas near the windows and caulked the top and bottom of the exterior wall frames. 

Garage

Basement under the breakfast room

The cardboard pieces are baffles to allow air from the sofits through the top.  The 15" of blown insulation will go against it.  This will let air circulate in the attic.