Construction Completion!

November 2007 and Beyond …

After September, I stopped posting updates because there were no significant changes. The most significant event that occurred was that the builder declared bankruptcy and abandoned construction at about 97% completion. Fortunately, this was just enough to get a certificate of occupancy and move in. The unfortunate effect of the builder’s bankruptcy is that he failed to pay about $100K in subcontractor expenses, leaving about 15 different subcontractors unpaid. Fortunately for us, due to the lack of any outstanding mechanic liens and our arrangement with the bank in regards to construction draw schedules, we were not legally responsible any of these unpaid debts. If we had been, we would likely have lost the house. I do have a moral obligation to these unpaid subcontractors, which I will take care of as time and money allow.

October 9^th, 2007: I had to comply with three different authorities during construction: The Town of Queen Creek, the financing bank, and the homeowner’s association. In this case, the bank insisted that the temporary stone path from the front door to the driveway did not comply with the proposed specifications. As a result, I had paving stones installed from the front door to the driveway.
October 9th, 2007: Another unfortunate consequence of non-compliance with the Town of Queen Creek was the block wall bordering the horse trail. Evidently, any wall that borders a horse trail in this community either has to be split-rail or set back 10 feet. It was not feasible to completely rebuild the wall 10 feet back (and lose a bunch of real estate in the process) so we tore down the top half of the wall and retrofitted it with split rails. We lost any chance of privacy but we can always plant trees and shrubs later on.
October 9th,  2007: More destruction of the wall, thanks to the bankrupt contractor’s inability to follow up on wall permit approvals.
October 13th,  2007: First look at the basement with paint and illumination. The door in the back leads to the hidden rathskeller.
October 13th,  2007: Another shot of the basement with a view of the light well, the server room, and the stairway up to the great room.
October 13th,  2007: Courtyard stone is completed.
November 7^th,  2007: Moving Day!
November 10^th,  2007: Moving Day mess in the Great Room.
November 10^th,  2007: Moving Day mess in the basement (also known as “The Dungeon” or “The Men’s Room”).
January 24^th, 2008: My buddy Sean got this great night time shot of the entryway. He is much better at photography than I am.
March 23^rd, 2008: The heavy rains at the beginning of the year gave all the weed seeds what they needed for a growth explosion. I thought all the green looked nice but got a couple of nastygrams from the homeowner’s association to get rid of the weeds and finish my landscaping.
March 28^th, 2008: Hired one of my neighbors, who is a skilled landscape architect, to build a circular driveway and install all of the front yard landscaping. I had originally contracted the job to another landscaper but he was unwilling to do the job in phases based upon the pending sale of the house in Chandler. In this photo, the ABC foundation is being laid for the driveway paving brick.
March 30^th, 2008: The circular driveway is underway. Although not visible in the pictures, irrigation lines are being installed under the driveway pavers in order to get drip irrigation to the trees and plants in the yard.
June 17^th, 2008: No, it didn’t take this long for the landscaping to be installed. It took me this long to actually go outside in the heat and photograph it. It was 113 degrees at the moment I took this picture (which I did from the roof). The two trees in the picture are Chilean Mesquites. The plants around them are yellow and lavender lantanas, ice plants, and red yucca. I planted a couple of creosotes myself, later on. The courtyard perimeter has star jasmines, honeysuckles, and cat’s claw. The landscape lighting is very dim at night but just enough to show drivers where the driveway perimeter is.
June 17^th, 2008: This little island is where the circular driveway and the main driveway meet. The tree is a Palo Brea and the plants are yellow lantanas. There is one more tree at the head of the main driveway next to the horse trail that isn’t pictured here.
June 17^th, 2008: Closer shots of one of the lavender lantanas and bougainvillea. There are two bougainvillea in the yard and one each flanking the front gate entrance. The plants are still too small to notice but they are growing quickly.

That’s it as of June 2008. Everything else will be small construction projects as I find the time and money to complete.

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