11 – 31 October 2025 Exterior brick and store almost complete

 They finished taping, bedding, and texturing the interior walls. They did a wonderful job. We could only find one place that needed to be fixed in a closet. In the last week, the masons installed the Austin White stone on the lower 3 feet of the walls on the front of the house and fully on the back wall of the house. Then installed the Smokey King Brick all the way to the eves around the rest of the house. They forgot the decorative accents on the garage wall that were supposed to be there and are now having to go back and add them. David also had a conduit set up in two places to route wiring from in the garage to the outside. Somehow they managed to get one of them messed up and are going to have to figure out how to fix it. They started on the fireplace stonework (still need to add the hearth) and still need to do the stone work on the lower 3 feet of the front of the shop. It will take them a few more days to finish up. They rearranged the panels on the shop roll up doors so the windows are on the top panels so no one can peek in. The garage doors on the house were installed It took them almost two weeks to wire the shop but they put one of the RV plugs in the wrong spot and left out a 220V outlet I had requested. They are supposed to come out and fix those issues, then they can do the foam insulation. Hopefully the shop will be done this coming week. We looked around for a mantle we liked and found a sawmill down in Stephenville that has some raw blanks we really liked. We did some measurements and some calculations (who would have thought algebra could be so useful) to determine the blank size we will need. We need to go back down and pick one out and see about getting it prepared to be installed. We picked out our plumbing fixtures (and went a little over our allowance) and all our lighting fixtures  (came in just under our allowance).  We also shopped around for mirrors for the bathrooms since they are expensive at the lighting store. We found mirrors for all three bathrooms very inexpensive on Amazon. We have also been going to antique malls and consignment stores to get a feel for what furniture we may want. Once we get the shop finished and can start storing stuff safely in it, we can start working on buying and storing furnishings. Next big step is the build and install of the cabinets. We have asked repeatedly for an estimate of when that will happen but have not been getting any answers. 

 

We celebrated our thirteenth wedding anniversary on the 20^th. So, we made it safely through year thirteen and are into year fourteen and cannot be happier! We went to a French restaurant, Le Margot, in Fort Worth and had a wonderful dinner reminiscent of our trips to Paris. The restaurant is fairly new and has won several awards already. 

Reworking to add accents

Doors fixed correctly

Happy 13th Anniversary to us!

Garage doors installed on the house

Mason work started

Our color combination

Messed up wire conduit. That gray conduit should be going to the ground.

RV plug should be on the outside on the front of the shop

 They fixed all the issues our inspector had identified and the insulation crew did a great job on the foam insulation. They did foam over the entrance to the conduit I had install to run data lines from the house to the shop, but that is an easy fix at a future date if I ever need to run more lines. They even cleaned up pretty well. The wall board crew got to work the next day and have installed all the wallboard and are currently taping and mudding. Then they will apply the texture. They seem to be doing a great job and the crew supervisor was very helpful. Our build supervisor, Will, has been moved to a different position (apparently there had been complaints by other customers) and we are supposed to get a new one on Monday. The issues with the septic tank have been resolved with the county (a misunderstanding on their part about the RV connection we have out front of the shop) and they are issuing an updated permit. We pushed back on the cabinet costs and the cabinet manufacture agreed to work with us on the pricing. We took copies of the cabinet drawings out to the house and went through room by room. We found several issues with the cabinet designs. Some were too deep for the space they are going into, others were not place where we instructed and an issue with the plumbing location in the master bath verses the cabinet design. The plumbing had the sink on the right side of the counter, but we wanted it on the left side and that’s the way we had the cabinets designed. We also noticed that the cabinet where the refrigerator will be left room for the kitchen light switches on the kitchen side of the wall when they had told us they had to be on the hall side of the wall. They also installed the rollup doors on the shop, but put the panels with the windows were at see through height when we had requested they be at the top (so no one could look in). David also went up into the attic and found the access to the HVAC system (for changing filters) was a gymnastic event to get to it. We called a meeting at the house with Kingdom. We finally were able to meet with Kelby on Wednesday and walked through a rather long list of questions and issues. They address all our concerns and things are in motion to get things fixed. The Garage door subcontractor is coming out to rearrange the door panels so the windows are at the top, the plumber is coming out to move the plumbing for the sink in the master bath to where it belongs, Cabinet subcontractor is reworking the cabinet designs and removing some options to get the price closer to our expectations, and the electrician is coming out to move the switches for the kitchen and the plug in the master bath. Following the meeting, we went to the floor and tile shop and made final choices. Just like everything else, it was not a smooth process. Some of the choices for flooring and tile in the bathrooms that Leslie had made back in June was no longer available. So, we had to pick new ones, which of course costs more! Meantime, the wallboard folks are moving forward. They will need another week to finish the tape, mud and texture. In the coming week, the electricians are going to install the electrical in the shop after which it will be insulated. Meantime, the brick and rock is supposed to be delivered and the masons can get started on the exterior. Kingdom said it normally takes 3 months from this point to finish up. But they will work on getting things (Septic, Power, Water and Internet) to the point where we can move the Wanderer out to the property earlier than that. Once the shop is insulated and electrical rough is completed next week (we hope) then we can start locking things up in the shop. They should have the house to a point where we can start locking it up in a couple of weeks. 

