Build out phase begins

 During the late spring and for most of the summer, the focus of construction in the house was all related to the infrastructure. Our contractor was working with the subs to finish out all plumbing and electrical work, have the the HVAC system installed, and all other important steps for finishing out what goes inside of the walls, ceilings, and floors of a house.



















There were unexpected surprises along the way - leaks that surfaced after a heavy rain, collection of water under the house -  that had to be addressed, mainly due to complications involved in renovating an older home that had already been added onto once. But once we finally made it through each stage of inspection (there were over a half dozen that I know of, and probably many more), the house was ready for sheetrock, drywall, and texture.

 The walls went up within a few weeks time, and we were pleasantly surprised by how much more of a "house" feel the construction project had once the walls were defined. The photo above is part of the game room (looking out towards the hallway and staircase) and the photos below are the dining room and staircase downstairs. The bottom two photos were taken about two weeks ago.

When I got to the house last Friday I found mounds of lumber in the garage. 

Our contractor had told us that the trim work would begin this week but I didn't know what to expect until I entered the house. It was awesome to see all the framing around the windows, the installation of the crown molding, and much of the door trim.

The photos above are the game room. On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, the staircase hand railing, supporting posts, and the flooring was installed. The hand railing and supporting posts will be painted or stained later.

I met with our contractor on Saturday to walk through the layout of all of the bedroom closets and the kitchen pantry. There were about a dozen workers scurrying around installing doors and installing trim. Once the crew is finished with the trim they can begin building all of the custom closets and cabinets. The trim crew will take a break later this week while the hardwood floors are repaired and expanded throughout most of the house.