Gould Home

Today we held a bagel brunch on the new deck (the house is not finished, but the deck is usable). This gave us a chance to debug the deck for parties. Here is a diagram I made a while ago with a suggested layout for the deck. This is not quite how the party went.

We had 20 people at the peak. People brought their own chairs, which tended to be camp chairs with wide arms. That limited how many chairs we could fit. The group basically stayed in the red area, except to get more food at the tables.

There were also three chairs against the living room wall, which meant that the living room door was blocked. That’s OK since you can still use the pantry door to access the house. Some people stood near the railing to be included in the conversations when more chairs did not fit.

The area in red was preferable to the rest of the deck because of the shade provided by the retractable awning (although the shade did not extend all the way to the diagonal railing). To take advantage of the whole deck, we probably need to bring our popup out since the house does not shade the area near the stairs at all.

First lesson learned was that we probably want to use narrower stacking chairs, which will allow us to fit in more chairs. Second lesson learned is that the party size matters. With the deck layout the way it is, an ideal one zone party would probably have no more than 16 people. If we wanted a bigger party, we should shoot for mid-twenties which makes it more likely that we could end up with two conversation groups rather than all cramming in the section near the river.

Another lesson learned is that when we set up the food tables where they are shown, we can no longer get into the garage through the side door. Since that is where we will store the tables and chairs, it means we want to take all those out before setting up the food tables. You can still get into the garage through the garage doors, but that would mean squeezing by the cars.

Also, a minor note. The power outlets are low and the way the covers work, they open at the bottom. (The outlets are against the garage wall behind the tables.) When leaning over the tables, I could not see the plug openings through the weather proof outlet covers, even when open, to position the power cord prongs. I had to move the table out to plug things in.

Still a successful trial run for deck parties. I welcome comments from our guests on their ideas and opinions.

We were on site on Saturday morning to remove more invasives, and do more planting. Now that we have permission to remove invasive plants in the wet lands, I went at a big crop of buckthorn using the weed wrench. Here is the pile of invasive buckthorn that I removed.

While we were there, the guys from Cherrystone furniture showed up with pieces for the game room walls. Here are some pictures.

Cherrystone is also doing the master bathroom vanity, which is now sitting in the bedroom waiting to be installed.

While I was there, I took some clean pictures of the kitchen with the island in place.

And I noticed that the upstairs bathroom’s shower walls have been installed.

That’s all for now. Tomorrow we will throw our first party on the deck at the new house.

Another Wednesday and another meeting at the house. Here are some progress pictures.

Outside they have added the railing to the stairs leading up to the deck. One section is missing and is on order. In this picture you can also see that they have sonotubes near the heat exchangers. These will be used to support a screen that hides the heat exchangers from the deck.

The porcelain for the upstairs shower has arrived and is being stored in the garage. The porcelain for the master bathroom is at the tile installer being cut.

In the kitchen, they have added the vent hood, although inside the cabinet is a missing piece that they have to custom build.

The crew has assembled the kitchen island. We then positioned it where we want it in the kitchen. In this picture the small green ladder represents the refrigerator and the board on the left side is the edge of the dining room table. We wanted to make sure there was the right amount of space on both sides of the island, and ended up moving it a few inches back and forth until is seem right.

The kitchen island will not be attached to the floor. This is actually critically important. Not because we ever plan on moving it (and it will not sit on the floor’s vinyl tile, but on built-in supports). But, because as long as it not attached to the floor it can be consider to be “furniture”. If it were attached to the floor, it would be consider built-in and would need to be wired with plugs, which Daphne does not want.

At the end of the front hall, they have added the cabinet which hides the ventilation system intake.

On the second floor, they have finished installing the kitchenette cabinets.

As I mentioned before, the cabinet maker made an interesting decision to sometimes paint the interior and sometimes leave it natural, as you can see in this picture.

In the basement, they have finished installing the ceiling rockwool insulation (which is under the floor of the main floor).

They also finally installed the cleanout port in the dryer vent so I can easily clean out the lint. Unfortunately, it is taped closed so we are going to try a different attachment approach.

In the basement utility room, the security team installed the main alarm panel. It is not power up yet (there is a note for the electrician to add an outlet).

And that’s the end of our progress update. We will be having a brunch on the deck this coming Sunday, our first party at the new house. Without any plumbing fixtures inside the house, it will be more like camping.

Quick weekend update. They have finished the front door, except for mounting the doorbell and adding downspouts. Here is the outside of the front door. The green board is there to protect the stone.

And here is the inside of the front door. The door handle has not been added yet.

Also, in the last few days they made a lot of progress in the pantry cabinets. Here is its current look.

The painters were working on the second floor on Saturday morning. I expect the painting on the second floor to be done soon.

Another Wednesday, another onsite meeting with the builder and architect. Quick summary – we are still on the schedule I posted previously.

But first, I noticed a person wandering around the house not dressed like a construction worker and carrying a clipboard. It turned out that he was from the Concord tax assessment office. He was evaluating the house to figure out what our assessment will eventually be, although he said that the final assessment does not take effect until the beginning of 2028 for reasons that I did not completely follow (but does mean that I will pay less until then).

