We went to Gloucester today to talk with the builder about the design of the deck.  Before we called him, we went inside and this is what we found….all the drywall had been installed and there were bags of plaster waiting to be applied (the pic above shows the plaster being delivered to an upper window).

The deck will made of a composite material (Trex) and a Feeney rail system.  Stairs will be on dark side at the end of the deck.  After they do they final landscaping, there should only be 4-5 steps.  I’m hoping to find a ramp that can be added when needed so that if someone has a walking disability, they can get up to the deck and then into the kitchen.

Also on the dark side will be the propane tanks (2 120 lb) located near the property line so that the propane company has easy access to them to fill them.  They’ll be away from the house so any snow falling of the roof won’t hit them.  We’ll just have to keep the area clear of snow if we get someone to plow the driveway when we’re not there.

Not much happened this week except for lots of rain.

They delivered the dry wall on Tuesday.  The person delivering the drywall picks up a certain number of drywall sheets.  They then tip back into the crane arm.  They are then raised to the 2nd floor and were taken sheet by sheet in the upstairs bedroom.

Dry wall installation and plastering begins next week.  Cabinets are due May 8th and the kitchen appliances on May 15th.  We are probably going to go to Gloucester next weekend to discuss the deck design with the builder.  The house has changed a lot since the original design was put together and he wants to make sure of the dimensions and where the stairs will be.

I’ve also contacted Eastern Propane and they are coming out on Monday to check on placement and size.  I think we will be getting

2 120 lb tanks.  They have to be 5′ away from any windows that open.  On the dark size (which is what we call the side nearest our other neighbor).  So, the tanks will probably be near their house and a trench for the pipe will be dug.

We made another trip to Gloucester, to drop off the upstairs toilet and meet some friends for lunch.  For lunch, we went to the Cape Ann Brewery.  There was some sort of marathon this morning and it looked like everyone who ran was in the bar.  Our friends had gotten a table but the bar was crowded and very noisy.  After a short while, some people moved out to the deck.  The sun was out but it was very windy out there.  We enjoyed our meals and by the time we left, the noise had subsided.  We’ll go back when it’s not so crowded.

Back to the house….the insulation was finished this week and inspected.  The wall board was supposed to start but there’s no sign of any wall bored.  Last night we picked out the granite countertop for the kitchen.  We went with granite instead of quartz.  The slabs we picked out are mostly while with flecks of black and grey and a hint of red (my favorite color).  The nice thing is that this place can do template to installation in a week.  Home Depot wanted 4 weeks and the appliances in place.  The other good thing was that this place was in Hudson, NH.  They were originally in N Reading but closed that shop and moved to NH, just across the river from us.  So, as soon as the cabinets are in place, we can call them to start the process.  We are also looking for lights, one for the entrance way, a pendant for over the kitchen island and 2 wall sconces for the stairs to the 2nd floor.

The wiring has been put into the breaker box but no breakers yet.  I guess once they so the wallboard and plaster, the electrician will come back and install the outlets and switches.

You’ll also notice in 1 picture that the exposed ledge in the basement has been filled in with concrete.  That’s going to be storage for us.

We will be going back next Saturday.

We went out to Gloucester on Sunday, the 14th.  We had 468 sq feet of white oak hardwood floor to deliver.  It was so heavy and took up so much room in Michael’s car, so we took his car and mine.

We put the hardwood in the basement and then just looked around.  They had started to put the foam insulation into the basement knee walls.  The power had been moved from the temporary pole to the house.  The circuit breaker panel is in but the wiring has not been completed.  A gas line has been installed and the water heater, furnace and connection to the stove in the kitchen is in place.  All the empty outlets have been covered so they can continue this week with the insulation. The 3 outside faucets have been added and the 3 motion sensitive lights are ready to be installed.

I took a lot of pictures of the studs since this is probably the last time we’ll see them.  They should start the wallboard next week.  Kitchen cabinets come in May 1st.  Last weekend I purchased the refrigerator, stove and dishwasher from Home Depot.  They will be delivered around May 15th.  We’ll be back to Gloucester on April 27 to meet friends for lunch again.

There was no update last week.  The builder was out of town so I had no idea of what happened in the house.

