Shane's House Blog

Transferring My Flag (aka Moving In!)

2010-01-09T02:40:00.003-06:00

As of this past Monday (Jan. 4), I'm living in my new house! Frank and Kenny helped move my bed and elliptical trainer from my parents' house, and I spent my first night here. It was a great feeling, but also a very very strange one. Essentially, the house has been a job site for me during the last two years. So imagine the weirdness of taking off your clothes and taking a shower at work! It just felt wrong somehow. :)

I'm still adjusting to everything, but it's coming along fine. I've slept great every night. The kitchen is still in a hybrid condition: some of the countertop contains food and stuff I'm putting away, and other parts still have tools and toolboxes laying around. That conversion is going to be a slow process. I had a lot more stuff to move over than I first thought. Not big stuff, but boxes and boxes of little everyday things... stamps, staplers, old folders and binders full of papers, financial records, CDs, and a lot of other things. Trying to put it all away and develop an organized, logical system for where I put it is tough to do. It's like information overload!

I've spent a lot of time (and money) at stores this week stocking up on food and buying items I discovered I needed right away. I've also been bringing over more boxes from my parents' house a little at a time. I still need to move the printer over here.

I've enjoyed sitting and watching TV and just enjoying the house as a place to live (and not work). I'm also setting up the new computer with software that I need for doing all my geeky things. It's also a weird feeling to walk around the house without shoes on. I've learned that the tile floor is cold when you're just wearing socks. Time to shop for those area rugs!

I've been doing some cleaning. All the surfaces in the house needed a good dusting. I'm getting to them mostly as I need to use them. I also replaced the air filter in the return air duct and cleaned the electric filter system in the attic. Actually, I discovered that the electric system wasn't even turned on until now, so I should start getting air that's filtered much more thoroughly.

One thing in the house that I haven't used yet is the air tub. I'm looking forward to that. Another thing I haven't done yet is bring Luci (the dog) from my parent's house to live here with me. That's the plan eventually. There are still a couple of things I want to complete before I try to move her here. Tomorrow I plan to bring her over for a few hours to start getting more acclimated. She's been here several times now, but just for a few minutes each.

Well, it's late! I'd better go get some sleep!

Carpet and Office Furniture Installed

2010-01-02T16:44:00.004-06:00

The carpet was installed just before Christmas, and the office furniture was installed on December 30! It really feels like home now. I'm finishing up the closet shelves that I'll need in order to move my stuff in. I'm also setting up my new computer in the office and bringing stuff over here little by little. I moved most of my books and DVDs in the last couple of days. I've got my receiver hooked up and the DVD player mounted where I want it. The infrared remote repeater is installed and working, too.

I had an unpleasant confrontation with my trim carpenter last week. He and his helper were here to finish up one piece of crown above the stove and the fridge. I also had 2-3 cleanup items for them to correct, and I asked if he had any ideas on how to handle a tricky problem with the crown on top of my cabinets. (The cabinet guys have no clever ideas for it.) They finished the work, and he said he would come back to do the cabinet crown if I wanted him to. Then we talked about the final balance...

He had already taken back a $500 discount he extended for not having to install my cabinets. He took it back after he installed attic stairs and some cove moulding in my back garage, claiming that he hadn't counted on doing work back there. I thought it strange because I know we talked about it on the original walk-through, and I couldn't imagine it being $500 worth of extra work. I was already miffed about that.

I also remember him saying his price included closet shelves and fixtures like towel holders, etc. I'm doing the closets and the fixtures myself. His attitude really turned when I asked how much he would take off for not having to do that stuff. He said that he wasn't really charging me for that work. It was just included in his price... Huh? When I pressed him on it, he said that closets just don't take long to do so they wouldn't amount to much money. He rambled on about how my job was taking so long and he couldn't make any money on all these return trips. How I was holding up thousands of his money by taking so long. Are you kidding? Sure, there were long periods between phases of his work, but I paid him for the work as he did it.

I was the one who had to wait on him for the most part. He'd drop off his helper who did maybe 6 hrs of work that day, and then I'd be waiting days for them to come back and do some more. Meanwhile, he'd be out of town on a hunting trip where his phone didn't work. And in the end I've had to come behind them and fix their work: re-doing doorstops that weren't attached properly, caulking oversized gaps in window casing, and other details.

He did relent and take $150 off for the closets and fixtures. At least it's something. And it's a lesson learned for me to always have an agreement in writing. But you live and learn. This guy was married to a cousin of mine when I hired him (they later divorced) and my cousin recommended him highly.

Building Closet Shelves

2009-12-01T10:47:00.002-06:00

I'm trying to finish up any other work that will make a mess in the bedrooms before I call for the carpet. I got the dresser home, and we've painted it. Before I fix it to the wall in my closet, I'm installing shelves above it. I've finsihed the shelves in my broom closet so that I can start putting things away instead of leaving them strewn about on the master closet floor.

It's surprisingly fulfilling to be installing the shelves. Finally, it looks like it can be lived in! I can put stuff in it's place!

I'm also planning to complete a bulk of the work on the master bathroom wall tile before I get the carpet. Most of the tile is being stored in the master bedroom right now. So I want to get a good bit of it on the wall and out of the way. I also know that I'm going to be tracking through my bedroom a lot to get to the bathroom while I'm doing the job, so I want to avoid making a mess on the new carpet.

The nail holes in the baseboard are filled in the bedrooms, and they have been painted over.

