Space men have arrived!

Yep, here he is - ready to install the spray foam insulation. This is a major GREEN thing! No pink stuff anywhere! Spray foam creates an air tight seal between the outdoors and the interior of the house, thus keeping conditioned air in and hot and cold air outside. It is much more expensive than the pink stuff, but they claim that my energy usage will be half as much as usual. Good for mother nature and my monthly budget.

The area below is partially completed. Notice the foam goes on just under the roof deck making the attic area "conditioned" too. Usually the pink stuff or blown in stuff goes along the attic floor making the area between the roof and the attic floor either very hot or cold depending on the season. These types of systems need some type of ventilation for the attic, either an attic fan (that uses energy) or a ridge vent system on the roof that depends on natural air flow. Even with this, the attic space still will have a much lower or higher temperature than the living space. With the spray foam, the house is totally air tight. It will also keep out dust, sand and little critters!

In these southern one story homes, the HVAC systems are usually installed in the attic space . With the typical system, the HVAC has to fight the hot or cold to get the interior of the house comfortable, resulting in moooore energy usage! My unit will have to work less. Also, you'll notice the wrapped duct work in the attic. It too will not have to fight extreme temperatures to deliver comfortable air to the living areas.

In the background

Before the actual building of the house began, I have been working on making choices for oh so many things. I had to let the HOA know the outside design; siding color, stone type, lighting style, front door, roof color, and landscaping! It was difficult to imagine those items when I was just looking at dirt and architect drawings.



The siding has to be "Hardiplank" or a similar brand of concrete siding. A good thing for high hurricane winds. They will paint it on site and I'm told that's the last time it will need painting. Sure hope they are right!



The other choices are related to finding items for each "budget" area; flooring, lighting fixtures, cabinets, counters, plumbing fixtures, and appliances. If I go over in any area, I pay the difference. If I go under, the builder gives me a refund. Hey, I thought this would be a breeze since I am not the extravagant type. I was told that I would have the choice of most of the offered items. Ha! I found out fast that the budgets were very difficult to follow.



I also did not realize that I would have to go from place to place to "shop" the budget -arghhh!



I started with the two most difficult, appliances and cabinets. I went to 3 places for appliances and ended up with Sears. They can really cut the price of Kenmore and give good "contractor" pricing. I did go over budget, but I think I'll be happy with the dual fuel stove and panel ready refrigerator and dishwasher. Panel ready means that the fronts will be covered with the same wood as the cabinets. Cool, especially with the open design floor plan.

The cabinets took over 4 months to finalize! It was very stressful going from place to place and being waaaay over budget and not really liking the choices. I was even taking the cheapest wood and particle board. I won't bore you with all of the details, but patience and perseverance does sometimes pay off. The last dealer recently made contact with a custom woodworker in North Carolina. He wants to get his foot in the door for Myrtle Beach business, so he offered to do my job on budget and with cherry wood! It should be beautiful - I can't wait to see it.

Enough with the verbage and no pictures. Just want to record my work in the background. I can't imagine having a regular job and building a house at the same time. Hey, but isn't that what you did Tammi ??!!

Canine assistance

Another friend from the animal world. Remember the carpenter with the bird? The electrician brought his dog with him. Very sweet dog..."Copper" had the run of the house the first couple of days until he decided to explore the neighborhood. Now he's on leash. I have doggy vibes in my house! Heather, think Surly will know when she comes? So - - - when are you, Cook and Surly planning a road trip?

Inside work - important stuff!

The inside work has begun. Big things are happening, but it doesn't show like a whole roof going on! Below are all the electric wires headed to the junction box in the garage. I wonder what the colors mean. It was great to be able to do a "walk through" with the electrician to clarify where I want all the outlets, etc. I made sure there's a hook up for my computer above the desk and a cable hook up for the TV in the family room and bedrooms - the important things!
And, of course I'll need air conditioning (hot or cold). These tubes are insulated and wrapped - another GREEN thing! But, I think it's pretty standard practice now. Things will slowly change over the years, especially as energy costs rise.

Below is the rough in for the washer and dryer. Got to have clean clothes! Also, I'll need to wash all the towels I'll use going to the beach - ah - I love being so close! The water temperature was 85 degrees yesterday!

Remember the angles - how about some curves?

Let's add some curves to balance out all those angles. This pic is looking from the kitchen to the family room.




This will be the "built in" area for the TV and shelves on either side for books to make me look smart! The bottom part will be cabinets.

Back slider door is in - -

Now things will be more water tight. The sliding doors are installed in the family room. Notice the green shadow as the sun shines through? That's one of those GREEN things! There is a coating on the windows that keeps the sun from letting in heat in the summer and letting out warmth in the winter. It's called, "low E."