The move is complete

Well everyone, the move is complete. The Parade of Homes left some marks, but we're having them fixed slowly but surely. The HVAC folks have been fine tuning our heating and AC system (the first floor has not called for heat yet!). The movers have come and gone, and the final coat of asphalt has been applied to the driveway. The electronics folks are still finishing work, as well as the electricians, floor folks, and painters. All just in time, as Winter is setting in here in Michigan.

We want to thank all our friends, family, neighbors and co workers for their help and patience as we went through this stressful process. Three years in the making, our retirement home is almost ready. We invite everyone to share our experience as we start this new chapter in our lives.

The Fall here in Michigan is beautiful, as is the Winter, late Spring and Summer. It is truly our paradise.

Parade and Bulder's reception last night

It was a mad scramble, but things came together for the Builder's reception last evening. There was a large crowd, plenty of compliments, refreshments, and an overall nice time. We finished dinner at 11:30 last night, went back to the motorhome, hit the bed, and started again this morning at 5AM. The house isn't yet complete, but is at least presentable for the Parade.

Here is the link to a virtual tour of the house: http://www.terrienphoto.com/tours/fp10/JJ_concepts/tour_VT.html

The home is participating in the Fall Parade of Homes until October 9. After that, it's move-in time!

Not Done Yet

Need granite behind the stove.

Kathleen inspecting the stone work.

Lower level bar not complete.


Entertainment center still under construction.

Still doing electrical work.

Well, as you can see, we're not finished yet. We've encountered more challenges since our last post, and at this point we'll be delighted for it to just be finished. Forgive the shortness of this post, we're really busy running our company and trying to manage this house. Stan hurt his back at work last week so working on the land is out of the question for at least a week or so.

The Parade of Homes starts later this week. Wish us luck.

12 Days to Go!

It's only 12 days until the open house for the Parade. It looks like there's so much more to be done but we've been assured that our builders are skilled at making things happen. From last week, we confirmed the damage to the septic system - it was fixed this week. Also, the bad concrete was taken out and replaced this week, as was the bad tile job in the master bath. Next week we tackle the bar, flooring, more tile, landscaping, stone work, paint, plumbing and electronics.

Here's a view of our staircase. Tim and Larry have been working for a couple of days on installing our spindles.

Here's a view of the kitchen cabinet which will be to the right of our refrigerator. We're delighted with the look of the travertine tile on the blacksplash.

Here's an image of our fireplace after the stone masons finished just a few hours ago.

Here's an image of our cabinet in the gathering area.

More challenges / Opportunities

Before we dive into today, we have to thank our friends Bob and Karen in Ft. Myers, Florida. Bob, a contractor, great cook, and better friend, has been following our challenges with this house. He contacted us yesterday and offered to fly up and help us finish the house. We are blessed to have such good friends. Thanks Bob and Karen, you guys are the best.

Today was a ten hour day. We worked tilling and pulverizing the soil in preparation for seed and fertilizers. Many thanks to Todd (our neighbor) for helping us understand the pulverise operation. We've still got a long way to go, but we both enjoy working the land.

More problems since our last post. The tile work in the master bath is not commensurate with quality workmanship, necessitating that part of the work must be torn out and replaced. There are chipped tiles, uneven depth in the banding, alignment issues with the larger tiles, and sloppy grouting on the shelves.

The soil under the rear patio has eroded, leaving a cantilevered effect on some of the concrete. In addition, pieces of concrete are coming up at the sawed stress line in the lower level concrete pad. We're about at wit's end.

We had planned faux painting in the living room and dining room ceiling inserts, but after seeing examples of the work yesterday, decided to pass (it looks like a bad paint job to us).

We are planning to work all day tomorrow on the soil, because the pulverizer is rented and needs to go back Tuesday morning (thanks again Terry for all your help). We've prepared, ferterlized, and seeded around the pond. The west property (hopefully) tomorrow before sundown. After sundown, we'll turn to preparing for work Tuesday.

Challenges and a Time to Help

As everyone is aware, the house is now off schedule and there have been numerous problems. We've been disappointed for sure, but learned today that half of the building Team is not well. One of the building partners has to go in for neck surgery (the second surgery in as many months). As these two are married, it has understandably created a major diversion. We are going to support them in any way we can, to try to get this home ready for the Parade. Stan is going to step in and work closely with everyone to make sure things are done correctly while Kathleen has volunteered to work the Parade to help generate sales for the builder. We can only hope that the surgery will turn out well and everyone will be on the mend soon.

Here are some of the issues found this week. We've also been challenged with water drainage modifications, drive modifications, finishing issues and LOTS of mud!

If it was easy, anyone could do it!



We confirmed today that there is in fact drainfield damage, presumably from the concrete truck last week. This is a major setback for the landscaper and others, as we try to finish the house in time for the Parade of Homes.

More problems today. The flooring folks backed their van to the newly poured sidewalk. The van promptly sank in the sand. While pulling the van out, it removed a chunk of the new concrete. What a week.

September 2 Update - A Bumpy Road

No, the house wasn't on fire - although at times we felt like burning it this week. We obtained a permit from Blendon Township (thanks Kurt for everything) and had our very first brush burn (Thanks to Terry Brinks at Artistic Landscaping for your support). But last week wasn't without its upsets. Stan stopped by the house last Thursday afternoon to check on progress only to discover that a concrete truck was sitting on or very close to our drainfield/septic system. When Stan told them where they were sitting, a worker jumped in the truck and put it in gear only for the truck to sink down to its axles. Needless to say, we're having the entire system inspected this week with a camera.

Our driveway was paved this week. If Stan hadn't been there, it too would have been a disaster. The driveway wasn't wide enough, didn't have enough base gravel, and the pavers were going to do both the base and top coat in the same day (not what was agreed to with the Builder). Stan talked to the pavers and got everything back on proper track.

We've had other challenges, but we're waiting to see if this situation improves or deteriorates.

We will keep everyone updated accordingly, and appreciate the larger than anticipated following of our construction progress.

Rewind One Week

Here are some images taken on Sunday, August 22. The painters moved beyond trim. Stay tuned for an update soon.
View of arch and living room ceiling.

Bedroom ceiling.

We had diffusers installed to aerate the pond.

40 Days and Counting

The landscaper began working this past week.

View of staircase - Before painting.

Fireplace cabinetry - primed.

Entertainment center constructed this week.

The Arch - focal point of our home - primed for painting.

Budget blown.

It's been a hectic two weeks. At one point last week, there were 19 vehicle parked on our property as the trades converged. The trim carpenters finished up for the most part today. Now the painting begins.

55 Days and Counting

We moved our coach on to the property on July 30.

Doe & two spotted fawn visited our property on July 31.

Our finished carpenters need to eat! Lots of energy expended here!

Kitchen cabinets taking shape.

No more rickety stairs!

Garage doors installed.

July 30 was a very special day for us. It marked the anniversary of the day we sold our home on Forest Way and it also marked the anniversary of the date that we came to an agreement on the purchase of our acreage on Tyler. In view of the fact that we now have power and water at the house, we thought it fitting that July 30 should be the day that we move our coach to our new home. Kathleen is very excited because now she feels that she can begin to nest.

On the construction front, there are only 55 more days until the Fall Parade of Homes. Our builder has been better than his word so far. The trim carpenters are busy at work and we are looking forward to the completion of excavation.