The home of our future home
On April 1, 2007, the OC Mehls began the process of buying a home. Actually, the process began more than a year earlier, but on this day, the search turned into acquisition. This page is dedicated to documenting the construction of our new home and all the planning that goes along with it.
We've been waiting for this event for some time, and we intend to revel in every delicious moment of anticipation. This page will chronicle our final transition from renters to homeowners. From model walkthrough to move-in day.
Most of the narrative details can be found in JabberDrew. Check back here for frequent photo updates as the house evolves from foundation to framework to finish.
August 23-26, 2007 Welcome Home
There were as many moments to capture during these four days as there are boxes left to unpack. We couldn't stop to take pictures at every key moment, but here are some highlights during the final throes of move-in. I'm not sure if this will be the last official entry on Home Base or not. It seems stupid to post pictures of every little detail from this moment on. Maybe only the landscaping once it's underway and done.
This page was built to commemorate and chronicle the construction of our first home. Now that that process is complete, I guess there's nothing left to do but enjoy the life here. I'll shift my update time back to blogging and the other goings-on beyond the house. If something else of note gets added to this page, I'll be sure to note it on JabberDrew. If there's something else you want to see about the house, you'll just have to come for a visit and see for yourself. All are welcome.
August 21, 2007 Tuesday Painting
Today, the painter must've been feeling the heat of our looming deadline because the crew got upped from two to four guys. As a result, they seriously accelerated. Most of the downstairs is complete. Aside from some touchups, only the living room, some parts of the staircase and the dining room are left. Can't wait to see the red (Fireweed) dining room. Should be a truly striking finish to the paint work. The place is looking great and we're really happy with the colors. The main paint, Whole Wheat, has this great character where it looks kind of gold in the middle of the day and then a warm tan at night. Love it.
August 20, 2007 Monday Painting
Not a whole lot of backstory to these photos – just documenting the progress of painting during the day. Monday was focused primarily on the upstairs, which was largely done by end of day. Also, the girls' rooms are effectively done. Lori's masterminded creations look really cool. Just awaiting the chair rail in Em's room.
August 16-19, 2007 Opening Weekend
We have a house, did you know? This weekend, after getting our keys, we immediately set to painting. We've made pet projects of the girls' rooms, painters are handling the rest of the house. Amidst multiple trips with carloads of boxes and clothes, we managed to have several picnics in a variety of rooms, simply absorbing the aura of the house. The reality is gradually setting in visit by visit, meal by meal, moment by moment.
August 9, 2007 Inspection Day
On an arduous, four-month long obstacle course, we cleared two of the final hurdles today: the final house inspection and signing of the final loan documents. The inspection, originally planned to go from 10am to 1pm, took the scenic route to 3pm. By 2pm, I could practically hear the Gilligan dirge: "A three-hour tour, A three-hour tour..."
We crept around every room, inspected every drawer, every window sill, tested every appliance, received training on everything that had a button, dial or nozzle. And, despite the length of the affair, it was almost painful to walk out of the house. The sunlight streaming in through 49 windows. The supple undulations of the distressed wood floor through our protective blue booties. The smell of the very oxygen breathing through the brand new air conditioners.
Good God, we love this house.
I wish the pictures were more compelling. We were really immersed in the inspection and stopped to take only a few shots worth sharing. I spared you all the photos of the inside of the washing machine, the oven's turkey probe and the gas shut-off valves. Disappointing, I know, but you'll thank me in the morning.
August 4, 2007 Finishing Touches
With less than a week to go until our inspection walkthrough, and all the flooring in, we didn't expect to see much this visit. In fact, we were concerned that a visit would only intensify the unbearable home stretch anticipation we're experiencing. However, Lori peered through the window a few days ago and knew our fridge was in. Heck, that was worth a visit, don't you think?
What was most unexpected, however, was window screens. On and off during the past few weeks, Lori and I kept bemoaning the fact that we'd have to purchase screens for all the windows in addition to curtains. But, much to our surprise, they're apparently included. Which is simply fantastic. Who knew I'd reach the point in my life when window screens would bring me so much joy? Lori had commented that our fridge appeared slightly different than the one included in the model home. I quickly realized that the difference centered around the fact that there is an electronic touchscreen brain in the water/ice center. We were quickly immersed in navigating all the digital options and the girls were bartering over who got to pick the desktop color scheme.
Our landlord came by today and put For Rent signs up in our windows and claimed he started getting interest calls five minutes after running an ad on Craigslist.com. We're pretty much to the point of no return. All I have to say is "bring it on!"
July 28, 2007 Floored
We are officially in the home stretch. Our walkthrough inspection and documents signing are scheduled for the 9th. And all of our flooring is in. After a few sneak peek visits during the week, we knew that today would reveal a complete batch of wood, tile and carpet. Our excitement was diminished only slightly by the fact that all the wood is under protective covering. But we peeled back a few sections and got some pictures. We all got down to bare feet and christened every section of exposed flooring we could find. Kind of pitiful, I know, but oh so satisfying.