Filling Nail Holes

2009-11-20T09:47:00.003-06:00

This week, I've started filling the nail holes in the baseboard trim. I'm starting in the bedrooms so they're ready for the carpet. I still have to get the dresser home and paint it for the master closet before the trim can be installed in there.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I've also setup my DSL modem and network router in the past seeral days. I can now surf through my own connection rather than bum off an unsecured neighbor's! I've started finalizing the layout of all the components in my structured wiring panel and putting some of those cables in place.

This week, I also finished installing the in-ceiling speakers. The last ones I did were the master bedroom and the office. I'm in the process of hanging the left, right, and center speakers around the TV.

Legally Done!

2009-11-16T09:54:00.003-06:00

I just picked up the "Certificate of Completion" from the parish building inspection office. This completes the process and allows me to live in the house! I'm still going to wait for carpet in the bedrooms before I move in, but that should come very soon. I've already picked out the color, and I need to call for the guys to come out and measure.

I've ordered the bed and nightstands I want for my room. They will come unfinished and the cabinet company (Wood-n-Things) will finish them for me. If that takes longer than the carpet installation, I can still bring my current bed over and sleep in one of the spare rooms until my bedroom is setup.

Passed Final Inspection!

2009-11-10T19:26:00.002-06:00

This morning, the parish building inspector signed off on my final inspection!! No silly items to hold me up. I can now go pick up my occupancy certificate.

It's a very happy day!

Also, the window shades were installed today. One shade (that was supposedly cut to size by the Lowe's employees) wasn't cut at all. I need to bring it back.

I've also started searching for the carpet colors I want.

Lots of Final Details - Range Hood, Floor Trim, Sofa

2009-11-06T18:03:00.005-06:00

Many of the small (and not so small) things are coming together now. Last week on Tuesday, the cabinet guys came out to put the fridge cabinet and work desk in place. That allowed me to move the refrigerator in place. So no more fridge in the TV room! They also started putting the trim moulding at the top and bottom of the cabinets. Thursday and Friday, the trim carpenters were there to install the base moulding throughout the house. They were also working on the three pocket doors, and they discovered I had the wrong size doors. They were too wide for the openings. So new ones have been ordered. Door knobs and door stoppers are also in place.

I have a lot of base moulding left over. About 15 strips. I can't return them because they're already painted. I'm not happy about that because whichever vendor did the estimating should have had a number closer to reality than that. But the material wasn't TOO expensive, so I guess it could be worse.

I also finished the backsplash on one kitchen wall this week. It's grouted and sealed. That allowed me to install the range hood. As far I as know, I'm now ready for the final inspection! I tried calling for it today but ran into government thinking... They were booked for today, and I couldn't have them come out Monday due to other commitments. They don't schedule out past one work day so I need to call back Monday in order to schedule it for Tuesday...

Tuesday will also be the day for the installer to put up all my window shades. I'll finally be able to take the cardboard and black plastic sheeting off all the windows!

My office furniture should be coming from Dallas on Monday or Tuesday. I'm in the final stages of picking a stain color for that.

Oh, and I almost forgot: my sofa and love seat were delivered last Tuesday! I hosted my first movie night with some friends on Sunday night. We watched Star Wars (episode IV). It was really cool having people over to my own place.

Here are some of the latest pictures. The only thing outdated here is the wall behind the stove. I don't have a pic of the range hood yet.

Waiting for Final Backsplash Tile, Painting Baseboard

2009-10-24T01:17:00.003-05:00

While I'm waiting for the rest of the beige tile to come in for the kitchen backsplash, we spent some evenings this week painting base moulding. (Thanks go out to Kenny for helping with that!) I called the trim carpenter to start lining up his return visit to install it. He said that late next week would be the earliest he could plan on.

I had less bas moulding than I remembered. This is probably because we already painted some of it and he installed it already in the bedrooms. I decided to put two coats of paint on the base since it will be prone to scuffing and scraping down next to the floor.

The cabinet company is ordering my office furniture soon. (I thought it was already on order, but that's the way it goes sometimes...) Torrie came out to finalize a few details this week and get a deposit from me. She's not sure if she'll give the job to the same carpenter in Dallas that built my kitchen cabinets because he's been so backlogged with work lately. She may assign it to another wood furniture company they deal with that has started to do more custom work. I'm also looking at getting the dresser to go in my master closet. I need to tell her tomorrow to go ahead and order that piece.

I've been visiting a lot of furniture stores recently to look for a bed with nightstands, a coffee table, an end table, a kitchen table, and possibly an entertainment center/pedestal. Ugh, a lot of decisions in all of that. I plan to visit one more place tomorrow. It's across the river close to my cabinet makers. I'll stop by their shop again to look at their tables and other things.

Tiling the Backsplash

2009-10-13T11:33:00.003-05:00

I've worked on the tile backsplash in the kitchen for several days now, totalling about 21 hours. It's a much slower process than I assumed it would be. I guess I should have expected this because of how long it took to tile the floors. But what makes it even slower is that each and every tile needs to be cut. This is due to the pattern I've chosen to use and the cramped, oddly-shaped space between the counter and the cabinets. A space that's also disrupted by the window and the rectangle "frame" desgin that's going above the stove.

I'll have pictures soon. So far, I'm only working on the one wall with the stove. I want to finish that first and then grout it so I can hang the range hood. At this point, I've finsihed under the cabinets from the fridge to the little window. I still have to finish the whole space where the range hood will be.

Touch-up Painting

2009-10-03T23:14:00.003-05:00

The tile I ordered for the kitchen backsplash isn't supposed to get here until next weekend. I had planned to have it earlier, and I would have worked on that this weekend. Since I couldn't, I concentrated on touching up walls and ceilings with paint. My mom's cousin also came over to patch up the sheetrock where the plumber had to run the second line. He also did small touch-ups where there were lines or defects in the original sheetrocking job.

