5 - 11 January 2026 Trim Finally Finished

 Nothing got done on the inside of the house Monday through Thursday. On Friday or Saturday, the trim carpenters finished the trim around the front and back doors the way we requested and finished up the closets. This week the painters can get started. They are now telling us it will take an additional 6-8 weeks to complete. We are pressing them to get electric and water to the shop and driveway in so we can park the Wanderer out there soon as possible. Friday, we headed to Dallas to have lunch with our friends Ann and Bill. Then headed up to McKinney to pick up some end tables and coffee table that Leslie had arrange to buy through Facebook Marketplace. Unfortunately, the seller ghosted us at the last minute and the sale fell through. On the way back to Granbury (a 2 hour drive), we stopped off in Irving to visit “The Dump” to see what furniture they had. We were surprised at how expensive the furniture was which was not what we expected from the advertising. We got back too late Friday to stop at the house. Last weekend, we had visited River’s Wind, an auction house, and Leslie saw a large (6 foot tall) candelabra that she fell in love with. So David bought for her Birthday. On Saturday we met our friends Mona and Wade for lunch and then went down to River’s Wind. While walking around the warehouse, we found a couch table and coffee table that set Leslie’s “heart on fire”. Since the other tables had fallen through, we got those for only $400. We loaded them up in the truck and drove them down to The Ranch and put them in the shop. That is when we found they had finished up the trim work in the house. On Sunday we went to Cristina’s American Table on the square in Granbury for Leslie’s Birthday dinner. It was excellent! 

Front Door Trim

Back Door Trim

29 December 2025 – 4 January 2026 Happy New Years!

 We drove back to Granbury on the 28^th. They had completed all the connections to the septic system. The Trim Carpenters had made good progress as well. We have not seen the bill yet for the septic install, but were sure it went over the allowance due to all the rock they had to jackhammer through. We suggested they get their plumber out there to run the water line from the house to the shop while all the trenches were open for the septic system. As usual, nothing happened. Over the last two months, we have been trying to get a price on putting the same clear pine wood ceiling in the entrance hall that is on the ceiling of the front porch to give a continuity from the porch into the hall. All they said is “it won’t cost much and our guys will take care of it”. Just after we got back, Skyler texted that a CR was being sent to the ceiling work for us to review and sign. So, we waited and looked for the email for the CR for several days. We were told the ceiling and barn wood on the fireplace and vent hood would not added until after painting because the painters tape would not stick. The day before New Years we stopped at the Ranch and found a crew installing the clear pine wood ceiling in the front hall. No warning they were going to do it, no pricing and no signed CR approving the work (and definitely before painting). But we stayed silent and let them keep working. Most of the trim work in the house was completed except around the front and back doors where we had requested specific trim work (we gave them pictures). New Years Eve Day, we went back to the house to see how they had done on the hall ceiling. It looks wonderful! But we noticed they had used that same clear pine wood on the fireplace above the mantle and on the vent hood in the kitchen. They were supposed to be White Washed Barn Wood, not clear pine. We took pictures and sent them off to Skyler. We eventually got a text back that yes, it was an error and they would fix it. Sigh! They still have not finished the trim around the front and back doors and the painters can’t start until the trim work is complete. It will take the painters a couple of weeks, then there is a whole slew of things to be done after that. By contract, they are supposed to be finished by 16 January, but it is clear they will not make that deadline. We have been pressing them to give us an updated completion date so we can schedule furniture deliveries and the landscapers. As usual, silence. So frustrating! With all the modern communication channels we have today, silence is not acceptable. We spent New Years Eve around our fire pit enjoying the cool weather and warm fire. Our neighbor, Don, came over and enjoyed the fire with us. There was surprising not as many fireworks as we expected at midnight. We opened a bottle of Gruet Bruit and drank in the new year. The day after New Years, they covered the septic system all up with dirt they brought in. So, we are in wait for the trim carpenters to finish up the trim and undo the pine on the fireplace and vent. 

Septic System Connected

Guest Closet

Clear Pine on the fireplace

Clear Pine on Vent Hood

Primary Closet

Primary Closet

Septic system filled in

Entrance Hall Ceiling

23-28 December 2025 Christmas in the Woodlands.

 After stopping at the house to check on the septic tank, we drove down to the Woodlands for Christmas with Cynthia and Felix. We spent Christmas Eve at Laurens house and got to see the grand nieces, meet Laurens new boyfriend and his kids. Our other two neices, Sydney and Emilly, were there as well. We had not seen them in several years and it was great to catch up with them. As usual, the the gift exchange was crazy fun chaos! The little girls each got a karaoke box from Cynthia with sound effects. The noise from those was enough to drive everyone home! Christmas morning we went back to Laurens for breakfast and to see what the grandnieces had gotten from Santa Claus. They both received a huge Barby Doll House that included a pool, elevator, bathroom (with sound effects) and a kitchen! Even the teenage girls were having fun playing with them! Later that day we had wonderful Christmas Dinner back at Cynthia’s and Felix’s. 

Cynthia with Lauren, Emilly and Sydney

Chaos of gift opening.

15-23 December 2025 Trim Carpenters Start

 The tile and floor contractor continued to work on their installation. They completed the EVP install and tile floor install except for the grouting. The trim carpenters started their work. On Davids Suggestion, we met at the house with the trim carpenters and walked through how we wanted the closets and pantry configured. If we had not suggested it, who knows what we would have gotten installed. They are also installing the doors and attic access stairs. We also provided they pictures of how we wanted the trim around the front and back doors. We picked up a couple of night stands from an online seller. They needed some work. On Wednesday, Leslie sanded the tops down and stained them while David repaired the ethernet cables, finished installing the conduit and filled in the trench. The Trim carpenters are making quick work of trimming out the house and appear to be doing an excellent job at it. They showed up Monday (22 Dec) to install the septic system. David met with Kelby and the Septic contractor to work out where he wanted the sprinklers installed and to check they knew where the wire conduits were so they did not cut them. As he pulled up, he could hear they were jack hammering rock. Sure enough, they only dug down a couple of feet before hitting solid rock. They had to jack hammer through 10 feet of limestone to dig a hole deep enough to put the tank. David had expected some rock layers, but not ten feet of solid limestone. We went out on Tuesday as we were leaving town to see how they had done and the tank was installed (although they still had some connections to complete). We haven’t heard how much extra it is going to cost for the effort to cut through the rock yet. There is a “rock clause” in the contract to give them relief. There is a large pile of rock that will have to be disposed of as well. David asked if they could put it in the low corner in the southwest corner of the lot rather than pay to haul it away, but has not heard back yet. We are going to have to do something different with the propane tank rather than have to dig another whole in the rock. The good news is that house sits on top of this rock shelf, so the foundation is pretty solid. 

Our septic tank

Chipping away at the rock

Tank in the ground

Big pile of rock!

7-14 December We Have Floors (mostly)!

 This week, David was in Albuquerque for work most of the week. While he was gone, they finished the tile work in the guest bath but apparently ran out of material to finish the master bath and powder room. They laid the Engineered Vinyl Plank (EVP)down in most of the house but ran out of planks and underlayment before they finished and stopped work. But they did finally cut those two bolts sticking out of the concrete off before they laid the EVP over them! Leslie met our realtor, Laurie, at the house and they went over all the paint colors that have to be selected. For all the cabinets, walls, trim, doors, etc. On Friday, David went out to the house and met the installer for the mantle. We selected a 135 year old hand hewn barn beam from a local barn with some hand cut mortises. The beam is white oak and extremely dry and hard. They sent one small guy, Evan, to do the install. There was no way he was going to lift that beam by himself. So, David spent 6 hours helping Evan cut, fit and mount the mantle in place. The wood was extremely hard and the cuts had to be done with multiple shallow passes or the saw would bog down and stop. Evan spent quite a bit of time trimming the side pieces so they would fit very tightly. Imagine taking a hard old bent and twisted beam and try to mount it square and level with an unlevel stone ledge and unsquared walls. But Evan is a pro. It turned out beautiful! On Saturday, we picked up some electrical conduit and ran the data cable from the house to the shop through them. Unfortunately, David realized the last straight pipe was too long to make the corner after he had already glued it in place. He tried to cut it with the circular saw while holding the wires out of the way. But caught three of the four cables with the saw and cut them. Now he will need to spend a few hours splicing tiny Ethernet cables together before we can finish the job and fill in the trench. We were sooo close to finishing! 