Frankly, the only thing prior to closing that's left to document will be the fridge going in, the shower heads and a whole lot of cleaning. After we get the keys, we have the entire itinerary scheduled for the week prior to actual move-in: painting, A/V install, cable hookup, furniture deliveries and our actual moving. On Friday the 24th, we'll spend our first official night in the house. Until then, we can only wait...something we've gotten pretty good at.
July 22, 2007 Having the Tile of Our Lives
After peeking through the windows yesterday, today we went in to find all of our tile in place and magnificent. Power is on in the house, giving us a sense of how the interior looks lit. The combination of the two sources of color let us visualize the final paint on the walls, the carpet and wood on the floor, the furniture in all the rooms, and the warmth in our hearts. It gets harder and harder to leave each visit. Confident the wood floors and carpet will go in this week, it's going to be nearly impossible to extract ourselves when we visit this weekend. Stay tuned for more pictures.
July 18, 2007 Tile and Mr. Green Dreams
Today was tile inspection day. We drove out to the design center first thing in the morning and saw samples of all our selected tile. All looked good and, apparently, flooring could start going in as soon as tomorrow or a few days after that. Driving back home, we stopped by the house to check on the progress and, lo and behold, our fondest wish came true: there's grass in our front yard! For the umpteenth time over the past three months, Lori and I yelped exuberantly and took pictures. We're stunned all over again at just how unbelievably lucky our timing was to stumble into this lot. We are the only house in our phase and on our entire street that has front yard grass "pre-installed". We are truly the flagship lot and if we didn't venture out on that fateful April 1, it would've slipped through our fingers.
We also locked in our loan rate today, so I think virtually all gears are engaged and turning now.
July 15, 2007 Upon Closer Inspection
Okay, so we couldn't be satisfied without an interior visit. Our incursion today revealed some of the appliances and other myriad details.
July 14, 2007 The Longest Yard
Today, I did a solo drive-by while Emelie recuperated at home from a cold. Resigned not to venture inside, the landscaping progress proved satisfying enough. The hideous temporary power pole is down, and the mysterious front yard line has now taken solid form, supporting my hope that grass will soon go in. Gates are up and wood chips are down. On Wednesday the 18th, we're scheduled to go inspect our tile lot at the design center. With approval of that, there's a very good chance our beloved flooring will start going in at the end of the week. Since we've been informed that the builder usually does the final walk-through inspection a few weeks before turnover (in order to afford time to fix any problems), we could be seeing an effectively complete home within two weeks. Monday marks one month to go!!!
July 11, 2007 A Line in the Sand
After about two weeks of nearly indiscernable changes to the interior of the house (touch-up painting, outlet covers and air conditioning vents), and no pictures worth sharing, we are now happy to see actual landscaping going in the front yard. This is the "sparse, community, temporary" variety, but greenery nonetheless. BUT here's our secret desire: most of the lots our size have partial grass in their front yards, although our salesman made no such promise. Earlier last week, a strange white line showed up in the yard. It had the purposeful undulation of a demarkation between grass and shrubbery that other yards feature. Then, they put in sprinklers. Curiously, there are two lines of sprinklers on either side of the white line, suggesting there will be two types of vegetation in close proximity to each other. Today's pictures show the beginnings of the shrubbery side; we're hoping the green grass goes in when that hideous temporary power pole gets yanked out.
June 30, 2007 Wonderwall
The temporary fencing around the lot has come down and our permanent walls have gone up. Now under lock and key, the house also revealed myriad details during today's tour including faucets, mirrors, toilets, shower doors, light switches, smoke detectors and alarm system controls. After meeting our next door neighbors who were touring their lot at the same time (VERY nice couple), we drove past our identical lot on the other side of the community and saw some truly inspiring front yard landscaping they're completing (the final pictures in this batch).
Over the past two weekends, we've purchased our family room sofa, loveseat and chair, our entertainment center, our 52" HDTV, Sydney's bed and reading chair, and our washer/dryer. With our mandatory move-in purchases effectively complete, we now put our noses to the patience grindstone and forge our way through the agonizingly-long July. Since it hasn't rained here in months, an accelerated completion date isn't totally implausible. Where's the fast forward button on this calendar? Can't we just TiVo right to August?
June 23, 2007 Lines Are Drawn
The most notable development of the weekend concerned the delineation of the lot. Rebar not stands as clear demarkation of our soon-to-be-walls, affording us the most defined look at our domain. While our side yards are formidable, we're still amazed at just how huge our FRONT yard is. Indications are that we will be allowed to put up a fence around it (of the white picket kind) giving the kids even more room in which to romp. Check out the last shot of this batch. We met our neighbors across the street this day, and they volunteered to take a shot from their upstairs window. Really gives a perspective on the size of the yard. Where Syd, Em and I are standing is about where the side of our front yard begins.
June 20, 2007 Baby Steps to the Front Door
Much of the exterior work is done. The interior work continues in earnest. Now, the yard actually is the subject of labor. Call it a new approach to the new house.
June 16, 2007 Cold Stone Dreamery
The granite is in, the granite is in! Today's visit revealed our kitchen granite, our bathroom tile, and a lot of other details that had each of us wandering around in dream land. We've also received our flooring samples at home, helping us keep the dream alive 24/7.
