I believe we're done

I believe we're done.  There are still a few things we have to do but at least we're living in the ranch house.  We have to have the carport slab poured, put up a picket fence, finish out the pantry and closets, and put up pictures.  I finished the bathroom fixtures a couple of days ago except a mirror for the Master Bath.  We're going to see if we can find one today.  It feels wonderful living in the house.  The Master Bath shower is a delight (I'm just glad my design worked).

I really appreciate all of you that are following this adventure of ours.  I will continue to post pictures and comments as we complete each of the remaining tasks.

We moved in the TV and our chairs.  Direct TV has
hooked us up and we're here to stay.

I was sitting on the Ranch House porch looking at the RV and
Bunkhouse that we lived in for a year and eight months.  It was
a Tom Hanks "Castaway" moment for me.  The scene when he
finally made it over the wave and is sitting on the raft looking
back at the island that he lived on for four years.  I wish I could
have looked at the RV-Bunkhouse and had the same music playing.

Much of our furniture was moved in today.  We had to be selective because all the furniture we had at our former house will not fit in the new house.
We hired the firemen that we hired almost two years ago to move us out of our former house.  They did an excellent job then and they did an excellent job today.

Formal Dining

Living Room

 

Kitchen

 

Master Bedroom

 

Bedroom 2

They moved our Washer and Dryer
from the Bunkhouse to the Mudroom
and connected everything.
 

Yesterday the electrical was finished with the exception of a few fixtures and the cable TV connections.  Today Janice and I picked up the floor buffer from the rental place.  The house is now ready for one more floor sealing tomorrow and then we'll be ready to move the furniture in. 

Janice in the kitchen.  Everything is working now.  Tonight she will
cook the first meal using the new appliances.  No more RV stove. 
No more RV refrigerator.  No more RV kitchen sink.  It's hard
to believe that it's taken almost an entire year to get to this point.
 

Today I finished installing all the door knobs and door pulls.  Janice finished cleaning all the windows and installed some of the screens.  Tomorrow we'll finish installing the screens and reserve the buffer for one last floor buffing and sealing on Monday.  Tomorrow we also have to make copies of the floor plan for the Williamson County tax folks.  We have an appointment with them on Tuesday. 
Trico, the propane company providing our service, came by and fixed the stove.  It's up and running.  They tested the system and everything was ok except for the HVAC furnace.  The HVAC guys haven't returned yet to set up the furnace for propane.  The guy from Trico told me to call him when the HVAC guys finished and he would return for the final inspection.  Back and forth and forth and back, the same nonsense we've been going through the entire time we've been building this ranch house.

It's been almost a month since I posted pictures.  It shows you how this has been going.  The HVAC was completed today.  They weren't able to connect the furnace part because they didn't have the propane orifice to install.  They said they'd be back tomorrow to finish.  Heck, it's 96 degrees out there right now.  The air conditioner works great in the house.  We were very satisfied with its performance.
They finished installing the kitchen appliances.  The range and oven aren't working yet because Sears lost one of the propane orifices for one of the burners.  The propane guys are coming tomorrow to check pressures and finish the work.  They told me that they may have an orifice that fits.
We are nearing a year building this ranch house.  I believe we are a couple of weeks away from moving in.  We simply have to move in this month.

Kitchen with appliances.  The stove doesn't work yet.

The heating and air conditioning unit.

The HVAC and water heater.

The Living and Formal dining with ceiling fan and
chandelier that Eric installed.

The Master Bedroom with ceiling fan Eric installed.

 

 

I wanted to add a couple more photographs of the staining and painting the guys did but the blog wouldn't let me. It has nothing to do with the blog site; it's the stupid satellite internet provider that's the problem.  I only wish the wall colors would come out better.
A neighbor a couple of ranches down had a modular Palm Harbor house moved on to their property last week. I noticed a strange thing sticking way up into the air on his roof. It was a tower for a wireless internet provider. We can't get it because they would have to build an 80 foot tower.
The people moving in are a little older than we are and have a son in his 40's living with them. The son is a techie type guy so I can see that a tower on the roof would be a necessity. At least it's not 80 feet high, looks more like 20.