My dad worked on the endless job of touching up the crown moulding: filling nail holes with putty, sanding, and painting over them. I touched up the walls of four rooms in the house. That leaves 4 or 5 others to go.

I also hooked up the blu-ray player to the big TV. I wanted to make sure the picture was good both when I looked it up directly to the TV and when I hooked it up via the long HDMI cable I have running over to the media closet. In both cases, it worked great! Good thing, because it would be really difficult to run a new cable now. The foam insulation in the attic makes it very difficult to get to the conduit running down that wall.

I also sealed the grout in the TV room and foyer tile, along with 4 closets that hadn't been sealed yet. With the TV and blu-ray player in place, I got to do this job while Star Trek II played on the big screen! Ahh, life's simple pleasures...

Office Cabinets Ordered, Backsplash Tile Chosen

2009-09-28T10:44:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday of last week (9/22), I finalized everything for my office cabinets and put in the order! Torrie came out to get all the measurements and talk through the final details. I'm excited about the office. I like the J-shaped desk configuration because it puts everything conveniently at arm's length. Here's a Google Sketchup version of what I ordered. These images show only the cabinets and the drawers that will be suspended under the countertop:

I also settled on the tile for my kitchen backsplash. I placed the order today, so hopefully I'll have the material by this weekend. I may take a whole day off work Friday and start the project. This is the last big project for me to do inside the house. Then I can mount the range hood and call for the final inspection!

I'm still making some decisions about drawer cabinets for the master closet, cabinets in the laundry room, and whether or not to let the cabinet people make wooden panels for the front of my kitchen island.

Water Pressure Fixed, Dishwasher Installed

2009-09-17T13:29:00.004-05:00

The plumbers were at the house Tuesday and Wednesday this week taking care of odds and ends as well as running the new line from the attic to address the low hot water pressure.

They put the dishwasher in place and hooked it all up. Now that it's in the hole, I have to complete my idea of putting the legs back together with the brackets we made. It's going to be a tight squeeze getting my hands under there. I'm going to try it tonight. We can't test the unit until the legs are back together and the top is screwed to the wood plate to keep it from jumping around.

On the spa tub, they hooked up the replacement control pad and attached the air pump. So we were able to fill the tub and run it with the bubbles for the first time! That was cool. The pump was loud, but that may change. I still have to complete the cement board and tile panels around the front of the tub and create a access door to close off the opening in the closet that provides access to the pump. So I can probably do some sound insulating things there to muffle the noise. I had forgotten a feature I learned about early on: that the air pump comes back on a few minutes after you turn it off. It waits to give the water time to drain, and then it comes back on to dry any remaining water out of the conduits. This is supposed to keep mold and bad smells from creeping in.

Regarding the new hot water line, the guys started the work the first day, but ran into doubts about whether the new line to the master bath would fix the problem. They cut the sheetrock in the wall and started to cut pipes, etc. Then they started asking me if I had any more pictures of the pipes behind walls in other bathrooms. Hmm... I started to get a little worried! It turns out they were just being cautious. It was their boss who had told them where to run the line, but they weren't sure why.

They came back the next day having gotten a deeper explanation from him. Apparently, there's a problem with lines running under the slab between the half bathroom and the laundry room fixtures. We know this because the laundry room sink is the first place you begin to see a difference in hot and cold water pressure. But it's not really obvious until you run both the laundry room sink AND another fixture in the master bathroom, which is downstream. So, the course of action chosen was to run another hot water line directly from the tank in the attic to the master bathroom where it joins up with the existing system again. Here's the diagram:

The old line from the laundry room to the master bath is still hooked up. So the hot water system is kind of weird. It's being supplied at two points. One thing I need to keep an eye on is: assuming there's a kink in the line between the half bath and laundry room, it COULD develop into a leak years down the road. So I could potentially have a leak under the slab that's not near the outside perimeter. Meaning it won't be accessible to fix!

Pictures of Office Floor

2009-09-14T17:17:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures from the process of installing the laminate wood floor over the weekend:

Office Floor in One Day!

2009-09-12T23:14:00.003-05:00

Last night, I laid out the underlayment for the office floor. Today, I started and (even more satisfying) completed putting down the laminate wood floor!

Pictures to come soon. It was a joy to complete something like this in essentially one day. A friend from church came over to help (thanks Stephen), and it made the job go faster and smoother.

The planks were simple to link together side-by-side. The only detail that took some attention was having someone watch the joint between the end of two planks as the other person tapped the block to push them together. The trick is to tap them just enough to close the gap but not so much that the joint starts to buckle and protrude upward.

The one part of the job that I thought would be very tricky wasn't at all: laying the last row against the last wall. The instructions gave you a complicated procedure of planing off the tongue and groove to make it easier to slip in and filling the gap with wood glue. But when we got to that wall, the only thing different was cutting the plank lengthwise to fit in the space. Once you did that, you slipped it in and it locked in place the same as the others.

Ah, one tip I can offer: you always want to end a row on a straight wall. I have a bay window in the office, so there are two wall segments at a 45 degree angle. Without thinking ahead, I started at the back wall and worked my way forward. My last plank was cut at a slant to match the wall, and I couldn't easily use the pull bar to tap it into place. From that point, I always started a row at the front and moved back. This way every row ended with a flat-ended piece, and it was easy to use the pull bar.

After the months-long saga that was laying tile, this job was fun and exciting! Stephen wanted to come over so he could learn the ropes. He's about to lay more than one room with laminate wood in his house. We had a good time.