June 13, 2007 Eaves of Deconstruction
Lori's Wednesday drive-by showed that all of the scaffolding has been pulled down and all the eaves have gone up. We're now afforded the first unobstructed view of our home in many weeks. It makes the house look all the more huge and inspiring.
June 9, 2007 Inner Beauty
After Wednesday's astounding exterior work, we thought we surely exhausted our supply of surprises for the week. We couldn't have been more wrong. The interior work has begun in earnest. Doors, a first coat of paint, window trim, staircase banister, and, most stunning of all, cabinetry and bathroom tile. After jumping around like little kids for a minute (well, two of us ARE little kids), we walked around for about twenty minutes, absorbing the profound excitement of it all.
June 6, 2007 Getting Stoned
Up until 2pm on Tuesday the 5th, the house looked exactly as it did on the 2nd. Then, in some freakish spasm of productivity spanning 24 hours, the roof tiles went on and the entire front stone facade went up. Unbelievable shock to our system. Looks beautiful!
June 2, 2007 A House of a Different Color
This week's visit revealed texturizing on the interior walls, covering all the dry wall seams. AND, most notably, our exterior sage green color is underway. We're totally in love with the color. Lots of exterior details, too, such as window ledges and front door framing.
May 27, 2007 I'm Stucco On You
Walls are in, inside and out. We chose this day, my 38th birthday, to walk through the location of my next b-day and many more to come.
May 20, 2007 The Work Goes On
We're now officially under three months to go until move-in. Today's drive-by revealed more siding on the exterior and drywall in virtually every observable room.
May 13, 2007 The Great Walls
Still basking in the afterglow of our dusty shoe walkthrough, we had no idea the "next steps" would start the very next day. A Saturday drive-by revealed that insulation was visibly in place and paneling was going up on one side of the house. Sunday, we donned hard hats and took the kids on their very first walkthrough. We were amazed to see a bunch of dry wall up and the rooms more fully defined. At the risk of repeating myself, it's amazing how fast the construction's going.
May 9, 2007 Dusty Shoe Day
This Wednesday was the much anticipated dusty shoe walkthrough. The day we get to inspect all the wiring that will soon be covered by drywall. More importantly, it was our first opportunity to step inside our new house. It was inspiring and pretty enlightening. It's amazing how well thought-out the house is. From all the digital wiring, to every nook and cranny being foamed, stabilized, sealed, marked and reinforced. Our tour guide/supervisor, Paul, was very helpful and gave us insight into the work completed and the itinerary of next steps. He estimates we're at 40% complete now. After a wiring inspection (he also gave us the scoop on just how stringent Tustin's inspectors are), they'll next do insulation, then drywall, then texturizing. Roofing happens somewhere in there, too. The experience definitely served the purpose of making us antsy all over again. August can't come soon enough. In the meantime, here's WAY too many pictures...enough to bore anyone but us. Grin and bear it.
May 5, 2007 Wall and Paper
This week, the outer lining paper started getting applied to the outside of the living room and upstairs (Emelie's room). Linings are around the windows and some of the underground trench work in the yard has been filled in.
April 28, 2007 Windows Onto the Future
After an afternoon of looking at big screen HD LCDs and washer and dryer combos, we stopped by the house and were excited to see roofing paper and stacked shingles up top and windows virtually throughout. Through the still-open walls, wiring is clearly going in plus some rudimentary plumbing, it appears. Work going on in the yard, too. The alley/street behind our house was passable today, allowing us to get some shots from the garage-side. I also figured out a new feature with the photo slideshow. Hit the question mark button in the lower right corner of any frame and it reveal a description of each pic. Onward to May!
April 15, 2007 Meat on the Bones
Today, the roof was capped off and some of the walls went up. Stunning how fast construction goes.
April 11, 2007 A Roof and the Clubhouse
We've begun stalking our house at this point. Seems like something new happens every day. This day, we were shocked to see the shape of the roof grace the sky.
There are also some shots of the clubhouse that serves as the hub of our community. One street over from our house is the 5,000 square-foot facility with junior olympic pool. A nice playground for the kids, too, which you don't really see in these pics.
April 7, 2007 Devil's in the Details
After a week of delirious excitement, we wrote the check for our down payment -- taking one step closer to making the dream real. These pictures show a more deliberate set of images, capturing some of the house details that we missed in our original dazed walkthrough. You'll also see the beginning of the upper floor framing and some shots of the same model in the neighborhood that shares the designated exterior color scheme of our home.
April 1, 2007 The Lucky Break
After a day of searching other communities in town, we licked our wounds and returned to the Cantara community we've held as a benchmark for more than a year. Expecting to find the neighborhood totally sold out, we happened on to the most unexpected, fortuitous break of our house-searching lives. In a matter of two whirlwind hours, we placed a hold on the perfect house. Replete with giant yard and enormous floorplan, everything we hoped we could have in a house but never expected fell into our laps. These pictures are the blurry result of our stunned stagger around the model and our lot as we came to the realization that we had found our dream house.
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