Our New House!

1936 Autumn Sage Avenue
North Las Vegas, NV 89031

Last updated: 01/12/2002 @ 11:46am

These are pictures and drawings of our new house!

Starting November 18, 2000 we will try to visit every weekend and take pictures
of the progress and post them to this website, along with any other updates.

01/12/02 - Happy New Year!  (These pictures were taken with our new digital 
           camera!)  It looks like the patio contractor screwed us again, this
           time by taking so long to complete the job that it's now too cold 
           for the new grass to grow.  The rest of the yard looks pretty good, 
           though, with all the trees and shrubs installed.  We realized that 
           we need quite a bit more ground cover for the "hill" at the back.  
           And, we're awaiting the delivery of our new 10-foot-wide side gate.

Now that the back yard is shaping up, it looks like Rachael and I 
           can finally get married!  The wedding is set for 10/12/2002 at 
           1:00pm, and both the wedding and the reception are going to take 
           place right in our own back yard!  We hope everyone will fit!

11/24/01 - Happy Thanksgiving!  We got about three rolls of pictures developed,
           which encompass everything from the final "finished" version of our
           house, up to but not quite including the new patio, cover, and land-
           scaping.  It took almost 4 months from the time we signed the 
           contracts for the new patio, cover and landscaping until the time 
           that it was finished.  (8/15/2001 to 11/22/2001!)  None of that was
           the landscaper's fault, though.  Our stupid patio/cover contractor 
           dragged this job on for about as long as he possibly could.  Talk 
           about a learning experience!  Anyway, that's all done and (finally)
           over with, so now that it's too cold outside, we can start enjoying
           our new back yard!

04/25/01 - Another large purchase tonight.  This time it's a new bedroom set.  
           A king-sized "select comfort" mattress set and a bed frame, matching
           night stands, and a new dresser (for me!)  It could take up to three
           weeks to be delivered, though.  Oh well.  At least now we'll have 
           places to sleep for all of our visitors!

04/18/01 - Moving day!  Hmm.  Exactly five months from the day we started this 
           whole process.  Pretty cool!  Moving took about 8 hours, which we 
           think is about 5 hours longer than the movers expected to spend.  
           In fact, we think they might have gotten into trouble for taking so 
           long.  But nobody seemed to understand that we just have a lot of 
           stuff!  Now just about everything is piled into the garage and into
           the living room.  Slowly but surely we'll start to get unpacked and 
           organized.  But first things first!  We need an electric garage 
           door opener and some window coverings!  As soon as things get a 
           little bit more settled, we'll take some more pictures and see if 
           we can post one final set to this page!

04/16/01 - Paper signing day!  It actually took us a lot less time than we 
           anticipated.  Now all we have to do is to get the keys!  (Ok, I 
           guess we have to start packing, too.)

04/14/01 - We just bought a cool washer and dryer and refrigerator.  Shiny 
           black, like our oven and stove and dishwasher.  And digitally 
           controlled, too!

04/13/01 - Walk-through day!  It was amazing!  They actually finished!  (For 
           the most part, anyway.)  I spent about three hours walking through 
           the house with the Customer Service rep (Rachael had to work), going
           over the operation of all of the appliances, warranty information, 
           and, yes, "the list".  They had actually taken care of about 50% of 
           the items on the list, and about 99% of the remaining items were 
           pointed out and promised to be fixed.  Quite a bit of the items 
           pointed out were being fixed by a small army of people following us
           around.  As we pointed stuff out, they attacked the area with paint
           and sandpaper (or whatever materials they needed) to fix the problem
           area.  Some of the things will need to be fixed in steps, which 
           means that the house won't be completely ready until Monday or 
           Tuesday of next week.  (Which is perfect, since we'll be moving in 
           on Wednesday!)  While I was there, there were about 11 people 
           working on the brick wall in the back yard.  They finished it before
           I left.  They must have had similar crews working all week long in 
           order to finish the house in time!  Amazing!  The next step is to 
           sign the loan documents, which will happen on Monday!

04/08/01 - We have a lawn, now, and a tree!  On the inside, we have our ceramic
           tile installed, and the hole in the floor of the family room has 
           been patched.  There is still a gaping hole in the family room wall,
           though.  Still no appliances (except for the dishwasher).  There are
           lots of little pieces of blue tape, though, marking the spots that 
           need to be fixed.  We're making our own list of all the things that
           need to be taken care of before the walk-through, just to make sure 
           that nothing gets missed.  We covered 8-1/2 pages!  They sure do 
           have a lot of work to do in the next 5 days, if they're going to be 
           ready for the walk-through on Friday!

