We are building a new home! Our first home purchase ever!

[ArmyofOne]

Things are looking up for me (us)!  We are putting our current home on the market June 1st.  For those that don't know, my current home was donated to me by Military Warrior's Support Foundation.  They buy, renovate, and donate homes to combat wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  I have lived here since 3/2014. I went through a divorce here, got married again here, and had many memories here.  This home has been vital to my transition from active military to retirement.  At 30 years old, I never thought I would be retired, but the VA says no.  I am so blessed to have had this gift to give me a leg up.  Now that we are graduates of the MWSF Homes4WoundedHeroes program, we can sell the home and use the proceeds to buy something more suited to our needs and style, and indeed the Foundation encourages us to do just that if we find we have outgrown the home we were given.  So, after many months of deliberation, we have finally chosen a new place.  Best part is, it is only 5 minutes from our current one.  Without further ado, I present Casa de ArmyofOne 2.0:

^We chose elevation B.  Don't mind my expert artistic drawing.  :P

 

 

^Cabinet finish we chose

^exterior brick we chose

^hardwood-look ceramic tile we chose (with dark grout)

 

^Master bath

^master bedroom

Upgrades we added:

• a third garage
• stone faced wood-burning fireplace with stained cedar mantle.
• extended privacy fence to rear of 3rd garage
• upgraded front landscaping
• frosted master bath glass around tub.
• dark walnut hardwood-look ceramic tile throughout the common areas of the home (kitchen, dining area, hall, and foyer)
• 12" travertine tile in both bathrooms, and laundry.
• mowhawk carpet with 3/4" pad in all bedrooms and front study
• seamless gutters all around.
• 220 in the garage and raised garage ceiling in center garage bay to allow for auto lift.
• custom closet organization in master closet
• extra 110 power outlets in garage
• wired and braced for ceiling fan on back porch
• ceiling fan in master
• power outlets in the eves of the roof in the front
• power outlets in the eves of the roof in the rear of the back porch
• Upgraded exterior lighting

Walkthrough video:

 

 

Altogether, after closing, we will be at $285k.  We will put $182k cash down and finance the rest on a VA loan.  :)

[lenore]

God Bless Josh, I am so happy for you, and yes the three car garage so you can pursue your passion with cars...

[lenore]

One other thing, As my wonderful state of California keeps chipping away at any kind of sanity, Texas may be in my future.

[pj8708]

Wow!! That is a beautiful home. We moved to a town home 3 years ago after living in the old home for 26 years. We found that we still have the old memories but have been making new ones quickly.  After your injuries in Afghanistan  were treated are you able to still work on your truck?  I  wondered if you were agile enough to get up and down from the floor.

Congratulations on your new new life.

Paul

[ArmyofOne]

I can, im just slow lol.  I have the biscayne to work on now and the ES to daily drive, the ram just sits for the most part.  Wife commutes in her civic.

[The Wrench]

gorgeous house sir.

[Steve]

lovely home 

[ArmyofOne]

Lots has been happening since I last posted.  Sorry about that.  I will be doing a series of updates with pix starting with this post:

 

We broke ground today, 5/6/17, on our new home. Looks as though they are leveling the ground to prepare for forms and the post-tension slab to be poured. I have never been so excited to see dirt move in my life!

This was Monday, 5/1:

Today (5/7)
 

Temporary power meter is up. This provides power for tools and initial power to the home after it is up until the electric company can install the permanent meter.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clublexus.com-vbulletin/960x720/8

 

We chose elevation B

[ArmyofOne]

6/09/17:

Slab forms are up!

6/11/17:

fill dirt is in and utilities are marked! We meet with the builder tomorrow!

6/14/17:

Sewer main is tapped! Plumbing is going in!

more pipes!

7/7/17: 

Waffle and moisture barrier!

 

[ArmyofOne]

7/8/17:  We are slab ready!

7/14/17: pouring concrete!

 

[ArmyofOne]

7/18/17: framing has commenced!

7/20/17:

^Street View

^From garage into house

^Powder bath

^Kitchen and living room, fireplace will be in that far right corner.

^Back patio (I know, its small. I plan to install a large deck shortly after I move in, as we have a lot of outdoor furniture and we love to entertain outside),

^Master and master bath

Upstairs (can't get there as of now because there are no stairs yet LOL

Formal dining room and study (which could double as a 5th bedroom if need be as it has a closet. I will probably put a nice futon in there for the occasion when we have that extra guest and need the sleeping space that the other 3 extra bedrooms can't provide.)

3 car garage for the win!

1260 sq ft of garage! This garage is only 200 sq. ft. smaller than the house I live in now!

 

[ArmyofOne]

Until I am of senior citizen age (I am 32), this will likely be the last home we buy. So my wife and I are trying to "build for the future", incorporating nearly everything we can think of that we would want, that isn't feasible to add later. Things like stonework on the outside, a pool in the backyard, hot tub, those are all things I can add at a later date relatively easily, and for not much more money (and in some cases less) than it would cost now.