Door to hall in Bedroom 3.

Closet in Bedroom 3.

The painters finished today.  They worked for quite a few days.  The last two, Sunday and Monday, they worked until just about midnight.  We couldn't believe it.  They arrived today and finished the job.  They then had Janice and I walk around and put pieces of blue tape on any areas that didn't meet our specifications.  They then went from blue tape to blue tape making corrections.

The Formal Dining Area.

Bath 2.

Master Bath Sink.

Master Bath cabinets and door to closet.

True to form, the kitchen counter top installers arrived to day and the painters disappeared.  This is what has been happening over and over as we try to finish the house.  The painters were supposed to work today painting the living, formal dining, kitchen and hall.  They never showed up. 
The counter top folks were supposed to be here between 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m.  A little after 2:00 p.m. Janice called them to see what had happened.  She was told they were late and would be here in about an hour and a half.  They finally arrived and did a great job.

The appliances are all over the place.  The ceiling fans
and deep sink are in the mudroom.

Bath 2 counter top.  It was too dark to take
a photo of the Master Bath counter top.

Today Janice and I picked up the sink and counter tops for the bathrooms.  They came out beautiful.  I can’t believe that they were done in one week.
We’ve been sanding the interior trim work.  We’ll finish tomorrow.  I hope to take and download pictures of the bathroom counter tops on the bath cabinets this week.  I’m sure they’ll look great.

We've been getting phone calls and emails from folks thinking that the house is finished. Well, it's not finished. I believe that we are about two months past our scheduled finish date. The problem has been getting contractors over here to do or finish their jobs. We've had delays for a number of reasons, one is that this is a custom design, second is the distance most contractors have to travel to get to us, and third, probably the most important, we've watched every penny we've spent on the house. We've always had a budget for the house and as the end of the project nears we are monitoring the expended and remaining funds closely to ensure we have enough to finish.  We wanted to build this house and not have a mortgage payment at the end.  We may make it.

We are so close. Once the painters have finished we will be able to start moving in. The only things left to purchase are the water heater and two toilets. The rest of the stuff is mostly fittings that will be needed to connect the sink water lines, refrigerator ice maker, and the dishwasher. We’ll also need plumbing fixtures for all the drains. The electrical also has to be totally finished as soon as I can them out here to finish it. The electrical has taken a pretty long time.

Stay with us, we’re almost finished.

Our neighbor and his wife arrived at about 8:30 this morning. He had called this past weekend to tell me that he was going to take the day off to come help me get his bull off my land. The bull has been here for about a month. He's been troubling for us because he kept opening the water faucets and using the faucet's PVC pipe to scratch his underbelly, basically walking over and bending it all to hell. I was sure he was going to break one of the water pipes.

I directed my neighbor to our stock trailer and helped him hook up. I then started up the tractor and Janice put a bag and a half of cattle cubes in the bucket. Janice jumped on the tractor's side step and off we went to round up the bunch and lead them to our corral. Once they saw that we had cubes we easily got them moving towards the corral pulling the bull with them. As we got close Janice got off and opened the gate. I continued on and they all filed into the corral along with the damned bull. After Janice closed the gate I directed my neighbor and we got his truck with the stock trailer positioned at the end of our chute. With Janice at the gate and me moving cattle in the corral, we were soon able to get some of our cattle out. I got the bull into the chute and pushed it on into the stock trailer. It took about 15 to 20 minutes for Janice and I to herd, separate, and load that bull. I didn't think much of it until I noticed my neighbor and his wife watching Janice and I do our work.

