We have a basement with a dirt floor.

Drove up to Maple Ridge this past Saturday, and found this

What I wanted to do was crawl thru the window of our basement and take photos from inside.
But I was not allowed to get mud in this

because if i did, i would have had to walk several miles back home.

We were very glad to see that they remembered our 2'-0 extension on the garage so that DeShante (thats what we call shawns truck, I name all of our vehicles) has a home to live in as well.  And it was pretty slick how they accomplished it.  As you can see in this photo, the concrete pad for the front door sticks out two feet farther than the garage....

In our home the concrete pad will be flush with the garage.  thus adding the 2'0 extention we paid for.
You will not even notice it when you drive by.

Were gonna need some concrete!

Just talked to our rep for the latest update.  They plan to finish the block Tomorrow or Thursday of this week, then they will start the underground plumbing.  Id imagine after the undergound pipes are done they will pour the basement.  Shawn is out of town until Friday, so hopefully I can make it up there with him on Friday / saturday and take some photos!  Im quickly becoming obsessed with this project.

Progress Update 10/17

So visited the site this weekend.  Pleased to see that the blocking has begun...and suprised that most of the building materials have also arrived! 

Is is ok to leave everything out in the rain?  I mean I know bathtubs are supposed to get wet, but im still worried.  Also, i found the perfect sign for our lantern post....$5.99 how could I NOT buy it.

I also managed to take a photo of the "newly completed" rosecliff's.  These homes will be right below us on the same side of the street.  Our elevation is the middle one.  Ours will have black shutters, a "wine" colored door (burgundy) darker beige siding and the brick has offwhite black and a reddish color mixed in...im very technical in my descriptions.

Any last but not least, here is Herman.  My post wouldnt be complete without him.

Hacked up Floor Plan

So, this is our floor plan for the build...dimensions match with the floor extensions, added the upgraded bath, no walls in the basement...etc.

Ground Breaking - FINALLY

So, our pre-construction meeting went well...got some new about Cool Valley, the new Southpointe-like mixed use 900 acre establishment which will be behind our plan.  We also were able to walk thru one of the almost-completed rosecliffs right beside ours.  The backyard was huge.  We live in a single family home now in a residential neighborhood and the backyard was bigger than what we currently have fenced in for Herman...very happy...and it is all level and it backs right to the woods - so no houses behind us as Ryan only ownes about 50' into the woods and there is a 25'-0 right-of-way between Ryans property and Cool Valley.  I love waking up and looking into the tree line.  Thank God.  Anyways, we also got invisible fencing approved through the HOA so Herman will be leash free in the spring!

At the pre-construction meeting (9/30/11) they were expecting to break ground 9/7/11 that was pushed to 9/14 then pushed to 9/21 FINALLY they broke ground on 9/26.  They have our closing date set right before Christmas (merry christmas to us!) they have said that we will definitely still make the closing date, but man, that only leaves 3 months. 

As of 10-6 the foundation was dug out and the footer was being installed...as of 10/12 the footer was completed and they are starting to block the foundation!

More pictures to come soon!!!! 

Let's make this house OUR home!

So, here is a recap of the options and upgrades we have chosen:

• 2'-0 house extension (on first floor and basement)
• 2'-0 garage extension (this was not a standard option  - but the truck needed a home too)
• Upgraded to granite countertops in the kitchen
• Upgraded the applicance package (the largest refrigerator that GE makes)
• Opted for the railing in lieu of the half wall in the loft
• Finished the basement, without the study - now we have one large room...also added a powder-room
• Added recessed lighting in the kitchen, master bedroom, and two each in the spare bedrooms.
• Upgraded master bath
• Upgraded the cabinets in all of the bathrooms to match the kitchen
• Surround sound system in basement with subwoofer
• Speakers in the main living area (in the ceiling)
• We opted for two double windows in leiu of the fireplace
• We added a gas hookup for the dryer in lieu of the electric hookup

I think thats it for structural / plan changes ... now onto the best part - the finishes!

TILE - located in the entranceway, dining room, kitchen and first floor powder-room.

We really debated on tile in the dining area vs carpet...but we finally decided on tile.  We have a dog, a choclate labrador (Herman) and we will be using the patio door to let him in and out, and i just cannot have carpet by that door, we actually added a 3x3 tile entry at the patio door and ran the tile right into the dining/kitchen area.  The other side will be carpet...we also have this tile in the main entry and we  opted to run it past the railing of the steps (the steps will be carpet) because hey, you can always use a bigger entranceway and besides that if we want to change the carpet in the living area we wont affect the stairs or have to worry about matching carpet colors.

That being said, here is our carpet choice for upstairs and the living room on the first floor.

Dark eh?  Well, with the dog I dont think it will show hair, dirt, etc.  Not that I dont clean, but it will look good in the inbetween cleaning moments we all have.

KITCHEN!  Ok, cabinets...maple cognac and granite, black impala...here is a pick of it all together.  I am pleased....the applicances are all stainless so it should all fit together well.

Now to the upstairs, were using the same carpet choice - but new tile here is the master bath (cabinet and tile) we also have a stacked tile border, but i cannot find a photo of it.

Now, shawn made a big deal about choosing different tile, do they not look the same, thank you.  Anyway, the tile in the spare bath will also be in the laundry room.  We opted for tile in the basement bathroom too, Canelletta stone, it has a green hue to it...really nice.  I will work on finding a photo of it...in the meantime here is the carpet selection in the basement, its a bit darker and i dont know if the picture shows it but it has different colors in it where the other carpet choice is solid.

Both the carpet choices are that semi-shag style...and we upgraded the padding throughout.