Construction - Week 3, Day 15 - March 31, 2011

It's hard to believe that on March 31 we had snow at 100 Yorktown.  Things were too busy and I didn't make it to the lot tonight.  It still was a big day as Doug called to inform us that our concern about the availability of our preferred brick had been worked out.  So that allowed one decision to be finalized.

Construction - Week 3, Day 14 - March 30, 2011

Today was a rain day.  A cold rainy one at that.   We did visit 100 Yorktown Wednesday evening taking my Mom to tour the house for the first time.  With the weather, most of the construction today was a wash.

The biggest item to report is AEP finally got the temporary power hooked up.  This was supposed to happen by the 1st of the month and the crew had been constructing the house with a generator to this point.

We dove headfirst into making a decision on the front door this evening.  Maybe I should start numbering the decisions to see how many we end up making.

Two more days of cold rain and snow.  The rest of week 3 may be a washout.

Construction - Week 3, Day 13 - March 29, 2011

Today's visit to 100 Yorktown found that the entire first floor has been framed with only the garage framing left undone.  Now, the framers will move to the second story.

Downstairs we were able to walk through every room.  Camden enjoyed acting like he was washing his hands in the kitchen sink and getting a drink out of the fridge.  That was before he found all the mud in the yard.  Boys will be boys.

We also had our first visitors from the golf course.  Everett and Mary Jane Taylor took a break from their golf game to introduce themselves.  It is ironic because the Taylors previously owned our lot.  They live on the other side of the neighborhood.  They gave us a warm welcome.  I would have to say that we liked Mr. Taylors Homestead pullover.

The visit presented a great opportunity to meet with Doug Lilly and discuss where things are at and upcoming decisions.  We shared the slight modifications to Camden's room, ideas to have plenty of light and wow factor in the foyer.  We came to agreement on the overall theme of the exterior.  Minus still not having a decision on the brick.

Enjoy the progress!

Framing started in the garage.  Window added with front garage bump out

Front corner of the garage

View into garage from future mandoor.  Note the dry stone subgrade to work from.  This keeps mud way down.

View from foyer into great room.  Dining room on left.

Master bathroom.  Can you see the garden tub?  

View into dining room from great room.

View from great room into stairwell area

View from covered porch

The Brick: Part 2 - The wild goose chase

Karen really wants to see any potential brick on a house.  Or put another way find a house that we like the brick and try to determine the manufacturer and name of the brick.  Our interest in Old Virginia Brick took us on a road trip to Virginia on Saturday, March 26, 2011.

I learned from Roger at American Block in Princeton, WV that two homes - One in Rocky Gap, VA and one in Tazewell, VA had used the Old Virginia Woodlawn brick.  So off we went on Saturday morning to find these homes.  While they were relatively easy to find, we quickly decided Woodlawn was out.  On the way back from Tazewell we toured neighborhoods in Bluefield Virginia.  We found a few possibilities but nothing that knocked our socks off.

After a stop in at Sheetz to grab an on the road lunch, we returned to Beckley to pick up Camden and head in another direction to search out for brick.  We decided to go to Teays Valley, WV.  Probably the largest collection of tract home subdivisions in the state.  We had to coerce Camden with a process of a trip to the Disney Store for good behavior.

Once in Teays Valley we ended up touring probably 10 subdivisions.  We found several houses we liked and started getting cross eyed at some point.  The winner was declared on a home in the Woodridge subdivision.  Karen talked to the lady of the house, who didn't know the brick, but said her husband would.  Karen left our phone number let's hope that she calls.

On the way to the Huntington Mall, I joked with Karen that we should just cross the OH and KY borders to say we looked for brick in 4 states in one day.  Cam was great and ended up with a gigantic Megamind figure.

Here are some photos of our brick road trip.  Can anyone figure out which house is the one we liked best?

Construction - Week 3, Day 12 - March 28, 2011

Really starting to take shape!

View from Keeping Room onto Brier Patch No. 13 green

This evening we visited 100 Yorktown with our good friends the Balls.  Today, the framers continued their progress building the first floor walls.  Much progress was made today.  It is hard to believe we are just at the start of our third week. The 1st floor exterior walls are almost complete.  They also were able to start framing up interior walls to the master suite and downstairs bedroom/office.   Karen was very excited to see the size of her future walkin closet.  Still not sure if my clothes will be allowed in there.

We were excited for the Balls to visit.  I am sure this trip will be the first of many more for them to 100 Yorktown.  Perhaps, we can even recruit them to the Patch before it is all said and done.

Karen also was excited to hear from the folks in Hurricane that had the brick we like.  More on the brick in the next post.

I talked to OC Cluss about the windows today.  I was happy that we will be getting Low E-Argon filled windows.  Still trying to decide about those fairway facing windows.  I have a sense it will be a pay me now pay me later type of decision.

View from dining room - Interior framing is of closets and spare bedroom

View from Keeping room back onto Master Bedroom - The door cutout was supposed to be removed from plans

View of Great Room rear wall

View from the street

[I will add photos once they upload.  I got as many as I could this evening as my camera battery died]

Construction - Week 2 Day 11 - March 25, 2011

We Have Walls!


We drove up to the lot on this cold Friday to be greeted by a portion of the 1st floor exterior walls.  So exciting!

My Dad, Delbert Johnson, was working in Beckley.  So after dinner we were able to bring him to 100 Yorktown with us and Alan and Drema.  Photos of the walls are below.

Today we received a package of 10 bricks from Old Virginia Brick.  I don't think those are going to work.  It looks like we are going to go on a brick road trip on Saturday.

I also talked to our insurance agent about errant golf balls and our homeowners.   I am trying to figure out if we need to do anything special to the windows that face the golf course.

View of walls from master closet looking into master bath and bedroom

Walls of the kitchen and laundry room are in background.  Walls of living room are in progress in foreground.

Walls of foyer and dining room.  The left cutout in white is the future front door.  

View from keeping room across porch into master bedroom

Construction - Week 2 Day 10 - March 24, 2011

Rainy cold Spring weather returned today.  Owen and the framing crew should be commended today for working in that weather.  Today, the rest of the 1st floor subfloor went down.  The wall layout was chalked down on the subfloor.  The crew worked past 5 o'clock and started to assemble the first outer walls when we dropped in after work.

I walked Karen and Camden through the rooms in the house.  We briefly discussed with Owen if we might be able to squeeze a 3' entry door into the spare downstairs bedroom for a wheel chair.  No such luck without impacting master closet space.  So, I guess all the parents will have to use a walker or narrow wheelchair if they need to stay with us somewhere down the line.

We will soon have walls.

We paid our 1st draw to Doug Lilly today.  So I guess that makes the experience even more real.  We are also excited to hire high school classmate, Brandon Smith of Southgate Residential to assist us with interior design decisions.  He has lots of home design experience and a wealth of insight.  His blog can be found at:
http://southgateresidential.blogspot.com

Here are today's photos

View from the crawlspace which is not enclosed.  Shows I-joist flooring system

View of Subfloor from Master bedroom

Looking across future covered porch to Karen and Camden in Keeping Room

Camden in Master Bath looking for a hot shower

OK just give me some hot chocalate.  It is cold out here.  

View of dining room and front porch

Construction - Week 2 Day 9 - March 23, 2011

Boy, I am not sure if I am going to be able to keep up with the builders.  Started the day at the lot, the framing crew was starting the first floor flooring system.  When I returned to the site with Camden after work, the framers had finished setting all the I-joists and rim board.   They planned to work a couple of more hours while they had daylight. Perhaps they finished the rest of the house before the sun went down.

Just kidding!  Seriously, Beckley did receive a big thurnderstom. this evening.  Hopefully, Owen and crew were able button up the site.  Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow (3/24)  I will update site photos later this week.

The Brick: What an important decision!

We continue to work through the decision on our brick.  We want to make sure the Appleton Chase plan at 100 Yorktown looks great.  Our heart is set on a red brick right now.  We are still trying to find it.

The Homestead Resort featuring Old Virginia Brick's Red Old  Georgetown

Close Up of Old Virginia Red Old Georgetown

Our first selection was Old Virginia Brick's Red Old Georgetown. This brick is actually used at the Homestead as seen here.  Here is a close up of the brick.   Below is a photo of how this brick looks on a house.

Home with Old Virginia Brick's Red Old Georgetown

After inquiring we found out this brick is a wood mould brick.  As such, it costs more than our brick allowance.

Right now we are working out alternate selections.  We like the Old Virginia brick Red Crimson.  We hope to find a house that has this brick.  We found out from Old Virginia that the brick is on the Holiday Inn in Barboursville and the Sonic in Princeton.  Here is an online photo of a home with the Red Crimson and the brick detail.

House with Old Virginia Crimson Red

Old Virginia Crimson Red Brick

Today I was pleasantly surprised to quickly hear back from customer service at Old Virginia Brick when I asked if they had location addresses of any of these bricks.  Through a couple of emails, I explained where we are decision.  Low and behold, Old Virginia lets us know we can get the exact color brick of Red Old Georgetown in a cheaper extruded form.  A sample is in the mail.  More info on the decision to follow . . .