Best Room in the House? Can You Say Baby's?!?

For those of you still checking in from time to time on the progress of 313 W. Stone, you probably have wondered why Nov of 2007 seems to be the end of time and space, at least in our world. Well, it seems that after one spends so much time during the building process updating and photographing and typing, when the building stops, so does the desire to update. Well, I am going to try to remedy that. It's funny now, because when I look back to the last post, it was on November 14. This was right around, if not the very day we conceived our little miracle to be - Baby G! So now, here we are nine months later and now we wait. Baby G was actually due this past Thursday, but much like we had to wait a few days before we could move in to the house, Baby G is waiting a few days before he / she (its going to be a surprise) is going to move into this world. Needless to say, we are a little excited. Lura and I just had our 10-year anniversary this past Friday, we've been in the house now for almost right at a year, and now we are ready for the next big thing. This blog, which has served us well, will now transition to showing pictures of all things baby. Don't worry, all the old stuff will still be on here, But before we go completely baby (mainly because there are no pictures to show yet), I will attempt to update you on some of the major progress areas since November, and when Baby G gets here, look out Blog and look out world!

PS - First off, here is the room the baby has to look forward to...

So What Now....2 Months Later

Well, it's been two months since we moved in (hard to believe) and we love being here. During the Fall for Greenville Festival last month we walked downtown several times and we have walked down to the library and to eat at some neighborhood restaurants. As far as inside goes, we have now almost completely finished Lura's office, hung all our bedroom closet doors, hung the rest of our living room and kitchen lights, had a fence installed, planted some things, and stained and sealed the foyer floor. We are now starting to think about finishing other projects like the light panels around the fireplace, the built-ins for the TV, DVDs, books, and CDs, the garage (a monster task) and the downstairs guest room and bathroom. Of course there's always the yard, but with no rain out there anywhere, it's hard to plant things. Even with our rainbarrels, which have lasted for a long time, without being refilled, even us earthy types have to use city water. Although we did just start that this past week and it hasn't rained in about a month.

We are enjoying our house, to say the least. Not a day goes by that we don't look around and feel very blessed to have come to this point. I think our favorite parts are the kitchen (lots of space and storage), the porch (awesome!), and our bedroom (a nice haven at the end of the day). All these other projects though are going to give us new favorite things. I almost get giddy thinking about the future upstairs room (MAN CAVE!!!) to say nothing of those rooms which will have kids in them someday. We are very happy and wanted to share some photos since our last update. Stay in touch and stop by sometime!

Sprint to the Finish

For those of you who read all these little anecdotes, I have a pre-move in story before posting any more pictures. It's a little late, because yes, we have moved in. I mean, WE'VE MOVED IN!!! (He says with a combination of immense joy and extreme exhaustion)

With about a week to go before move, we weren't really sure if we were going to hit our target move in date of Labor Day weekend. We didn't have our gas hooked up to the house yet, do to a snafu with the gas company, and we weren't sure if the bank had to do their final inspection before we moved in either. A simple call to the bank relieved us of those fears. She said it was basically our house from the get go and we could move in at any time (if the City told us we could). So what about that gas thing? Well, turns out that it really didn't affect anything else because we are only using gas for our stove (only cooktop really) and for our gas logs. These were hardly on the list of essentials to move in. So that crisis was averted as well. So what about the City?

We had all sorts of little tasks to complete to get ready for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical inspections, and then the final building inspection before getting our certificate of occupancy (that little paper that tells you that you have the right to actually live in the house). We had a massive to do list and a short time, and the final inspection also had to come after the other 3 had been passed. It was like that scene in Apollo 13 where they had to find a way to fit a square CO2 filter onto a round vent with only a small kit of parts available to them in the space capsule, or when they had to find the right combination of switches and equipment to turn on to get them to exactly 12 amps. We had to get to an exact degree of completion with a limited time and a limited amount of parts in order to get passed by 4 inspectors.

