Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Happy Holidays!
Looking over across Phase II, the old airport tower has a lighted "Noel" sign. Happy holidays!
Friday, December 21, 2007
PTSD: Post Tension Slab Deduction.
It looks like we'll be out of town for the big pour. Stupid Christmas. It's only been nine days since they started. I think there may be one more inspection right before the pour and then the framing starts. We might have walls before the new year. Woo Hoo!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Construction Progress Photos
From this past Saturday until the house is complete, Timothy and I plan to take the same two photos every day to show the progress of construction. In order to get the shot framed properly, we used another Willie further along as a model, and then discretely marked the same position for the tripod in front of our house. The marking is so discrete, in fact, you can't see anything if it's not midday.
For the time being, the photos will largely consist of the houses behind us and sky, but you'll be able to watch the transformation...
from this...
to this!
Yes, that's right, we've got plumbing! Or sewer pipes, at least. Construction is also progressing on the other houses in our block, but ours is by far the furthest along.
A few blocks away, they've started the row houses on Zach Scott, a major street with bike lanes that connects to Airport Blvd.
For the time being, the photos will largely consist of the houses behind us and sky, but you'll be able to watch the transformation...
from this...
to this!
Yes, that's right, we've got plumbing! Or sewer pipes, at least. Construction is also progressing on the other houses in our block, but ours is by far the furthest along.
A few blocks away, they've started the row houses on Zach Scott, a major street with bike lanes that connects to Airport Blvd.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Good Things Come to Those Who Whine
While Elizabeth was on vacation in Houston, I was left to attend to the beginning stage of construction, namely placement of the form work for our foundation.
The layout of our floor plan is such that the backyard is pushed into the northeast corner of the lot, so to maximize our lot size upgrade from 37'x90' to 44'x90' our foundation needs to be off-center favoring the west side, thus giving our backyard an extra 7' in width.
Last Wednesday, while I was on my way to visit my sister, I thought I'd swing by and view the empty lot one more time before the start of the construction on Friday. Much to my surprise they started early! The batter boards were already in place. And much to my dismay the foundation was centered on the lot, adding 3' to the already unusable side yard to the west of the house.
A phone call to Stan, our builder, led me to confirm a fear that the developer, Catellus, who dictates the overall look of the development, wouldn't want the house to deviate from the original plan. But Stan managed to talk them into letting him move the foundation. Much to my vindication.
The layout of our floor plan is such that the backyard is pushed into the northeast corner of the lot, so to maximize our lot size upgrade from 37'x90' to 44'x90' our foundation needs to be off-center favoring the west side, thus giving our backyard an extra 7' in width.
Last Wednesday, while I was on my way to visit my sister, I thought I'd swing by and view the empty lot one more time before the start of the construction on Friday. Much to my surprise they started early! The batter boards were already in place. And much to my dismay the foundation was centered on the lot, adding 3' to the already unusable side yard to the west of the house.
A phone call to Stan, our builder, led me to confirm a fear that the developer, Catellus, who dictates the overall look of the development, wouldn't want the house to deviate from the original plan. But Stan managed to talk them into letting him move the foundation. Much to my vindication.
An Inconvenient Move
My parents and their two little dogs came down to Austin for a visit the weekend before Thanksgiving. We had a great time, and showed them around the rapidly progressing construction at Mueller, where my talented photographer father tried out the new camera he'd just bought.
Unfortunately, almost as soon as they'd left, we started having major electrical problems. We'd been renting this adorable 1950s, asbestos-clad house from a couple of old women with little interest in maintenance. Despite its small size and deteriorating state, it had a lot of charm - an abundance of windows, hardwood floors, original cabinets and countertops. It also had the original wiring.
After a small electrical fire, two visits by an electrician, ongoing shorts and an exploding light bulb, we realized the problem was not going to be fixed, or at least not easily. We'd lost multiple electronic devices with the first big surge, and, more importantly, were worried the house would burn down if we turned the power back on. Both times the electrician came out, he gave the house a clean bill of health, and during the second visit, he checked wiring in the attic. If the problem wasn't there, it had to be in the walls, and the landladies made abundantly clear they had no interest in rewiring the house.
We had no choice but to move. We really appreciate the help of family and friends, who put us up over Thanksgiving and the week thereafter while we waited for December 1 to come around. Our new apartment is up north, with a 20-30 minute commute fighting traffic on Mo-Pac in the mornings. It's a nice place (with working electricity!) at a reasonable price, but I'm sure the quasi-suburban lifestyle will make us that much more grateful we're buying a place so close to downtown. We're certainly relieved to be buying a new house, and to know we'll never have to rent again.
Unfortunately, almost as soon as they'd left, we started having major electrical problems. We'd been renting this adorable 1950s, asbestos-clad house from a couple of old women with little interest in maintenance. Despite its small size and deteriorating state, it had a lot of charm - an abundance of windows, hardwood floors, original cabinets and countertops. It also had the original wiring.
After a small electrical fire, two visits by an electrician, ongoing shorts and an exploding light bulb, we realized the problem was not going to be fixed, or at least not easily. We'd lost multiple electronic devices with the first big surge, and, more importantly, were worried the house would burn down if we turned the power back on. Both times the electrician came out, he gave the house a clean bill of health, and during the second visit, he checked wiring in the attic. If the problem wasn't there, it had to be in the walls, and the landladies made abundantly clear they had no interest in rewiring the house.
