Gettin' Techy Wit' It...

This was a busy weekend for Adam and I as well as our wonderful neighbor, Mike. We tackled our first DIY project for the house and began running all of our low voltage wiring. We decided to initiate the wiring in the walk in pantry as it is a pretty central location in the home. This is where all of the wiring begins and is where our low voltage box will be located. I guess you could call this our "technology hub." With Mike's knowledge and expertise, we were able to quickly knock out the project of running all coaxial cable as well as cat-5 for our data. We also installed all the receptacles for the wiring (this was my job which only required the guys to bail me out twice hehe).  Since the walls and roofing are still open, the process was fairly simple, We drilled holes in some of the 2x4's for the wires to pass through and then ran one coaxial and one cat-5 wire from the hub to each room where we would want data or cable and into the receptacle that we nailed into the wall.  Each low voltage receptacle is placed next to one of our already installed outlet receptacles.  Now, all that is left to do is run the wiring for the security system including the outside cameras and window and door sensors. Fortunately, our other awesome future neighbor, Brian, has a ton of leftover cable that he is going to drop off for us. That will be a project for another day.

Overall, with a little initial direction and some manual labor assistance, this was a fairly simple project and something that I thing anyone could do as a DIY. It will end up saving us at least $1,500 after we have run the security wiring as well! Here are a couple of shots of us hard at work and breaking a sweat....pay careful attention to the one of me using the power tools. If you ask me, I am a natural!

A little rebar and bent nails makes for a perfect post to put the coaxial cable spool on
This is that starting point for all of the wiring and the location of the low voltage box

Mike crawled up in the rafters to make the wire pulling process faster

Adam, sawing a hole for the back porch cable box 

More wire pulling

Me drilling a hole to run the coaxial cable through for the cable company to attach to.  

Height is handy. When you are 6'9" you usually do not need a ladder.

This weekend, we also resumed our appliance shopping. The cabinet designer needs our appliance dimensions which means that, even though we are not ready to purchase any yet, (thanks to absolutely no where to store them) we need to try and decide what appliances we want and hope that we can get the best price when the time comes. I was really hoping to go with a counter depth fridge but holy smokes those things are pricey! We did find a great deal at Sears Outlet on a standard depth fridge. If only we had somewhere to put it for the next 4-5 months hehe. 

Shopping around at Sears Outlet

Stay tuned for more DIY high tech wiring and the progress being made on the outside of the house...

Happy Anniversary...We are Wired!

Well, it seems like an eternity since I have written and updated y'all on the progress of the home. Things have been crazy busy with the home and work and I just returned from a medical mission trip in Mexico followed by the always accompanying post travel sinus infection. However, things are getting back to normal here and the house is progressing quickly again so expect an influx of posts in the near future.

Yesterday was Adam's and my 3 year wedding anniversary. We could never have imagined that we would have already accomplished so much in our first three years of marriage.  Since saying "I do," Adam started a new career in finance, I switched jobs and have traveled abroad on dream medical mission trips, and now we are building our dream, and hopefully forever, home. We have been on a tight budget lately trying to prepare for the numerous and apparently inevitable surprise expenses that come with building a custom home, so we did not want to do anything too extravagant for our anniversary. In fact, we didn't really want to go out to a big fancy dinner. With that in mind, we decided to do one of our favorite things... pack up the picnic basket with a homemade meal, grab a bottle of wine, and dine under the stars. To make it extra special we chose to dine and celebrate on our new back porch. I guess you could say we officially had our first meal in our new home together. It sounds funny considering the fact that there is not even any drywall up yet hehe.

Anniversary picnic dinner on our back porch....I see many of these in our future!

My happy place

We have ben somewhat stuck in the same stage for a few weeks now: electrical, plumbing, and roofing, that I did not even realize how much progress has actually been made since the last time I posted, right before my trip. Since then, the second plumbing rough in has been completed and the tub installed, the duct work and HVAC are in, the roof and metal mustache are completed, windows have been installed, the outside fireplace is in, the electrical has been completed (after several meetings and Adam and I making numerous changes and add ons - it just seems like this part is never truly perfect), and the gas lines have been run. In addition to gas to the cooktop and outside gas grill, we decided to run lines to each fireplace. We still plan on them being wood burning but it was recommended to us to have gas available for a quick start. Then, once the fire has been started and the logs are lit, the gas can be turned off and the wood logs are free to burn and crackle. Check out the progress...

dryer, washer, and laundry sink hook ups. We later had the dryer electrical receptacle (black box) moved down to be even with the vent so that the dryer will fit flush against the wall when plugged in.

Master shower plumbing. It is 7.5 ft so that Adam has plenty of room to stand tall and shower. The plumber also put the on/off lever just to the left of the door so that the shower can be turned on/off at the door rather than having to walk all the way in and getting wet before the water is nice and hot...brilliant idea! 

Guest bathroom plumbing and tub installed. I had to purchase a special drain for the plumber to install (a decision that received a great deal of scrutiny from the plumber and our builder) so that all of the hair I shed as a girl will be caught and not go down the drain. My days of digging out the hair with a wire hanger (I know, gross) will soon be over.... hallelujah!

Outdoor shower. This will certainly come in handy to rinse off sand from the beach and mud from the creeks. 

HVAC in the walk around garage attic...such a space saver!

Duct work 

Outdoor fireplace installed... it has the standard refractory pattern instead of the herringbone so we are waiting for that to be replaced.

Recessed lighting in kitchen 

Fan hookup on front porch and plywood base installed

Large picture kitchen window

Master bedroom view

Back of house with windows installed

Metal roof mustache over garage

Front of house with roof completed and windows installed

Stay tuned for what comes next...doors, drywall, and more decisions. It is almost time for finishings!