On the construction front, they have finally installed the front door and are working on the posts. Here is a progress picture. They still need to add siding and finishing, but as of now, we will stop using the front door to enter the house to protect it.

Inside the house, the builder says that every interior door has now been installed, although trim is still being worked on. This picture is from the alcove outside the master bedroom. Straight ahead is the game room, to the left (closed door) is the living room and to the right is the master bathroom.

Cabinetry installation is continuing. I have already posted pictures of the kitchen. Here is the pantry east wall which is only partially done.

Here is the area with the dishwashing sink. Daphne originally wanted those two shelves to be cherry, not painted. However, the design that made it to the cabinet maker had them painted to match the cabinets. After reviewing our options, we decided to leave them as it. By the way, we will have two dishwashers, which is why there looks like there are two gaps around where the sink will be.

Here are the cabinets in the upstairs bathroom.

And here is the upstairs kitchenette area. The lower cabinets have not been installed yet. Interestingly, the interior of some cabinets are natural wood and the interior of other are painted. We are not sure why they ended up like that. I do not think we specified details of the interiors.

A few weeks ago, we install the lightning protection system, and I finally took a picture. This is the corner of the garage. You can see the copper grounding wire running down the siding and into the ground. If you look closely, you can see one of the lightning rods on the peak of the roof. There are a lot of them spread out over the roof.

We also reviewed the wood that will be used for the slat decoration in the living room, dining room and front hall ceilings. In this picture, you can see two slats with approximately the correct spacing, although behind them will be black and in the living room, some of the gaps will be filled with lights.

Some other tidbits. I asked for a clean-out in the driver vent back in January. Well, that clean-out has now arrived at the house although it has not been installed yet. Dryer lint is building up while we wait for it to be installed (or it would be if the dryer were installed).

The construction trailer will be removed soon so they can ground the electrical system in the area that will eventually be the driveway. The office and equipment storage that was in the construction trailer is being moved into the garage.

The construct crew is starting to assembly the kitchen island. The island will be supported on small blocks on the floor rather then sitting on the vinyl flooring. However, the island will not be attached to the floor and could be moved (using a couple of very strong men or a forklift). As long as the island can theoretically be moved, then it is considered furniture rather than built-in cabinetry. If it were built-in, we would be required to add electrical outlets to the island and we do not want to do that.

A snapping turtle has buried eggs in our back yard. We have marked off that area and the landscaping crew will try to work around the nest. Eggs are expected to hatch around labor day. We have asked permission from the Concord Natural Resource Commission to open up a gap in the silt barrier to allow the turtles to get to the river, but have not gotten a response yet.

Right now our biggest challenge is living room furniture. We know what we want, but are having trouble finding it. The hardest thing to find is a manual reclining leather loveseat that is comfortable. That combination of five requirements eludes us so far and we have avoided ordering the couches until we know what the loveseat looks like. This means we may be without living room furniture for a few weeks once we move in.

Here is an update from last Wednesday meeting, with the upcoming schedule.

• Week of June 1
  • The lightning protection system has been installed.
  • The railing on the deck (but not the stairs) has been installed.
  • Master bathroom shower wall slabs have been delivered to the tile installers.
  • Cabinet installation is ongoing.
• Week of June 8
  • Cabinet installation is ongoing.
  • Electrical outlet and switch finishing.
  • Second floor shower wall panels to be delivered.
• Week of June 15
  • Cabinet installation is ongoing.
  • Exterior landscaping starts.
  • Alarm and safety system installation finished.
  • Construction trailer and cherry picker removed (finally).
• Week of June 22
  • Countertop templating.
  • Game room cabinet and shelving installation.
  • Master bath cabinet unit installed.

Here are some new pictures from recent cabinet installation. The first picture is the pantry. The west wall has blue cabinets. The east wall will have white cabinets.

Here is the dishwashing area of the kitchen.

Here are some cabinets in the master closet.

And here are the cabinets in the laundry room. The metal bars will hold up a counter where the area under the counter is open for wheeled laundry baskets.

Door are getting installed throughout the house. Upstairs, the doors are white with a white frame. Here is the door to the front bedroom (where my son will be staying).

Downstairs, the door are rift cut oak with cherry frames. Here is the master bedroom door, where you can see they are working on the frame.

And here are the pocket doors (closed) to the master closet.

In front of the house, they have start work on the posts that hold up the entryway. You can see the back posts being worked on, but the front posts are just supports at the bottom at this point.

Under the porch, the builder has attached a rack to the concrete wall where we can hang life jackets to dry.

Saturday, we did some invasive removal and planting. Then we went paddle boarding. The river is warm enough at this point so it is not dangerous to fall in (which I tested once).

Here is an action shot of Daphne (sorry for the poor focus).

Here is the current view of the waterfront, from ground level.

Finally, as a bonus, here is a video from this past week’s work on installing cabinets. The camera angle was not always ideal, but I appreciate that the crew did try to move the camera to capture the action.