My neighbor and his wife watched in disbelief. I think they thought "damned, these senior citizens know what the hell they’re doing!” Although Janice and I have herded, separated, and loaded cattle before, it was our loading the last bull that gave us the experience for this one. The last bull we loaded was my neighbor's bull’s brother. They almost look identical, big, powerful, and stubborn. We got almost $1000.00 for him at the Lampasas Cattle Auction Company. My neighbor and his wife are headed to Lampasas right now.  I'm sure they’ll get about the same for theirs.

 

Our faucets are now safe, I hope.

Yesterday I received the bids for the bathroom counter tops with sinks.  It was a real good bid.  I paid for half and told them to go forward.  She told me it would take a week.
Today the guy that installed the kitchen counters returned.  He had been down with the flu.  They kept cancelling his scheduled time to finish the installation.  He installed the doors to the lazy Susan (one had been back ordered) and all the knobs and drawer pulls.  It looks pretty good.
I also had a painting contractor come by today.  He walked the inside of the house and gave me a bid.  His bid was about $4500.00 less than the first bid I got.  I have one more painting bid to go.

The bathroom cabinets have been installed.  They look pretty good and they go well with the look of the ranch house.  The only problem that I saw was that there isn't a toe kick.  I think it was my mistake when I sent the guy the drawings I created showing what I wanted.  I only drew front elevations and didn't call out the toe area.
I'm waiting for a firm bid on the counter tops with sinks right now.  When it comes in we'll review it and if it's within our budget we'll have them go forward and let them make them.  They told us that it would take about a week.  I couldn't believe the short timeline.

Bath 2

Bath 2

Master Bath


 

Master Bath over the toilet.

Master Bath.  The bottom cabinet is for dirty clothes,
the largest middle cabinet is for towels and such, and
the top cabinet is for storage.

 

 

Drain in Mudroom.  This is around the Washer-Dryer area.
Once the concrete dries around the drain I'll stain and seal it so it will
match the rest of the floor.  I plan on caulking the baseboard in the
mudroom real good so if there is ever a problem with the washer
and it leaks water all over the place it will be contained in the mudroom.
What water the drain doesn't get we'll sweep to the drain.

We have light!  Although not finished we at least have most of the electricity going.  The bathroom cabinets are supposed to arrive today (he called and cancelled the Thursday or Friday delivery, the Saturday delivery, and yesterday, the Sunday delivery).  We'll believe it when they arrive at our gate.
They called this morning and cancelled the cabinet installation guy scheduled to finish the doors to the lazy Susan part of the kitchen cabinets (one of the doors was on back order).  Dang, we even bought all the door and drawer knobs he was going to install as well.  He woke up with a fever.
I also have to get the baseboards finished, and the yada, yada, yada, aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

From Eric's iPhone

The baseboards were installed yesterday.  I haven't seen it complete but did get to see the baseboards in the Master Bedroom when they finished the room.  They looked pretty nice.  Tomorrow, if I can get to the house ok with all the mud, I'll take some pictures.
Today we had to cancel the installation of the dishwasher and range hood and microwave oven.  The electricity and plumbing aren't quite ready for these two appliances.  Instead, we'll pick up the two appliances at Sears and put them in the house.  Our contractor told us that he would install the dishwasher, range hood and microwave oven, and connect the line to the refrigerator ice maker.  The Propane folks will be changing the range and oven from natural gas to propane and finish the installation.

Yesterday evening they finished installing the kitchen cabinets.  We were told that one of the doors to the corner cabinet (the one with the lazy Susan in it) was on backorder.  It is supposed to arrive April 2nd.  The installer told us that when he returns to install the doors to the cabinet he can also install all the drawer and cabinet pulls (knobs) for free.  He said it was part of their service.
Janice called the counter top folks this morning.  They will drop by on April 2nd to measure so they can cut our counter top.  They'll also measure the sink we bought to cut it out as well.  Janice wants an undercounter mount in the kitchen.
Everything will be happening April 2nd.  The cabinet guy returns and all the appliances will be arriving.

The sink is under the window.  To the right of it
will be the dishwasher.  There is a thin cabinet for
her cookie sheets and things like that.  To the right
of the thin cabinet is the refrigerator space.

