Certificate of Occupancy and Housewarming Party!!

We got the Certificate of Occupancy on Friday, August the 29th! What a relief that is. John has been very happy about that. We still have lots of details to do. I hope to have some good photos this evening.

We have planned a housewarming party on September 13th from 4pm to 9pm. Hope to see people there.

I'll post more later. Thank you for reading about the house that took so long.

Stairs Installed - Beautiful!

One of the last things we needed before getting a certificate of occupancy (CO) is a handrail on the stairs. Andrew of Carolina Custom Stair Works did a meticulous and beautiful job installing the stairs. Unbelievable. He noted that most people do not choose to have wood risers instead they choose MDF which is painted. It is much more difficult to install the oak risers because you have to miter the corners at each stair. I have a photo that demonstrates this and shows how beautiful it is.

Notice the S-curve on the left side of the photo. I really like that. This view also shows the color on the walls much better - Aqua Pura - I love it. John does not.  Balusters have been installed but I haven't gotten a photo yet.

View of the top of the stairs. Balusters will be painted.

I love the curve of the handrail at the top of the stairs.

Beautiful detailing of the stairs

This photo shows the expert workmanship of mitered corners on the stairs. We are thrilled with this work.

Well, I hope to get more photos today now that the balusters are up.

Almost Done

Today the stair guy is installing the newell posts and handrail which means that we can FINALLY go for our certificate of occupancy (CO) tomorrow or next week. Getting the CO doesn't mean that John can move in just yet though. We've still got some painting and floor work to do. Apparently you do not have to have your floors done before being allowed to move into your home. A homeowner might just want naked oak on the floor. It's not a code violation. The challenge may be to keep John from moving in before we finish the naked oak floor.

Anyway, here a few photos from the past few days. This is the upstairs bathroom.

The sun tunnel provides an incredible amount of light.

Now here is the Toto Promenade toilet. John says it is the best thing I have ordered for his house. He's still a little miffed at some of my paint choices.

One thing I really like about the toilet is the large flat top. In a small bathroom that makes a big difference. 

This photo shows the porch floor with the second coat of Waterlox. Rich (my brother-in-law) has been doing the staining and the floor finishing. It's beautiful.

Porch floor with 2 coats of Waterlox

The above porch was designed to be a cat porch where John could let his cats stay most of the time without them doing their cat business all over his house. Before we could get the house built, his favorite cat, Nub, died from renal failure (which might explain why he didn't use the litter box reliably). The only cat left was Gump seen below. Gump is 18-years-old and very skittish, almost feral. Somehow we were able to merge him with my cat family and he has now become my cat. That allowed the front porch to be simply a porch, not just a large litter box. Also he is good about going in the litter box so he has not become a problem for me. 

Gump begging for food.

Next I'll get some photos of the stairs. The stair guy (I don't know the name of his company off the top of my head) is amazing and quite meticulous. I think you will be impressed.

That's it for today. Thank you for looking at my blog.