Cutting the mantle on the back patio

Finished Mantle. You can also see the EVP

Hand cut mortice

Tight corner joints

1-7 December Burrr

 Monday night was our first below freezing night since last winter. In preparation, we turned on the propane heaters to check they were working. Normally, when the thermostat turns on one of the two heaters, there is a click followed by the exhaust blower turning on. We noticed that the upstairs heater did not start the exhaust fan when the thermostat clicked on. The downstairs furnace clicked on and ran fine. David checked the fuse for the upstairs furnace and it was blown. He put in a new one. Same response. David checked the new fuse and it too was blown. We got through the night with the one heater and the electric fireplace heater. The next day, David disassembled the upstairs furnace and found this huge mud-dauber wasp nest was jamming the exhaust fan! He cleaned it out, got it all back together (with no spare parts!), put in a new fuse and all works now. We won’t need it for a couple of weeks, but knowing it is fixed and ready to go for the next freeze is a comfort. On Wednesday we headed over to Burleson to view the cleaned up version of our future mantle and to check its color against the stone it will be above and the wood floor planking. It’s going to be awesome. We then headed down to Midlothian to pick up a kitchen table Leslie had discovered on Facebook Marketplace. Carrying the 5 foot in diameter glass top and getting it back to Cresson was a challenge but we were successful without hurting ourselves or breaking anything. They continued working on the tile and flooring in the house. It’s going slower than they said it would, but it's looking great. We went up to Fort Worth to pick out the counter tops. We picked one slab of granite with a leathered finish that we had to have for the island. We then picked out quartz counter tops for the rest of the kitchen, bathrooms, utility room, coffee nook and pantry. They are putting portable heaters in the house to keep it from freezing during the cold nights. Everything is waiting for them to finish the tile and flooring. On Saturday, we dropped some stuff off at the shop and went inside the house to check on progress. Most of the tile work is completed and they are laying the underlayment for the flooring. David saw they had run the underlayment into the guest bedroom so he went to check on the two bolts sticking out of the foundation from their mistake back in August. David has been on them to cut those bolts off since August because they were a safety hazard. They kept telling him they would be taken care of, then that the flooring guys would take care of them. We have reminded each new build supervisor about them and even the flooring guys before they started. But sure enough, there they were sticking up through holes in the underlayment! On Saturday they also dug a trench from the house to the shop and ran a 2 inch pipe to carry the power line from the house to the shop. But they put it right next to the wire routing pipe that David has been trying to get them to fix since they bricked the house. Now it is going to be even harder for them to fix it since there is less room. Sigh. 

Mud-dauber Nest pulled from the furnace

Bolts sticking out of the foundation

Master Bath Tile

Floor of the utility room

Guest Bath

Wire Routing Pipe back in the corner embedded in the wall.

23-30 November Tile Work

 They have started the tile work in the bathrooms. They only have one guy working it at the moment, so progress is slow. But he is doing a great job. They also delivered the wood flooring for the rest of the house. We grabbed one plank to take with us so Leslie could make final paint color decisions. The truck was in the repair shop Monday through Wednesday morning, leaving us stranded at the RV. We picked the truck up Wednesday Morning but have to take it back Monday so they can finish some of the work. We picked up a couple of pieces of furniture on Black Friday at an antique mall in Benbrook and put them in the shop for now. We went over to Diane and Donny’s (Leslie’s Mom) for Thanksgiving and enjoyed catching up with them and Donny’s son’s family.