First was mechanical, which we initially felt was going to get held up due to our gas situation (well, the house's situation actually), but that one went reasonably well. We passed on Tuesday. Next was plumbing and electrical. Our builder had called them in and they said the electrical inspector was backed up and it might not be until Friday that they could get to us. So move-in chances looked slim. Wednesday came and went with nothing new. Thursday, the electrical inspector miraculously fit us in his schedule, and all that was left was plumbing. We might just be able to get a C/O by the weekend! The plumbing inspector came Thursday afternoon and failed us. @!&%!? "WHAT?" we said, thinking plumbing was going to be a breeze. Two things. One, our contractor should have done weeks ago, but kind of slipped through the cracks. The second was that we found out the City of Greenville requires all plumbing fixtures to be installed in the house. There can be no stubbed-out areas, or areas with piping already in place for future fixtures. How come we didn't know this before now?? Well, as those of you familiar with the building trade know, sometimes these inspectors get a feeling of power from knowing they can make people do whatever they want in order to be able to use a building. Was this one of those cases? Turns out, all we had to do was to change to wording on the building permit to read that we had an unfinished basement and attic. How's that for bureaucracy? Well, we jumped through the hoops, but the building inspector was going to be busy and wouldn't be able to come by on Friday. Would we have to move plans back to next weekend? (By the way, we already had a truck rented for Saturday and Sunday) Nope, the inspector said we could move our things, but he would just need access to walls and panels and things. No problem we said!

Saturday and Sunday went off without a hitch! Both sets of parents and Lura's brother Tommy and his wife all came and lent a hand. My dad was a machine! I'd say for a 60-year old, he kicked butt! Everyone else was amazing too. We pretty much got the apartment emptied in 2 days. After that we slept on air mattresses for a few days until we could get the C/O.

So, after a day of Clemson festivities on Monday culminating in a fantastic victory over FSU Monday night, it was back to the real world. The inspector was set to come on Tuesday. What was left. We had passed all the others. What more could he find?? Remember that power thing?? Well he came and shortened our must do list to 2 things. House numbers and drywall. House numbers were easy, and was kind of a "duh" thing on our part. You have to have those so the post office and 911 can find you. The other thing was more major. We had to drywall the entire inside of the garage, which meant more time. The builders got some guys out there Wednesday morning to drwall (not that much to do really) and the inspector came out Wednesday afternoon. We didn't know this until about 5:00. Our builder had not been there and Lura and I had not been there, but then late in the day, we got the news we had been waiting 8 months to hear! WE COULD LIVE IN OUR NEW HOUSE!!

Below are some more in progress photos, but not of the work, of the moving in. And not actually of the moving truck either (we were a little busy those days to stop and take pictures), but of our stuff in our home. There will be be more progress and more pictures and more stories, but everything looks better from this side of the finish line!!

Lights, Paint, Flooring, Action!!

Enough with all the words. Everyone really just wants to see pictures at this point anyway.

The Before & The After

When building a house, there are lots of befores and lots of afters. It's hard to tell which has more, but I guess if you are a physicist, then the answer is that there are exactly the same amount, so I decided to split up the pictures evenly between the getting theres and the got theres, between the sweating and the admiring, and between the awake and mobile to the tired and barely able to move. This past Saturday, my folks were up from Columbia and we lighted and we tiled. Well, grouted actually, which is the best part. Also exciting though was the fact that we have power now and thanks to some summer training long ago at a lighting store, my dad and I were able to install most of the lights ourselves. You know, there is a reason why electricians charge big bucks for hooking up ceiling fans! Enjoy the pictures and help us count the days as moving day is in sight! We are targeting Labor Day weekend, assuming all the to-dos get checked off. We have a drop dead date of Sept. 19. That's when the apartment kicks us out, but if we are here one or two days past Sept 3, I am going to scream. Anyway, I think you can feel the excitement.

Sore Knees!

