June began with the important non-construction milestone of Corbin (age 4) learning to ride his pedal bike! He’s been on the strider since he was a wee-tot, but Mr. C decided it was time for a bit more freedom and speed and randomly one day said “Can you please take me outside to ride the blue bike?” He needed one little push and then was off. Now he’s ripping around on the trails near Mom and Dad’s condo, catching mini-air at the pump track, and pushing his skills each day. Having all four of us under our own power on a family bike ride is about the best thing ever.

Ok - back to construction!

June and early July have been consumed with rough plumbing and rough electrical. As you recall, we weren’t able to hire a plumber, so Kelsey took the county’s plumbing test so we could pull our own permit and since then has been figuring out everything as he went. He’s amazing at this, but it’s also slow going. We did have a neighbor who is a plumber (long story on why we couldn’t hire him) who swung by to offer some suggestions and look at Kelsey’s work. He wanted us to change a few simple things, but overall Kelsey had nailed it!

Insulating the hot water supply lines in the crawl space. Good thing we always have face coverings with us! — Insulating the hot water supply lines in the crawl space. Good thing we always have face coverings with us, no one wants to breathe in fiberglass!

While Kelsey was working on rough plumbing, I put another coat of oil on the cedar accents around the house. Before we had installed, I had applied two coats of oil, but our local paint/stain guy said that after we installed it would be a good idea to apply another coat when the wood started looking a bit thirsty. With it being so dry (and so much sun!) our cedar needed a little love. We should be good with this coat for a couple years, but it’s not too big of a job if we need to apply a coat of oil each spring. Thankfully, the entryway that has the largest amount of cedar is on the north side and doesn’t get direct sun.

Way up high on the ladder to apply oil to the cedar.

We also snuck in a one-night local camping trip at the Peak One campground with some friends. Even though we were only 10 minutes from home, it felt like a little mini-vacation. We were treated to an amazing sunset as well!

Toward the end of June, the electrical meter was moved to the house and we now have power inside! Yay outlets! And, it is so nice to remove the huge extension cords from the temporary power pole.

Electrical meter is now on the house! We’ll eventually paint the box to match the dark gray color of the house.

Our rough electrical started next! Our electrician was supposed to start helping us on June 29, but was still wrapping up a different job and wasn’t able to totally dive in with Kelsey until July 3. But, it’s well underway and we’re hoping that our electrician will be able to finish everything up by the end of next week. We’re helping a bit by pulling wire after laying everything out with our electrician. Pulling wire takes more muscle than I thought! After a little instruction, I got the hang of it!

Pulling wire is easier if you stick your tongue out.

I do, however, keep having dreams that we’ll forget a spot where we’ll want power. We’ve walked through each room about 20 times, so I think we’ve got it covered, but I’m still nervous. If you have obscure outlet/power locations you think we should consider, drop a comment below. Thanks!

On July 3 we celebrated Laird’s 7th birthday! He requested crab legs for dinner and since he’s been asking to buy some for a solid year, we decided to splurge. They were yummy!

We enjoyed a quiet 4th of July weekend mixed with working on rough electrical to popsicles and bike riding. Next year will be a bit different!

Happy 4th of July! The 4th has always been one of my most favorite holidays!

As you may remember, our original date for our certificate of occupancy (CO) was August 5 (already extended 9 months from our first deadline). COVID-19 didn’t do us any favors in relying on friends and extended family to help us, so we needed to request another extension from our bank. Obviously, Alpine Bank in Frisco is motivated for us to finish, but understands that a global pandemic causes delay. They granted another 6 month extension from August for us to obtain our CO, which brings the new deadline to February 5, 2021. We desperately want to finish before then. Kelsey and I think that November 1 is feasible, but it’s still going to take a lot of effort and time to get it done. We definitely want to celebrate the holidays at the 9290 home. Please keep rooting for us!

What’s coming up next?

Spoiler alert...this list is basically the same from our last post in early June, turns out that rough plumbing and rough electrical take a long time when you’re mostly doing it yourself!

Install the final pocket door frame
Finish the rough electrical
Finish some additional plumbing - gas line for stove/fireplace, venting, etc.
Have the county do a rough framing, rough electrical, and rough plumbing inspection. This is a super important one, obviously.
Grind the steel beams. Once again, any takers to come do this for us? I make really good banana bread.
Hang and finish drywall (we have three bids on hand and hope to schedule this for late July/early August. We are excited that we have the budget to hire someone for this big project!)
Install our gas fireplace. Our gas fireplace from Western Fireplace Supply in Avon is ordered! The install guys are scheduled to come on July 21
Install the gray board and batten siding above the glulam beam on the south side. Kelsey has one little section done and it looks great!
Stain cedar for exterior soffit and install (this will be above the glulam beam on the south side, the big overhang on the front). We’ll order this wood once we have a better idea of when drywall will be installed.
Install our spiral staircase to the loft (already here and ready to go!)

Thanks for all of your ongoing support!

Cory

Here are a few more photos from this part of our project - and life :-)