Progress and setbacks

One week until move-in. Doesn't it look great?

Oops, um...where are the rest of the kitchen appliances? Where are the faucets? What about those missing pieces of flooring? Trim only half done? And, most importantly, where are the stairs to the 2nd floor?!

All in good time...a very short time. The guys are working overtime this weekend to construct and install our custom stairs. They are hoping to have the stringer and treads up tomorrow. In the kitchen, however, things progressed a lot this week with the installation of our gorgeous "slate" countertops! (boy, that laminate has come a long way - it really looks awesome!). Appliances are in the house but not in their places yet, except for the stove. The rest will go in on Monday, when the plumbers arrive to finish up toilets, sinks, faucets, radon piping, etc.

Below is one of the setbacks: the fire sprinkler guys came back to fill up the system and put up the sprinkler heads, whereupon they were surprised to see our lovely kitchen soffit, the pride of our main floor! They said, "Um, this wasn't in your framing plan, and it poses a problem now, because it blocks your sprinkler head from spraying your kitchen in a fire." Shoot! Lesson learned...$250 later in time and labor to rearrange the pipes by cutting holes in the ceiling and soffit, and that doesn't count the repair of the holes. Bummer. But at least we're now up to code.
Who wants to place bets on when those holes will be patched and repainted? I say within a year, if we're lucky :). There's a lot left to do!

Below is an updated shot of the mudroom with closet door and a door to the laundry room on the right. No hardware yet...it's on the list. Oh, and no rods or shelves yet. Let's admit it...we'll be living out of boxes for awhile. But at least we'll be in ONE place, getting settled.
The deck project was also a setback. Believe it or not, it took two whole working days with a crew of 2-3 guys to position the big 6"x6" posts on the corners, construct and install the railings, and get about 3 pieces of decking on (to be fair, there is a lot of hidden work here to prepare for the coming cable rail system). Our hopes of "blasting through it" in a day were dashed...however from here it should be a breeze to lay down the rest of the decking. The posts and rails are white cedar, which will weather to grey over time. The decking itself is a grey composite. Eventually, they'll (kind of) match.

Ava and daddy enjoy an evening picnic on the "deck":