22 - 30 September 2025 Another failed inspection

 The electricians finished up on time and addressed the few concerns I had. Our inspector walked the house and found several items that had to be fixed. One was a busted out board around the fireplace chimney that was part of the fire block to the attic. He pointed out the vapor barrier on the brick ledge was cut in the corners with bare concrete showing. He said that could lead to cracking of the brick in the corners. I pointed out they had not sealed around the pipes and electrical outlets in the sheathing which would allow infiltration of water, air and bugs. Our builder said they would get them all fixed. We went into the house on Saturday and spent four hours cleaning up all the saw dust, shavings and construction debris. We did not want them to come in and insulate so that the junk in the stud bays becomes a permanent part of the house. We blew some of it out with a leaf blower, Leslie swept a lot of it into piles to be vacuumed while David vacuumed up as much as he could and filled our little shop vac up five times. David had a pest control guy tell him once that the sawdust and shaving in the stud bays was ice cream for termites. We got it pretty well cleaned out. Then went around and took pictures in each room so we know where electrical, water and propane pipes are located in case we ever need to work in those areas in the future. After we got cleaned up, we went into Granbury to the Eighteen Ninety grill for a wonderful dinner to celebrate Davids Birthday. The next day we met our friends Mona and Wade in the stockyards at a new brewery for lunch and a few brews. Best Birthday Ever!

Of course, the contractors did not come out on Monday to fix the items we had found like they said they would. They did deliver the wallboard. On Tuesday the 30^th, the framing crew showed up along with the insulation guys. So apparently it was a scramble for the framers to stay ahead of the spray in foam insulation guys. The should start putting up the wall board Thursday and tape and mud the seams by next week. The bill for the cabinets came in $6500 over the allowance. We asked why, but were told it was because of the high counters and glass uppers. But those are called out in the drawings and in the contract, so they should have been included in the allowance. They are still trying to get us answers. We are still waiting for answers on the septic tank as well. The original plan was to put it between the house and the shop and all the sewage lines were run that way. But, for some reason, the county wants it on the other side of the driveway, which will require some rework and convoluted plumbing. Still waiting on answers from them as well.  

Vapor barrier not continued in the corners. Could lead to cracking

Vapor barrier properly carried through the corners

Firebreak around the chimney incomplete

Firebreak around the chimney complete

Penetrations through the sheathing not sealed. Could allow air, water and bug infiltration

