Hey everyone been out of commission since my shoulder surgery 5 weeks ago. Still having pain and going to PT. NOT FUN. Kristen and cd wishing you the best with your moving! Everyone seems to be coming along. I love seeing the changes and the choices everyone is making. Summer is upon us already. Hoping for good weather for everyone so your builds can continue without interruption.

@Rachel my husband installed our easycloset it was years ago but he had no issues.

he's fairly handy.

Whew, what a day! Started out at 8 am meeting with builder and electrician for what I thought was going to be a walk-through with a couple of days time to mull over the decisions and make necessary changes to placements, etc. WRONG! The electrician's 5 man crew rolled in and started pulling wires and nailing boxes as soon as we got the first room done...lol. I'm not complaining but it was a crazy, rushed feeling that by the end, I was kinda like, "Just do whatever...." as far as plugs go especially when we hit the 3 hour mark. The good thing is that the electrician is super friendly and had some good ideas. He also seems like he won't make a big deal about moving something if I need him to especially if the builder isn't onsite ;)

The framing crew finished up and are moving to the next house. Our exterior doors were set today, roof is on, fireplace in so the next few weeks will be for the mechanicals to go in. Drywall should start in about three weeks :)

@shead, 'I was kinda like, "Just do whatever...."' is not a an adult reaction, and especially not a custom build client recipe for success. You need more time? Take more time.

Well I’m exhausted! We have had so many trades come back to fix their mistakes this week. I just can’t believe people expect to get paid for shoddy work! On a happier note our living room is large enough for a sofa and recline! I thought we would only have room for a sectional but I think I need to buy some more furniture!

@shead that is good advice strategery is suggesting. I left a few things up to my electrician. Some I really liked others I missed and should have made some minor changes but my focus moved on to something else and I missed it. Be sure to triple check everything before you drywall.

@strategery and @K H, truly, the "whatever" things were of little consequence :) I had the big things already marked on the plan. Since plug spacing has to follow Code and be every so many feet, I really didn't care if the plug was on the right side of the stud or the left. And like I said, we spent 3 LONG hours on it as the electrician was very thorough.

cabinets are being custom made and he said i need to select hardware.

i am not sure how one selects hardware without the cabinets?

I think I'll tell him that I'll handle that. I don't need to have to decide right now.

@shead i feel ya. it was exhausting and they didn't do it right then. that would have added an extra level of stress for sure. it will all work out. ignore the snark.

shoe molding?

I had blanned a 1x6 baseboard and it shows no molding.

contractor says need it especially for the wood contracting expanding yada yada

i thought if we did floors first could do base after and not have issues [based on reading here on houzz]...

what are you all doing?

here's my inspiration...

I am going with no baseboard. Not sure if my workers are skilled enough to pull it off. I will find it out. It may turn out a failure like the shower floor did. Baseboard covers up mistakes, unevenness from what I understand.

@snowcountry no baseboard at all? or do you mean no shoe molding?

@Trish Walter None at all. Drywall meets the floor. Will see if it will be a total flop.

Oh wow, @snowcountry, I don't think I've ever heard of that! That's an interesting concept and I hope it works out for you! The one thing I'd really be concerned about is moisture getting to the drywall from spills on the floor, mopping, etc. as the drywall will wick it up and then possibly start to peel.

@shead what about no shoe molding?

thanks

https://www.houzz.com/user/shead

Electrical - if using a roombra, make sure to have an accessable outlet, right now I am using the outlet in our DR, as when we were building we didnt have a roombra but purchased one after ... and for the foyer entry, the Elec crew almost missed the outlet there>> they came back to the island for another job & had left some tools here which needed to be picked up, when they came to pickup, I pointed out the missing outlet, which they then took the time to place as the drywallers were coming the next day.

https://www.houzz.com/user/trish-walter

We did floors in first & then hubby added all the baseboards/trim

@Trish Walter,

Typically, shoe molding is used to disguise any unevenness in flooring which is actually pretty common. It can likely be foregone if floors end up being level :)

For our Roborock (same as roomba, different brand). We made a space. It goes into the slot and into a space under my laundry room cabinet bottom. We had the bottom of cabinet removal and had electric added to inside cabinet to plug in the base. Love, love, love that we did that. We got funny looks from the builder for that and the cat doors we put into a couple of the walls. We have 2 of the cat doors. One goes into our closet from the hallway and the other into the pantry for her food.

@Trish Walter I like your baseboard. We are going to make all our own trim. Very simple, clean lines and that baseboard is also an inpso. I prefer without the shoe moulding, but we will see once we get to the point of actually installing the trim.

The walls in our main living areas will be plaster so I believe we are going with no base and no trim (basement will have both since finishes will be more budget friendly). I could be wrong - stay tuned on that.

@Trish Walter I love the simplicity of that base. If I need to do baseboard I'm steeling your inspiration

Love the progress, everyone! I'm going to say it again... holy cow @shead, your builder has been busting it this month! So much progress in a short time!

We have been experiencing torrential downpours which has caused a 3 week delay in getting the foundation started. We have sold our home and will be moving out near the end of July. We'll have to live in a camper/garden shed until the build is complete. We are ready, though. A positive attitude will be key to get through those months. We were going to need a garden shed anyway, so we purchased this to temporarily house our washer and dryer, couch, television, dining table, and toys for the kids. Between this and the camper, I think my girls will be on cloud 9. I will absolutely be inconvenienced, but I do believe it'll be worth it. We'll be living on the home site and I am excited to be able to watch progress.

