Phase Nine - Drywall, Siding, Pool

Since my last update, there has been a lot of activity at the new house. The contractor is still telling us we will be in the house some time in March. That will put us three months ahead of the original schedule. This advanced timing is the positive byproduct (for us, anyway) of the slow-down in the Florida housing market. That slow-down has hit both home sales and new home construction. So, there are plenty of subs looking for work and that means very little, if any, time delay between the various phases of construction. That being said, let's get on with the update.

Drywall

One of the biggest developments is that all of the interior walls have now now been drywalled. This process is still ongoing as they are now taping and mudding all of the joints in the drywall material. The really good part about this step - aside from it being another huge step toward completion - is that you can now get a true feel for the flow of the house and the size of each room. Here are some selected pics of the drywalling:

This is the family room, showing the fireplace. We got a free upgrade on the fireplace to a "ventless" system due to some unexpected code issues with the chimney. It worked out very much to our benefit.

This shot shows the family room from the opposite direction and also allows you to see the kitchen, breakfast nook area, and the lanai.

Here you see the dining room and the entry door. Notice the arches above the dining room. That wall in the back of the photo will be covered in mirrors.

Another shot of the entry area (notice the niche) and the entry door to my new study. That doorway will have an etched glass door and the floor inside the study will be wood.

This is Harley's room. You can now see the niche that runs above her closet.

This is the living room as viewed from the entry area. That is the study door to the right and the dining room column to the left.

This is the master bedroom looking toward the back of the house and the pool. You can see the TV niche and plant shelf on the wall to the left. The recess at the back of the room is the sitting area. Those windows look out onto the pool.

This is a shot of the master bath that shows the double-sink vanity area, the garden tub, and the shower. The shower will be encased by a glass wall that runs from that little wall behind the tub and up to the other small wall descending from the ceiling.

Opposite wall shot of the master bath that shows the dressing table area, the linen closet, and one of the two closets. That door on the extreme left side is the toilet area.

This is the "spare" bedroom. The window on the right overlooks the pool, while the left window overlooks the backyard.

Facade

The exterior of the house is really coming together, as well. In the past few weeks they have clad the lower section of the facade in brick and built the columns for the front porch, also out brick. The facade has now been sided and is starting to take on its final appearance. Still missing in these photos are the black shutters that will be installed on all of the front windows. Also missing at this point is the set of steps for the front porch. Those steps will be built out of the same brick as the lower trim and the columns. The steps will curve out as the move away from the house and will terminate into a planter base on each side.

Pool

Construction of the pool has finally started. Within the past week they framed the pool, dug the hole, installed the wire mesh framing, and laid out all the rough plumbing. This stage of pool construction is scheduled for inspection on Monday (02/12/07) and the pool contractor plans to "shoot" the pool interior on the same day. "Shooting" is the process whereby they spray the concrete to form the pool interior. Look closely at the back center of the pool framing and you will notice that there is an area that is high the rest of the back wall. This is where the waterfall will go. The entire pool will be surrounded by a flocrete deck that will extend six feet beyond the back edge of the pool. The entire pool area will be screened in.

Septic

Ah, the details. Out here in the woods we depend upon wells to provide us with water and septic systems to dispose of the rented water. You know, you can't buy water (or beer, as Archie Bunker said) you can only rent it. Anyway, here is a shot of the drainfield in the process of being constructed.