We had our inspector Frank Moore come out and inspect the house. Here are his reports: Foundation, Pre Drywall, Final, Radon
We are doing landscape work. Here are the plans drawn up by Michelle Kempinski. Landscape Plans
Construction Photos
Date Description July 6, 2002
July 13, 2002 Day we signed the contract
July 22, 2002
August 12, 2002
August 14, 2002
August 17, 2002
August 27, 2002 Heavy Rains Lately
September 7, 2002 Got a foundation and brick work!
September 11, 2002 The framing has started even though the slab has yet to pass inspection. More on this to come.
September 12, 2002 More framing work. Contacted the Town of Cary and they said it's ok that the slab has yet to pass inspection. Came at both lunch and after work with progress both times.
September 13, 2002 Framed up the roof and continued with the 2nd floor. Very exciting!
September 16, 2002 Rain Again.
September 18, 2002 We now have stairs and I went inside!
September 20, 2002 Work on the Garage.
September 22, 2002 More work on the Garage and inside photos.
September 25, 2002 Only difference I can tell is there's a hole cut for the door on the garage. More inside photos too.
September 30, 2002 Plumbing run. One shower installed, the other sitting in the master walkin closet.
October 1, 2002 Both showers installed now and Garden Tub also installed. Water sitting in the tubs (is this to determine if there are leaks?). Windows going in. We have some doors too, and the one on the garage is installed. About half of the windows are installed. Also, it looks like we might have the wrong window for near the garden tub (we are supposed to get the frosted one). We'll see. Very exciting. Also, the bird at the front of the gallery was at the lake in the Cary Park subdivision. I would have gotten a closer photo, but I think I scared it away.
October 3, 2002 Outside doors are now in and some windows are in too. Electrical is starting to be run. Also, looks like the fireplace has arrived. Duct work for the central air is here too.
October 8, 2002 More electrical work. Looks like the gas lines have been run. Cable TV and Phone lines are in the process of being run (although some are not per the agreed upon places per the contract, but this will be fixed).
October 21, 2002 Not many more changes. The porch roof looks more done, and more rain. Should be more work done soon.
October 25, 2002 Drizzle today. Siding is up on the garage and going up on the house. I made 2 trips in this gallery, once at lunch and after work. Looks like we failed inspection for the electrical and the pink grafitti in the house I think is from the inspector. Que Pasa? A few out of focus photos made it into the gallery, sorry.
October 28, 2002 More heavy rain (even while I'm there). Siding done around sides of the house and some on the front. Finally they cut the hole for the window above the shower. Fixed some wood issues that the Town of Cary inspector pointed out with pink paint. Failed Mechanical inspection. Rain go away!
October 30, 2002 The rain has finally stopped for now. We've now passed the mechanical and gas inspections from the Town of Cary. I lucked out and got there while the electrician was there fixing issues and was able to have a good conversation with him. Also, the superintendant Bryan was there and told me he thought we should have no problem getting in by the end of December.
October 31, 2002 More Siding done. Got the blocked glass window over the bath tub. Cedar shingles on the house. Photos of them doing some work.
November 3, 2002 Siding complete. Cedar shingles complete. Electrical, gas, mechanical town inspections passed. Waiting on framing inspection. The roof is on and complete. Roof vents are in. It's really coming together now!
November 5, 2002 More rain again. Framing inspection failed. Columns for the porch have been primed.
November 6, 2002 Slab inspection finally passed. Fireplace inspection passed. Framing inspection failed for the 2nd time. The dry wall has arrived. Tomorrow will be the "Pre-Drywall Inspection/Walkthrough". After that, the drywall will go up. The builder has permission from the town inspector to proceed with the insulation even though the framing has failed.
November 11, 2002 Framing inspection and Wall insulation passed. We now have the drywall up. What a difference. Roof of the porch has been completed. A box for the meter on the outside of the house has been added. Our neighbors to the left have their slab in. It's starting to look like a house now.
November 14, 2002 Not many more changes to note. Someone spilled calking or something on our bricks, hopefully it will come off. The back yard looks tore up from a backhoe. The wall and kitchen counter area is starting to get framed between the kitchen and the living room. More photos from the inside.
November 20, 2002 Sorry, but these pics are foggy (some water got in my wide angle lens, hopefully it will go away). The Sidewalk is being worked on. Garrage Doors are in. Inside doors are here and the ones upstairs are in. Trim around windows and doors has started. Wood where the steps will be poured are ready. We've gotten our closing date - 12/23/02. Right before Christmas! They have a lot of work to do in one month.
November 23, 2002 Concrete stuff has been added (sidewalk, steps, also in the back yard.). More finish work done inside. Stairs are in for real. Looks like they've primed the inside walls for painting. Trim everywhere. Trap door for the attic is in. All of the cabinets are in.
November 30, 2002 Bushes and shrubs are in with pine straw. The first coat of inside paint is done. Cabinet tops are in. Grading of the yard is done. Pinestraw and seed are in the back yard. Steps leading up to the house are done, but some bricks are dislodged.
December 4, 2002 Looking very done now! Hardwood floor being put in. Microwave and dishwasher are in. Sod in the front yard is in and looks good. The first coat of exterior paint is done. Fixtures in the bathrooms including mirrors are in. The guy was installing the hot water heater when I got there. There is a box with the A/C unit outside. Vinyl floor is in for the bathrooms. Logs are in for the fireplace. Street numbers are on the house - 5610 Cary Glenn Blvd. Looking good!
December 8, 2002 The A/C unit outside has been installed. Looks like the connections for the power are ready for the power company. Many more fixtures are installed. The door for the master shower is here and ready to be installed. The hard wood floor is covered in paper to protect it.
