Week Ending 9/29/07

- Continued painting exterior trim

- Gutters installed

- incorrect window trim replaced

- Exterior French door handles installed

- Front and mudroom doors stained

- Picked up tile for Jessica's bathroom and began dry layout.

- Reinforced mudroom floor from the joists underneath, to provide strength while keeping the tile on level with the 1st floor oak flooring.

- Met with cabinet maker for final kitchen details and plans for bathroom vanities.

- Created timesheet for October push (as we hope to be in before November), coordinating with all trades. Inspection for C/O should be possible by 10/29, if everyone is on time...

Week Ending 9/22/07

Wood flooring went in starting Monday. All rooms are now installed (it took 3 days). sanding, staining and poly-ing will come later. The electrician showed up with extra crew to install all switches, outlets and fixtures. Since Wednesday we've had power throughout the house for the first time. As we've had beautiful weather, I've been squeezing every hour of daylight on a ladder priming the fascia boards, with the goal of having them painted next week for the gutters to be installed. Josie brought dinner to the house, where we ate off a plywood table on plaster buckets, with plaster bucket seats, every night since Wednesday. The administrative aspects of the project are interfering with my ability to do the work. Subflooring was laid for Jessica's bathroom. Rain on Saturday changed my plans from painting to laying subflooring in the boy's bathroom. It's all progress. Garage door was installed. Interior doors (about 25) are out to bid. Tile for Jessica's bathroom has been ordered.

Week Ending 9/15/07

The builder quickly took on the "punch list," though not too happy about it. Most of the issues have been addressed to some degree. The interior walls have been primed and the ceilings have been painted. The wood flooring was delivered Friday, and will acclimate for a few days before being installed. Josie and I tiptoed around the house finding and fixing squeeks in the floor last night. After six weeks, the front door was finally fixed. Most of the exterior trim has been caulked, puttied and sanded. By late Saturday I finally got a valuable part needed to hang ladders on the roof (so as not to make holes and still have footing). This will allow me to get most of the remainding difficult-to-reach trim. I'll need to bumb assistance on moving the 40' ladder to reach the rest. The gutter guy and I met Friday morning. He plans to come in 10 days to install, meaning I have to at least have the fascia boards primed with two coats of paint by then. I started priming that day. Met briefly with the electrician, who said he would come by to start installing the exterior fixtures and interior plates, switches, etc. I ordered the remaining exterior fixtures needed. Began process for ordering the interior doors, ordered the exterior door hardware, continue to shop tile and purchased the underlayment for the bathrooms. My tiling equipment has been moved to the house (from storage). We also stopped by to check on the progress with our kitchen cabinetry. Mark, the carpenter, had several logistical questions which we were able to solve at that time. While there seems to be no end to the list of items stollen, quality issues, broken windows, broken promises, materials arriving broken and such, the truth is that the progress far outweights these setbacks. Now for a day of rest and worship before another week of progress (Psalm 127:1).

Week Ending 9/8/07

Spent most of the week on ladders continuing external paint prep. Still can't get to some spots, but too busy to stop, hoping solution will present itself when necessary. Met with Architect, who met with the builder re: "punch list" items. Basically quality assurance stuff that I caught. Frustrating, but to be expected. Sheet rock is completed, and tapers are busy smoothing everything out. Decided to get quotes for priming and ceilings. First of two are within the range we needed. Frantically researching tile options. Very soon I will be "on the spot" for interior trim, tile and painting. Our goal is to be out of the rental before November.