Ordered Window Shades, Office Underlayment Done

2009-09-12T02:07:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I placed the final order for my window shades at Lowe's. Kathy, the designer who works there, has been a phenomenal help! She's spent time helping me pick the right colors and types of shades. She's really good at that. And she came in on her day off so she could finalize my quote in the computer and get the order processed. If anyone from Lowe's is reading this, your employee Kathy in the home decor department at your Metairie, LA store is one of your real treasures, and you should treat her well for it!

On another note, when I started this house process you'd never have convinced me that it would cost me over $2,000 to put shades in all my windows. I think that's insane. But I'm getting nice ones. Not the generic mini blinds, but a variety of types from a reliable manufacturer. I'm just glad I caught them on sale! It never occured to me that this would be a high cost area.

Ok, so enough of my budgetary woes. Tonight, I laid the underlayment down in my office. This is the padding/moisture barrier that goes under the laminate wood. Tomorrow, I plan to lay the flooring. I guy from church is coming over to learn with me so he can put down the floor at his house. It should be fun.

Grouting in Progress, Second Front Yard Chain Wall

2009-09-03T20:27:00.003-05:00

I only have 4 more tiles to lay in my pantry and I'll be done with that! In the meantime, I started grouting the rest of the tile floor. The foyer and A/V closet are done. At that point, we changed gears to build the second chain wall in my front yard. I wanted to take advantage of what was supposed to be "cooler" weather. It wasn't as cool as a couple of weeks ago, but at least it was down into the upper 80s!

I neeed to call the plumber back over to put the dishwasher in now that I've got the legs cut and it can be slid into the hole.

My sofa and love seat are in at the store, and they're going to hold onto them for me until I get the floors grouted.

I also need to chose my tile for the kitchen backsplash and get that done. Then I could mount the range hood. After that, once I get the cabinet guys to stain the wood for the front of the kitchen island they can come out to finish the cabinet trim. Then the fridge goes into place, and I can call for my final inspection!

Here are some pictures from yesterday when we were preparing to pour the new chain wall:

Tiling All But Done!

2009-08-25T11:37:00.002-05:00

I'm so releived to say that all I have left to do is lay a few more tiles in my pantry and then I'm done with ceramic tile for (hopefully) a very long time! I have all the tiles cut for the pantry, but I need to order one more carton because I need one more full tile to finish the job. That's okay, because I want to have a few spare tiles in case one cracks or whatever down the road.

I ordered the laminate wood that will go in my office. Eleven cartons of Brazillian Cherry from Kronotex. It matches the darker parts of my front door. I also picked up a can of stain for the office doors. My dad can start working on those during the day while I'm working.

For the front of the kitchen island, I picked up the maple plywood and 1-bys that will be used. We will have to route and cut the pieces to fit. Then I'll take them across the river to the cabinet guys to stain and varnish so it will match the cabinets.

Last night, we cut the frame of the dishwasher so that we can slide it into the hole. We didn't test the fit yet. The idea is that cutting the frame at these points will allow it to flex in the right way to get into the hole. We've got metal brackets and bolts ready to put in place after it's in that will restore the integrity to the frame.

Nearing the End of the Tiling Saga

2009-08-17T12:47:00.003-05:00

I'm ready to be done with tiling. That's an understatement. Fortunately, I'm almost finished! As of last night, all I have left to do is finish the AV closet and then tile the front coat closet and the pantry. I'll worry about finishing the bathroom wall later.

Have you ever spent a long time preparing and cooking a meal only to find that you have no appetite for it at the end? I've done that a few times. You enjoy the smells while you're cooking, and your mouth is watering. But by the time it's done you're too tired to eat and too saturated by the smells and the thought of the food to be able to appreciate it. I'm hoping that effect doesn't dampen my enjoyment of the house.

If I had bought a house, there would be that special day where I get the keys and then move in and unpack when would all still be new in my mind. In my case, that won't happen. I'm there every day, and it's a job site. I have hours upon hours of memories of the place being a big sweaty, time-consuming project. It's already been 2 years since I started with the empty lot. When I move in, it won't be on a magical day. It will be the final days of a long journey when I may be too tired to really enjoy the homecoming.

Don't get me wrong: I know I'll still be excited, and I'll definitely enjoy living in the house. I'm simply pointing out one of the consequences of building your own place and doing a lot of the work yourself. I guess I'm just grumpy from laying so much tile!

Light at the End of the Tile Tunnel

2009-08-10T13:28:00.003-05:00

Last night, I laid the last of the tile in my house that didn't need to be cut. All that's left are tiles that need to be cut around the border of the TV room and in closets. I'm about done with the whole "on-my-knees-for-hours-at-a-time" phase. Yay!

The countertop guys never came by to look at the dishwasher height situation. My uncle, who was in the Formica countertop business for years said there wasn't much I could do. He said they'd likely break the slabs if they tried popping them off to install them again with the plywood underneath.

Ready for Final Inspection

2009-08-07T16:07:00.002-05:00

I called the parish yesterday to ask what needs to be completed before my final inspection. The plumber got his done last week, so the overall final is all that's left. I wanted to make sure I knew what's included in the overall final.

After we talked, he said it sounds like I'm ready. They look for final lot grading (for water drainage), and safety things like hand rails on stairs, etc. He said I don't need to have the chain link fence installed, and I don't need to have the flooring finished. Wow, I would have thought that every last detail would be scrutinized. A friend who built in another parish told me they wanted all his interior door knobs installed before they'd pass him on the final.

I still want to cover some items before I call for the inspection. I've got some outlet plates to put over receptacles and stuff like that. But maybe this last inspection won't be as big a deal as I feared.

Tiling Final Room! Ordered Sofa.