04/03/01 - The walk-through is scheduled for Friday (4/13/01) at 9:00am.  The 
           closing is scheduled for Monday (4/16/01) at 10:00am.  The movers 
           are scheduled to arrive Wednesday (4/18/01) at 8:00am.  It's hard to 
           believe, but it's really happening!

04/02/01 - Great news!  We're told that they intend to fill in the hole today, 
           and release the house for flooring and landscaping!  And we were 
           also told to expect a call from the title company to schedule a date
           and time for the walk-through!  Very exciting!

04/01/01 - Well, we found out what happened with the holes in the walls (and 
           the gigantic hole in the concrete floor of the family room).  
           Apparently, there was "an obstruction in the sewer line", which 
           necessitated digging a hole through the walls and foundation in 
           order to remedy.  We never did find out about the electrical 
           fixtures.  However, the doors have been fixed, and we have our 
           kitchen counter tops, and we were assured that, despite how it 
           looks, we're still on schedule.  If they say so...

03/24/01 - Okay, now we're going backwards!  Instead of having the house closer
           to completion, it looks like it's further away!  Although some more 
           of the brick walls outside have been put up, along with a couple of 
           thermostats and most of the window screens, they've actually cut 
           holes into some of the walls, and removed quite a few light fixtures
           and electrical outlets!  Not sure what's going on there!  Also, it 
           appears that someone actually broke into our house, damaging the 
           front and garage doors and door jams!  The replacements have already
           been delivered, but the old ones still need to be removed and the 
           new ones installed.  The maple wood for our bannister has also been
           delivered, but not installed.  And no sign of anything resembling 
           counter tops or kitchen appliances (except for the dishwasher, which
           was installed last week).  We've actually been told that this is not
           very unusual (including the apparent break in), and that there is 
           nothing to be concerned about, and that this does not necessarily 
           mean that we are falling behind schedule.  The closing date is still
           listed as April 10th.  We'll see!

03/18/01 - Practically nothing!  They kinda-sorta started putting up the brick 
           walls around our property, and installed the dishwasher.  Oh yeah, 
           and the wooden handrail for the stairway bannister, but it's the 
           wrong wood (oak instead of maple).  They also installed our fake 
           logs and glass fireplace cover.  And that's about it!  Talk about 
           disappointing!

03/09/01 - We now have a driveway!  It looks a lot bigger than I imagined!  
           Rachael estimates that we could park 10 cars in our garage/driveway,
           and I believe her!  Also, some of the trenches for the brick walls 
           have been dug.

As for the inside, the metalwork for the stairway banister has been 
           installed, along with the bathroom mirrors, bathroom sinks, loft 
           windows, and ventilation grates.  Also, most of the dents and dings 
           in the walls have been repaired.

03/03/01 - The outside looks pretty much the same as last week, except that we 
           now have our garage doors installed.  The lot also looks like it's 
           been graded once again, in preparation for the brick walls, the 
           driveway, and the landscaping.

On the inside, the cabinets have been installed, along with the 
           water heater, electrical outlets, light switches, and chandeliers.  
           Items left to install appear to be: kitchen counter tops, kitchen 
           and bathroom sinks, kitchen appliances, bathroom mirrors, shower 
           hardware, ventilation grates, thermostats, loft windows, and the 
           stairway banister!

02/25/01 - Well, the outside looks almost completely painted now.  It is mostly
           white with beige trim.  The roof tiles, which are brick red, are 
           almost completely installed, also.

As for the inside, it is painted, too.  Again, it is almost all 
           white.  Our maple cabinets have been delivered, and are sitting in 
           various rooms, awaiting installation.  We also have our toilets 
           installed, along with most of the tub & shower tiles and plumbing.  
           After the cabinets come the counter tops and sinks!  I also imagine 
           that the electrician is not too far behind, needing to install the 
           wall sockets and light switches.

02/17/01 - Again, the outside doesn't look any different from last week.  They 
           were applying the final stucco coat to the house next to us when we 
           visited today, which means that our house should have its final coat
           by the time we visit next week.

On the inside, the plaster has been finished and sanded, and the 
           wall texture has been applied.  We also appear to have all of our 
           doors installed!  In fact, from this point on, it looks like we will
           have to stop by the sales office to pick up the keys every time we 
           want to visit our new house!

02/11/01 - Now our house is gray with stucco.  It still looks kind of rough, 
           with cracks and holes and various other striations.  We're presuming
           that they still have some finish work to do.

