No, Seriously.

Well...we had more leaks in the house. After the driving rain last Tuesday we found leaks coming in the front windows in the boys bedrooms and in the garage windows. No Seriously, we did. So, first Alex and Tom spent that rainy/windy night throwing up some tarps. Then we desperately called our roofer/sider and asked him to come finish up the tyvek on the gables (that the carpenter really should have done). He's super busy, but found his way to the 3V on Thursday and did the patch job needed for the impending snow storm Friday. He's been doing a wee bit of work this week  as well but I don't want to post a picture and ruin the big reveal. The siding and trim is really transforming the look of the house. And I love it.

We'd really like help with the painting Th/F/Sa/S after Thanksgiving. No, Seriously, we will take ANY help. Even if you think you are not the best painter, we can put you to work.  We've got the upstairs rooms primed and ceilings done, so we are ready for color. The official color palette of The Triple V will be shared in a future, dedicated to paint, blog entry (because no matter what anyone tells me, paint IS exciting). But if you can't wait, then you should come paint.....

As an added benefit, I am happy to provide handkerchief hair coverings for any helpers, so you too can look this good.

Did I mention we've listed our house? No,  Seriously, we did and we want to sell it.   So, please, keep spreading the word. It's a great house but mostly I will miss my neighborhood. If you move here it is likely you'll see me around, running on the bike path, taking my kids to the parks and visiting with our friends/neighbors. If that isn't incentive enough to move here, I don't know what is.

And as we approach Thanksgiving, a year after we closed on the Triple V property, I'll take a quick moment to say again how Thankful we are for the opportunity to build our dream home. No, Seriously. We will never be able to express our gratitude enough to our family and friends for all their support. 

As Alex said on his FB page, an updated pic, now a year later, will be shared as soon as we take it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karate Kid

There's nothing like wiping down the drywall and painting trim that will make you feel more like The Karate Kid. I am certain that every muscle in my entire body is going to ache tomorrow.  But I am ready to win the battle against this darn house that feels like it's trying to kick my ass.

Calling all painters (and all non painters)

 If you have at least 1 arm we are looking for volunteers, anytime you have available, but specifically Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving, to help paint.
We will have doors, baseboard, window casing and of course, many rooms, that all need painting.
This is a huge step towards moving us closer to the finish line.  With paint done we can lay the floors, do the casework and call back the trades to do their trim out.
We have a goal of moving in by Christmas! Help us make dreams become reality!

Interior door

Trim & Base

Taped and ready to paint

Disclaimer: Just because you volunteer to paint, does not mean you get to have an opinion on color selection.

On a separate note, since our washer and dryer in our current home were still fairly new, we decided that they should come with us to the new house. But we really didn't want to sell the old house with them in there and have to tell people they weren't included. And we also didn't want to live without a washer and dryer for the next month or so. Enter the substitutions. 

In other progress, the guys dug the trench and laid the secondary gas line, from the house to the outbuilding. They also installed the insulation on the outside of the outbuilding, which was needed for the radiant heat flooring system.

Friday The 13th-it's a Lucky day

The home is officially FOR SALE. Here is the description our Realtor wrote:

GREAT LOCATION ON A CUL-DE-SAC STREET. BIG FENCED YARD WITH LARGE TREES AND PATIO. NEWER WINDOWS, ROOF, AND DRIVEWAY. MAPLE CABINET KITCHEN WITH BREAKFAST BAR AND STAINLESS APPLIANCES. BEAUTIFULLY REMODELED MAIN BATH WITH HUGE WALK-IN SHOWER, DOUBLE SINK, AND SKYLIGHT. EXTRA LARGE FAMILY ROOM WITH A WOOD BURNING FIREPLACE AND PLAY/OFFICE SPACE. 4TH BEDROOM HAS EXTERIOR ACCESS. LARGE LAUNDRY ROOM WITH EXTRA STORAGE. CLOSE TO ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS, POOL, AND LIBRARY. 

And here is the link to the listing:
 https://www.redfin.com/IL/Algonquin/527-Sunshine-Ct-60102/home/17794067

The Shit Runs Downhill

This week our septic system was installed. These are actually quite common in areas that lack connection to main sewage pipes provided by local governments. As you know we are in an unincorporated area, on 5 acres, so we had to get our own (small scale) sewage system.

Below the photo is a diagram that shows how it works. In our case, our system is gravity based (the shit rolls downhill, ha, ha) and flows into a 1500 gallon tank, which then flows out to our field.
It should be noted that "A properly designed and normally operating septic system is odor-free and, besides periodic inspection and emptying of the septic tank, should last for decades with minimal maintenance."

The Messy Job

LETS ROCK N ROLL

You thought I was going to talk about our septic installation. But no, the award goes to the drywall job for being The Messiest Job. Scrap and dust and empty glue tubes everywhere. The proposal said "daily site cleaning and sweeping" but that has not happened. However, I'm not complaining about it because I just want them to be working to get all the drywall up as quick as possible. I am capable of sweeping.  I am told the taping will start tomorrow.  My goal is to be able to prime before Thanksgiving and spend the holiday weekend painting.

Halloween costumes!

Here's a nice shot of the upstairs hallway. They pretty much finished on the 2nd floor and have started the 1st. Which, leads me to the next story...

The one day I was there checking in, it was raining. No big deal, right? Because we are "dryed-in". Except I found a couple leaks, in the mudroom and laundry room.  Well, we can't get drywall if there is water coming in. So we tried to figure out where the leak was coming from and we had the roofer come out to make a patch along where the wall meets the roof. Saturday it rained again and 2 of the 3 leaks were gone, but still one left, which is 1 too many, of course. So today the roofer came back out and installed the flashing and gable tyvek. Alex ran the hose against the wall and the leak is fixed, so, thankfully the drywall can continue.
Below is a series of pictures which show the chain of events.

The leaks!!!!

 Alex with his head in the ceiling trying to find where the leak is coming from.





















The 'trouble maker' side. See that first story roof where it meets the wall (just below the window)? Yep, that's where the water was finding it's way in. Not anymore though! Thanks to our roofer for finding a way into his schedule to make the flashing & tyvek happen, even though it wasn't supposed to be done until the siding work (which is supposed to start this week too, but who knows what day---rain expected again Friday).