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When we started this, the plan was to build the house while I continued to work.  I would retire in the late 2021 to mid 2022 time frame and we would move to the new house.  We already had a travel trailer parked in a campground near the lot and we could come and go on weekends to check on the house progress.  A call from our financial advisor in December of 2020 made us rethink those plans.  Based on the nature of my pension plan and the housing market, there was a big advantage to retiring by June 1 of 2021.  So, we shifted gears and made retirement plans.

As a side note, my retirement party was great!  Two of the guys that I worked with very closely the last few years decided to retire at the same time.  Since we had mutual friends, we decided to combine our retirement parties and have one party all together.  We picked a very nice restaurant in Houston and since we combined our parties, we were able to invite a lot of our friends.  We had a great time sharing stories and roasting each other.  I worked with a fantastic group of people.  I miss them all.

We put our current house on the market on May 25 and by May 28, we had sold it above asking price.  Now we needed a new place to live.  We found a rent house in New Braunfels.  I retired on May 31, and we moved from Katy to New Braunfels on June 21, 2021.

Rented a small storage room to store some stuff declutter the Katy house for showings.  Once the house sold, we kept that storage and stuffed everything else into the rent house.  We unpacked only what we absolutely must have.  There are boxes all around us, and that is the way it will be until the new house is finished.

After the move, we spent a lot of time working on detailed specifications for the GarageDominium.  As with everything else, many iterations were required.  I talked to the HVAC and plumbing contractors about ideas and options.  We worked on framing, wall construction and insulation details.  KM Designs revised the drawings based on some minor modifications and gave us a new set on October 11, 2021.

During this period Turnkey Builders was doing bids for construction costs.  On September 29, 2021, we made another visit to the tile, appliance, and lighting showrooms.  It had been a while since making our initial selections and we wanted to be sure about what we picked.  Also, there were several items that had been discontinued by the manufacturers, so we had to choose some alternates.

An interesting design element in the house is the decision to have a wood burning fireplace on the patio and install an electric fireplace in the living area.  The wall between the main living area and the patio is essentially all glass incorporating very large sliding glass door flanked by picture windows.  This essentially brings the patio and its large fireplace into the living area.  Using an electric fireplace inside the house improves the efficiency of the house by eliminating the chimney, ducting and the associated makeup air and air leakage.  We can view the “real” fire in the patio fireplace from either the patio or the living area.  The electric fireplace adds ambience to the living area and can be operated any time of year.

There are many electric fireplaces to choose from.  Thus, more trips to show rooms.  We were looking for a design with minimal metal framework, realistic looking flames, heat capability (not all electric fireplaces have a heater), and reliability.  Flame realism comes at a cost, but decided the Simplifire Scion was reasonable in looks and cost.

By the end of October 2021, we had quotes for all the interior items.

We also started considering how much of our current furniture we will be keeping for the new house and what new furnishings are needed.  Bedroom furniture will likely stay the same.  We are considering either replacing or recovering our sofa and loveseat for the living area.  The desk for study is up in the air.  At the very least it needs to be refinished. 

U.W. also needs tables for her sewing room.  She has made do with some small and rickety tables in the past and needs some quality stuff.  We’ve visited several furniture stores to get ideas but haven’t landed on any specific items.  However, for the sewing room, U.W is considering using mechanics toolboxes and lift tables.  Sounds odd, but when you get down to what she really needs, which is lots of drawers and flexible workstations, it starts to make sense.  Plus, there are some really nice looking toolboxes in a variety of colors.  This may not be the final decision, but it is worth considering.

Even more details to come in the next post.

Daryl