Floor joists complete and floor started.

All of the floor joists are in and a few sheets of the floor have been put down.  I walked across what will be my living room floor tonight!

Mud room and kitchen

Breakfast nook, stairway, and dining room

Dining room, front entrance, and living room

Living room floor

Floor Joists!

Some of the floor joists were installed today!  It is definitely starting to feel bigger.

Only planning

The only thing that has been done since Friday is a lot of planning.  I looked around at a few furniture and other stores over the weekend and at least have some ideas of how this place is going to look.  I picked out and ordered another bathroom mirror... 2 down, 4 to go.  After spending some more time down in the hole and a lot of measuring, I've almost accepted that theater seating isn't going to work out in the media room and the projector is questionable.  A big tv on the wall and a sectional around the three walls might be all I have room for.  It will fit a lot better and seat a lot more.  I took out the bi-fold closet doors in the media room and had them replaced with sliding doors today.  Also, trying to figure out where I want the electrical meter and electric panel.  If I put the panel where I want it, the meter has to be somewhere I don't want it on the outside of the house.  If I put it on the outside where I want it, the fuse panel is on a wall in my pool table room that I had other plans for.  Still not sure what I'm going to do with that yet, but need to decide by the end of the week.  Other than that, nothing new.

Walls going up!

There are walls in the basement!  You can now tell where the staircase, storage room, bar, pool table room, theater, and bathroom will be.  They left a ladder in the hole today so I just had to climb down inside and walk around.  It's looking great and very exciting to see my plans starting to come together.

Sill plates & water barrier

The sill plates were bolted to the top of the basement walls today and a foam water barrier installed between the wood and concrete.

 

 

 

Deliveries!

There is still some water standing in the basement but the sump pump is running now and it is starting to dry up. When I stopped by on Monday night, there were several trucks lined up and a crane in the yard unloading them. There are stacks of lumber, walls, and boxes of nails surrounding the hole. The walls are already put together with outside sheeting on them. They're all numbered so it should go together very quickly I'm guessing. We'll see.... Nothing happened today other than there is a big truck with some kind of elevator or conveyor belt on the back parked in the driveway. It's supposed to be a really nice day tomorrow so hopefully there will be some changes when I stop by tomorrow.

Basement or pool?

 

Water standing in the basement

 

Water standing in the basement

 

My walls!!

More walls and lumber

 

Once again... not much of an update

The only differences I noticed tonight were that there are flags and paint across the yard where all of the different types of lines are buried and the basement has water standing in it :-/  Hopefully I never see that again!

Another slow day

I think the rain is probably slowing things down. They delivered the steel beams today. Hopefully this rain ends soon!

No changes today

Nothing happened today.  Must still be waiting on the cement to dry.

Rain Delay ???

NO!  I wasn't sure what I would see when I pulled up to the hole tonight since we got so much rain on Saturday, but was very pleasantly surprised.  All of the dirt has been pushed in around the basement walls, the curb has been cut away, the toilet drains were installed, and I have basement and garage floors!!  I'm not sure if this happened Friday, Saturday, or today.  I'm guessing today because I was able to walk completely around the house without getting in the mud.  It felt like dry dirt that had been packed down.  It was still very muddy and wet in the driveway where they didn't work.  Also, there was no water standing in the basement and the concrete looked damp, but when I touched it, seemed fairly solid.  Lines are already cut in the garage floor as well.  Very exciting!

On a separate topic, I stopped by Home Depot tonight and think I've found the mirrors that will be going into the bathrooms.  I wasn't too crazy about the selection from the place where I was supposed to get them, so requested an allowance and am getting those myself.  They're actually cheaper and I like them better, so that's good news.  I'm also doing the same thing with all of the cabinet hardware.  $2000 for large stainless steel pull handles seemed a little excessive to me.  I found similar hardware that is much cheaper at Lowe's than getting it from the cabinet place so I'll be installing that myself too... but that means I've got to drill the holes in all 60 cabinets and drawers myself too.  I'm surely capable of that though with a template.  My only struggle left is the towel rods and toilet paper holders.  Now, one may not think it is possible to spend countless hours shopping for these, but they would be wrong.  My first attempt at just picking out whatever I wanted, landed me $500 over budget, which just seems unnecessary.  However, if you despise changing the toilet paper roll as much as I do with one of those spring-loaded rods, you do consider it for a second.  The new toilet paper holders that have a rotating rod are SO cool, just cost more.  Combine that with trying to find something in an oil rubbed bronze finish to match the rest of the fixtures, makes them even more expensive, and usually uglier... I guess it's time for a cost/benefit analysis.

I'm not sure what will happen tomorrow.  I'm guessing nothing with the house but would be surprised if I don't see a load of lumber delivered... stay tuned!

Curb cut away.

Dirt pushed around walls.

BIG garage floor!

Where garage/pool bathroom will be.

Not much progress on Thurs.

There was a load of sand delivered on Thursday but that's about all that changed.  I took Friday off so left for Macomb for the weekend after work on Thursday and won't be back until Monday after work so hopefully thing will look different then!

Water and drains

I have a new pile of gravel on the lot and it looks like gravel has been dumped down around the exterior side of the basement walls.  Also, the water pipes and drains have been routed to the locations where the rooms will be and it looks like some work has been done to the sump pump area and where the water heater will go.  The plumber also called today to talk me into putting in a shower in the basement bathroom instead of a tub/shower combo because it is easier to install between two cement walls.  Little did he know, I had already decided that's what I wanted and had already ordered it, so that worked out well.  I'll already have two bathtubs upstairs so a big shower downstairs will be perfect.  There's also a SOLD sign in the yard!!!!

 Sump pump and water heater location.

Water lines.

Drain?

Water lines.

Water lines in bathroom.

Gravel pile.

SOLD!!!!

No news

Nothing new today.  I touched the black waterproofing sealer and it still feels kind of wet.  I'm guessing it has to dry before the dirt is pushed back around it.  Hopefully something changes tomorrow!

Forms removed!

All of the forms have been taken down and hauled away, leaving me with perfect basement walls!  The walls were sprayed with a black sealer and the basement windows and window well drains were installed today.  I'm thinking I'll see some dirt movement tomorrow and maybe even basement floors by the end of the week?!?!?  For those of you counting, this is day 11.  I'm thinking I've got about 109 left.  Although, thanks to a good friend, I'm living large this week.  The hotel I'm in is very nice and is nothing like the place I usually call home!