^^ no claim with insurance. The builder is taking care of everything.
I (fairly easily) convinced them to pull down the ceiling drywall and replace everything. The drywall isn't that bad, but the mold concern is too great. That is in the works and hasn't happened yet.
Besides being a sucky situation, it hasn't been that hard to deal with yet. Going to test all the plumbing again when the ceiling is out.

^ Good idea.

[Edited on June 28, 2016 at 8:07 PM. Reason : .]

6/28/2016 8:06:13 PM

I need a new roof.

Any suggestions on a provider?

7/3/2016 12:55:53 AM

A Handy Husband (my wife's uncle who specializes in roofing now) - David Wilson (919) 787-3253

7/4/2016 10:11:42 AM

Any updates?

4/3/2017 8:41:16 PM

these updates aren't in real-time.

4/4/2017 4:43:09 PM

Yes, there are a couple updates.

We painted a couple rooms. We nearly double the usable size of the back yard by removing small trees and bringing in 6 dump trucks of dirt, then reseeding.

I also installed more cabinets in the kitchen. The builder wanted $6k for the cabinet extension and it would have had glass fronts and a lower writing desk height. We spent $2400 on cabinets and $500 on a piece of matching granite.

4/4/2017 8:04:33 PM

We all bought a wool rug for the living room. James is a bit bigger now.

4/4/2017 8:16:22 PM

As long as the sale of our house goes through we will be moving into this house in about two months. Not sure it is our forever home or not but it certainly could be.






[Edited on June 6, 2017 at 1:43 PM. Reason : fixed]

6/6/2017 1:36:45 PM

Looks like a nice secluded lot

6/7/2017 9:58:43 AM

It's in a new development so there will be houses built on both sides eventually. It is the biggest lot in the neighborhood (.55 acres) and it backs up to a creek so that part will be fairly secluded.

Pic from yesterday where more siding was added. Can't wait to see the stone


Here is a pic looking out back from covered deck. You can see the rocks where the creek is. Right now there is farm land on the other side that will hopefully never be developed.

6/7/2017 12:08:32 PM

Building a retaining wall in the backyard. Will have updates in a couple weeks when the project is completed.

5/10/2018 5:05:34 PM

will these updates be in real time?

5/11/2018 4:11:16 PM

How many avocado toasts did you forego to put down the deposit?

Avocado Toast Index
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170530-the-avocado-toast-index-how-many-breakfasts-to-buy-a-house

6/10/2018 11:40:25 PM

Normally, my wife and I do all of the work ourselves. This project started with our work, but was finished up with the use of a landscaping company.

So we started off by cutting down a 78ft oak, as well as a number of smaller pines, oaks, and birch trees, about 7 in total. For this I rented a 50ft cherry picker and a 24'' chainsaw. This cleared up a lot of space, and removed the biggest tree in the yard. This was needed to bring the level out to where we wanted.


We then brought in the landscape company to level the yard and build a small retaining wall. Additionally, they would plant a few new trees and pour some concrete for us.

The yard has an approximately 7' drop from the back left corner to the front right of the yard. We dug down the yard at the house and pulled the dirt back to raise and extend the yard.


Skipping a few steps, we start getting the wall put in place.

6/29/2018 10:36:07 AM

We then get a little bit of dirt brought in to backfill. This area will get some shrubbery.


Still waiting in the concrete. That is happening today.


But, the wall is complete, and the project is getting closer to completion.


The yard was dropped about 4' in the corner, and a level area about 50x30' was created. Beyond 30' there is now a gentle slope into the woods. The yard area was also extended an additional 10' during this process.

6/29/2018 10:39:37 AM

looks good. Did you put any drainage system around the wall to move water?

6/29/2018 1:29:50 PM

very cool, I'm hoping to do something similar in my backyard and under my deck once it's in the budget. I've got a guy at the house now about to seed some grass. It's been nothing but dirt since we put in our drainage system 6 months ago (See DIY thread).

6/29/2018 1:52:04 PM

^^Yes, there is about 8''+ of aggregate behind the wall, and drainage pipe along the back of the long side that dumps to the side yard at my birch trees. You can see the down spouts from the gutters are also berried and feed into that as well. The short side has aggregate, but no need to direct the water because of the natural slope.

^thanks

6/29/2018 2:10:38 PM

Should have put in a pool and sod. Jk

7/9/2018 6:43:19 PM

Jesus you guys have much bigger houses out there than we do here in portland

7/12/2018 3:36:57 PM

^ They are mcmansions

7/16/2018 12:09:38 PM

^Nope

7/17/2018 9:20:40 PM