2009-08-07T15:49:00.003-05:00

I'm now tiling the TV room! As of last night, I'm about half way there. This room is going pretty fast since there are no measurements and cuts to be made for the most part. It's just wide open space. Last night, I laid 19 more of the large 20x20 tiles. That covered a lot of floor.

Today there was a tax holiday for the Louisiana state sales tax. I took advantage of the 4% savings to order my sofa and love seat for this room. Delivery will be 4-6 weeks. It's a La-Z-Boy recliner sofa. Chocolate colored microfiber fabric that has a feel similar to leather. It's nice to finally get to the furniture stage!

On the issue of the two plumbing problems, the countertop guys are supposed to call me this afternoon to meet with them about the dishwasher height problem. I dread having them take the top out and re-do it higher, but it's the best solution. I've searched, but I can't find a dishwasher short enough to fit in the space as-is even if I wanted to. The last option is to rip out the tile in the alcove where the unit goes. These tiles overflow out in front of the cabinet, and I'd need to re-tile in front of the unit once it's installed. This also means that I'd have to tear up the tile yet again if the unit ever needs to be removed.

I need to call the plumber back about the bypass on the hot water line. He had suggested running a line to the master bath because he thought the laundry room was okay. I don't think the pressure is right in the laundry room either. This means we need to look at it again together and determine the right location for the bypass.

In case I didn't mention it earlier, the driveway guys finally did come back out and fix where the two parts were separating. All they had to do was remove two or three rows of pavers and put them back in making the spaces even. Then they put sand back in between, and you can't tell the difference.

Final Stage Problems: Plumbing

2009-07-31T15:29:00.002-05:00

The plumber has worked to finish his stuff today and yesterday (7/30 and 7/31). He's brought two issues to my attention: First, the dishwasher doesn't fit under the counter now that I've tiled inside the alcove it sits in. He says that, with a countertop lip like mine, they usually lay plywood across the cabinet before laying the countertop. This elevates the slab so that the lip doesn't hand down and hinder the opening. I'm meeting with the countertop people to see what they can do to help. In the meantime, I'm researching to see if a shorter dishwasher is even available.

The second problem is that the pressure for the hot water is lower than the cold water in the master bath. Somehow, the flow is constricted. He guesses that the copper tube under the slab was crimped by the slab workers when they dug out the footing walls. The hot water line runs from the attic down into the half bath. Then underground to feed the laundry and then the master bath. He thought the laundry seemed unaffected, but I think it's affected too. In any case, the only solution he can recommend is to branch off the hot water line in the attic and try to bypass the crimped line by coming down another wall and joining up with the system down the line. This means tearing out a strip of sheetrock to install the new line. It looks like I have no choice here.

On the bright side, my spa tub is now installed along with the rest of my toilets. The plumber got his final inspection. So we're good to go on that front.

Windows Measured, Home Theater Equipment Ordered

2009-07-23T15:47:00.002-05:00

Two ladies from Lowe's came by today to measure the windows for the shades. While I waited for them to show up, I laid down a couple more tiles in the foyer. After a couple of days, my measurements will be in their computer system, and I can order the blinds anytime I have an idea about what color my furniture will be.

I also ordered my home theater stuff from Crutchfield.com last night. This is all the speakers, the receiver, etc. I'll keep it safe at my parents' house until I'm ready to install it. I got an e-mail saying it has shipped already. Crutchfield has always impressed me with their level of expertise when you talk to them on the phone. They provide great customer service, and they are thourough about providing you with wire connectors, brackets, etc. to make installation easy for you.

Tiling Almost Complete

2009-07-22T13:44:00.003-05:00

Wow, it's been an entire month since my last post. In that time, I've finished tiling the kithcen floor and both hallways that connect to it. And I've grouted all that space. I'm half way done with the entry foyer, and I've done the walls behind the spa tub. I haven't grouted this yet. All I have left to tile is the TV room and the rest of the walls in the bathroom!

I did a test of my alarm monitoring service. It's a good thing I did, because they couldn't find me in their system until my installer corrected some information with them. They did see it come through when I did the test.

I'm looking forward to getting my window blinds so I can take the cardboard down off the windows. To that end, I've been visiting stores to look at brands and colors. I like the roman shades, but they're more expensive (of course). One Lowe's store wasn't much help because there was no one working who knew anything about shades. At another store, we found a lady who was very helpful. She had good decorating ideas. Lowe's also had a special going on measuring and installing for a whole house. They should call to schedule an appointment within 2-3 days. Before I make color choices for the blinds, I'm going to wait until I have an idea which furniture I'm going to buy.

The plumber is supposed to come someday next week to finish up his work. There are two toilets and the spa tub left to be installed, along with the faucets and trim on the bathtub and garage shower. Oh, and the dishwasher, too. I've been waiting to get the walls tiled behind the spa tub before calling them back. I also need to call the cabinet guys back out. Since the kitchen floor is tiled and grouted, they can finish installing the molding, thr fridge cabinet and the work desk.

New Fridge Arrived, First Front Retaining Wall Built

2009-06-22T12:55:00.003-05:00

On June 19 & 20, we formed and poured the first of two concrete retaining walls in my front yard. There will be a short wall on on each side of the yard between me and each neighbor. The walls will span from the end of the privacy fences to the street. We've completed the one on the driveway side of the house.

After two full days in 95+ degree heat, I have to wonder if I've lost my marbles! Why are we doing this? Well, I want to make sure that the parish can't use that as a last-minute holdup on my final inspections. Without these walls, they could see potential for rain water to run off onto a neighbor's yard. In addition, the one we just completed will help hold the edge of the driveway in over the years.

