Our New House: July 2006

Draywall and the dust that goes with it!

Hello:

The builder has started to put up the drywall on our house.

Here is what has changed since the last post.

1) The blue speaker cavity barriers are now installed.
2) The drywall is almost completely installed.
3) The front Pillars are installed
4) The siding on the front is finished.
5) The messy brickwork on the front of the garage has been fixed up, it now looks amazingly good.
6) The garage floor is now poured.
7) The garage is FULLY drywalled.

Here are some recent pictures:

Speaker Cavity Installed:

Drywalled Laundry Room:

Future Spot for an LCD Wall TV in our Master Bedroom:

Speaker Wire in the Drywalled Ceiling:

Guest Bedroom Wall Drywalled:

Drywalled Garage:

Family Room looking out the front:

Kitchen:

Front Door Looking in:

Switches:

Switches, Switches and Even More Switches:

Current Front of the House:

The Pink Panther Brand

Hello Again:

We found our yesterday that our house was starting to be insulated, so we just had to take a look.

Here is what has been done since last post:

1) Vapor barrier and insulation on the second floor is complete
2) The siding is nearly complete, just a little left at the front.

We also got a call from the builder today, they were concerned about the speakers and damaging the vapor barrier during installation. Upon a lot of research and phone arround, here were the options:

1) We could purchase special boxes at $120 each (the speakers were only $240 a pair!)
2) We could purchase a special vapor kit for speakers and pot lights at home depot for $5.75.
3) We could just hope that either our installer is really good and does a vapor barrrier at installtion (if we get one) or that we go up to the attic and re-do the vapor barrier when we install them.

We opted for #2, see in the pics below:

Vapor Barrier Kit:

Speaker Wires going through Vapor Barrier (currently):

Insulation (Pink Panther Owens Corning Brand):

Side of House (Siding is done!):

Front of House (Siding almost done!):

Frame Walk Completed

It has been a little while since we last posted.

We had our framewalk with Debbie our builder on Friday. It was a very fun and enjoyable experience. Debbie really does pay attention to the little details and we appreciate that. We also met John from Mecel (the structured wiring contractor), he was also very nice and very accomodating to our needs and wants. Overall we didn't find too many items to list on the framewalk and we are very pleased with the overall status and build quality of our Mattamy home.

Here is what has been completed since the last post:

1) The low voltage wiring is now completed. It is going to be lots of fun to finish that off!
2) The electrical panel is now in and wired up.
3) The Pillars on the front porch now have the bases completed.
4) The Garage has been spray foamed.

Here is the current work in progress:

1) The siding has started, one side is complete, they are now working on the back.
2) They have started to dig out in the garage, soon we will have a poured floor in the garage.
3) The joists are being leveled in preparations for drywall.

Here are some pictures:

Electrical Panel:

Stairs:

Low Voltage Wiring:

Wiring Jungle in the Attic:

Spray Foam in Garage:

Front of the House:

Wires and Tubs

We now have tubs, and some electrical installed. Things really are moving along.

Here is what changed since the last post:

1) Shingles on the porch and the garage are installed.
2) Finishing stone at the patio door is installed.
3) Stairs are now leveled and properly secure
4) Electrical rough in has started.
5) Shower taps have been roughed in.
6) Tubs are installed in the main bath and ensuite bath.
7) Basement floor is poured.
9) Vent fans are now roughed in and the casing for them is installed.

On Monday, our low voltage wiring will be started and the electrical should be near completion.

Here are some recent pictures:

Various Wires:

Ensuite Shower:

Ensuite Tub:

Outside Front:

Main Washroom Tub:

Fireplace Install

We have been to the house tonight, and we have our fireplace installed.

Here is what has changed since the weekend so far.

1) The fireplace is installed.
2) The bricks are finished, they have moved on to another house already.
3) They have did a massive cleaning, all the construction junk is gone.
4) The holes in the Styrofoam have been spray foam fixed.

We noticed that some of our neighbor's have already got their basements poured, we are probably next on the list for that.

Our builder informed us they are doing the low voltage wiring (Ethernet, cable, and sound) on Monday. I think they are going to do the electrical around the same time. She also mentioned our frame walk will be either late next week or early the week after.

Mattamy U is next Thursday, so maybe there will be some more information about getting better access to the site (right now we have to hike in about a mile and back out).

Styrofoam Holes Fixed:

Main Washroom Plumbing:

Fireplace is installed:

Front of House with Bricks:

Back of House with Bricks:

Windows and More

We went to visit our housing site today to check on the progress.

There were a few things that have changed.

1) All of the Windows and Doors are In. We verified that all of them are the Low-E windows and that the cranks we paid for are all there.
2) The basement stairs are in. We got to go to the basement today, that is the first time since they poured the foundation walls that we have been down there.
3) The stairs leading upstairs are in, they are covered for now though.
4) All of the plumbing is pretty much installed.
5) Most of the ducts are also installed.

They are really zooming along, on Thursday there was no windows, doors, bricks or stairs. I can say it was a shock to both of us that they had progressed so much.

Bricked Front: