Surely It Can't Be Long Now (Don't call me Shirley)

It seems like we are SO CLOSE to moving in but the builder still hasn't committed to a move-in date.

May 15, 2019

The kitchen backsplash is grouted.  Its a little darker blue than I had thought but it looks great with the countertop! The grout pulls it all together!

The vanity I picked for the half-bath had a beveled edge so I needed a backsplash to prevent water from running down the beveled edge and pooling against the sheetrock.  I wanted to avoid the long drive to Floor and Decor, but after two trips each to Home Depot and Lowes to pick a tile backsplash, ended up at Floor and Decor anyway.  I love how the backsplash turned out.

May 20, 2019

The 1000 gallon gas tank arrived!  It looks like a big green hot dog.

Two guys with back-hoe and shovels dug a huge hole in the front yard.  This would have been a good place to put some dead bodies if we had any!  :)

A crane on the back of the truck lowered the tank into the ground.

After they got it into the ground and leveled, they drove sand spikes into the ground around it and tied it down with cables.  That should (hopefully) keep it from floating up in a storm surge.

The deck posts were put in place for the 3rd floor deck railing.

May 21, 2019

The handrail was installed on the 3rd floor railing.  The wood is called Ipe.  According to the internet (which is never wrong ;)) Ipe (pronounced EE-pay) also called Brazilian walnut, is a beautiful exotic wood from South Amerida. Ipe wood structures are hard, strong and naturally resistant to rot, abrasian, weather and insects. It is almost twice as dense as most woods and up to five times harder."

The gas cooktop is installed.

May 23, 2019

The posts and Ipe handrail are installed on the 2nd floor Juliette Balcony.

Posts and handrail are installed on both 2nd and 3rd floor decks.  Virgil, our foreman, is drilling holes in the concrete roof for the roof railings.  Be careful Virgil!  That first step is a doozy!

May 24, 2019

The posts and handrails are installed on both Juliette balconies.

Thanks to Craigslist, I found a great deal on two Polywood adirondack chairs with hideaway ottomans in just the right colors!  They'll be perfect for rooftop or deck seating.  We had to drive to Orange Park to get them.

May 26, 2019

Interior painting began for the doors and trim.  

We have a malfunctioning garage door.  Because our garage ceilings are low, we have side mount garage door openers.  The cable is jumping off of the reel and wrapping around the shaft.  The garage door people will have to come and fix it.

May 29, 2019

The cabinet innards were installed.  I had asked for a mixer lift, pullout shelves and dividers for sheet pans.

  

May 30, 2019

The rest of the kitchen appliances were installed.

We wanted towel hooks in both master showers since we have very little wall space for towel bars.  It really made me nervous when they drilled holes in my beautiful tile to mount the hooks.

 

June 4, 2019

I got a text message that we were missing surface mounted lights for the closets, pantry and one decorative light that goes in front of the 2nd floor juliette balcony doors.  I didn't realize we were supposed to provide those so I hurriedly selected some on Amazon (after getting advice from the girls at book club).

The bathroom vanity lights were installed.

  

June 6, 2019

The ceiling fans were installed (all 5 of them)!  One in each bedroom, one in the great room and one in the craft room.

The pendant lights, chandelier, and vent hood were installed.

  

The stairwell lights were installed.

The exterior lights have to be turtle friendly so they can only shine down, not up and must have turtle friendly light bulbs.

June 10, 2019

We had several days of heavy rain.  The window in the pantry had been leaking and we came in to find water pooling on the window sill of the master bedroom.  The foreman thinks it is because the window wasn't locked.  Of course after he locked it and the pantry window was adjusted, we haven't had enough rain to test the theory.

June 11, 2019

The wire shelving was installed.  I was very disappointed to find that the sliding wire drawers in the master bedroom closets were not being installed.  The vendor that the builder uses for shelving does not carry sliding drawers and this was never communicated to us, so we were surprised to see the shelves being installed with no sliding drawers.  I have ordered the drawers from home depot and thankfully there is space to install them beside the existing shelving.

June 12, 2019

Most of the posts for the roof railing are installed.  A few were missing and had to be ordered.

The construction stair treads were removed and the pretty ones were installed.

We had a leaky pipe from the 3rd floor dripping into the 2nd floor ceiling.  It turned out to be a connection under the sink that wasn't tightened properly.

June 14, 2019

The posts and handrails for the floating stairs were installed.

  

Towel bars, towel rings and tissue holders were installed in the bathrooms.

June 15, 2019

We had an impromptu deck party with our friends who were in town for the Pediatrician's conference.  Everyone brought a chair and we enjoyed a breezy afternoon on the 1st floor deck.

June 16, 2019

We decided that the tiling is finished so it was time to return the excess to Floor and Decor.  I fhought I was going to have to beg them to relax their 90 day return policy but I didn't even have to ask.  The kindly cashier just called the manager over and asked for an override.  

While we were out, we stopped into Rooms to Go to look at sofas.  We tried a few out and imagined ourselves looking at the ocean while we relaxed on the sofas.  We think we want a sofa to face the floating staircase/TV, a loveseat to face the ocean and a couple of small swivel chairs that can look in any direction.  We're deciding between the blue recliner sofa that is SO comfortable, the light grey non-reclining sofa and the dark gray reclining sofa.  The swivel chair comes in a tan color that might coordinate well with the other options.

    

We always stop at Costco anytime we are near just to see what they might have that we need.  This time, they had the teak shower stools I had been looking for!

So, we think we are so close we are starting to think about moving and furnishing!  It's getting exciting!

Here's what is left to be done:
Touch-up paint on the interior
Install mirrors in bathrooms
Paint the garage, atrium and under 1st floor deck
Install the faucet next to the steps to the beach
Paint the garage doors
Install the gate to the atrium
Install the rooftop refrigerator and icemaker
Finish the deck railings
Finish the floating stair railings
Install railings on the stairs to the roof
Mount the security cameras
Paint the Turtle Lights
Install the driveway pavers

Cross your fingers this can all happen quickly!