Well, we've had our first "situation". The night before last, I went into our bathroom and heard what sounded like the shower running (loudly), but the shower was not on, and the tile floor was hot to the touch. It felt like the pavement in summer! Knowing that we had not paid for radiant heated floors, I immediately called for Justin, and he cut off the water supply to the house. I called my dad in a panic, knowing that the hot tile floor had to mean boiling water was spraying everywhere under the bathroom, and he came over at nearly 10 p.m. to see how he could help. It was pouring down rain, so going into the crawl space in the wet darkness (potentially into mud made with boiling hot water) was out of the question. However, he was able to turn off just the water and power to the hot water heater while restoring water to the rest of the house, so we could still have cold running water.

I texted one of the lead contractors about the situation, and he replied almost immediately, promising help first thing. Sure enough, he was knocking on our door shortly after we got Logan off to school in the morning. That same day he had a plumber come out and repair the pipes. Apparently, two of the places where the pipe joined up under the bathtub/shower had not been glued together and had burst open. It took the poor guy most of the afternoon and into the evening to repair, and he basically had to remove the back of the house!
Today two guys have been out here putting our Humpty Dumpty house together again, so I think this is behind us. Now I'm just worried that we will have a similar situation with the other house! Thankfully, they've promised to handle it if we do, but that isn't a good thing to have to worry about.

12 Hours

Well, today was certainly a mix of highs and lows.

We had our follow-up walkthrough on #44 (our house) and the initial walkthrough on #42 (our rental house). The structural engineer also came by to inspect the foundation on #42, as the home inspection report brought up some concerns.

The certificate of occupancy was also supposed to be issued today (well... actually it was supposed to be issued Tuesday, then Wednesday, but they weren't done) and again today it was not issued. The reason is that two smoke alarms were supposed to be installed, but only one had been, and the stove was not anchored to the wall. The second smoke alarm was actually being wired in today, it just wasn't done when the city inspector came by so it didn't count. 

The good news about the certificate of occupancy is that it is supposed to be issued tomorrow morning around 9am. That is very good news, since we close at 10am! It will certainly be cutting it close, which has us nail-biting a little. We also don't plan to sign anything or hand over any money without that certificate of occupancy, because then we would own a lovely little house we couldn't legally live in. So fingers are crossed that the city inspector shows up as planned and gives us the all-clear!
The tile and floors are finally completely done in both houses, and we were able to get a really good look at them today. I am absolutely in love with this tile, and the gray grout. I think it looks awesome!

The kitchens of both houses are now done. We've ordered simple hardware for the cabinets in #44, and will be doing the same for #42 once we have a closing date and know all is well.

The biggest news of the day was the visit from the structural engineer. That gentleman certainly earned his fee! He was under #42 for ages, in temperatures hovering in the mid-90's (and wearing nice business attire!). He came out as soaked in sweat as if he'd taken a shower in it, and completely covered head to toe in dirt. He was also extremely thorough, and for that we were grateful. There was good news and bad news about the findings. The good news is that it is fixable. The bad news is that the uneven, sinking floors of #42 weren't a harmless quirk of a home built on an older foundation, as the contractor had told us, but were actually because there were no supports underneath much of the center of the home, as well as several downright dangerous supports. One of the 4"x4" supports was balanced on 1/2 of a broken brick, another one was literally balanced on 3 small rocks that were stacked on top of each other. I've never seen anything like it in my life! The fact that the structural engineer referred to it as a "hot mess" under there should tell you all you need to know.
Thankfully, the head contractor today was a man who seems to genuinely care about having things done right, and done well. He was brought onto the project after the foundation work (or lack thereof) had been done, and he was told everything needing repair had been completed. He hadn't been able to fit into the tiny crawl space himself to confirm it, and was just going with what he was told. Without hesitation though, he said they would jack up the house, pour new footers and add new supports, and then pay for the engineer to come back out and recheck the work. That was a huge relief. We would have fought for all of that regardless, but having it volunteered immediately was one less worry for us. He also has a really cute, super sweet dog who is a very good girl.

Our wait, at least on one house, is nearly over. In just 12 hours we will be signing the papers... barring something unforeseen like the city inspector calling in sick or not issuing the certificate of occupancy for some reason. Once that's done, it'll be a very hot and sweaty weekend of moving in the July heat. Wish us luck!