On the 19th, they delivered my new refrigerator. It's plugged in and working! So we can now stock up on water and stuff at the house without bringing ice chests all the time.

On the tiling front, I haven't done any more since I started inside the kitchen island. This evening, we're going to remove the form from the first wall and continue tiling. I'll work on the tile until Friday and Saturday, when we'll do the wall on the other side of the yard. Those are the first days we expect any kind of break from this relentless heat. And by "break", I mean that it may be in the low 90s instead of the high 90s!

Recent Photos

2009-06-16T14:01:00.003-05:00

These are from several days ago. I'm behind on my photos, as usual! I've finished tiling the table area by the bay window since then. I've also tiled where the fridge and work desk are. The orange stuff is now laid all behind the island. One of my next steps is to tile back there.

With these bigger 20 inch tiles, I've discovered that I needed a bigger trowel (1/2 in x 1/2 in) so that the thinset fills consisently under the tiles. Otherwise, there are hollow cavities under many of them when the dry. Unfortunately, I learned this AFTER I tiled all that you see here. A couple of these tiles are really prone to crack or break if I drop something on them over the years. I suppose I'll have a few extra tiles left over in case this happens.

Still Tiling

2009-06-04T00:58:00.003-05:00

I've been writing software for my oil refinery client during the day and tiling after work and late into the night. This week, I've worked from around 6 to 11:30 every day except today. I've got the orange Ditra underlayment put down across most of the table area and the hallway to the master bedroom. I've also got much of the table area tiled.

I also took time out recently to install video security cameras around the outside of the house. It's a bummer to have to spend the money and time, but I grow more concerned about the house across the street and the people who come and go from there. Did I tell you about the evidence that someone tried climbing a ladder and looking over the cardboard I have up in the windows? Apparently, it happened when they tried to break into the back door a couple of months ago. They stole my extension ladder and apparently used it against the house in the driveway. The evidence is the part of the gutter that's bent outward where it looks as if someone pulled themselves up using the gutter as a handle.

So now I've got three cameras (soon to be 4 once the company sends me a replacement power supply. They're set to record when motion is detected. I feel better knowing I'll have evidence if I need it.

Today, we put wood strips under each kitchen drawer to add reinforcement. We cut them to fit and used contact cement to attach them. The plywood used in the bottoms was thinner than I would have liked.

This Sunday, I'm starting to host a book study group on the book Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin. Even though I'm not living there yet, I plan to host the group at my house! So before then, I hope to make more progress on the tile, begin to work on landscaping in the front yard, and put up toilet paper and towel hangers in one of the bathrooms.

My replacement fridge still is not here. They called again yesterday to let me know it still hasn't arrived. No word on how long it will be.

Operational Pause in Tiling

2009-05-27T19:25:00.002-05:00

After a good week making progress on the tiling, I've started another job as an independent software developer for that local oil refinery. So this week, I'm starting to put a majority of my time into that.

In the last two weeks, I've finished grouting the master bath and the spa tub deck (I still have to tile the walls in there), and the hallway between the guest bedrooms. I also put tile as the baseboard in the laundry room and grouted that. The only floors I have left to tile are the big rooms: the kitchen and the TV room. That should go fairly quick once I start.

I can't remember if I mentioned that all my sinks are hooked up. The plumbers have those and two of my toilets in. So now I can reap the benefits of my $9,000 sewer hookup! We moved the washer and dryer into the laundry room and hooked up the dryer before we left the other day. So the laundry room is finished except for the eventual cabinets that will go in.

Best Buy was originally scheduled to deliver the new fridge and take the damaged one today. But the new one has been delayed in shipping. No problem! No hurry there.

I can't wait to start tiling the rest of the house! I'm hoping to finish the big rooms before I start hosting a small group for my church next month. Even if I'm not living there, it will work for holding a meeting.

Another Tiling Update

2009-05-10T22:41:00.002-05:00

We spent all day on Saturday tiling in the master bathroom. First, we finished the deck for the spa tub. That part takes so much time because every tile needs to be cut to fit. And then laying the tile is something that takes time because you want to get it as level as you can for the rim of the tub to sit on.

Laying out the tiles ahead of time, I saw how tricky it is to tile around an opening like that. When you're laying tile in a grid on a continuous surface, all the pieces lock together and you can easily keep the pattern going. When you have a big hole in the middle, you don't have that and the pattern can get out of square on the other side of the hole. I had to use a laser level to keep everything in line. Even then, I had to leave larger spaces between some rows on the back of the deck so that things would line up ok with the front of the deck.

After that was done, we moved back down to the floor. I had bought another box of the 12in tiles thinking that would be enough to finsih the floor. It's a mix of 12in and 6in tiles. Well, not only did I run out of 12in tiles again, but now I'm out of 6in tiles also. We used a lot of 6in ones on top of the spa tub deck. I'll be ordering another box of each. In the meantime, I have different tile I can be laying in the other parts of the house. I'll be working on that tomorrow until my dentist appointment at 4.

God and Best Buy Come Through in a Pinch

2009-05-10T22:33:00.005-05:00

I've had my appliances since New Years Eve, and I did open them to take a quick look at them. On the fridge, I took off the cardboard box but not the plastic bag and styrofoam pads. I left them on to protect the unit from dust and bumps, etc.

On Thursday, we took off everything and found a damaged corner of the unit. The top left corner looked like someone hit it with a forklift or something. The door is damaged, but so is the main case of the unit. When you open the door, you see plastic parts broken and the metal bracket that holds the hinge is bent up.

