This week and next

There aren't many major visual progressions this week but lots is still going on.

Monday: Plumber does piping install; roofing begins
Tuesday: Roofing continues; conduct walk through to identify locations for recessed lights, outlets and direction of door openings (swing in or out; knob on left or right)
Wednesday: More roofing; kitchen cabinets and master bath vanity are ordered
Thursday: Hopefully roofing finishes (although the rain is slowing down the progress)
Friday: Brick wall between old house and new house comes down!  This WILL be major, so pics to come...

Next week, the electrician will come on Wednesday to wire the addition for electricity and cable.  Then, if all goes according to plan, the building inspections will take place after that. Cross your fingers for a passing grade.

Other decisions that need to be made over the coming weeks, or were already made this week:

NEED TO DECIDE THIS WEEK: 
- Storage of TV equipment/components. Will wants to have wireless components so that we don't junk up the family room with all of the wires and electronics that come with the TV (cable box, dvd player, etc). We would potentially store the components in the hallways leading to the master. Need to decide by next Wednesday before the electrician comes.
- What do to with the hallway leading to the master. Right now it's just a hallway but there's ample room to do something like 1) just put a piece of furniture in there like a dresser to serve as storage space or display; 2) have Steven frame in a linen closet; or 3) have Steven do built ins. I have an affinity for built ins but they are pricey (like probably $3K or so). I'm currently doing some research to see what the options for built ins are and if I think architecturally/stylistically if it will really make a difference to be worth the money.

NEED TO DECIDE IN THE COMING WEEKS:
- Siding style. We are doing Hardie plank. Options: We can do smooth beaded to match what we have on the existing sunroom.  We could also do smooth lap siding, which is straight siding with no bead detail, or the lap or beaded option with a wood grain texture.
- Tile for master bath (including floor tile and shower tile)
- Counter tops for kitchen and master bath. Steven says we can do some browsing now at Arc or Marva but they won't cut the slab until 2-3 weeks from the time we need it, so we can't select our piece until we're further along in the process. 

ALREADY DECIDED THIS WEEK: 
- Insulation. Per dad's request, we're adding more insulation to the master bath walls for sound purposes. Classic dad concern.
- What to do with the spaces where the old windows were. With the addition, we are covering up four windows (1 in sunroom; 1 in hall bath; 1 in master bath; 1 in master bed). We have decided to do "niches" instead of dry-walling over the area where the windows were in the baths and bedroom. We will drywall over the old window and door in the sunroom.
- For the outside entrance to the mudroom, we will have two sets of stairs: 1 leading to driveway; 1 leading to backyard. 
- We are going to install 2 floodlights on the back of the house so that we can have light when entertaining on the deck at night.
- Decided to go with granite -- probably same as kitchen -- for the master vanity instead of the cultured marble.