More tile and trim work

Master bathroom grouting has begun:

We met Wednesday morning with the mirror and shower glass rep. The shower surrounds will be of solid 3/8" tempered glass, with really nice heavy-duty hardware. The door will open both inwards and outwards. There will be a nice handle plus a towel-bar attached to the door, and another towel-bar attached to a side-panel.

The kitchen backsplash tile has been placed, but not yet grouted (check out the mural :)):

Hot water heater is in (the plumbing looks complicated, I think due to the red recirc pump?):

Here's the two interior doors for my office being stained:

Most light fixtures have been installed, but several have not yet been delivered. The downstairs newel post and bannister work has started, but I'm saving the picture for when it's all done. I also changed my mind at the last minute and asked Joe our electrician to add under-cabinet lighting, which he got done really quickly. I have postponed any replacement of the side-porch door (as discussed in previous posts), since it's non-critical for getting the house done and I want to save the money for now.

We went to Home Depot earlier this week to check out the Levelor blinds that are on sale, and really liked them. We plan to get real wood blinds throughout the house, in the 2 1/2" slat size. We may go with the fake wood stuff for the window over the master bathroom tub, since that area will likely see a lot of moisture. The blinds measurement appointment is scheduled for Monday. There are ~30 windows in the house that need blinds, and I really like Home Depot's $118 whole-house installation price (ok, plus another ~$100 for measurement).

I mentioned closet shelving in my last post. My wife and I are going down to the Bellevue Container Store on Saturday morning to check out the Elfa closet stuff. From reading stuff on the Internet, I learned that there is usually a huge Elfa sale every January, so if we like their stuff we will likely wait until then to order everything. I will likely do the pantry immediately though.

We're also meeting this Saturday with a realtor to discuss putting our current house up for sale (after the New Year, obviously).

All things considered, we are now in serious final count-down mode. Our builder is trying very hard to wrap the house up before Christmas, and there is a lot scheduled over this next week:

• Final low-volt work (minor remaining trim and some intercom installations) is scheduled for Tuesday.
• Health and safety inspection on Tuesday (includes a interior sprinkler test - I hope they're careful!)
• Final hardwood floor coat on Friday
• Cleanup on Saturday (this is cleanup of all the construction dust and debris, vacuuming out of cabinets, etc)

(I'm sure there's more left to do, I'm missing stuff for sure in that list)

In theory we might get the keys Monday December 21st. Wow - doesn't seem possible, but things are indeed moving quickly. Of course, there will be a punch-list of remaining repair items and jobs that we won't notice until after we move in, but that's normal for a new house.

Last but not least, we're meeting this Saturday with a realtor to discuss putting our current house up for sale (after the New Year, obviously).