As for the inside, they were still in the process of plastering the 
           walls when we visited today.  It's pretty amazing what a little bit 
           of "mud" can cover up!

Finally, we able to pick out our carpet and tile.  The carpet is 
           kind of a light, sandy color, while the tile actually consists of 
           several colors in the 'beige' range.  (It's really difficult to 
           explain it more accurately than that.  You'll just have to come out 
           and see it for yourself!)

02/03/01 - Nothing looks very different from the outside, but the inside has 
           all been covered with drywall.  Now it feels like a real house!  
           Most of our "custom" wires were left intact.  (However, the power 
           wires had to be removed, as feared).  They even cut out the little 
           holes in the drywall for our wires, but we were told that they'll 
           probably have to cover them up again.  Oh well.  At least we marked
           them well enough to find them again after we move in.

The next steps apparently are to apply the stucco to the outside, 
           and texture and paint the walls on the inside!

01/27/01 - Finished the "custom" wiring with a lot of help from Rachael and my 
           friend Allen from work.  We didn't even miss the Super Bowl! (Not 
           that we would have missed much, anyway.)  Just hope it's still there
           when we move in!

As you can see from the photos, our house looks like it's been 
           wrapped with paper.  Actually, it's chicken wire and tar paper, 
           which will form the base for the stucco covering.  I'm a little 
           concerned about the distinct lack of plywood sheathing on the 
           external walls, though.  I sure hope that the stucco is going to be 
           strong enough. (Let alone quiet enough and energy-efficient enough!)

01/20/01 - The electrician is done, and I actually started doing some custom 
           wiring!  (Actually, I can't run any wire until after the electrical 
           inspection is done, but I mounted some plastic junction boxes and 
           drilled some holes for the wires.)  I'm installing network cable, as
           well as some additional telephone outlets and coax for a ham radio 
           antenna.  I'm also going to try to install some additional ceiling 
           fans, as well as some exterior lighting.  The electrical inspection 
           should be done by the end of the week, which means that I may be 
           spending the entire Superbowl Weekend installing wire in our new 
           house!  I think it's a worth-while sacrifice, though.

01/13/01 - Tried again to pick out carpet and tile.  Again, we had to order
           more (and bigger) samples.  (Last time we did this, they told us
           that the product we ordered samples of was discontinued!)

Went out to the house, and we now have windows!  We also have some 
           additional plumbing and air conditioning ducts installed.  Also, 
           they fixed the upstairs floor, and started fixing some water pipes
           that were installed part-way outside of the wall, as well.  And, 
           they've dug some more trenches, but in the front yard this time.  It
           looks like they're for the gas line.  And lastly, the electrician 
           should start work sometime this week.

01/06/01 - We now have a roof!  Also, they've installed the air conditioning 
           units into the attic, and started digging trenches for the retaining
           wall in the back yard.  We also noticed that they moved a floor 
           joist to make room for some of the air conditioning ducts, causing 
           some weaknesses in the floor above.  We were advised by our sales-
           person to file a "construction inquiry" to see what (if anything) 
           they plan to do about it.  We'll see what happens!

01/01/01 - Happy New Year!  For something different, Rachael and I rented an
           airplane and took photos of our new house from the air!  Pretty
           cool!  We also took some pictures of the new models to give to our
           salesperson, Arlene.

12/29/00 - As predicted, the frame was next, and it went up rather quickly!
           Apparently, the builder does all the bottom floors first, and then 
           goes back and does all the second floors for those homes that have 
           more than one floor.  (This is the probable explanation for why 
           everyone else seems to have a roof but us!)

12/23/00 - We have a slab!  Now we have something 'concrete' to point to, 
           something to call our very own!  As can be seen on the other lots 
           surrounding ours, the frame will be built next, and it will happen 
           rather quickly!

We're not sure what the straw is for.  It is covering the garage
           area only, and it is obvious that it used to cover the rest of the
           house, too.  In fact, it appears that the garage was poured some
           time after the rest of the house.  Something to research, I guess.

12/16/00 - Well, it looks like they're completely ready for the concrete, now!
           The area inside the forms has been leveled (?), covered in plastic,
           and topped with "type 2" gravel.  The post-tension cables have been
           laid out, and the rest of the forms have been installed.  Also, the
           trusses for our frame have been delivered, and are sitting in the
           street, waiting to be installed.  All we need now is some concrete!

12/09/00 - It looks like they did even less work this week than they did last
           week!  They filled in the trenches for the drain pipes, sort of
           levelled off the inside of the plot, then partially covered it with
           plastic.  Still no concrete yet!

