plumbing – 3800 Balcones

Week 100 – Stairs

The floating staircases were encased with wood this week.

The stair lighting was also installed.

Light fixtures continue to be installed. Here is the pendant in the guest house.

The tub in the upstairs master in finally in place.

All the AC units continue to be installed and hooked up.

It also seemed like electricity was on at least partially in the house as a lot of the lights worked. All the smoke detectors were installed as well and I don’t know if they put batteries in right before the move in date, but they were all chirping.

Week 99 – Plumbing Fixtures

This week we saw a lot of plumbing fixtures being installed.

The sink and faucet in the powder room.

The shower fixtures in the downstairs master.

Shower fixtures in the upstairs master.

Light fixtures installed in the upstairs master. Mirrors are being fabricated.

Kitchen sink fixture.

Toilets are also being installed in all the bathrooms.

Light fixtures are also being installed but a lot are still wrapped in plastic. Here is the one in our master closet.

On the exteriors, the ceiling heaters have been installed in the screened patio area.

Gutters and downspouts are also being installed.

The hope is to get the electricity turned on in the next week and also start the auto-court pavers. Cork flooring is also going into the kitchen and maybe even appliances.

Week 94 – Updates before the rain

Austin is about to get 3-4 inches of rain today so I ran by the house at lunch to take some photos since it is very difficult to get into the house after a heavy rain with all the clay making the uphill drive way very slick.

The pads for the AC units have been poured and you can even see some of the exterior light sconces have been installed.

They are also preparing an area on the outside of the flex room so people exiting have a small landing area instead of just lawn.

The metal trellis between the main house and guest house has been completed. There is a solid piece of metal between the houses for rain protection but then it is open after that.

The plumber has also started installing fixtures where the tile work is complete. Here is Akash’s room with the shower/tub fixtures installed.

There were also a lot of little finishes like electrical sockets and light switches being installed everywhere. Depending on how much rain, I may try and make it out Sunday depending on how muddy things still are.

Week 60 – Skylight!

The skylight has been installed in the second story family area and it really brightened the room considerably.

Here is a picture of the front of the house now that the windows are installed.

We had a brief scare today when we discovered that Akash’s bathtub was full of water after two days of significant rain, but figured out pretty quickly they were doing a tub fill test. All the shower pans were also full of water. If all this passes, the plumbing should pass inspection and the electrical was inspected last week. If all goes well, the drywall will start in the next 10-14 days.

Has it already been a year?

One year ago, I started this blog to chronicle our home building experience. At this point, we are looking at a summer completion date so hopefully I won’t be writing a two year blog anniversary post.

We are in that phase of the project where lots of things are being done, but it really doesn’t look like it. Photos of pipes, wire, and conduit in the walls isn’t that exciting and doesn’t have a wow factor in pictures, but is nevertheless an important part of the process.

One highlight is the completion of the firebox for the fireplace.

Based on the square footage of the house and the water flow from the hydrant, code dictated we needed a fire suppression system. It is now installed and will hopefully never be used.

The new trench for the water line has been dug.

We’ve selected a low-voltage vendor and they will start runs for AV drops throughout the house. We are also hoping the windows will be delivered this week for installation.

Week 38 – Plumbing and HVAC

Between Thanksgiving and work, I had to skip a week’s post. The crew have been busy continuing the plumbing and now have started all the duct runs for the HVAC.

The roof is full of duct work.