There is no change in the occupancy permit date at this time. We will reevaluate at the end of June.

Current estimated occupancy permit date: July 31, 2026 (no change).

We went to the house this morning, in the cold and rain, to assemble our new kayak rack. This is located under the porch, next to the shed we installed last weekend. Right now we only have two paddle boards (plus the row boat that is stored elsewhere), but we will probably get more boats later.

Here is the assembled rack with our two paddleboards, that double as sit-on kayaks.

While we were there, I took pictures of the recent progress.

Here is the railing on the deck. They have finished the railing on the main level, but are still working on the railing on the stairs. There will also, eventually, be railings on the porch (the screens are not good enough to keep kids from falling off the porch).

In the front of the house, the front stoop was installed. This is a single piece of blue mist granite from a quarry in Vermont. The ground level will be raised to cover the bottom inch of the stoop, and there will be a walkway, using blue mist pavers, that goes past the breezeway towards the driveway. The final front door is still not installed, to avoid damaging it during construction.

Inside, they have been installing the interior doors. Here is the guest bathroom door (the frame has not been added yet).

And here is the pocket door to the closet at the top of the stairs (second floor). Doors on the first floor are rift cut oak with a cherry frame. The doors on the second floor just painted wood.

The tiles in both bathrooms (master and second floor) have now been installed. Here is the master bathroom floor.

And here is the second floor bathroom. The wall has a window and a mirror (not installed yet).

The painters were working on the second floor when we came by, which is why there are lights and tarps.

The electricians have also been working. Here is the latest view of the utility room electrical panel.

Finally, the most exciting change is the installation of the kitchen and dining room cabinets. I previously posted a view of the oven / fridge (west) wall. Here is a view of the north wall. The main sink will be in the lower area on the left. The dining room table is on the right side.

And finally, here is a one minute video of three days of work installing those cabinets.

Sent by the builder at the end of the day, Friday.

The architect is on site today meeting with the tile installer to plan the placement. Here is the adjusted placement of tiles in the master bathroom. The goal is to ensure that there is no small tile sliver near the door.

Here is a picture of the tiles being installed.

Upstairs, the tiles placement was adjusted or confirmed as well. Here is the placement diagram.

As a bonus picture, here is the game room ceiling after plastering (this is a newer picture than the one I first posted).

Here is the latest schedule. There are things missing but this includes the highlights.

• Week of May 25:
  • Continue working on the deck railing
  • Plaster the game room walls and ceiling
  • Start installing the kitchen, pantry and bathroom cabinets
  • Second floor painting starts this weekend
  • Bathroom tile installation has started
  • Install the front stoop
  • Install the HVAC screen panels
• Week of June 1:
  • Finish the deck railing
  • Lightning protection system installation
• Week of June 8:
  • Finish up site (landscaping) work in the back yard
• Week of June 15:
  • Install the septic system

There is no change in the occupancy permit date, but we will know better at the end of June where things stand.

Current estimated occupancy permit date: July 31, 2026 (no change).

We had our weekly Wednesday meeting at the building site and we had to park a ways away because there were so many vehicles. This was because we had so many crews working at the same time.

In the game room, they were plastering. This is the only remaining room that needs plastering and painting and the work was delayed so they could construct and then finish the ceiling beams. In this picture they are working on plastering the ceiling in between the beams (which have been protected with plastic while they work).

Meanwhile, in the master bathroom, the tiling crew has started working. The first step was to install the shower and here you can see the preparation for installing the shower base (which comes next). Tiling should proceed uninterrupted until they have finished both the master bathroom and the upstairs bathroom. (The guest half-bath is not tiled.)

In the kitchen a different crew was starting the installation of the kitchen cabinets. Fortunately, we got delivery of the kitchen range yesterday since it is needed to properly space the cabinets. The construction camera is facing the kitchen and I will see if we get any good footage when I visit the house this weekend.

Outside, we have a crew working on installing the railing on the deck. I was told that the deck should be finished and safe to use in mid-June should we want to hold an outdoor party.

Things are still on schedule. There was a small delay in getting the shields that will be installed between the deck and the air compressors (mix up in shipping), and the front stoop does not show up until tomorrow, but nothing that impacts the end date. I will have a better schedule update tonight or tomorrow.

Daphne here. Yeah not getting the panels doesn’t impact the end date, but it impacts the planting of the backyard a lot. I have plants that are desperate to get in the ground. Originally I was told I could do it in March. Then April. Then May. Now it is June. I hope some of the plants in my fridge are still alive. We will see. I might have to reorder some next year. Yesterday some plants I needed came into stock finally and I ordered, as thought I was supposed to be able to plant by the 8th. Maybe not.

At least the plants I’m growing from seed are still small maybe even too small. Sadly some have not sprouted, but most have. You never know with cold stratification. I put many of them in the fridge in January as they need 2-3 months in there. It turned out to be more like 4-5. I also seeded some out in the garden in late fall. And like the refrigerated ones, some sprouted and some didn’t. It will be a difficult process trying to plant what is growing in the heat of the summer. I wonder how much will have to be redone again next year.