Week 18: Drywall

And then there was drywall! This house build is moving full steam ahead. The pace is a little dizzying, but we're really excited to see it all come to life. You know how people say building a house is stressful? Yep, I officially understand. I asked Tyler on our drive back home this morning if I was developing wrinkles yet... He just smiled, but I'm fairly certain the answer was yes.

So let's see...I'll try to recap the week as best as I can remember. We headed to the house on Thursday morning to meet with our builder. We are in full-on decision mode when it comes to material selections. When we arrived onsite, we were greeted by some additional insulation work in the walls and ceiling. The pink stuff is between several of the interior walls to act as a sound barrier.

We also had to select our hardwood flooring. I like to consider myself a pretty cut and dry decision maker. I know what I like as soon as I see it. Wood flooring, however? Ugh. We debated and debated...

And then debated some more. We thought we had it narrowed down to two options and then were hit with the awesome "oh, well it looks like we're $3K over budget if we use this brand of flooring". Ugh! Long story short, we ended up saying heck no to all of the options shown in the photo below and instead heading to our flooring guy's shop on Saturday (he opened up just for us) and sorted through a few more less expensive options. Luckily, we were able to settle on a floor that was a pretty nice match to the more expensive brand, would only put us $750 over budget, AND was a thicker wood . Whew. One decision down, 50 kajillion to go!

We stopped back by the house on Saturday afternoon and were greeted with some awesome progress on the siding and trim. The 12' slider that goes on the back of the house (you know, the one that had to be reordered for the second time) was delivered and is supposed to be installed on Monday or Tuesday. Woohoo! Hopefully we'll be able to finish up all of the exterior work shortly.

Oh, and do you see that awesome wood detail to the right of the big kitchen window?! SO GOOD! Once the house is painted white, that wood detail with the black trim windows is really going to pop. It's ipe ("ee-pay") which is one of the hardest woods available, so it should be an extremely durable selection.

Guess what else we were greeted with on Saturday? DRYWALL! Yep, that's right. Between the time we were onsite on Thursday morning to the time we arrived on Saturday afternoon, all drywall in the house (first floor, second floor and basement) has been hung and taped. It just blows my mind. Doesn't it look great?!

Oh - there's a little sneak peak of the wood floor we ended up selecting!

Everything is really coming together, and we couldn't be more excited. And stressed. Ha! Now please excuse me while I go mull over tile and grout and cabinet placement and paint and... :)