A final pre-move update!

A no-photo update! The builder filed the notice of completion to the bank about a week ago and we received our appraisal and energy audit yesterday.  Fortunately it's all good new!

The house appraised for a couple grand more than we're spending.  The appraiser also noted that there simply aren't any comparable houses existing in Fairbanks, even including most of the borough in his search.  One of the comparables is a house we had considered purchasing but weren't able to pull the trigger on before it went off the market and in his opinion ours is better built and better finished.  So we're feeling pretty good about that.

The energy audit went better than we expected.  We easily received our 6-star energy rating with a score of 97.4 (out of a possible 100), meaning our house is almost as efficient as it is possible to build.  Our floor and ceiling R-values are R-60, and our walls/doors/windows rate at ~R-30.  Estimated energy costs for the year, with electric at $0.22/kwH and propane at $3.99/gal (we paid $3.39 for our first fill up) is... $3300 per year, or ~$275/month.  [i]We were spending more than that in electric in winter at our previous rental.[/i]  Much success!

The other crazy stat is our blower door test.  Most "tight" houses are rated at 5-6 ACH (air changes per hour) at 50pa of pressure, leaky houses at 20+.  Ours rates at [b]0.88[/b].

So we're pretty happy and so excited... all of the paperwork is in and we're hoping to close next week, moving in the weekend before Christmas!

Almost there...

Back from the tropics!

One of the atolls of French Polynesia, where Rebecca and I spent the last two weeks on our honeymoon cruise:





The house is ALMOST finished! It was so cool coming back to the house so close to completion.



The kitchen is just about finished. The light tracks are in, the sink is in and plumbed, the appliances are installed and wired, and the pantry shelves are in. I've been skeptical of the two-tone cabinets until now that I've seen it all installed; that's why I just say "sure Babe" to whatever Rebecca wants!  But seriously, I LOVE the kitchen!







The mechanical is getting finished finally too. The Rinnai tankless unit is our heat and domestic hot water and is located in the half-bath, and the well pump and pressure tank are tucked under the stairs.





The bathroom is more or less finished





The builder wanted to add a copper heated towel rack no charge, so we said ok.


The closet area over the stairs is finished



Door hardware and lights in the second bedroom


and the solid surface window sills, same on all the windows.


We're hoping to be done in the next few days. Actually, we were hoping it would all have been done before we got back, but hey it's coming along and we're still looking to be moved in by Christmas...

Last Update before Tahiti! Cabinets, flooring, and finishing touches

Last update before my wife and I leave for Tahiti for our honeymoon!

Wednesday was the fateful day... time to go to the bank to lock in rates and get the paperwork side of closing started. Who says bankers don't have a sense of humor?

While we're gone, the bank is going to do their thing and hopefully fingers crossed we'll get through it all without any issues.

Progress on the exterior; the faux stone surround is going up.

The kitchen is starting to be put together now too, and this is where we ran in to the second semi-major problem of the build. When I drew the plans, we were going to have a 10'x13' kitchen... when it was built we ended up with a 10'x12'2" kitchen. Fortunately the casualties were minor. The dishwasher swapped to the left side from the right side of the sink, the cabinet that was supposed to go over the fridge is too wide to fit and won't be installed, and the last lower cabinet needs to get swapped for a 15" instead of the 24" we bought.

Getting moved in to place

And the major appliances

With the downstairs coming together, the upstairs is also getting close to finished. Carpet is going in

The vanity and sink are at the house but not installed quite yet, still in the boxes in the bathrooms. Hoping that gets installed before we leave so we can see it... if not we'll come home to a finished house and get an early Christmas surprise!

Bonus shot: Oliver aka the Oligator aka LDD aka Long Dog Dawson got a new coat to go with the new house and winter temperatures! 

Drywall and interior work continues

Wednesday, more of the drywall was finished




And Amerigas placed the propane tank


Since Wednesday, all of the drywall has been taped, smoothed, and textured.  Today we met with our builder and picked out the last of the interior items needed for finishing (flooring for the 1st floor, all light fixtures, all door hardware, closet hardware, pantry racks, doors, bathroom vanity, faucets, and more). We did figure out one big unfortunate change... downstairs we won't be able to have a pocket door on the half bath. There's just not enough wall space and none of us caught it until it was already built.  Unfortunately that means the wall in front of the half bath gets to get re-framed and drywalled. :(  Overall, not a huge set back but still annoying.

Flooring goes in this week, then paint and trim, then kitchen and appliances.  Still on track to be finished by the first week of November, meaning we'll go through closing while Rebecca and I are on our honeymoon in Tahiti while the bank does it's thing.

Doors and drywall!

Door and windows are all in, meaning we have power and the drywall is all inside!







Foam insulation has been sprayed





Let's go upstairs




Bathrrom!



Bedrooms








Came back today and the first floor is almost finished





We picked paint colors for the interior and flooring types yesterday, and found a deal on a washer and dryer set today too. Feels so nice to be in the house with it coming together! 

First snow!

Progress has slowed as the snow has begun to fall.





Wife's Subaru makes getting out there easier.


Some progress though, the pantry has been framed in



And the closet over the stairs has been expanded.



Now we're just waiting for the local power company to put up out service and for the inspector to sign off on the wiring, and Amerigas to install the propane tank. Should (finally) finish insulation this week...

Some progress, though not as much as I would have hoped. The shortened already short building season has everyone running around doing as many jobs as possible...  

We met with the propane company today to do a site survey for where we'll put the tank.  It'll be behind the house kind of hidden in the trees, and we're leaning towards a 250gal tank.  Should be enough to last us at least a year or more, depending on hot water usage and how cold the winter gets this year.  Both our domestic hot water and hydronic (radiant floor) heat is coming from a Rinnai tankless condensing water heater.

Appliances are in and waiting at the warehouse for the project to get to that point. Same with kitchen cabinets and countertops. So there's that. The bathroom has been roughed in, and 90% of the plumbing is in as is most of the wiring now:



Some progress outside too:
Deck going in, with gable over door, most of the window trim and flashing is on now too, as it progressed






Kinda looks like a house now!


And they've started with some of the insulation inside too. 10" of spray foam!




That's all for now, the little pup is too tired to keep working