I know Best Buy's return/exchange policy is 30 days. So I was afraid I was going to have to eat this as a loss and buy another refrigerator. I was definitely at their mercy on this one. I was praying that God would give me favor in the eyes of the store management and that they would help me out. And that's exactly what happened! After some back and forth with the manager, he agreed to exchange it. The model I originally bought was discontinued, so I'll have to pay the difference to get a different one. But they are going to exchange it for me.

Whew! God has been so faithful to me. And Best Buy is awesome, too.

Tiling Update

2009-05-07T08:47:00.002-05:00

Two of the bathrooms are completely tiled and grouted, as well as the laundry room. The master bath floor is almost tiled. I ran out of 12in tiles and had to order more. I'm picking them up today. Yesterday, we started tiling the spa tub deck. That's excrutiating because almost every tile needs to be cut to fit.

The plumbers are supposed to come out today and install some toilets and sinks for me.

Also yesterday, we finally unpacked the refrigerator and found some bad news: the top corder looks like it was beaten up in shipping. The metal body and the door are badly bent, and when you open the door you can see the damage continues inside. I had the appliances delivered from Best Buy at the beginning of the year so I would know how big to have my cabinet openings built. I know that I should have checked them all thoroughly before now, but other work was occupying my time. I'm hoping they don't give me a lot of trouble trying to exchange it. I still have a house full of electronics to buy, and they'd be saving a good customer by accomodating me.

Photos of First Tiling

2009-04-25T19:34:00.002-05:00

Here are a few shots of what's been done so far. None of these have been grouted yet. First is the hall bath with the hopscotch pattern. I really like this:

Next is the half bath with the diamond pattern:

Finally, here's the incomplete laundry room. You can see how the orange Ditra underlayment is underneath.

Full-Blown Tiling Started

2009-04-21T00:42:00.003-05:00

I've tiled two and a half rooms in the house so far. The hall bath was first on Monday, 4/13. I did a hopscotch pattern, and it came out fantastic (pictures coming soon). It also took a long time. I started laying tile around 2pm and we finally wrapped up and went home around midnight. I think it's because it was my first time with the different pattern and because there were so many nooks and crannies with the toilet space, the closet, and two door frames.

Next came the half bath and part of the laundry room on Wednesday. I used a diamond pattern in the half bath. That room looks great also. The laundry room floor is graded toward the center floor drain, and we were concerned about some tiles not sitting flat on the floor. I used a more generous bed of thinset to give all tiles more support. It worked out pretty well. I still have the other half of this room to tile.

I've taken time off to work on the software contract job I have. Most of this week will be spent on the job as well. Monday and Tuesday of next week (4/27-4/28) will be spent on site with the client. Then I can get paid! That will help with the house project.

I haven't grouted anywhere except the bathroom in the back garage. In there, I used grout from Home depot. It was a bone color on the box, but dried completely white. It does not look good. Also, the grout I bought for my big tile in the kitchen and TV room now appears way too light. They won't take it back, so I'm stuck with 125 lbs of grout I can't use. Getting dark gray grout is one of the next things on my list.

Started Tiling in the House

2009-04-11T10:33:00.002-05:00

After a week of working on my contract job and not even going to the new house, we were back there on Friday to lay my first room with the orange tile underlayment called Ditra from a compnay called Schluter. This stuff is put down using a layer of thinset, just like tile. The tile will be put down over this stuff using more thinset.

The purpose of the underlayment is to de-couple the cement floor from the tile. If the cement floor cracks over time, there's a buffer between it and the tile that minimizes the chance of the crack translating to the tile. The underlayment has a 3D shape similar to a waffle.

It also has the benefit of being a moisture barrier so that wetness from the ground can't come up into the tile. Finally, it's supposed to provide a bit of sound dampening. I'm hopeful that it will take the edge off the cavernous echo that would otherwise come from tile throughout the house.

Today, we'll continue installing this underlayment in the other bathroom and luandry room (I don't plan on using it in the master bathroom). On Monday, I hope to start laying the tile in these rooms.

Kithcen Corner Cabinets Installed

2009-04-03T12:36:00.003-05:00

The cabinet guys were out again on Wednesday to install the corner cabinets in the kitchen now that the coutertops are in place. It looks good! There are some decisions I need to make about trim moulding where the cabinet meets the countertop, and also around the microwave opening.

On Thursday, I picked up the final oversized sink for the master bath. The countertop guys came out later that day to install it and finish caulking in some places. My mom and I had made a thorough inspection of everything and found a few details for them to address: There was a window sill they made for me that was installed off-level, one sink was mounted off-center from its hole, the hall bath counter has a splotch of discoloration, and and some places needed either a touch-up of caulk or hadn't been caulked at all yet.

They took care of everything except the two most noticeable things: the off-center sink and the discoloration. He informed me that fixing the sink would entail removing the entire counter and chiseling off the sink (since they attached them using a thick epoxy glue). This might damage the sink.

The discoloration was a manufacturing defect, he told me. I wondered why they didn't see this spot during their fabrication process. It looked like they could have easily spun the slab around and let the spot be in the area the cut out for the sink. I asked if they could make another slab for me. He called and got permission to do that, but again, it would involve breaking the seal to remove the undermount sink. This could damage the sink.

So instead of risking the broken sinks, I asked for a discount to compensate for both of these issues. We settled on $225. Yes, I probably should have pushed for more. I'm just not good at that kind of thing.

I've been spending time working on a contract job I landed. I need to finish the job because I need the money for the house. So the last 3 days have mostly been spent on that. Tomorrow, we'll go back and touch up more trim. I'd also like to start laying tile in either the laundy room or one of the bathrooms.

Countertops Installed

2009-03-31T10:58:00.000-05:00

King's Marble and Granite came yesterday to install the countertops. I went with a quartz material (Caesarstone). They look fantastic!