We had no choice but to move. We really appreciate the help of family and friends, who put us up over Thanksgiving and the week thereafter while we waited for December 1 to come around. Our new apartment is up north, with a 20-30 minute commute fighting traffic on Mo-Pac in the mornings. It's a nice place (with working electricity!) at a reasonable price, but I'm sure the quasi-suburban lifestyle will make us that much more grateful we're buying a place so close to downtown. We're certainly relieved to be buying a new house, and to know we'll never have to rent again.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Wandering Around Phase I
Phase I of residential construction is at the southwest corner of the old Mueller airport, near the intersection of E. 38 1/2 St. and Airport Blvd. It's bordered on three sides by expansive parks - the Lake Park to the north and the Southwest Greenway. Additional phases of residential construction will follow to the east and northeast. Some commercial development along Interstate-35 is already completed and open, and a town center and market district will be built to the north of the residential areas. Unfortunately the master plan is out of date, but the Mueller website should be updated soon.
Six builders are involved in Phase I: David Weekley Homes (163 houses), Meritage Homes (52), the Muskin Comany (6), Saldana Homes (6), Standard Pacific (84), and Streetman Homes (37). Different plan types include row houses (63), yard houses (273), and garden court houses (12). David Weekley is building both affordable and market rate row and yard houses, with the affordable homes seamlessly interspersed with the rest.
Although our lot is still as barren as can be, construction is underway around it. The block just to the north contains garden court homes, constructed by two different builders - Muskin and Saldana. The garden court consists of two rows of houses that face an open interior courtyard rather than a street. We'll share an alley with the Muskin homes.
Standard Pacific and Streetman are building the largest, most expensive homes in Phase I. StanPac has 45' x 90' lots, while Streetman has 55' x 90' lots. Both builders fill most of that space with the houses, but they're generally near the various parks. Meritage and David Weekley both have 37' x 90' lots, but with the extra 7' as a corner lot, ours will be just about as big as the StanPac lots across the street! We ventured into one of the Streetman homes recently, and they have some really impressive interior features.
Speaking of parks, work is underway for the pocket park that will serve our portion of the neighborhood. There's a huge pit where the pool will go, and the plumbing and foundation are being laid out for the poolhouse. Sizable trees have also been transplanted for this park and the larger Lake Park to the north.
The sidewalks say "Mueller"!
Six builders are involved in Phase I: David Weekley Homes (163 houses), Meritage Homes (52), the Muskin Comany (6), Saldana Homes (6), Standard Pacific (84), and Streetman Homes (37). Different plan types include row houses (63), yard houses (273), and garden court houses (12). David Weekley is building both affordable and market rate row and yard houses, with the affordable homes seamlessly interspersed with the rest.
Although our lot is still as barren as can be, construction is underway around it. The block just to the north contains garden court homes, constructed by two different builders - Muskin and Saldana. The garden court consists of two rows of houses that face an open interior courtyard rather than a street. We'll share an alley with the Muskin homes.
Standard Pacific and Streetman are building the largest, most expensive homes in Phase I. StanPac has 45' x 90' lots, while Streetman has 55' x 90' lots. Both builders fill most of that space with the houses, but they're generally near the various parks. Meritage and David Weekley both have 37' x 90' lots, but with the extra 7' as a corner lot, ours will be just about as big as the StanPac lots across the street! We ventured into one of the Streetman homes recently, and they have some really impressive interior features.
Speaking of parks, work is underway for the pocket park that will serve our portion of the neighborhood. There's a huge pit where the pool will go, and the plumbing and foundation are being laid out for the poolhouse. Sizable trees have also been transplanted for this park and the larger Lake Park to the north.
The sidewalks say "Mueller"!
David Weekley's Construction Progress
Residential construction is moving along rapidly at Mueller. Although David Weekley got a later start than Meritage Homes, they're beginning to catch up. David Weekley has three block faces of homes in various stages of construction - some with exteriors nearly completed, others where they're preparing to pour slabs. The staggered building keeps the various sub-contractors busy at any given time.
David Weekley is rushing to complete their two model homes. They have nearly finished exteriors and rapidly progressing interiors. All of the Willies under construction presently, including the model, are Facade C. Ours will be a B, but we have to wait until they start work on the other side of the streets to see what one will look like.
Wednesday, the insulation was installed in the Willie model. By the end of the day Thursday, they'd already put up the sheetrock!
As construction has moved along on the models, David Weekley decided to make some changes to Willie plan. They're enlarging the two upstairs bedrooms, which is great since they were fairly small before. In reconfiguring the closet space to make the bedrooms bigger, the designers made some questionable decisions. One closet is half the size it was before to accommodate an existing location of a/c ducts, and both rooms have attic access doors in the rooms rather than concealed within the closets. While of course it's vital we be able to get to the water heater, it would be nice to have more flexibility in furniture arrangement than we now will. Not to mention it doesn't exactly look nice. On the plus side, in the master closet we'll have access to storage under the stairs, a change we thought we'd have to do ourselves later.
David Weekley is rushing to complete their two model homes. They have nearly finished exteriors and rapidly progressing interiors. All of the Willies under construction presently, including the model, are Facade C. Ours will be a B, but we have to wait until they start work on the other side of the streets to see what one will look like.
Wednesday, the insulation was installed in the Willie model. By the end of the day Thursday, they'd already put up the sheetrock!
As construction has moved along on the models, David Weekley decided to make some changes to Willie plan. They're enlarging the two upstairs bedrooms, which is great since they were fairly small before. In reconfiguring the closet space to make the bedrooms bigger, the designers made some questionable decisions. One closet is half the size it was before to accommodate an existing location of a/c ducts, and both rooms have attic access doors in the rooms rather than concealed within the closets. While of course it's vital we be able to get to the water heater, it would be nice to have more flexibility in furniture arrangement than we now will. Not to mention it doesn't exactly look nice. On the plus side, in the master closet we'll have access to storage under the stairs, a change we thought we'd have to do ourselves later.
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