Insulation Up & Down

They're pretty close to done with insulating the house. This is a picture of the bonus room with the closet in the back right and the bath in the back left. Since we're going to be using the bonus room above the garage as a second master suite, we're having the garage insulated as you can see here. We're also getting insulated garage doors with thermal, double-pane windows. And we're finishing the garage walls and ceiling. We're not finishing the basement, so this insulation is what the walls will look like until/if we decide to finish it some day. The shiny silver does make it brighter down there even with no lights. It also makes it look even bigger, if that's possible! We have the egress window to the right (you can see the light hitting the floor) and three hopper windows along the opposite wall. It was cloudy today, so when it's sunny there will be even more light.

Not insulation, but the porch flooring is in on both the upper and lower (shown here) porches. Next step will be either sheetrock or siding or both together. Once the sheetrock is complete they'll be able to give us a tentative closing date. We're estimating late June, but we'll know more soon.

Waiting for inspections

We think they're pretty much done with most of the pre-drywall stuff, and that they're waiting for inspections by the city. The electrician finished on Wednesday - making the changes we asked for on our walk-through last week. This is one of the four-way switches, located right inside the front door. These is the box for the intercom station in our master bedroom, along with another four-way switch.

Not sure if this has been included previously, but here is the fireplace showing the hearth framed out. There will be a wood mantle as well which will match the color of the kitchen cabinets.

Finally, we discovered this week that we have a "view" - we can see downtown Minneapolis from the windows in the princess suite upstairs! The three buildings are the tallest in Minneapolis - from left the Capella Tower, the Wells Fargo Center, and the IDS Center. We can also just make out the tops of the three buildings from the living room windows on the main level. And as the dirt mountains disappear we'll be able to see even more of DT. Cool!

Electrical, Plumbing and HVAC almost done!

The electrician, plumber and HVAC technician have been working hard, and are almost done. The house looks funny right now - wires, pipes and vents running everywhere. It's hard to believe how elaborate it all is. As you can see below, the furnace is in place. There are dozens of blue and black junction boxes scattered around! Three of the boxes you can see here going up the stairs are for LED stair lights. This is the south wall of the family room. The orange "pipe" is a tech tube which runs to a spot behind the fireplace. This will allow us or a future resident to put the TV above the fireplace while running components cables to this site. The red disks on the ceiling are the front speakers for the built-in surround sound system I mentioned in a previous post.

This is a view up the stairs from the first floor showing the tube we're having installed from the attic to the basement. This will allow wires to be run from the roof (such as for satellite) down to components located in the basement without running lines on the outside of the house. Neat!

Thanks, Tom!!!

Tom & Adrianne arrived on Friday March 18th for a long weekend visit. Tom used his extensive construction experience to look through the house and educate us on multiple construction items. He was here for our electrical walk-through on Monday 3/21 and walked through the house with the builder to discuss his concerns and questions. He and Adrianne went back today but he left us with a binder full of information - code references, checklists, questions to ask, etc. He also compiled a list of things for us to check before the house gets sheetrocked.

We had a good visit with Tom & Adrianne and were able to show the community's model homes to a bunch of the local relatives. We really appreciate Tom's time and hope his involvement will lead to an even better constructed house! Thanks, Tom!

Electrical, plumbing & HVAC progress

They are progressing nicely on the mechanical parts of the house. As you can see, the electrician has started, as have the plumber and the HVAC (heating, ventilation & air-conditioning) people.


This is the kitchen peninsula, which will hold the sink and dishwasher.


This are the vent runs in the garage ceiling, under what will be the Daves' master bedroom. To help with insulating the water pipes as well as to keep the floor warmer, the ceiling will be dropped below the vent runs to create a cocoon of conditioned air.

This is Georgia's master bath. The corner tub will go in after the sheetrock is in so they can limit the chances for damage to the tub.

Mechanicals Started

The plumber and HVAC people have started their work, to be followed by the low voltage installer and finally the electrician. The picture below is the dining room serving as storage and workroom.


This is a picture from the family room looking through the powder room toward the living room at the front of the house.



These are the two regular bathtubs - one in the hall bath and one in the princess bathroom. The third tub in the house will be the corner tub in Georgia's master bath.

This is the upstairs laundry room, with the washer pad in place.

Raise the roof!

The roof is on! They're going to start the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical in the next week and we have our walkthrough scheduled for Monday 3/21. At that meeting we'll be finalizing all the additional outlets, etc. we're adding as well as the lighting and "low-voltage" stuff - intercom system, alarm system, cable/media outlets, and surround sound system. We're putting the surround sound in the family room which will have the biggest TV and is the room with the fireplace and is open to the breakfast nook and kitchen. It should be the most used room in the house.


Close-up of the roofed peak...

They put the front door on this week as well. There are still a few windows not in place - they were either defective or were stolen, we're not sure which!

This is the second floor porch. They're putting in the floor which is also the roof to the first floor porch.