This week, we made the trek to Gloucester to meet up with some friends we haven’t seen in several years.  They live on Plum Island, which we can see from Plum Cove but it takes close to an hour to drive from there to Gloucester.

So, the changes we noticed was that the furnace was pretty much installed.  The vent for the water heater was put in.  Also, the 2 sewer stacks punched through the roof.  The fuse panel was in place with all the wiring ready to be hooked up.  The box outside the house was installed and the builder contacted National Grid to move the power from the temporary post to the house.  Next week the plumbing and electrical work is supposed to be signed off.

We made another trip to Gloucester this weekend to drop off the rest of the bathroom tiles, the sink vanity and toilet.  The last 2 times were during a snow storm.  This time the sun was shining but it was a little cool.  Some of the duct work is in but I don’t see anything for the 1st floor.  A lot of the plumbing is in.  They are using PEX piping.  I wondered how it connected so I went to YouTube, very interesting.  Saw an article that said a normal house with copper pipe would cost more than $15K.  Equivalent PEX drops the price to $7K-$8K, big difference.  You’ll notice that each line has it’s own shutoff.  The on-demand water heater has been installed but no line nor venting has been done.

I’ve included a couple of pics of Plum Cove.  Notice how low the tide was.  I think if you look at pics from 2 weeks ago, it was all ice over then.  We’ll be back to Gloucester in 2 weeks to have lunch with some friends from Newburyport (which is just across the bay from Plum Cove).

Can’t tell what’s been going on for the week.  It started with a snow storm on Sunday night that dropped 13″ of snow in Gloucester (we only got 6.5″ in Nashua).  Mid week there was a flurry of small panel vans in and out.  I assume these were the HVAC people and the electricians.  We won’t be going back to Gloucester until the end of the month.

We went out to Gloucester today in the middle of yet another snow storm.  We left early (7:45am) to beat any traffic that might be out there.  Our goal today was deliver the tile for the bathroom wall and floor, about 1,000 lbs of it.  We also took out the kitchen sink and the range hood.  Nothing much has changed in the house.  We noticed a few new walls, like the wall around where the HVAC will be and an extension to a wall in the kitchen next to the hallway.  The drain for the washer was also in place.

We discussed with Anita whether we should have a peninsula or an island, back and forth.  In the end, we decided (at least for now) to keep it as an island.  The next work to be done is the rough electrical, duct installation and the HVAC unit installed.

Not much to report this week.  I’ve had no updates as to what happened inside the house.  However, we did start purchasing items for the house.  After a long search, we found the tile for that bathroom wall and floor.  We wiped out 1 supply of wall tile and had to go to another store to buy more.  I think we have close to 1000 lbs of tile.  We also picked up the kitchen sink and my hi-tech faucet.  I bought this Delta faucet that you just have to touch to turn on/off.  There is still a handle to manually turn it on/off.  Today I ordered the range hood.  After trying to find samples of them in various stores we just decided to order it on-line.  Decided on Costco.com since we can bring whatever we bought back to one of the stores if we don’t like it.

Looks like we have a small group of deer in the neighborhood.  Several of them tripped the camera this week.  We saw (maybe the same ones) last year.

Well, not exactly.  We didn’t go out to the site until Monday, President’s Day.  It snowed the night before and Nashua had less snow than Gloucester and every where else.

The outside of the house is complete except for the deck.  We need to wait for the ground to defrost to put in the cement.

Inside the house, parts of the plumbing have been completed.  They installed the 2 shower pans.  We are thinking of using a glass enclosure but the cost might be too prohibitive.  We had 1 estimate of close to $3K for the door and right side wall.

We did find some tile we liked.  We went to 2 stores on Saturday in the Nashua area and were overwhelmed with the choices.  A friend suggested Fitzgerald’s in North Reading.  After we left Gloucester, we went to Bertucci’s in Peabody for lunch, then to Oasis Shower Doors just down the street.  When then drove to North Reading.  Fitzgerald’s is in an industrial park but was quite busy.  They have all the floor samples installed in the floor with names and prices.  Similarly, they had walls of wall tile installed showing the various sizes and prices available.  We are thinking of a white base with a kind of marbling with hints of blue and brown.  Same for the floor.

Electrical work is supposed to start this week.  We’ll also be exploring the cost of laminate vs hardwood the rest of the 1st floor.