The space is for the Range and Oven and above it
the range hood and microwave oven.

This kitchen won't tire Janice out.  I look at it
and try to imagine a rectangular table with four
chairs in the kitchen area.  I can't wait for
the appliances to arrive on April 2nd.

A couple of more pictures.  The blog gets finicky sometimes and lets me download only three at a time.

Janice's kitchen cabinets.  There's a large box
outside on the porch.  The box was too big to
fit through the front door.  They'll have to remove
the cabinet from the box in order to get it in.

The 250 gallon propane tank.
It's going to service the kitchen range,
water heater, and HVAC heating.

The regulator they installed on the carport wall.  It's
connected to the gas line going inside the house.

We finished the floor yesterday evening.  We were able to lay two coats of sealer.  One was just a sealer and the second coat was to protect the floor from heavy traffic.  I think we'll do one more coat after the baseboards and kitchen cabinets are in.
The kitchen cabinets arrived today at about noon, I was at a doctor's appointment.  A giant semi called Janice from our gate and asked her if they were going to fit under the crossbar over our gate.  She told them yes.  They also wanted to know if they could turn around to get out once the cabinets were delivered.  She again told them yes and explained how they could do it.  Two guys unloaded all the kitchen cabinets.  They will be installed tomorrow.
The propane folks surprised me yesterday.  They put in the tank and installed a line with a regulator from the tank to the carport.  They told me that a person will come by to fill the tank and finish the installation.

Janice's kitchen.

The Formal Dining room.

The Master Bedroom.

We finished preparing the floor today.  Janice and I dabbed stain on the areas that I had filled yesterday and on some chips in the concrete floor.  It's ready for buffing and sealing tomorrow morning.  I am planning on taking some pictures of the floor tomorrow after the sealing. 

Deputy Cooper, Ranch Security

Janice and I are working in the house getting the floor ready for buffing and sealing.  Today we got the closets, bedroom, bathrooms, and hall.  Tomorrow we'll do the dining, living, kitchen, and mud room. 
The electrical should be finished this coming weekend.  Most of the lights, outlets, and switches are in.  I'll take some pictures and post them tomorrow.

We bought most of the lights today.  Tomorrow we have to go back and get ceiling fans, the bath lights, and the exterior lights.
The doors are almost all installed.  The ones that are left to install and trim are the door to bath 2 and the Master closet.  They are coming out pretty nice.



The Pantry.
(Check out the sunset on the walls and doors. 
Janice's silhouette can be seen.  She's standing
at the front door.)

 

Door to Bedroom 3 and closet doors

Door to Bedroom 2 and closet doors

Master Bedroom door and door to Master Bath.
The door to the Master Bedroom is 36 inches wide
and the door to the Master Bath is 32 inches. 
Both measurements satisfy ADA guidelines for
wheelchair accessibility.  Hard to believe I planned ahead.
The guy installing the tile in our shower asked me if I
would like for him to install grab bars since he knew where
all the 2X4's were located.  I told him no, that I'd do it
later.  I don't know how to take this.  I know I'm getting
up there in years but I didn't think I was old enough for
the grab bar club yet.  Heck, maybe I am.

 



The trim is coming out pretty good.  Janice and I will have to clean the floor, buff it with a fine sandpaper, and then seal it.  After that the baseboards will be installed.  The electricians are coming this weekend to finish out their work.  We have to select and buy the lighting.  After all this, the interior painter will give me a bid.
Don't forget to pick the pictures to get a bigger look.  It's hard to see the detail when the photos are this small.

Formal Dining

Window over the Kitchen sink

Master Bedroom

The joints-a-jumpin' today.

The trim around the windows is being installed.

This is the doorway to the Master Bath.  The door dimensions
are in line with the ADA's accessibility guidelines (as is the
door to the bedroom).  In other words, a wheelchair will fit through
the door.  I never thought that I would one day design a bathroom
for our future.

The window trim in the Formal Dining room.