Inspection Day, or: Overpromising and Underdelivering

Well, today was supposed to be our inspection on both houses, but unfortunately ended up only being an inspection on the one we will be living in. The contractor overpromised and under delivered, basically. They'd been swearing all week that both houses would be done by Monday, cleaned and with certificates of occupancy issued Tuesday, and inspections completed Wednesday, with our closing on Friday because they would be working through the weekend. They did not work at all during the weekend, and today neither house was done. The one we will be living in was done enough to complete the inspection, thankfully, but the inspector will have to be paid to come out a second time and check the other house once it's done because there were no appliances and the plumbing was not complete! On the list of frustrations, that definitely ranks on up there.
We were able to do the walk through today on the one we will be living in, and I noted all the things I wanted fixed or touched up before closing. Tomorrow I'll be doing the same thing for the rental unit, as long as it's done (they are swearing it will be done tomorrow... we will see). We are also having to pay a structural engineer to come out and take a look at the supports in the crawl space on the rental. The inspector found a few things that looked potentially concerning, so we thought it would be best to have them checked out. Needless to say, we will not be able to close on the rental Friday. We will just close on the other, start moving in, and close on the rental once it is complete and has been re-inspected and cleared.
I didn't take any photos today, because all my focus was on the minutiae of the houses.
Instead, here are some photos of my daughter playing outside this evening. In the midst of stressful situations, seeing her walking really helps calm me. Emma was born with a clubfoot (which I'll talk about more some other time) and it's been a very hard path for her to get to this point. Every step she takes feels like a miracle to us. When other things aren't going according to plan, at least she is right on track.

One Week

We've got one week from today until we sign our mortgages and get the keys to our "tiny twins"! Yesterday our realtor took us by the houses to check the progress. They've removed the gravel from the driveway and were leveling the dirt out in preparation for the crushed asphalt to be laid. The driveway apron has also been laid, which will keep our driveway material from migrating into the street. 

 The flooring is completely in now in our house, and they were working on laying it in the rental unit yesterday. Tile is next for both units. I love how the flooring looks with the wall color!

The next week is going to fly by. There's still so much to do around here before the move. They're saying everything should be done by Tuesday, and we're having the inspections on Wednesday. It will be incredible to see the houses move-in ready. 

Logan's room is ready for him! 

This is the gorgeous view out of our bedroom window. I love these old pecan trees!

One last look at our lovely vintage hexagon tile before it goes in! 

A Busy Weekend

This weekend was jam packed! We've got so little time left until we move in, and so much still left to do, so we're trying to accomplish as much as we can each day. First on our agenda was to replace some of our larger furniture (which we have been selling off all week) with more compact versions. We've already found a more compact sofa, a coffee table with hidden storage, and several other pieces are on their way from Wayfair. We still needed a smaller bed for Logan to replace his loft bed with stairs, a narrower but slightly taller dresser for our bedroom, a mirrored medicine cabinet, a large mirror to hang on the bedroom wall, and a few other things.
For compact furniture on a budget, it's hard to beat IKEA, so off we went to the home of flat-pack Swedish furnishings for the second weekend in a row.

Justin with our haul. 

As soon as we hit the interstate, rain hit us. Being a lovely sunny day, we hadn't thought to pack a tarp and our boxes were soaked. Flat-pack furniture sitting in wet boxes for the next week and a half sounded like a recipe for disaster, so Justin and I stayed up half the night putting together a Hemnes dresser, a twin bed for Logan, and a mirrored medicine cabinet. I can conservatively estimate that we put this dresser together twice, with all the parts we had to take apart and re-do. It was an adventure, to be sure!

Today I ran the medicine cabinet by the new house to have it installed, and I got to check out the progress. It's coming together quickly now!

This is the inside of our bedroom.

If you look closely in this last photo you can see our tile selection in the back! I love the vintage style hexagons. They remind me of my Mema's house when I was a child.
This flooring should be going in soon, and the clock is ticking down to moving day! I'll be headed back over on Thursday to check on the progress. Hopefully my new medicine cabinet will be up by then and I can share a photo, since I forgot to take one when I dropped it off today.

Two Weeks

Just two weeks from today we will be signing the mortgages for our two new houses. It's such an exciting feeling!

This is the house we will be living in.

This morning I went over to the property to see the progress since last week, as well as take measurements of every room. This is, of course, to help us decide what to keep, what to sell or donate, what to put in our storage unit, and what to bring along with us. It's been nice to sort of strip away some of the useless clutter and try to refine our lives down to the essentials.
Take for example, my clothing. I can't tell you how many pieces of clothing I owned a month ago, but it was outrageous. I've been paring down to a smaller capsule wardrobe, having been inspired by Caroline over at at Unfancy, and right now my core wardrobe consists of around 30 pieces, including shoes and handbags. I've got a few holes still to fill in (denim vest, striped shirt, black tee dress...) but my final count should come in at under 40 pieces. I will of course have a couple sets of pajamas, lounge/relaxation clothes, workout gear, a single swimsuit, and underwear (duh) that are not part of that count, but those items have also been pared down to only the essentials. Off-season clothing I plan to keep will be in storage and swapped out as the seasons change.
So far, our local thrift store has been the recipient of a half dozen huge bags of my clothing, and I've listed over 100 pieces on my Poshmark, with about 100 more to go.

Look at this ridiculousness. The stuff in the box is already on Poshmark and will be kept in our storage unit, the stuff in the chair is waiting to be listed. 

 So now, without further ado, current progress photos...

This is the unit we will be renting out.

This is the inside of the rental. Flooring in both units should be going in soon, as well as kitchen cabinets (this photo taken looking at the future kitchen area into the dining/living area). 

Our future home!

The kitchen area of our home. The walls in both houses are painted Agreeable Gray.

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." -” ― Michael Altshuler