So, we had our final inspection today...

WE GOT OUR CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY!
WE GOT OUR CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY!

Twenty-four days ahead of schedule. Ahead of schedule, y'all. If you stalk renovation forums you know this is the exception, not the rule. We are beside ourselves with *giddiness*.

We had our pre-move-in walk-through tonight. It's all minor stuff, including:

• Paint touch-ups, both inside and out
• Our closet shelves need those tiny white caps on the edges that face the wall
• Front walkway step needs re-trimming (or whatever the correct term is for 'fix the edging of the concrete')
• A small chunk of our old sidewalk needs removing
• The front gutter needs relocating
• A hallway light that finally shipped (back order) needs installation

All of this (she types hopefully) will be done by Friday, when the professional house cleaners arrive (part of the service) (which of course we pay for). And so guess what Saturday is?

MOVING DAY! 

Stay tuned for moving day and settling in pics, and many before-and-afters!

Two inspections down, two to go

We passed plumbing and electrical inspections today! Coming up next is HVAC, and then the final building inspection to get our certificate of occupancy. Today the mister ordered power to be reconnected to the house. Once it's up, the HVAC inspection can happen.

In other news, the stair rail was installed today:

We measure for the mirrors tomorrow. The final hardwood floor coating goes on Monday, and carpeting is installed Tuesday. More pictures now available in Interiors!

What happens next

• Bathroom vanity tops will be installed
• The rest of the lights will be installed
• The staircase handrail will be installed
• Vanity and cabinet hardware will be installed
• Door knobs will be installed
• Front walkway step will be poured
• Front door will be stained
• Front door hardware will be installed
• Shower doors installed
• Mirrors installed, along with other bathroom hardware

And we have to choose the bedroom carpeting. We've also begun thinking about window coverings, since we have 22 new windows to cover. Yowza. We think eight of them can wait for a bit, so we're focusing on the others now. I like our windows, and plan to seek fairly minimal coverings. As cool as these ones are, or even these ones, we'll probably go for something  a little more neutral. Probably.

When things go wrong

I rarely mention when things go wrong. And we've been extraordinarily fortunate that few things have. Still, it wouldn't be fair to paint the picture that nary a hiccup was experienced. So what didn't go the way it was planned (so far that is...we're not done yet)? Take a look.

Not-quite-final stretch: what's left to do

It's amazing to think that in a few short weeks we'll be back in our house! What's coming up:

• Floor refinishing. It starts tomorrow!
• Interior painting. We're painting everything - old and new, walls, doors, trim. Starts after the floor stain and first poly coat is down.
• Staircase finalized. The handrails, newel posts and balusters are in.
• Gutters. They are an installation-in-progress.
• Vanity tops. I head to a stone place tomorrow to look at our options.
• Cabinet hardware. Just chose that last night.
• Front door. Just chose that last night too. And apparently without a moment to spare: the builder says it may take up to six weeks to get it!
• Bathroom fixtures come in. Vanities, faucets, tub, toilets, etc.
• All sorts of tiny little trimwork jobs finalized, especially where old and new rooms have come together.
• Shower glass enclosures need to be chosen.
• We have to choose the other bathroom fixtures...mirrors, towel bars, etc.
• WE MUST CHOOSE OUR LIGHTS. *sigh*
• Railings on the porch.
• Porch steps and path laid in.
• Ack - the door knobs!
• Outlets and switches of course. Right now they're all just holes with with metal boxes and wires poking out.
• Closet 'system' figured out. Think, 'least expensive chic'.
• We have to decide if we're staining the front porch or not.
• Doorbell dilemma. By that I mean: we've never had a working doorbell. Just last week (known in builder terms as, I'm just guessing here, 'now you mention it hour'), the mister asked if it was possible to get a working one.
• Leak mystery. I'm going to be breezy here, because it's how I'm coping. About 10 days ago we were in the house and I heard water running in the pipes. We checked everything inside and out and couldn't find a thing. The builder came over and he couldn't find anything. He shut off the water valve and it stopped. Plumber is scheduled for a visit. Please think cheap-fix thoughts.
• Choose the bedroom carpets. The mister is all giddy about this task. And no, I'm not joking!

At least, the above is what I'm tracking. I'm sure the builder's list is about 10 times as long. And I'm not even including things like landscaping around the new porch (we at least have to fill in the tire tracks and do something with where the old sidewalk used to be).

We haven't scheduled a move-out date just yet, but we're preparing to commence to begin to think about it!

What a difference some walls make

Sheetrock is in! The rooms are actually room-like now. The gals aren't quite as impressed; they can no longer see the entire house from any spot on the second floor.

And with sheetrock comes dust. Imagine taking hundreds of bags of flour into your house, hanging them as pinatas, and then busting them all open with a stick. Scatter random pieces of wood and sheetrock (all sizes!) around, string some power cords selectively in areas you actually need to traverse, and for background music, find an audio clip of a dental drill and put it on loop. This is what it was like while the sheetrock was being installed.

This week they'll mud it and sand it and do whatever else it is they need to do to get the walls ready. We're supposed to pick paint colors soon (hooray!), and tile will go in soon (again, hooray!). Oh, and guess what? We got ourselves a tuuuuuuub. It should be here in two weeks, and I'll post pictures of it when it arrive!

Before and now: some pictures

We started out here:

 And now we are here:

We have stairs, and more

Over the past few days, our house has received her shingles, and workers have been swaddling her in the construction-equivalent of Saran Wrap. While Chris has braved the ladder in the never-ending rain to check progress on the second floor, the girls and I have been waiting on the stairs. Yesterday afternoon, our wait was over:

So up we went. We were able to see where the rooms would be, and point out what was going where. We could also see what would be our new attic space (amazing storage space). Our new staircase going up is so roomy that our (existing) staircase going downstairs feels like a drive-through banking chute. Hmmm.

Because I don't want us to be the reason work on the house is delayed, we stay pretty busy researching and selecting all the remaining purchases. Stay tuned for posts on:

• Tile: earlier this week we visited a tile showroom, and quite the unexpected happened.
• Something we all use every single day: it has become my new online hunting prey. You may even be asked for your opinion.
• Carpet: more commonly known around here as someone's obsession (hint: not mine).
• Why I love gray: and how it will be a part of every single room in this house if I get my way.

And if there's anything in particular you want to hear about, just let me know in the comments. 

Eight days later, we have this

Construction started with a roof demolition just eight days ago y'all. Eight. Days.  Amazing!

Introducing Saxton, our faucet

I thought I wanted oil-rubbed bronze finishes. They're beautiful, and stately, and all sorts of gaze-upon-me, for-I-am-worthy-of-your-lingering-glance. So I dutifully looked online and in stores; I dog-eared magazine pages and bookmarked a couple of websites. Then I noticed something: few of my online pins featured this finish. And when I looked at those pictures I'd pinned, I couldn't imagine oil-rubbed bronze in them. So after noticing what they did feature, I asked the Mr. if he had an opinion. And when he spoke these words, I knew what we would choose: