6 April 2026 On the Ranch!

 We pulled up the Wanderer and moved to the Ranch! The poor Wanderer almost had roots in site 43! We got all set up and connected into our own utilities! It’s so quiet! We’re not sure we will be able to sleep without the constant sirens and horns from US377! We have started to prepare the house for our move in. We made arrangements for our new furniture to be delivered this week and our “stuff” from the storage unit moved to the house. We are working with our builder to take care of the remaining punch list. Time to start our next new adventure!

30 March – 5 April 2026 Down to the finish line

 They finally agreed there was a water leak under the shop and had the plumber come back out and pull the PEX out of the conduit under the shop slab and replaced with new PEX. That fixed the problem. The painters got in to do the final touchups and the shop doors. They spent the week finishing some other items on our list. We made arrangements with the water guy to add an air filter system to our installation to take care of the H2S problem We met with Kelby, newly promoted to president of the Kingdom Builders, at the house on Thursday. They did their final inspection before we arrived but did not identify anything we had not already put on our list.  We went through our remaining punch list items and walked around to discuss a few items. The irrigation guys installed the sprinkler system on Friday. David spent Friday morning getting the basic home network up and working. We also had our inspector come out and do the final inspection. He put down a few items in his report, but nothing big and David corrected a couple of items after he left. Only issue outstanding is the IRC guidelines require an expansion joint in brick walls that are longer then 20-25 feet. We have three walls 29-20 feet long that they did not put expansion joints. It will be interesting to see what our builder says on Monday. We spent Saturday and Sunday prepping the house to begin moving in. We put in shelf liner (miles of it), expanded our network to the shop, and connected in the security cameras. We plan to move the Wanderer to the Ranch on Monday.  

Signs of leak under the Shop Foundation

Our water purification and tankless hot water system

Shop doors painted

22-30 March 2026 Almost there!

 Lots completed this week. They got the cabinet hardware installed throughout the house. Also all the towel racks, mirrors, and toilet paper holders. The plumbers finally came back and installed the bathtub, fixed the issues with the plumbing in the shop and finally ran water to the shop. But we now see wet spots in the foundation along stress cracks that may indicate a water leak under the shop slab. David spent two days at the house addressing questions and issues as they arose and worked with the dirt guys to get the yard sculptured the way he wanted. We were told they would be done Friday, but that did not happen. They are still fixing the final finishes. Painter have been busy inside. They got the ceiling beams stained to match the 120 year old fireplace mantle beam. David has started working on the yard to get any high points smoothed out and rocks that are sticking up high enough to cause an issue with a lawn mower. He also got the security cameras installed on the outside of the house. We have started making arrangements for furniture deliveries and to get the contents of our storage unit moved to the house. A cleaning crew went through on Friday and cleaned up the inside really well of all the construction dust and grime. They fixed the shop door that had mysteriously been damaged and installed the openers in the garage. We went through the house and made a detailed punch list over the weekend. While testing the faucets we noticed a strong H2S smell that we will need to have the clean water guy address for us. We’re soooo close!

Cabinet Hardware Installed

Ceiling Beams in the living room

16-22 March 2026 We have toilets!

 Big progress this week! They laid out the forms for the driveway, sidewalks, secondary drive entrance and shop pad under David’s direction. They poured the concrete on Thursday. We will not be able to park the wanderer out there until after the 2^nd of April. But the concrete came out looking great. The amount of concrete required was over the allowance by $7,600 and they also informed us there was a rock charge for the septic system of $2,450. Ouch! The electricians mostly finished up with fixing a light in the shop and putting the cabinet lights in the upper cabinets. There was a short dispute about whether those lights were covered, but it worked out in our favor. The drywall guy, Edgar, came out and did a fantastic job of fixing the drywall. You can’t even see where the holes had been before. Adrian, the tile guy, came out and finished the tile installation and it came out great. We got our fiber optic internet hooked up and running so we have basic WIFI in the house. David finished putting the RJ45 connectors on all his Ethernet cables and got them all to check out. We had one concern with the cable to the back porch camera but that turned out to be a labeling error. Most of the appliances were installed except the stove vent. We have ice cubes in our refrigerator! The plumber came out and installed all the inside faucets and toilets but still did not hook up the water to the shop. They are telling us the interior of the house will be done by Friday of next week. We will see.

9-15 March 2026 Electrical almost done

 The Electrical installers made great progress. Most of the lights and ceiling fans are installed as are most of the outlets. They did not get power out to the shop and did not get the ceiling fans and lights in the living room installed. They found they had a short in one of the outdoor power lines and ended up cutting a bunch of holes in the wall to find the short. Sure enough, a drywall screw had punctured a wire so they had to replace the wire from the box up to the attic. They moved the outlets in the pantry and bathrooms to where we requested. They are supposed to come out next week to finish the electrical install. The tilers were out to install the backsplash in the kitchen and utility room. It came out great. The HVAC system completed their install but failed to add the vent in the attic I have been asking for over the last two months. They will have to come back out to add. The propane tank was installed where we had marked. They went down about 2.5 feet before hitting solid rock. They had to chip through rock for the next 3 feet. But with the smaller tank, it was a much smaller hole so they wrapped up in a day. On Friday the concrete crew was out to begin laying out the driveway. David met up with them to make sure they knew where we wanted the driveway set. The drywall guys were supposed to be out to fix the drywall over the weekend, but never showed up. Same with the driveway guys. David worked on the Ethernet wires we had run early on. He was able to get two of the four we had run to the shop working fully, but the other two have problems, probably where he spliced them in the conduit between the house and the shop. Next is to install the outside cameras. This week they plan to complete the electrical and the plumber is supposed to be in to complete the plumbing. They are also supposed to deliver and install the appliances. It is finally coming together! On Sunday we met up with Wade and Mona at the house and then went to lunch in Granbury.  There was a Founder’s Day Festival in the Square and lots of people were milling about the vendors. The wind was really picking up so we decided to retreat and explore another day. Always good to see Mona and Wade.

