Lucky Friday the 13th

We're settling in to the new home while workers continue with touch-up work and tackle the remaining to-do's. In the meantime we've had the pleasure of hosting our first guests at this live-in construction site.

A couple more weeks should do it! That's what we keep telling ourselves, anyway!

Some of our new furnishings are finally seeing the light of day

While most work is being completed indoors, the crew installed crown molding around the covered porch ceilings last week and it really adds a finished touch throughout (it's since painted white) 

Street view of the side of the house today, with Bahama shutter installed

As we make slow but steady progress with finishing details, a few long-open items received attention today, making this Friday the 13th a good one... 

Our Bahama shutters for the master bath were delivered and installed today (looks great!); the elevator hoistway rails and machine gear finally arrived, and installation begun; and, AT&T was finally able to get us connected to the world with a permanent Internet connection!

We gave up on cable TV two weeks ago and signed up for satellite service, but the Internet fiasco has continued for weeks without resolution. We lost count of the number of technicians and phone calls invested in the process, but it appears we are now good to go. For now.

A sight seen all too often in our neighborhood the last few weeks!

Talk about broad shoulders! A bit of an optical illusion, actually. These guys are standing on two different ladders as they work together to mount the shutters

Inside view over master tub after shutter installation

Elevator installation has begun! Here's the lower section of the hoistway rail system... quite a heavy-duty collection of steel!

Next week the finishing work will shift mostly to the exterior. With the exception of some staining and finishing of our stair handrail and a couple of doors, and completion of the elevator install (and...), the interior is largely complete. The crew can turn most of its attention to finishing porches and other exterior paint and finish trim work.

We've been seeing this neighbor on a regular basis, usually over morning coffee

Freshwater fish like shrimp, too! About five casts from the edge of our neighborhood pond behind the house produced this nice bass this afternoon

That's it for now! We'll look forward to posting a final "we're done" blog in a week or two!

Ron & Bonnie

We've moved!

The good news is we've moved into our new home, but with work remaining both inside and out that makes for a challenging start!

It's official!

We moved in this past Thursday after a week-plus of packing, POD delivery, apartment move-out, and shipments of new furnishings from various sources. This in the midst of ongoing construction made for a trying few days, and to top it off we still have no Internet or TV connectivity except for a cell phone. AT&T made its fifth unsuccessful visit yesterday, which has now resulted in a priority escalation for review by their engineering department. There's a really long story to go along with this, but it's exhausting!

The move itself went pretty smoothly, but started off on the wrong note when we were unable to open the POD storage unit that has been sitting in a storage facility for the past nine months! This is another really long story, but the bottom line is some very heavy cargo shifted on the journey from California, and it took us more than two hours to finally get the door to lift and expose the belongings we hadn't seen in a while.

This POD storage unit arrived as scheduled and had us thinking we were off to a smooth start, but it proved to be a formidable opponent when it was time to give up it's content!

This pretty much sums up the status of our Internet and CATV connection!

On the construction front, we still have some interior work and quite a lot of exterior work to finish before calling the job complete. Inside is mostly touch-up of painting, and some corrections, tweaking, and installation of the MIA elevator.

The focus on the interior over the last few weeks (our request) has left the exterior still requiring a fair amount of work and finish, including porch ceiling trim, floor finishing, filling/sanding/painting on much of the porch framing and railing structures, and a second coat of paint on the siding. In all we're probably looking at 2-3 weeks of work to get everything to the finish line.

It's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks since our last update, but as the dust is settling (literally!) and as we unpack each box, things are starting to feel like home.

Our first sunrise at the new home

We'll post a few more pictures here, and more in the coming weeks, once we have time to uncover and place furniture to our liking, have a real Internet connection, and otherwise get a better handle on things!

The last few days have been a blur, but this morning was probably the height of our sense of disorganization

By this evening, things were looking pretty good in the kitchen, save for the missing upper section of our cooktop exhaust hood

Some hired help can go a long way when their specialty is helping unpack you kitchen boxes and organizing everything for you! They also spotted one of our neighborhood alligators for us, cruising by in the pond out back!

Master bath is looking pretty spiffy. Other rooms are getting there, and some, like the study, will just have to wait a while!

One highlight of our weekend was delivery of the ash dining table we commissioned from a woodworker in Camden, SC. The maker signed and dated the piece, and delivered it himself with the help of his apprentice. We can't wait to enjoy a first meal here with family and friends!

That's all we've got for now... hope you enjoyed the update, and have a great week!

Ron & Bonnie

Our move is getting complicated!

This isn't exactly how we planned to end the week, but at this point we're just hoping that everyone in the path of Hurricane Irma remains safe and sound in the coming days.

