Let's get this party started!

In preparation for the upcoming house-warming party, we are trying to get the deck done. It hasn't been easy though. We asked our neighbor--an engineer--to do drawings for us to get the permit. He kindly obliged, for which we owe him greatly. Two trips to the permit office and boom, DECK PERMIT! 2 days later, I dug the footers for the post and 2 days after that we were pouring concrete. With the posts up, we spend all day Sunday getting the framework in place. Erica's dad spent another 2 days earlier in the week doing more, and here we are:





Give us another week and we might be done, just in time for the party...

Settling In

We must apologize to all our loyal readers. We have recently slacked on our blogging mostly due to our SUPER-busy lives, filled with unpacking, touch-up work, and just generally having a social life again. Ok, so maybe I exaggerated a little.

Honestly, we pretty much took the month of August off. Other than unloading our storage unit and moving furniture, we relaxed. And boy was it nice. I think both of us felt guilty about not doing more, but the first 7 months of the year were filled with nonstop work and you could say the couch-sitting was well-deserved.

Once we hit September, the work begun again. We finished the back part of the basement—puttied, sanded, primed, and most recently installed baseboard:





With Erica’s dad’s help, we finished caulking around the exterior windows and then I painted them. One could say the paint was a good match:







Just yesterday we put up our new numbers on the front of the house!



Otherwise, we had old and new furniture brought in. Here is our bedroom:





We still have some work to do. The back of the basement needs a final coat of paint, we have lots of things to unpack, and the deck needs to be put up. But for the most part, we are comfortable and loving our new house. Here are a few other photos for your viewing pleasure:









GO PATS!!

New life

Arriving back in B-more with sunburned legs, bellys full of lobster, and refreshed souls, we find our new house empty, freshly-painted, and clean. WE'RE HOME!

In the weeks leading up to our end-of-July vacation, life was hectic. Maybe you could tell. With the scheduled appointments, deliveries, installations, and inspections we came close to edge but didn't quite fall in. So let's recap:

Most importantly, we passed all our final inspections. Thanks again to Charles and Randy for working so hard on the plumbing, electrical, and...well, everything else!!

When we last spoke we were about to get the floors and stairs finished. How do they look??









Charles is happy with the way the stairs turned out. It's a good thing too--he only spent 4 days working on them!



While we were basking in the Maine sun, our backsplash was getting done...









The day before we left, we got the carpet installed and got our final 203k inspection. The boys installed a sump pump outside the basement door so that it won't ever flood again. Thanks to Erica for bailing water that morning!!

The painters touched up the house while we were breathing in the salty ocean air, and all the remaining fixtures and outlets were installed. Otherwise the tools were removed and the house was cleaned a little. It was definitely nice to return from vaca to a house we could sleep in. Here are a few more pictures:











MORE TO COME (once we're moved in completely).....

Getting closer to the REAL independence day

So we had a busy Independence Day weekend, which consisted of me (Joel) and Charles cranking stuff out at the new house Thursday thru Sunday while Erica and her mom got busy packing stuff up at the old house. Our friend Aaron came down and helped to pack/move which was HUGE help.

Anyways, it was hectic. Especially with the 4th and wanting to hang with friends. But we got a lot accomplished. We finished the stairs on Saturday, capped off by the new railing. Sunday I finished the stair treads while Charles put in baseboard, then we put in the front door and got rid of trash. Monday night we put in the front window and got everything off the first floor because of re-finishing that started Tuesday.

Here are some pics. Oh, and we had a special request for a picture of the front, which we definitely have not posted yet. Thanks for the reminder!











The kitchen and upstairs hallway...Ready for sanding!!! (post-staining photos to follow soon)

Kitchen and Bath Update

Well...we are a few steps closer to completing the kitchen and upstairs bathroom. Today we had the quartz countertop in the kitchen installed. Now all we need are the appliances and the backsplash and we'll have a finished project! See below:




We have also made a ton of progress in the bathroom. The tile is finished and the vanity is now installed. Next Tuesday the granite guys will come and install the top and the sink. Check it out:






Last but not least, this weekend Joel and Charlie were able to complete the stairwell and rail system. It looks AMAZING! Tomorrow the floor guys come to refinish our hardwood floors and the railing. Take a look at this beauty:

Tile and other good news...

So the bathroom tile is coming along nicely. Check out the built in shelves in the shower:



And the tile pattern on the floor (that will also go on the walls of the shower...)



In other good news - the stairs were completed this weekend. It was a bit of a pain to get them leveled out but once that was tackled - it was smooth sailing. Stay tuned for more pics!

Oh and one more thing - turns out we're gonna have to get a storage unit =/ I was trying desperately to avoid this but its just not possible. BUT - I went and checked out this unit near our new place (the natty boh tower for all of you baltimorons out there) and they're going to give us 2 months free with no commitment!!! So basically because we need it for less then 2 months - we don't have to pay anything!!! Hard to believe I know...however i even asked the lady and she basically told me that we really would not have to pay anything if we moved out before the 2 months was up!!!! As you can imagine, I was pleased with this news :)

More Progress!

So as we mentioned before - things are progressing quite quickly at this stage. Which is nice but a little overwhelming because there is a lot to coordinate with different contractors etc. At this point the cabinets are almost all in and the template for the quartz is being set today. We had a few bumps along the way with the cabinets - certain pieces not being sent - damaged cabinets - loads of fun really! But you can see in the pick below that everything looks good considering -



Charles is quite proud of his work - As he should be :)


So the game plan from this point on is this:

template set for kitchen countertop - today

tile for bathroom laid - today through friday

replacing treads and building railing for stairwell - saturday through next week

replacement and additional pieces for cabinets installed - july 2

quartz countertop installed - july 3

carpet installed - july 6

hardwood floors and stairwell refinished - july 7-10

appliances delivered - july 13

Only a few more weeks!!!! Woooohoooo!