12/03/00 - Doesn't look like they did very much since last week. It looks like
           all they did was install the concrete forms for the foundation,
           and install some of the drainage pipes.  Arlene (the salesperson)
           says that they should start pouring concrete this week!

11/25/00 - They dug a trench around the outline of our house, preparing to lay
           the foundation.

More pictures of the model (mostly bedrooms this time), and also of
           the lot (along with the trenches for the foundation).

11/18/00 - Signed the contract that allows the builder to start building our
           new home!  Estimated completion date is March 31, 2001!

Took pictures of our empty lot, and also of the model.

-Click on images to enlarge photos-
(Click HERE for pictures of our Landscaping Project)
(Click HERE for pictures of the Model)


It's Finally Finished! (04/13/2001)	Kitchen Tile (04/08/2001)	Kitchen Counters (04/01/2001)	The "Big Hole" in our Family Room (03/24/2001)	The "Big Hole" in our Family Room (03/24/2001)


From the front, looking Northwest (03/09/2001)	Kitchen (03/03/2001)	Upstairs Linen Closet (03/03/2001)	Master Bath (03/03/2001)


From the front, looking Northwest (03/03/2001)	From the front, looking North (03/03/2001)	From the back, looking Southwest (03/03/2001)


Front Door, Den Door, and Loft (02/17/2001)	From the front, looking Northwest (02/25/2001)	From the front, looking North (02/25/2001)	From the back, looking Southwest (02/25/2001)


Family Room (02/11/2001)	Kitchen (02/11/2001)	Living and Dining Rooms, from Loft (02/11/2001)	Our Kitchen Tile


From the front, looking Northwest (02/11/2001)	From the front, looking North (02/11/2001)	From the front, looking Northeast (02/11/2001)	From the back, looking South (02/11/2001)	From the back, looking Southwest (02/11/2001)


Living and Dining Rooms (02/03/2001)	Family Room (02/03/2001)	Kitchen (02/03/2001)	Den and Loft (02/03/2001)	Loft (02/03/2001)	Master Bedroom (02/03/2001)


Wide angle shot, courtesy of Jason and Kristine (01/21/2001)	From the front, looking Northwest (01/28/2001)	From the front, looking North (01/28/2001)	From the back, looking South (01/28/2001)


From the front, looking Northwest (01/21/2001)	From the front, looking Northeast (01/21/2001)	From the back, looking Southeast (01/21/2001)	From the back, looking Southwest (01/21/2001)


From the front, looking Northwest (01/13/2001)	From the front, looking North (01/13/2001)	From the back, looking Southeast (01/13/2001)	From the back, looking Southwest (01/13/2001)


From the front, looking Northwest (01/06/2001)	From the front, looking North (01/06/2001)	From the back, looking Southeast (01/06/2001)	Looking upstairs, toward the master bedroom (01/06/2001)


Aerial View, Looking Northwest (01/01/2001)	Aerial View, Looking North (01/01/2001)	Aerial View, Looking East (01/01/2001)	Aerial View, Looking East (01/01/2001)	Aerial View, Looking South (01/01/2001)


From the front, looking North (12/29/2000)	From the front, looking Northwest (12/29/2000)	From the back, looking Southeast (12/29/2000)	From the West, looking Northeast (12/29/2000)


Garage, Looking North (12/29/2000)	Me, standing in the front door (12/29/2000)	Rachael, standing at the top of the stairs (12/29/2000)	Our view of the strip, looking South from the loft (12/29/2000)


Our House, Looking North (12/23/2000)	Our House, Looking Northeast (12/23/2000)	Our House, Looking East (12/23/2000)	Our House, Looking Southwest (12/23/2000)


Our Lot, Looking Northwest (12/16/2000)	Our Lot, Looking West (12/16/2000)	Our Lot, Looking East (12/16/2000)	Rachael, next to our temporary power hook-up (12/09/2000)	Our Lot, Looking East (12/09/2000)


Our Lot, Looking Northwest (12/03/2000)	Our Lot, Looking North (12/03/2000)	Our Lot, Looking Southeast (12/03/2000)	Our Lot, Looking South (12/03/2000)


Trenches outlining the foundation (11/25/2000)	Our Lot, Looking North (11/18/2000)	Our Lot, Looking East (11/18/2000)	Our Lot, Looking South (11/18/2000)

-Click on images to enlarge photos-
(Click HERE for pictures of our Landscaping Project)
(Click HERE for pictures of the Model)

Our New House!

1936 Autumn Sage AvenueNorth Las Vegas, NV 89031

1936 Autumn Sage Avenue
North Las Vegas, NV 89031