Our house... is a very very very fine house...

We took possession of the house from the builder on Wednesday, July 10th!  We still don't have a driveway and there are a few small items still remaining to be done, but it is essentially finished.

June 17, 2019

The railings for the floating stairs were finished.

The light fixture that is in front of the Juliette balcony on the 2nd floor was installed although it was 90 degrees from the orientation that I wanted.

June 18, 2019

The workmen started installing the wire for the railings on the Juliette balconies.

I noticed one of the corner cabinets has a wider reveal than all of the other cabinets.  This needs adjustment.

 

June 20, 2019

The light fixture in front of the Juliette balcony on the 2nd floor is now oriented in the right direction.

We want painted tile lettering for the front of the house to say Sand Torini and the house number.  We're just not sure of the placement.  We found some letters we like, but then we remembered our friend Serey of Fern and Dina's Gallery and Gifts can make hand painted tiles.  We are hoping she will have time to make us some personalized tiles in the shape of an arch that matches the arch on the gate.

We took a poll on facebook to find out which was the most popular placement option.

 

 

72 people voted.  B came in first (28 votes) with A running a close second (26 votes).  C, D and E trailed with 8, 9 and 1 votes respectively.  Tony really likes A so this is the one we're likely to go with.  If Serey can make the name in an arch and the numbers vertical, I think it will look great!

The entry stairs from the ground to the first floor were stained to match the floating stairs.  They look great!  It is a perfect match!

First floor wire deck railing is installed.

Second floor handrail is in place but no wires yet. Posts for the roof stairs are installed.  Roof handrail is in place but no wires yet.

 

Rooftop Wireless Access Point (WAP) is installed.

June 21, 2019

Bathroom mirrors are installed.

 

July 3, 2019

The garage doors have been painted blue and the gate has been installed.

July 4, 2019

We celebrated the 4th of July at Sand Torini with a pizza party and fireworks show! We could see the fireworks at the Ritz, downtown and all up and down the beach!

 

July 7, 2019

When our foreman was installing the gate, he accidently broke one of the tiles in the atrium.  I had to go to Floor and Decor to get some more tile.  Since I would be in Jacksonville anyway, I decided to do some furniture shopping.  I went to Ikea, Rooms to Go, La-Z-Boy, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Ashley Outlet.  When I got home, I found some bar stools I liked on Facebook Marketplace so it was back to Jacksonville again to get the stools.

I ordered a sofa and loveseat from Rooms to Go.  They will be delivered July 17.

We ordered our TV & Internet service from Xfinity.

July 8, 2019

There were only 3 stools, but I found a 4th one to match at Bed Bath & Beyond and ordered it.

July 10, 2019

We met with the builder to take posession of the house!  We made the final payment but held out the cost of the driveway since we STILL do not have the permit from the state highway department for the driveway.  Tony asked Hector, the builder, if he would bid our house again.  He wasn't sure.  He explained that it had taken such a long time because he was dealing with commercial subcontractors on the structure rather than residential ones.  Tony told him that our main complaint was lack of communication.  Hector admitted that communication is not his strong suit.  Even though it took such a long time, we feel like we have a quality home.

Our self-install kit for Xfinity arrived so we headed to the house to hook it up.  We couldn't find where to connect it, but we did find some wires that didn't have any ends on them.  Then we went outside and discovered that the cable had not been connected to the house yet.  We couldn't get an appointment for Xfinity to come out until July 20th.

 

We put the teak benches in the showers.  It gives the shower a spa-look!

Our friend loaned us a gucci queen sized blow up mattress that we can use until our furniture arrives.

July 11, 2019

My Craigslist Adirondak chairs look great on the roof and are very comfortable! Yeah, I think we can be happy here!  

July 12, 2019

We were sleeping at our condo when I was awakened at 1:38AM by an alert from one of the cameras at Sand Torini.  A deer stopped by to welcome us to our new home!

The 4th barstool arrived from Bed Bath & Beyond - some assembly required.  It matches the other chairs perfectly.

An extension was added to the atrium and new tile was installed.

 

We're gradually moving a few things from the Fernandina condo over to house but we plan to wait to move the majority of our stuff from Smyrna after the driveway is in place.

Its been a long 18 months but it is worth it now!