Five for Friday

Just a fun summary of what we've been up to around here.

It's been another busy week.

Add texturing to my resume.

Our labor day weekend, we worked.  Earlier in the week, I'd finished a third coat of joint compound on each of the seams in Big Sister's new room, and Saturday we tried our hand at texturing.

The only experience I've had with finishing drywall previous to this room, was doing a "fire tape" in the garage of the last house we built.  Doing this room was the very definition of "winging it"!

Final moments.

We're so close to being completed with the first phase of our home.  Final inspections are today and tomorrow, and as soon as we get our occupancy permit, we'll start moving in.

My favorite lights

Finding lighting for our house was exciting.  I had only $1000 allowance in our budget to work with, and so I had to get creative in the sources I used.

Early on in designing how I wanted our home to look (see my new house pinterest board for more good ideas!), I saw these gorgeous Rustic Glass Pendants from Pottery Barn.  I just had to find a way to afford them!  

Cabinets...a work in progress.

When we began this house building adventure, we signed up to do more ourselves than we'd ever done before.  This included installing our own cabinetry.

First tile job

We're in the flooring stage for our home.  I wanted to show off our first tile job, because I'm so tickled with how it came out.

How not to pick a blue paint

A few weeks ago we were wrapping up the painting of our house, and I got a wild notion to paint the laundry room/mud room a lovely robin's egg blue.  After much debating, I decided on a paint chip, and had the store mix me up a gallon.

However, I completely neglected a cardinal rule for blue paints...always get a sample first!

Why we dug up our backyard.

Septic system.  Not necessarily discussed everyday, but if you live in the country, it's an important part of life.  As my kids like to remind me, everybody poops.  So, we had to have a place for it to go.

Our house drainage system is a bit complicated.

Siding makes such a difference!

I'm sure you may not be as bothered as I was, but Mr. Pickup and I were ready to hide that house wrap and get the siding up.  Although vinyl siding was what fit our budget, I wanted to do something that would make our house stand out.  My inspiration came from our last house in Boise, and from lots of ideas I'd pinned on pinterest.  

Plus, we finally got the garage door installed!  Isn't it fabulous???

Caution...painting in progress.

I like to paint. Really I do. But, painting an entire house is hard. And messy. And smelly. (The label claims to be low VOC...I'm not convinced!)

Despite the hardships, I am so happy with how it's coming together.

Finish work is coming along.

We've been setting doors, cutting and installing trim, and getting really dusty.

This is where the work becomes more meticulous, time consuming, and nit-picky....I love it!

Soffit and Fascia...check!

While the drywall subs finish up the texture on our walls, we've been working on the soffit and fascia, which covers the eaves of the house.

For this house, the soffit and fascia are made of aluminum which is powder-coated white.  Mr. Pickup was able to borrow a friend's back hoe, which made reaching all those eaves much easier than climbing up and down ladders.

Big things are happening!

The last week has really been productive over at the Pickup homestead.  First, we passed the building and electrical inspections.  (YES!!!)

Once those inspections were complete, we had the insulation company come do their thing, and we were ready for drywall.

On Roofing and Shingles

We're nearly done with shingling the roof. It is very difficult work to be at an angle, leaning down, and nailing each piece into place.  The pitch of this roof is a bit  higher than our last, and that also means it is steeper and  a bit more daunting.

Doors, Driveways, and Rough-in, on my!

We've been working away at the house, and I thought you all might like an update.

(Bonus points if you noticed the snow flying through the picture!)
Whew, we've been busy, and we've also had some great contractors working with us too.

Five things for Friday

Hi everyone.

As per the course lately, my thoughts are a bit scattered but I had a few things I wanted to share for the weekend.

It's still progressing...

We're entering a busy phase for our house building adventure.  It's time to rough in all the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems.  To prepare, last week we finished up the framing that remained to be done in the basement.  We've also been adding extra blocking as needed to prepare for the rough in of the electrical and plumbing.

Let the Sunshine in!

It's official!  We have windows.  I love how they turned out.  I was hoping for a Craftsman style look, and they are perfect.

Mr. Pickup and I installed a few along the back and in the basement last Thursday, and then recruited some help to put in the larger ones and finished things up on Saturday.

We have a roof.

It took a bit longer than we'd like, but it's official.  We have a roof.

Stairs and Trusses

I thought I'd show off my great skills at putting in stairs.

Ok, not really.  I did help our contractor put the stairs in, and I was so glad all I had to do was hold things, add some glue, and then nail things in.  He did all the calculations and cutting.