Arizona

We’re back in Arizona this evening. We left California this morning and arrived late afternoon. We stopped at the new build to take care of some business with our contractor. As usual, when we’re away for a couple of weeks, we find that a lot of progress has been made on the new house.

Image: exterior progress as of 10/20/2010. Click to enlarge.

As of late Wednesday evening, the exterior stucco coat is complete and the interior paint primer will be dry tomorrow. On Friday, they will begin painting the exterior while the interior final coat is applied. Next week, the custom cabinets will be installed in the kitchen and both bathrooms.

We will be busying ourselves with shopping for electrical and plumbing fixtures for the rest of this trip. The granite counter tops should be installed in the next couple of weeks. We can’t wait to post photos of some of the completed rooms.

We’re having our house custom built and with all new fixtures and furnishings. I told Verna that she would have the flexibility to select whatever she liked. One of her wishes is to have granite counter tops in the kitchen and both bathrooms.

Our contractor recommended a tile and granite place in Glendale, AZ, so we went there and started the process for the custom granite counter tops. Part of the process is to select the exact slabs of granite to use. To do that, we had to drive a few miles to a place that has a warehouse full of granite slabs.

Verna and I walked up and down aisles and aisles of the huge slabs looking for the right colors and patterns of the natural granite to suit her taste. Finally, we both liked the slabs pictured above and decided to place the order. Click on the image to enlarge.

The next step is our contractor will furnish the specific dimensions and we will select the finish for the edges of the counter tops. We made a lot of progress on the new house during our last trip. We’ll be going back soon to make more progress.

I responded to a comment left by a reader regarding the progress on our construction to date. It got me thinking about just how much time the project has been underway, so I went to the archives and took a look at the groundbreaking photos and then to the latest ones taken last Saturday.

The composite image below shows the groundbreaking on August 16, 2010 and the state of the project when we left Wickenburg last Saturday, October 9, 2010. That’s just a little under two months and the concrete, framing, drywall, rough electrical and plumbing, windows, doors and insulation are all done. That’s not too shabby.

Click on the image to enlarge.

I took this picture of our newly installed front door and my husband just as we were getting ready to head back to California. The project is going very well and we need to take care of some business at the Torrance house but we’ll be back in Arizona soon. Click on the image to enlarge.