David and Edward Guerra, the writers behind the lifestyle site The Midwest Husbands, are building their dream home on a picturesque wooded home site in the Cleveland suburbs. While they’ve always enjoyed the art of making a house a home, they are going bigger than ever with their current project. Together, they’re designing a striking colonial home from the ground up.

We’ve partnered with David and Edward to share their home building journey. They’ll be documenting the major milestones along the way. Just in case you missed it, you can catch up on their first milestone recap here.

Construction milestones

By David and Edward Guerra

Edward and I are not strangers to feeling a sense of excitement and joy; with building our dream home 10-minutes away from our current home, you can only begin to imagine how frequently we visited our new home site only to watch the ground open wide, to see the concrete cure, to watch walls framed, textures come to life, and lately, to see paint dry with awe!

As the ground thawed after the Northeast Ohio winter, we were introduced to our Builder with Drees Homes. We were beyond impressed with his thorough review of our plans, and he shared his communication preferences and ways we could work best together at our pre-construction meeting. Our dig date was set, and we were grateful the weather cooperated as the crew began excavating.

The groundbreaking

Tons of gravel and foundation footings in the outline of our home were next. Then, the wall forms were brought in and the concrete was poured in with skill and grace. Over the next few weeks, plumbing and electrical lines began to go into place as the lumber was delivered for the subfloor and structure of the home!

Level up

Framing happened quickly, and we knew a stud and beam were the perfect places to write a few words to dedicate our admiration for the future memories this home will give us. Near the front door, we wrote:

Hey, Stud. While you’re now another of us in the house, we appreciate the height you give our space. You will soon be wrapped in fashionable plaster and color, so know that we’re showing you off to all who enter. Thank you for allowing us to anchor into you always. – D + E.

Above the opening for the outdoor living patio door, we also wrote:

Dear Beam, You hold and raise us all. In the good times and not-so-good times ahead, we thank you for the support you’re giving our family. We will build on this foundation a loving and giving family to help carry the load. – D + E

Vision comes to life

Then, the house wrap, windows and shingle roofing covered the exterior. Electrical, plumbing and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) rough-ins continued ahead of insulation going up inside. Our vision was coming to life for all three levels of our Monticello floor plan!

General Shale’s Michigan Brick in Swan Creek was laid to the window line on the main level. Next came the Westlake Royal siding in Ironstone. Our beautiful and moody center-hall New England-style colonial is looking so good! The 8’ tall front door is temporary for construction to keep everything safe inside until our permanent one is installed.

Fashionable finishes

Drywall sheets arrived on-site and were hung, taped and mudded with grace. It was fascinating how long some of the sheets are to minimize seams! Then the joints were sanded before primer and paint was applied.

Trim came next, and we were delighted by the traditional signature style of the baseboards and crown molding going in! Our palette is Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray for the walls accented with Pure White for the trims.

Cabinets have started, and we have a variety of painted fronts in Linen, along with some stained in Truffle and Espresso from Timberlake. We look forward to the soft-close feature for all our kitchen and bathroom doors and drawers! The brushed gold hardware completes the cabinets with such a beautiful finish.

Next will be the tile, flooring, electrical, plumbing, and finally, getting ready for closing! Our process working with Drees Homes has been nothing short of incredible. We know this will be a home our family will enjoy for years to come.

To be continued…

We are so excited to see this all take shape in the coming months. Stay tuned as we continue to share more of our build journey as construction happens.