Digging for the Propane Tank

250 Gallon Propane Tank before being buried

Forms go in for the driveway

We have lights

Holes cut to find the short

Finally moved the plugs up

Backsplash in the utility room

More holes

New light in the hall

Lights and Backsplash added to kitchen

2-8 March 2026 Progress

 Not much was accomplished Monday or Tuesday on the house. The power company connected the power lines to the exterior house box along with the meter. The house is ready to have power turned on. The painters could not do any outside work since rain was moving into the area for the first time in weeks. We found that they had delivered the barnwood that will go above the fireplace and stove vent had been delivered as well as the wood that will be used to make the beams in the living room and study. The trim carpenters are scheduled to come in Friday to install those. When we were at the house Wednesday, a crew showed up to run the fiber optic lines to the house. They needed water, but the electricians had disconnected power for the well pump from the power tree at the street and connected it to the house wiring. Called Skyler to see if I could turn on the house power and apply power to the water pump. After a lot of back and forth, I figured out that they had not wired the water pump into the circuit breaker panel yet (The bright pink wire hanging out at both ends was the giveaway). So, the fiber crew went to plan B (used long snake cables) and were able to pull the fiber optic from the network box up the street all the way to the house. We discussed the propane tank situation with Kelby. He suggested downsizing to a 250 gallon tank which would mean lower cost and a smaller hole to jack through the rock. The rock charge would balance out the smaller tank costs. Which would allow us to keep the tank in the original planned location. On Friday we stopped at the office and paid the 7^thinstallment for the house. We then went to the house to meet Skyler at 11 am to lay out the propane tank position. He did not show up. We marked out where we thought it should go so it would be 10 feet from the house and shop, clear of the septic system and electrical conduits. The trim carpenters were back out on Friday to install the decorative beams in the study and office. They also installed the Barnwood over the fireplace and vent hood. But on the fireplace, they did not scribe the bottom board to the mantle beam leaving a big crack and they installed it over the pinewood they had mistakenly put there several weeks back making our mantle shallower.  

23 February – 1 March 2026 Things are progressing SLOWLY

 We met with the builder and our relator on Monday morning at the house. About an hour before the meeting, our relator, Laurie, sent the owner an email basically saying she expected better out of them or else. Shortly after we got to the house, Kelby, our first build coordinator stated the island counter top was unacceptable to them and the subcontractor would replace it. They explained it was probably the creation of the rough edge that led to the corners being broken off if they had not been supported properly. We agreed to go with a machined edge this next time around. We provided them a written list with 37 items that needed to be address and walked through the house and shop to show them the issues. Kelby ordered Skyler to get the painters back to finish the painting work (front and back porch ceilings, hallway ceilings and study doors, and the shop doors immediately. They said the pace of work was going to pick up and we would be finished in three to four weeks. Leslie, Laurie and Skyler made plans to meet at the rock shop to select a new slab of granite for the island. David had to use the truck for the next three days to drive into work, so Laurie picked up Leslie and took her to the rock shop to pick out a new slab. Skyler was a no show. They looked over what was available, had them move some slabs around so they could inspect other and settled on the last slab from the same cut as our current one. They installed it Thursday and it looks great! They also installed the backsplash in the pantry. The company that was contracted by the electrical coop came out Thursday with a small back hoe and tried to dig a path even though David had told them they would need to cut rock. They came back Friday with a Rock saw and cut the trench and installed the conduit for both the power cable and the fiber optic line. The Painters showed up Thursday and got to work. The electricians showed up long enough to raise the plugs in the kitchen and utility room to where we had marked them to be. But in the pantry, they raised them just enough to clear the backsplash. The outside lights by the garage were installed and they put in one outlet in the utility room to provide worked power. Friday, we went to Canton Texas with our friends Mona and Wade for the First Monday Flea Market. It's held once a month on the Thursday-Sunday before the first Monday of each month. At over 468 acres, it’s the largest flea market in the US. We had a fun time strolling about 1/3 of the market over 5 hours. We picked up some yard art and Leslie found a dress that reminded her of one she had bought, and worn out, in Venice. We also picked up information from some vendors for possible future buys once we are in the house. We all had a great time! As we were driving over, Skyler informed us the painters had painted a sample of the shop door color for us to approve with no prior coordination. On Saturday we went out to the house and approved the color they had picked out. But once again, there was no one working. The painters had finished clear coating the wood ceilings on the front and back porch, hallway and study doors on Friday and were off on another job. We went to Lowes and picked out the front and back door handles, interior door handles, cabinet and drawer pulls, towel racks, etc. Took picture of what we wanted and put them into a word file which we sent on to Kelby.