Today our crew was splitting efforts between working on various projects and boarding up our doors to protect against the coming storm. They used a new anchoring system that secures plywood panels with wedge-like clips. Our windows are impact rated, so no cover needed

Over the past 24 hours we've had our various deliveries and move plans canceled, so we're juggling schedules and if all goes well, plan to move in by the end of next week. We expect one delivery tomorrow for our laundry appliances, and everything after that will have to wait.

In the meantime, we discovered an issue yesterday with obtaining cable TV and Internet service, which was a big surprise. We're not yet sure how this will be resolved, but it appears there is limited service availability, despite the recent installation of a fiber optic network throughout the neighborhood! Way to go, AT&T!!

Obstacles aside, good progress was made on finishing details and the many odd jobs that had to be completed to earn an occupancy permit, which we received today! Here are a few highlights...

Kitchen tile work and grouting was completed and we're very pleased with the result. The largish exhaust hood over the rangetop was installed after the tile in order to determine final height, and now awaits an upper duct cover that unfortunately is still on order

Gas lamps were connected and service turned on this week

This screen door may be the one item that actually arrived earlier than planned!

The deceivingly simple freestanding tub and filler required some serious effort to install, given no access to the bottom of the tub for drainage or supply line access 

The brick hearth and fireplace surround were installed just this afternoon. Mortar joints will be loosely filled, giving a more rustic look that is fitting with the salvaged brick

Barn light will illuminate a short pathway in the future, leading to our under-porch staircase up to the front door 

The new street view is looking pretty good!

That's it for this week's update. We'll be playing things by ear for the next few days while Irma does what Irma will do, and hopefully pick up again mid-week and resume on our path to a move!

Ron & Bonnie

We're THIS close!!

It's been two busy weeks since our last update and things have gone from complete chaos to simply mild chaos with extra anticipation!

Progress on the house is evident everywhere, but most visibly, outside, the lawn and landscaping have been completed.

Landscape work this week certainly changed... the landscape! Here two palmetto trees have been planted to anchor the rear corner of the house, while the sole specimen below gives interest to what would otherwise be a large slab of concrete in the driveway

Lawn freshly installed, and plantings complete. Small palm in upper section of bed is a Pindo 

Earlier in the week, landscape was worked on a few hours at a time between rains. Here's the start to our new view from the main level side porch (minus outhouse!)

Inside, the remaining plumbing fixtures, gas lamps, and door and cabinet hardware were installed. Tile work in the kitchen and pantry are also in progress, as are a general clean-up effort and handful of other small but important jobs.

Stair treads were custom stained and turned out beautifully. The primered (and muddy) risers will be painted white, and railing and newel post stained to match the treads. Hopefully soon

Cabinet hardware was installed throughout most of the house. Here, glass knobs are used on all cabinets in the master bathroom

Just add water! (and toilet paper holder and robe hooks). Guest bathrooms are ready for guests!

Outdoor shower is under rear porch. Not sure how we'll finish this area but plan to keep it simple

As we enter the Labor Day holiday we have a home that is almost complete. Still, there are many small finishing jobs for the crew that's working hard to prepare for our move-in, which we've now set in stone (more or less!)

Tile installation in the pantry is complete, but needs to be grouted before custom cherry shelving is milled to flank the upper cabinet

After a few sleepless night we decided simple is better. The kitchen backsplash being installed in a straightforward "brick" pattern on both walls of cabinets

On the other hand, our elevator is still missing in action; the cab is apparently in manufacturing. Brickwork needs to be installed for the fireplace, refrigerator and freezer towers are on stand-by pending some drywall repair, etc., etc. But, oh so close!!

Refrigerator and matching freezer towers wait patiently in line for installation 

AV wiring trim-out was completed this week and will be followed by television installations, equipment cabinet, and whole-house wi-fi gear next week

Alongside the construction work, audio-visual equipment is to be installed next Thursday, and some furniture deliveries are scheduled between Friday and Monday. Our California storage pod will be delivered to the site soon, as well, and movers will pack up our apartment on the 11th and help us with arranging everything at the other end!


Just to keep us busy, somewhere between now and then Ron's new 4Runner will be delivered, so the need to coordinate our schedules precisely will be lessened, and Bonnie can stop using her car as a pickup truck!

Next week, it's all hands on deck! The focus will be on items needed to obtain our certificate of occupancy as the first priority. No CO, no move!

We're 95% there, but things like securing a currently empty elevator shaft, and obtaining final inspections for gas hook-ups, plumbing, and safety items are essential. With this in mind, we fully expect there will be more to do both inside and out following our move, but the remaining interior work should be minimal by the time we're in.

All of this should make for an exciting week ahead! In the meantime, enjoy a restful holiday weekend...

Ron & Bonnie