However, things like radiant barrier roof decking, radiant barrier tyvek, dual pane low-e, argon windows, HomeTeam Slab and Frame Integrated Termite and Pest Control System, 220v in the garage, a dryer vent on the exterior wall so that I can put a couple of portable AC's in the garage and vent the hot air out, bolts in the garage floor for my 2-post lift, copper piping in the garage walls for my air compressor lines for air tools, solar ready (inverters, wiring and panel mount supports already installed so a solar system would literally be plug&play), wiring and bracing for a ceiling fan on the back porch, adding a back door from the 3rd car garage bay to the backyard, there is even going to be a granite seat in the master shower. These are all things I wanted added because they are things we anticipate needing and in the grand scheme, they cost next to nothing to add, and when you figure later on, they would cost a comparable fortune. We added a double stainless undermount sink in the kitchen instead of the standard single sink. We moved the pantry under the stairs (which ordinarily is walled-in, wasted space) and freed up the space where the pantry would have been in the corner of the kitchen, and put in more cabinets. We also selected hand-scraped hardwood-look ceramic tile, instead of real hardwood because we are dog people, and its going to age better, even if I have to have it regrouted every decade. I even planned ahead and made every downstairs doorway at least 36" wide to accommodate for wheelchair access.

If we are going to spend the next 3 decades living here, we want it to be everything we have ever wanted, or could ever want. In the end, the only reason I want to have to leave is either A-someone makes me an offer to buy that I can't refuse, or B-we can't get up the stairs anymore. And with the master being downstairs, the latter is really not as much of a concern except that we would be heating and cooling a large portion of the house that we couldn't even use. But, as they say, cross that bridge when you come to it. It is hopefully a long way off.

It is our hope that we can live here for the next 30+ years, raise a family, send our children to the school that's 200 yards down the street.

[ArmyofOne]

7/22/17

Street view

They framed my rear garage door!

From the front door entry

Dining room

Kitchen island

Window in living room

Fireplace

Window and seat in living room

Master

Upstairs bedroom 1

Upstairs bedroom 2

Walk in closet upstars bedroom 2

Upstairs bedroom 3

Stairs

Kitchen from living room

Pantry

[ArmyofOne]

7/27/17: Radiaint barrier roof decking and Legacy Vinyl low-e windows are going in!

Street view so far

Attic window

Media room/BR 4 windows

BR 3 window

BR 2 window

Front study

 

[ArmyofOne]

7/28/17: All windows are in!

7/29/17: exterior trim work has begun on our new home.

^Roof soffett vents. Seamless gutters will go on last i think.

One of the few areas trimmed in siding on our home. 99% of it will be brick or stone.

Looking into the front entry, looking much larger now that its all closed in!

Garage all framed in (sorry for blurry pic)

Dining room (which we will most likely use as a formal living room, as we dont have a dining room table fancy enough for it yet.

Living room storybook window

All moisture barrier is up!

Master windows on east wall, our bed will go between them.

Master bedroom storybook window, overlooking back patio/yard.

Frosted bathroom glass is in place!

The rest of the master bath. Its yuuuge! :D

[ArmyofOne]

7/31/17:  progress made today!

Pex!

Firplace is in!

Roof going on!

Tubs and shower pan are in!

More Pex!

 

[ArmyofOne]

8/1/17

Roof is on!

Insulation!

Duct work and vent hoods on the box

HVAC stuff

Our back door. It has the blinds inside the window between the glass panes.

Rear garage door is on!

[ArmyofOne]

8/3/17: Electrical and HVAC going in!

Manuel Labor hard at work :D

[ArmyofOne]

8/15/17: Drywall going up!

 

[ArmyofOne]

8/18/17: Drywall is done!

[ArmyofOne]

ok, ya'll are up to speed now. :P  they just put texture on the walls today but I couldn't take pix because we have had so much rain the site is a muddy mess.

[TrevC]

It's certainly taking shape....and looking good!

[denslexusgx470]

Looks good Josh! It’s always nice to take a journal photo of the building progress. Something to look back on once you move in.

[ArmyofOne]

9/3/17:

 

we have cabinets!

9/7/17:

We are getting bricked!

9/11/17:

[ArmyofOne]

9/12/17:

We have garage doors!

French doors are in the study

Rough-cut cedar mantle is in place

Brick is almost done!

Window seats are closed in

We have french door entrances to the master bedroom and master bath.

 

9/19/17:

Granite got here early!

beautiful natural markings in this granite

Big deep single basin undermount stainless sink.

Counter space! Don't mind the dirty cabinets, they will clean up. Remember, they are going to have to replace a few doors.

Master bath double vanity

Shower seat and divider wall between shower and tub.

Upstairs double vanity

^Found a few crooked wall sections on the window seat ledges...Foreman has the subcontractors coming back to fix the screw up. They aren't just a little crooked. My wife noticed it from the doorway of every room.

9/21/17:

^Exterior trim is painted!

9/24/17:

Ready for driveway and sidewalk pours.

Ceramic tile is going down in living room, kitchen, dining room, laundry room and powder bath.

Travertine in baths and shower surrounds, as well as bathroom floors upstairs and in master bath.