Penitrations properly sealed

Inside the house

30 August – 21 September 2025 Guts of the House

 They have made big progress the last three weeks. The well has been completed. They struck good water at 340 feet and ran the well for 48 hours to purge out the drilling debris. The water flow looks good. We tasted the water and it is very hard, so we know a softener is going to be required (it’s already in the contract). The drill tailings were pumped over to the side of the property and from the looks of it, it’s basically rock chips and sand. We met with the Electrician and Plumber to define where switches, outlets, lights, facets, etc were going to go. They got the front and back doors installed and the fireplace. The next week the electricians, plumbers, and HVAC people started putting in the guts of the house. We had 10-15 people working in the house from multiple trades for the last two weeks. The rough plumbing is done, including the propane lines. The HVAC is installed. And the electricians are working hard to finish this coming week. We got out to the property and ran Ethernet cables for the future security cameras and home network. It was hot dusty work but much easier to do it now than to do it later. In the process of doing them we figured out the pulldown stairs for the attic access in the garage were not going to work because David had to get down on his hands and knees to crawl from the garage attic to the main house attic to pull wires. So, we had them move it into the master closet (of course they charged us $195 to do it!). When they installed the HVAC a few days later, it became clear that the best way to access the unit to change air filters will be to go in from the access David had them put in the hallway by the guest bedrooms rather than from the access in the master closet. Oh well. Working there while they were working, gave us a chance to keep our eye on the subcontractors and correct some mistakes before they became permanent. For example, David caught them routing the clothes dryer output up through the roof rather than out the side walls as we had specifically put in the plans. We took cold drinks out to them everyday since the temperatures have been in the mid to upper 90s. Of course, this is when David’s work stuff also got very busy as well. It has been an intense few weeks. With any kind of luck, the electricians will finish up by Wednesday as we have the inspection by our independent inspector scheduled for Thursday. Then it will be time for the insulation to be sprayed in. 

Back Door

24-30 August 2025 Huge Progress

 They made huge progress on the house and shop this week. They decked the roof, shingled, put in most of the windows, installed the heavy iron front door, finished most of the framing and got the shop fully built! It’s amazing how fast things have come together this week. We had a few issues we had to work through. A few framing and decking issues David noticed on his nightly walk throughs. We continued to take cold drinks out to the workers as a couple of the days were up around 100F with one day 102F. Those guys are tough! Then we would go out after they quit for the day and pick up trash and more nails. The day before they were supposed to start shingling the roof, David walked through with the framing crew supervisor and identified some deck areas that needed to be fixed, then asked when they, the framing crew, were going to do the chimney for the fireplace. He got blank looks. When he showed them the plans that had the chimney in it, they got hold of the builder and canceled the roofing crew due the next day and ordered more material so they could frame the chimney out for the brick cladding that will be on it. What would have happened if we had not noticed it? They started the shop on Monday and finished putting up the metal structure and exterior metal walls in 6 days. They were even out there working Labor Day. David spent time on “The Ranch” (Yes, we are calling it “The Ranch” now) cleaning out the inside of the house, weed eating the overgrown areas close to the street, and cleaning up more construction debris around the house. The builder kept saying the jobsite was clean but in just two minutes of walking around we picked up four dozen nails and other trash. The guys building the shop were much cleaner and really left things pretty clean when they were done. David managed to get into a Fire Ant nest while weed eating and got four good bites on his ankle. Fortunately, the Fire Ant bite immunity he built up from working in the yard in Benbrook is still good and he did not have an allergic reaction. As David was working, multiple people stopped by to get a tour and discuss neighborhood issues. The HOA put out an email to all property owners that they had to mow their lots. This is causing a lot of concern with the absentee land owners. David provided several folks the name and number of the guy we had mow ours before we started construction. Such is the life in the Texas countryside. While cleaning the inside of the house of dirt and saw dust, David identified some other framing issues (Missing half wall and shower niche in the guest bath, missing niche in the master shower, a beam in the living room out of straight, etc.) to work with the builder. Our real-estate agent even stopped in to check on progress and help pick up nails! On Labor Day we took a picnic dinner out to the house and sat on our new patio to enjoy the quiet and expansive view while the sunset. We will be doing that often once we move in! We will meet with the cabinet contractor this week to lay out the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Probably will meet with the electrician and plumber as well so they can get started with their rough ins. Then David can get in and do some wiring of his own. 

This is just two minutes of picking up!

Shingles going on Windows in

Sunset at the Ranch

Shop structure finished on day three

Roof Deck on.