PHASE FIVE: Week 34 - Let There Be Light!

Week of January 18th - We can hardly believe that the end is drawing near! The plumbing, electric, & HVAC are in process and our granite counter tops are now in. Our beautiful "Mystery" granite and sinks were installed by Rocky Top Marble & Granite & they did a beautiful job. We didn't have enough left of our two slabs to do the master bathroom tub surround and back splash, so will be having those done next week in the same tile as that on the bathroom floor. Our electrician/plumber, Jeff Thomas, has also had his crew very busy*****All of our faucets, plumbing and appliances are in, as well as our light fixtures. As of today we actually have temporary electricity inside the house (not via extension cord from a temporary meter outside of the house) and it was a thrill to see our lights all turned on. We think our lighting is simply perfect for us!!! *****Have I mentioned that our outlet covers were made by an electrical company Norman found out of state? They are made of carved pine (then stained to match our logs by yours truly) to fit round logs and look much better than the regular outlet covers. I'll have to take a picture for you. *****The big holdup now is our HVAC guy, who has been behind because of the cold weather, but he is supposed to come at the beginning of next week. Our electrician is waiting for him to install the downdraft and blower for our cook top so he can do that wiring. He also has to install the fresh air outlet for the fireplace. Both of these items require pipe that goes under the house then outside through the foundation. Once all of that is done, we can have our state electrical inspection and actually have heat in the house! Norman is getting very, very tired of running to Monteagle every day to spend $20 a day for the two kerosene heaters we have to keep running 23/7*****Once we have the electrical inspection and the tile done, the building inspector can come and, assuming we pass muster, will give us an OK and a certificate of occupancy. We can then actually move in, even though our mortgage won't finalize until after a final appraisal. Before we move in, however, it may take us several days to tidy up. Our log walls all have to be washed, along with our windows and floors, and touch-up painting and staining done. Our mortgage company sent out our home inspector (a very nice guy named John) for what we hope will be the last visit and draw. Other Items to be done sooner or later, before or after closing: 1) Closet & Pantry Shelving & Hanging Towel Rods, Toilet Tissue Holders, etc: Norman and I will be working on that this weekend; 2) landscaping - soil fertilizer application: I had to special order this (Greensand, it is called, comes from the sea) and have to pick it up in Cleveland when I find time for the 3 hour round trip drive 3) Hot Tub: We simply haven't had time to spend a day putting it together. It may not happen until after we move in; 4) Dog Fence: Ditto. We did decide on a design and our interior finishing guys, Sam & Skip, have agreed to handle some or all of this for us (more on that later); 5) Driveway Finishing: This may not occur until Spring. We need to have three stumps ground out of our new turnaround drive, the driveway leveled out where there are holes left by ze big trucks and machines, and several more loads of gravel plus crusher run to finish it all out; 6) Walkways: we will be having a 4' wide path made of stone from our turnaround to our front door. We will be contracting with A1 Building Supply masons to do this (for a good price), but the weather has first been too rainy, now too frozen to do it, so hopefully this will happen within a few weeks; 7) Rugs & furnishings: we have bought our great room rug and picked out our dining room rug and are very happy with our choices. In a week or so we are going to Murfreesboro where my Mother & I found some great choices and great prices (Ashley Furniture) in terms of couches, chairs, and bar stools. I am hoping my hubby will like what we found and agree to order everything we need from that one place! Of course, we will still need items like bathroom towels and rugs, etc.***So when, you ask, are we moving in? We told our landlord we will be renting through February, so my best guess is....

MOVE IN DAY GUESSTIMATE: Weekend of February 21st