@User, that's awesome! So happy for you! Yes, the plastic bag trick is KEY to moving. We've used it several times. It's also good for storing off season shirts, etc. in another space if closet space is tight.

I hope you do a full house photo tour soon :)

@User Congrats!! Can't wait for pics. Have to admit I'm definitely jealous! ENJOY

@User woo hoo. like button doesn't seem to be working for me.

Congrats @cd7733! I’m looking forward to that feeling next week. Can’t wait to see pics! And love the packing hack :)

Good progress at our place, but mechanical and plumbing still haven’t shown up for their finish work. It should only take a day, but I’m still getting nervous...Oh well, all I can do is stay positive!

Hello! I am new to this forum, but I have been following for a long time. We started building on our Hill Country (Texas) property in March.

Absolutely love your wood floors Kirsten (everything else is beautiful too!)

Thank you, Alicia! I was nervous about the variation in hickory, but risked it for the warmth since I went stark white everywhere

Still waiting for an appraisal... finally got directv out here and waiting on the fiber hook ups but it was so wet last week they couldnt dig the line in. Still finishing up little projects. Our builder has a couple pieces of baseboard he missed and I have my finally list of little things. He has a bit of stair trim to finish too. This has been a bit delayed because he had surgery and has been recovering! So we just went ahead and moved in. I wanted an over the counter microwave which will go in our pantry so we are putting that in and finishing upper pantry shelving too. Now to decide where all our pictures and bookcases etc... will go! @Kirsten E. your hickory floors turned out beautiful! @User congrats how was the first night in your new home!

Thank you everyone!

I am exhausted! All that paperwork, and coming to terms with the amount we just signed up for, is an emotional rollercoaster! Then add another heavy haul of mattresses and dishes and odds & ends, and dirtbikes. Now we have to get the spec house ready for listing!

The first night here was GREAT!! We ordered a take out dinner and ate at my little ones activity tables in kid chairs, lol. The house is very homey, feels very comfortable, and familiar. Everyone slept awesome! And I finally got to see the house in early morning! The north east windows let in so much natural light! We prepared and ate breakfast without needing lights!

Our poor dogs and cat are stressed to the max. The dogs more so. They hate boxes and suitcases and have been bombarded by them for months. Now we've thrown them in a strange place that looks different but smells like us. Trying our best to make them comfy!!

@User so exciting. post pics when you feel ready... you can just move boxes take a shot and move them back. we won't know lol

@K H sounds like you're so very close to the relaxing part. I hope.

@kmk10629 nice setting! best of luck.

@Kirsten E. looks great.

@Trish Walter Thank you, Trish! Looking forward to seeing your floors when finished.

LOL Trish, wish Houzz had a laugh button. There are soooooo many boxes!!

My current view from the dining table:

@User ha. but droooll sooo pretty. love love love how it all came together.

We've lived in our current home for 20 years and haven't begun to tackle anything here...we are bursting out of it...it's going to be so not fun. I am not thinking about it until Mid-June. Ha.

What kind of home security system are you installing?

Hey all. I have posted my pantry layout and would love feedback.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5928602/pantry-try-2-u-shaped-pantry-dimensions-thoughts

Thanks.

have to give trim guy something.

@snowcountry we are planning ring or google doorbell and google nest security.

@snowcountry We are going simple - probably doing something like SimpliSafe and a Ring doorbell - something like that

Love the Masonry crew. They came in this weekend and knocked out our dry stack fireplace.

Feeling like a home...

Oh, Trish, LOVE that stone! What's it called?

@N KaySimple sounds good. I will just do Ring. After building the house, I won't have much left for anyone to break in to take anyway.

What's wrong with Houzz? I can't like or thank anyone! And what's up with the reverse order? So annoying.

@Trish Walter What fireplace are you doing? Agree with @shead, pretty stone!

thanks!

@shead it's also fond du lac but it's dry stack [so you don't see mortar].

fireplace is wood burning. i can get brand if you want. it's extra tall.

good thing i like it because it was our biggest boo boo not moving it back..it sticks out 2 feet into the room.

The protrusion into the room seems right from my perspective. Trish your fireplace is beautiful.

Snowcountry - yup nothing left to grab. 😎

@Trish Walter Yes, what brand is your fireplace?

@snowcountry, we are planning to put in a Reolink system. It's fairly inexpensive and you can can use wired POE cameras or wireless. We are using wired POE cameras on our main house to monitor various angles and will have a couple of wireless cameras at our barn (1300 ft away) that will connect wirelessly through a Wi-fi bridge between our house and barn. Since we have a farm and a dating teenager, cameras are a must for us :)

We have remobell

@shead I just shared your post about Reolink with Hubby and he asked what wifi bridge you are using?

Can we all take a step back and appreciate how ridiculously valuable this thread is!! Thanks All!!

@snowcountry

Heatilator Icon 60

https://www.heatilator.com/products/icon-series-wood-fireplace

we are hopefully getting doors installed soon.

Thanks for all the tips regarding security / doorbell.

Beautiful fireplace!

thanks all. the stones are actually chunkier than my vision but we didn't go when they started only when they finished so I took a bit to warm up to it. But I dig it.

@N Kay, here's the link to the Wi-fi bridge I'm planning to use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002K683V0/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A3HCET3UGETZ2B&psc=1

@Trish Walter, we are also doing a woodburning fireplace and looked at the Heatilator Icons. We almost went with the Icon 80 but found another brand, Majestic, that offered identical specs but with a more ivory/tan interior in their Biltmore series. Ours is 42" wide.

If a June thread hasn't been started, I'll start one :)

Which Ring do you recommend? I was thinking Doorbell 2, pro or elite.