December 11, 2002 Some photos of the hot water heater. Closets have all of their shelves in. 2 strange holes in the back yard. Went up into the attic. Our steps are in leading from the garage to the house. The hard wood floors are uncovered and look really good. Saw paint on some parts of the roof. Will point this out later. The outside paint has been finished and touched up. Looks great. Still no "Rainy Day" blue for the porch roof (should look like a Citadel or Tar Heel blue). We now have a mail box and more exterior lights. The problem with the bricks on the steps has been fixed.
December 13, 2002 Rain again. Hope it doesn't mess up the sod. Lots of mud. The carpet for upstairs is in! Screens for the windows are on. A little cabinet between where the stove and fridge has been added (much better). More spackle work done. Lots of touch up work finished. It looks so much better with the carpet. A little access door for access to the tub has been added above the stairs. A little lip on the garage roof is on.
December 16, 2002 Day of the walk-through. The person pictured in the photo is Joe, one of two people in charge of the construction.
December 20, 2002 Day of the Final walk-through. Joe is in the photo again. Note we now have a small tree in the yard.
After we moved in
January 17, 2003 Our First Snow.
March 19, 2003 Finally got my new camera body (Sold the old one, same lenses and everything still work). These are actually the first photos with this camera. The neighbors houses are almost done. I put up my American Flag. We have the full fence in.
March 22, 2003 I thought it had been a while since I had taken shots of the back of the house via the back bedroom windows. These shots show the back yard with fence pretty well. I didn't choose a good time of day, however, as the setting sun threw up much flare.
March 29, 2003 The weather is starting to get nice. We've visited the Farmer's Market today and picked up some hanging flowers and ferns. The new azalea bushes are starting to bloom.
June 1, 2003 It's been a while since posting photos. The grass came in OK in the back, but I need to seed again. We've got some new rocking chairs that I painted on the front porch. I also took photos of the cottage houses and craftsman homes near us. They are really building quickly (and selling fast too). We should have a full neighborhood shortly!
July 13, 2003 We've bought a grill and patio furniture. We also put in one blind, just to see if we liked it. We do so more blinds will be going in soon. Our neighbor Tim has had quite a bit of yard work done in the back. Two trees, sod and a stone patio. The heat is turning some of the grass brown in spots even with watering. These photos were taken one year to the day from when we signed the contract on the Cottage House.
August 6, 2003 We've done the blinds in all 3 bedrooms and the office. More blinds to come soon. Both of our neighbors that had no garrage are getting them. Our neighbor Scott has moved in to his house (5606, Grey house). The other house, 5608 has been sold and naturally they want a garrage as well (ya think?). They are building that now. I took photos of the neighborhood, since it's been a while and they are building all the time.
September 11, 2003 The biggest addition is the construction of the new house behind us. I also took some more shots of the neighborhood
September 24, 2003 This was an excuse to test out my new compact flash card that came. Only real difference is the addition of Mums on the front porch.
September 30, 2003 We now have street lights. Note the trees down from Hurricane Isabel. Down the street they are getting ready to be done with the sidewalk! The houses in back of us are going up very fast.
October 30, 2003 The day before Halloween. We've got pumpkins, lights and flags for Halloween. I took a walk around the neighborhood, and they are building quickly. The house directly behind us is almost done. We carved pumpkins tonight.
December 13, 2003 Holiday/Birthday party for Melissa. It was Melissa's 30th birthday.
December 21, 2003 Christmas Decorations and lights for our house and the neighborhood.
January 9, 2004 First Snow of the season. We're expecting 1-2", with not much sticking on roads.
March 7, 2004 Spring has arrived, or at least the trees and their flowers think so. There has been a lot of construction since the last time I took a walk around the neighborhood.
April 10, 2004 Our Azalyas are blooming. We put in a border around the tree and added some flowers and new mulch. The same is planned for the bigger plant bed in the front. The lots across the street have been marked with lot numbers. It appears that McNeil Burbank will be putting single family houses across the street.
May 10, 2004 The border around the bed in the front has been completed with new mulch. We have some new hanging flowers and ferns in the front. These were taken at lunch and the first backhoe was just unloaded as I pulled up. Sadly, my guess is that the trees in front of the orange tree barrier will all be cut down.
August 7, 2004 Lots of construction in front of us. There indeed will be basements on some of those homes. We also took a walk around the lake and took some photos there.
September 4, 2004 Back Yard Photos. I took these for Michelle Kempinski who will be doing a landscape design for us!
September 26, 2004 Construction in from of the house is coming along. The house directly in front now has a foundation and there is action daily.
May 7, 2005 Starting landscape work in the back.
May 9, 2005 Continued work on the landscape. The path is more or less complete.
May 30, 2005 Started placing plants
May 31, 2005 Most plants have been planted and a small path to the storage closet are down.
June 6, 2005 The majority of the work is complete with the landscape project! We've got 4 more bushes to plant and about 10 bags of mulch to get and some cleanup, but other then that, it's done. Lots of work, but the end result was worth it!
September 24, 2005 Most of the plants made it through the summer. We had two bushes die and one green/yellow thing. The two bushes that died just happened to be on the south side of the house where we didn't till in fear of utility lines. We laid sod on Thursday and added mulch today. Now we have a good looking lawn!
April 22, 2006 The Yard Project, 11 months later looks pretty good. THe sod took from last fall, almost all of the plants have new growth and the azaleas look great and are blooming.
May 28, 2007 2 years after the yard project, we are in a tropical paradise. A few bushes here or there didn't make it, but they have been replaced. We've got a vine growing on both fences and some lillies are in bloom with more to follow.
April 25, 2008 The Azaleas are blooming at this time of the year.
