The blog update...it's...it's coming from inside the house!

We moved in! Nothing is really 100% done yet, but it's all finish stuff. Though we are almost completely moved into the kitchen, the handles still need to be put on (currently in progress), and our drinking classes unpacked. Our other storage bit in the bedroom was put up last night, and the showerhead and controls were installed. 


What still needs to be done: Baseboards and trim around the doors, silicone toilet in, bathroom sink drain installed (the flange we had in mind is backordered and they decided not to tell us..), finish swamp cooler frame, finish installing the last board on the deck (up next to the house), seal the deck, install the cat box cover/bench, touch up paint, and wait until tonight/tomorrow to move furniture in because of the floor varnish. 

So, here are some pictures in no particular order. 

Alan and the dog atop what is now called Mt. Sealy Posturpedic

So very, very close

 
We have varnished floors, 

 





A toilet,

Lights,

And some dogs that are quite ready to go to bed.

Also, it was some other stuff day

 After we unmasked all of the painting, everyone was very energized, so...we put up the awning metal.

 We also put on the solar screen! It looks so much different now, it's actually a little startling. We are utterly in love with it!

 Yesterday, we built our bed. Here's Alan standing in the frame.

  The frame being built. It's redwood 2x6's dovetailed together, then screwed to a 1/4" wall angle which is bolted to the floor. The bottom of the frame is 22" high.

The 4x4 is fixed, but the 2x4's can be removed.

The bed platform can be lifted with the blue strap you can see at the top. We have six 18 gallon storage tubs, and six 9 gallon tubs tucked underneath.

This isn't quite finished, but here's the bed and about 1/3 of the bedroom storage (there's an additional cabinet that runs across the back wall, and a dresser). We decided to camp out tonight (no toilet or shower, it's totally camping!) on the bed and are very excited for it.

Painting Day

These are a few of my favorite things

Ukuleles on porches and spiders on fingers
white painted metal and tile on counters
plumbing tied up with string that meets code
These are a few of my favorite things

Wired

We have POWER! Alan, Alan Sr, and Mr. Bowdrie pulled wire to the house!

Alan learns how to put in receptacles.













The kitchen cabinets are up on their pedastles, and the section of floor to the left is our test-sand patch. Looks pretty good!

Feeding wire while it's being pulled.


















The screens that will go in the top part of the screen porch. They're big! The actual screen part is a solar screen, to block out all of that sun-heat. The bedroom (furthest spot from the swamp cooler) will need it.

The metal that will be filling in the bottom part of the porch. As you can tell, it's been another couple of late nights..









We have power, our water heater is plumbed, all of our waste plumbing is done, the porch may be done/on the way today, the bathroom sink has been mounted and the shower door is done...we're finally in the home stretch, and I cannot wait for move-in day!

The day before tomorrow

Because tomorrow is a big, big day and this is just a little bitty update.
Our kitchen cabinets are in, and the countertop support for the northeast corner has been fabricated. The dog and cat food storage will be under here, as will their water supply.
Like usual, it's a bit of overkill..

The window is masked off because...

















We have a deck! The metal is primered and painted, and the deck boards are 2x6 redwood.

We started insulating/sealing where the container meets concrete today.

.

This is the fairly comfortable underside to the container. As you can see, we aren't plumbed yet-- that and electricity come tomorrow! I'm very, very excited. In addition to that, the metal panels for the porch and awning come tomorrow, in addition to the screens and shower door! We may also have a kitchen counter tomorrow, which would be wonderful.

Rainy night in California

 

Well, we didn't wash away, and got a darn pretty sunset out of it. Unfortunately, this is the worst kind of weather the desert has to offer-- 100 degrees and 70% humidity means not much gets done. 

Here are our kitchen fixin's: Cooktop, sink, on demand water heater for the sink, and the plywood for the countertop base. 

 This is the setup we have for work done at night, since it's finally cool enough at 9pm to not drown in your own sweat.

 The actual cabinets sitting where they'll go! They won't be on the floor like this; we're building bases for them out of 2x6's.

Last night we got some stairs, which is wonderful. It means no more climbing up and down a stepladder to get on the porch! Today the door to the screen porch was test fitted, and it works beautifully. Everything's a mess right now because we had to storm-proof at the last minute, and things still need to be able to go back under cover immediately, if it starts to rain.

This is our damn kitchen

As in, "Damn, that's green!" 

I've "helpfully" drawn in our cabinets and fridge in the kitchen, and the awesome gateleg table in the 10" we've designated as the dining room.The color is "Fresh Pear"

















Here's everything painted our base color, Valspar (Lowe's brand) "The Bubbly".

Andthe bathroom walls, Valspar's Betsy Ross House Blue.









We are currently under a weather advisory that reads like this... 

"at 432 PM PDT... National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated
a severe thunderstorm capable of producing one inch hail and 70
mph wind gusts"....So hopefully, we won't have to buy new windows or a new house.

Little things

The past few days have been all about getting the smaller things done, like the last door going in, drywall completely mudded and sanded, and getting the last of the stuff out of our apartment. Today, we textured the walls. While it would have been easier/cheaper to not use texture, it does cover a multitude of sins, and we like the inside looking as conventional as possible. 


Here are some pictures of the slider going in, and of the only measuring mistake so far--- we were off by 1/4", and it was remedied by removing a 1/2" OSB spacer...and shaving some off with a saws-all. Alan's uncle, Mr. Chick Bowdrie, is also helping us now. We are very, very grateful for all of the help we've had from family, this would be impossible without them. 

 

Mudding....a lot of it.

The slider is unloaded from the tractor. 

And does not slide into place. So we remove the spacer, and give it a little shave.

All done. The final sealing of all gaps and cracks comes in a few days. 
















It was 105 degrees today, so we decided to tape the windows shut. While we were at it, we figured we'd spray some texture..


Taping and sanding. Yes, the floor is a mess...

 And it goes on. I was in charge of the 'knockdown' part of texturing, so if it's terrible, you know who to blame...

Oh wait, nevermind, it's gorgeous.