After the foundation was poured, remember how I was freaking out that it was too small? I recruited my mom and dad to come measure it with me just in case. I was shocked to see they had already started framing. I quickly gave up on measuring and just assumed everything was right. (It was hot and pretty much a done deal at that point anyway.)
5 days later our bottom rooms were pretty much framed out. I still was a little leery about the room sizes, but they definitely didn’t feel as tiny now (also my stomach is huge).
The top story was framed in about 2 days. There were still some framing details going on over the next couple of days, but I felt like it went up so quick. While the framers were still onsite, I made a list of things that needed to be changed or that I had questions about, so I could go to my builder immediately.
In the office, I noticed our floor outlet was missing. This was a big bummer to Nick who has plans to center his desk in the room. Luckily we can still have an outlet there without cutting into the cement and running new electrical since we are putting wood floors in there. The outlet can just be run under the flooring. (Collective sigh of relief.)
Our hallways had an eyebrow arch instead of a fully rounded arch. There’s nothing wrong with eyebrow arches, but we wanted a full arch. Not a difficult change, but so glad we caught it.
Admittedly this is difficult to see, but this was dead space where the AC return vent was supposed to go. I asked if we could put that somewhere else and use this space. We could! I had them take one side off to make it into a bookshelf off the kitchen (across from the pantry). This also means I don’t have to put a bookshelf in the island. Yea for more drawer space!
There was more dead space between the walk in shower and master closet. I asked that it be removed, so I could mount a full length mirror or something in there. It did cut down a little on the shelving ,and we had to move the switches (oops). However I think I will like the slight layout change better in the end.
The windows in the master were supposed to be a little longer. This was a change we made in our window meeting. It wasn’t conveyed to the framers. No biggie deal though. It’s a simple fix that would have been discovered when the windows came in anyway.
The biggest punch in the gut came with the master ceiling. I swear I took a million pictures of this that are no where to be found, so sorry you’ll have to imagine a little with me since it’s “fixed” in this picture. Originally the plans showed the ceiling as trayed even though we asked for vaulted ceilings twice during the design phase. Somehow they never got changed.
Well the problem with the trayed ceiling is they started about 4 feet into the room (see arrow). We debated on whether we should just keep the irregular tray ceiling and just enjoy the height it brought to the room. Once we looked at how the electrical was going to have to be done, we immediately decided it was best to just frame the master for 10 foot ceilings. It was a sad day, but there was absolutely nothing that could be done about it. (Tip: Reading house plans is so difficult. Have your builder/architect explain every freaking line to you because it ALL means something!)
The plywood started going on once all the inside was framed out.
About a week later our house on the hill looked like this once you rounded the corner of the subdivision. The framing took a little less than 3 weeks to complete. We have a full VIDEO (!!!!!) walk through for you tomorrow.
so exciting, but you steal the show, amber! too cute!
I think you mean my giant belly steals the show! 😉 Thank you. Everyone will be disappointed when they realize I am just stuffing a watermelon under all my clothes.
I also totally freaked about the size of the house while framing. I was screaming at Nate that there is no way that a dishwasher, fridge, oven and cabinets were all going to fit into the tiny space. By magic, it worked. I still don’t get it.
Love the view on the hill!
Isn’t it crazy how small it looks without walls! It’s insane!
The view on the hill and from the upstairs is incredible. It wasn’t something we gave much thought to when we drew up the plans, so it is like the best surprise ever!
I’m setting up a facebook group for Nate and I. It will be a support group for husbands of crazy wives during the build process.
Buildzillas. Kinda like Bridezillas, but you know…. ok… you get it.
Good for you for being on top of the whole build process. Our builder, who was great btw, kept us at arms length once things got rolling.
I’m sure ours wishes he did at this point
more on that later…
Your lot is so beautiful! Love the way it looks from the road. The little mistakes by our builder seriously almost killed me. OK, I’m being dramatic, but it was beyond frustrating that we had to catch every tiny mistake and missed some. Not fun! Can’t wait to see more. Your house is going to be incredible!
I can’t imagine being in charge of building more than 1 house at a time. I would seriously mess up so much. I can’t complain too much the master ceiling was the only tragic framing event. The rest were easy fixes and new ideas we had when we walked the space. It’s so much different looking at it with walls than on a piece of paper. It’s crazy! I will say that dealing with subs and coordinating everything this insanely frustrating especially when you add mistakes and communication breakdown to the mix!!
It looks amazing! I can’t wait to see if all finished. Loving the inserted bump updates amoungst the pictures.
It’s the best way to record time passage around here! 😉
Things look to be coming along, can’t wait to see the video! Glad you were able to reclaim some empty space.
I’m so awkward in the video. It’s going to be awesome for people to see how big of a nerd I am in real life!
IT’S A HOUSE! Oh my heck. It looks so good up on the hill. It looks like it is all coming together, even with all the hiccups. It’s a good thing you caught them all! And your bump is the cutest thing I’ve seen. Can’t wait for the video
I just noticed your email, so there… another reason I messed up your last name that one comment like 3 weeks ago.
Love the floor outlet idea! Nerds, unite! 😉
wut wut
Holy moly it looks fantastic. Good catch on those mistakes. It’s so much cheaper to catch it early. Your house is going to be magnificent. I love how much thought you have put into all the details. So fantastic. Love your belly shots too. Great way to date mark everything
I figure we better have a way to show this kid why he/she was technically homeless at birth! 😉
Aaah!! This is so exciting. Such a great idea to add a floor outlet under the desk
We have 2 in the living room, but somehow the office got overlooked at least it won’t be a big deal in the end!
It’s always so hard to judge the size when it’s being built. It’s so fun to see this all coming together.
And, you are also adorable!
Seriously, nicest comment ever
so exciting!!!! And I think reading about this process has convinced me that my blood pressure would skyrocket and kill me before I ever got to move in if we ever tried to have a house built. Even if I weren’t pregnant! You guys are amazing.
Haha sometimes I can feel myself right at that breaking point! There are definitely points that I’m ready to just walk away!