Realized it was time for another update, but some major things have happened:
Had to wait a week or so since the last few posts for an HVAC professional friend to come by and blow out my lines, pressure test them, and vacuum down the system for the central heat pump that I installed. Everything went fine, and now we have central air up and running, while the house was still relatively cool by itself and before the heat of Texas summer is upon us. The timing was really fortuitous; with this kind of construction, it's way easier to maintain a given temperature than it is to change it by much. It takes some getting used to, in that you can't get up in the morning and decide you want one temperature, and then change it back when you go to bed. You have to find a single temperature that is comfortable/you can live with all the time, and leave it at that. The only exception is the master bedroom (and my office), that have mini splits installed, so at night we can just close the doors and cool down the master more than the rest of the house.
Having the central heat pump up and running was all that we lacked to start moving in, so exactly one month ago (in June) we started that. It's been a slow process, doing it mostly ourselves with some help from nearby friends for the heavier stuff. It only has to come about 250 feet, from the apartment and from shop where stuff is stored to the house, but the larger pieces of furniture have to be loaded from the shop onto a trailer, and then from the trailer into the house. We've been taking it pretty easy and doing a few pieces or boxes a day. We still have a ways to go, but there is enough already to live comfortably.
The inside is not yet finished - still need to do the rest of the baseboards and some under counter trim for the floor, paint three more doors, install two more backlit vanity mirrors, and some light fixtures in the hall and few other places. But we can do that while we're living in it. The outside still needs a lot of work for it to look nice, but that will be this fall/winter.
Mrs. 1911 did the rest of her kitchen backsplash with the same marble and gold tile as previous. Still have to do the backsplash above the range on the island, and maybe in the master bath.
It's kind of dream-like living in here now, after eight plus years of working on it, but we're definitely enjoying it, and the kids and grandkids are pretty excited to all have beds and way more space when they come.