This is an upate from Lura- the first time I've attempted this. We'll see how this goes. I was tired of waiting around for Mark to update the site because we have some good stuff to show you. (Mark's only been working his you-know-what off to make money to pay for this place!) My Dad has been a saint for the last 4 of the 5 days helping me lay tile in three rooms. What a chore, but well worth the result! He did an AMAZING job and now all that's left is grout and sealing. There is a great picture from Saturday (when Mom and Mark were there, too) of all of us with our tile cutting stains on our shirts. What a NASTY job. Just a reminder that we do clean up well- see previous post. We also painted our master bedroom- guess what color? Those of you who visited us in Decatur will know the answer. All the rest of you know us well enough to figure it out on your own... Go Tigers! Oh- I almost forgot- the site has been graded (finally!) and we have a functioning toilet! What a blessing that is. Now we're just waiting on permanent power and A/C. Would be handy for this 99 degree weather we're having. One last comment- our superintendant told me the slate "looks slamming!" Got to love that! Oh- and one more- a couple shots of our new door hardware (love it!) and kitchen sink, which has been in the apartment for about a year now (just brings to mind, "everything, including the...)

Counter-Culture

A wise man named Costner once said, "If you build it, they will come." Once you prepare a space for something, of course, the natural next step is to actually put it there. We painted the walls to receive the cabinets and the cabinets came. Along with them, they brought counters, and drawers and doors. We had a little snafu with the end of the peninsula and we had to make a last minute design change. But that is what architects are supposed to be good at, problem-solving on the fly. Of course, one could argue that architects wouldn't make those mistakes in the first place, but this whole thing is afterall a learning experience. We also learned a bit about stair design. They put the railings and pickets up and we had to adjust things a bit. We won't tell you what we did differently, but you can judge for yourself if it works. Don't tell us if you don't think it did.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, while workers were busily installing our cabinets and doors and stairs, Lura and I were in Dallas, Texas at the annual Mary Kay Seminar. What a great time! Yes, that is me talking. It was motivating and inspirational and we will be going again next year. Lura is growing two businesses at once and I am doing whatever I can to keep up and help out! Check her out at www.marykay.com/lgodfrey and check out these photos below (a couple of us in Dallas).

Full Color Birthday

Today was a very busy day. We are preparing to go to Dallas to a huge Mary Kay conference, but before we leave, we wanted to get over to the house today to paint a little. Yes, we are painting some, in fact most, of the interior of our house to save some dough. We also want to beat the cabinet installers who are coming Tuesday, while we are gone. So the 3 rooms with cabinets (2 bathrooms and the kitchen) got the first inside colors. Also today was Lura's Birthday, but she was quoted as saying "this house is the best birthday present I could get". Well, that and Harry Potter 7. We got that today too. Enjoy the pics. Next update, likely Thursday with cabinets and a fully built stair!

Stairway to Heaven (Part 2)

You know, after a while, you just run out of clever titles for blog articles. So here is a follow up the post detailing when the stairs were first built. First there was just wood, but now, there are treads and risers and bamboo and paint and all kinds of stuff. Also new to the blog, interior doors and white washed walls (as in primed and ready for paint)!

We have given our apartment notice now (a very satisfying experience in and of itself) and have set a move-in date of Labor Day weekend. Move in Saturday and Sunday and then go to see Clemson take on FSU. What better weekend plans could there be? Okay, enough type, here's some new pics.

Here's Mud in Your Eye

Normally someone would cringe if you told them that you saw someone throwing mud at your walls. But in this case, it's okay. It's only drywall mud, and with a lot of space comes a lot of mud. It went pretty quickly though. They have now finished sanding and mudding and taping and are almost ready for the priming before the paint. Also they have basically finished the exterior painting now too so the exterior, minus the grading, the landscaping and, oh yeah, the garage doors, it looks like a finished house. Well, there's also those Pella stickers in the windows! They needed to finish our drywall before installing the openers for the garage doors so we have been stuck with plywood to this point. This should be very soon though. Next week, they are supposed to build our stairs, complete with bamboo treads, 1x4 pickets and black painted risers and railing. To get a preview, I did a computer model of this so we could check out the paint colors. Soon we should have some actual pictures to compare. Also this week, they will be setting our doors and trim. Cool, cool, cool.

Interesting side note. Just to prove that it's not always the builder's fault when things are late. Yesterday, Ryan our super, was trying to get over to the house to grade with a bobcat and the truck he uses to haul it broke down. No biggie. We'll grade another day.

Until next time!