The cabinet guys came today to install the corner cabinet and the ones to each side of that. I'll post those pictures soon.

First Tiling Complete... Telephone Hooked Up

2009-03-24T10:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm glad I picked a room to practice in! The job is far from perfect. It's not that it's difficult to lay the tile. That is very easy. The hard part is getting the field to be perfectly square and regular.

I had watched videos on youtube and gone to the Home Depot class to prepare. Those were both good things to do. At Home Depot, the guy leading the demo saved me some money because I was planning to buy a more expensive tile saw than I needed. Instead of the $156 version, he lead me to the $88 version.

Even with the preparation, there's nothing like sitting down to do something yourself. Lessons learned by "doing":

Don't plan your layout to so close to the wall studs. I wasn't sure how far away I wanted to stay, and I wound up going too far under the bottom end of the sheetrock. It was ok for where I started, but the wall wasn't perfectly square (I guess). Even though my tile was in a straight line, it began butting against the 2x4 before long. Bottom line is that I didn't need to start out so close. The base moulding will come down and cover any gaps.
Popping a chaulk line helped only somewhat. It's supposed to help keep you in a straight line, but by the time you spread your thinset over even a small area, you're spilling over that line you laid for yourself and it's not as useful. Sure, you can still use the adjacent segment of the line that isn't covered to help you eyeball it. So it may be useful. Just not as useful as it sounded to me ahead of time.
You absolutely must stand up periodically, step back and get an overview of the field you are laying to make sure everything lines up. I thought I was doing a pretty good job (as good as I could anyway) keeping things in line from my viewpoint on the floor. I didn't want to keep getting up and back down because my knees were hurting already as it was. But occasionally when I had to get up, I could see where the earlier parts I had done weren't lining up. By then, that part of the floor had dried too much to fix it. It really would help to have someone else watching you and telling you where to adjust things.
Try to eliminate distractions once you start. If you have to answer a phone call or deal with anything else, parts of your floor are already drying and can't be fixed if you need it. It took two days to finish this small floor, and not just because I'm new at this. I had neighbors saying hello, and tools I had to go and find. We had to stop for hours and help the AT&T guy run the line up the utility pole!
Avoid using tile with anything but perfectly straight edges. I liked the way this tile looked with the wavy edges, but laying it with consistent spacing was not easy. The spots along the edge that I thought I could use for the spacers were close to the corners. This meant it was difficult for me to run my fingers across the corners to test the height of adjacent tile because I would always bump the spacers (and the tile!).

Like I said, the phone guy came to hook up the line. He came by himself, and my dad and I wound up helping him with a lot of stuff like running out wire, raising the PVC conduit up the pole for him, etc. But he was a good guy to talk to about their service. He ran a test for me to see how fast my web connection would be if I chose to get DSL service through them.

First Tile in Place!

2009-03-21T10:25:00.000-05:00

I started laying the tile on Friday for the bathroom that's in the rear garage. It's a good place to practice before going into the house. I've never laid tile before, and this particular room it getting tiles that don't have a straight edge. The edges are wavy, and it's going to be harder to get perfect spacing between them.

More Progress Today

2009-03-16T22:13:00.002-05:00

It rained yesterday, so we turned our attention back inside to make sure the appliances fit in their spaces and run anything between cabinets that is best done before the countertops go in. This includes mostly the lines between the sink cabinet and the dishwasher. The plumber is set to come out tomorrow to make sure everything's in place.

Today, the alarm was installed. He had to re-work some of the zones we originally designed. There was one point where it looked like we had a short in a line or a broken circuit somewhere, but we found the problem and worked it out. So I'm secured with an alarm siren now.

We also put up the formica sheets as backsplashes behind all three utility sink locations. Finally, we took the temporary pole out of the ground today. The paver guys will return shortly to patch over that spot.

I'm Still Here

2009-03-14T11:46:00.004-05:00

I know it's been over a month since my last post. I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Instead, I've been so busy with everything at the house that I've lost all spare time to blog about it!

So what's happened? My first FEMA certificate revealed that, not only was my front garage floor too low, but also the concrete pad for my A/C unit in the backyard. I knew about the garage, but the news about the A/C pad made me blow my top with the guy from the parish. That's because I had my A/C guy call his contacts at the parish to ask about height requirements before I built it. They had said there were none for my area.

So, after I had the A/C guy unhook the unit, my dad and I moved it and added 6 inches of concrete to the pad. Then I had it hooked up again.

As for the garage, I worked out a deal with the paver guy to use some spare bricks he had from another job to brick my garage floor. I had to pay the engineer $300 to come out and write me a letter saying the extra weight was ok in order for the Parish to accept the change. Then, of course, I had to pay $500 in labor to transport and lay the bricks.

After that, the surveyor measured again and all the heights were ok. Of course, the parish didn't bother to tell me the first time that it was a problem that the surveyor had labeled my back garage as an "accessory carport". I had to wait until after I dropped off the new certificate for him to reject it for that reason... So another trip to the surveyor was required in order to get yet a new copy.

I put up my front door to make it look like someone could be living there. This was so that the insurance agent could take a picture for his records.

The driveway is done. And it looks great! We put up the wooden privacy fence between me and the neighbor who doesn't like me. I'm grateful for not having to always look right into their backyard anymore, and I'm sure they feel the same way. The privacy did bring other unwelcome visitors: someone tried to break into the back door this past Monday (3/9/09). I had left the house at 6pm on Sunday and came back at 10am on Monday. Someone had tried kicking in the door. The deadbolt held, but they bent and ruined the doorknob. I filed a police report, for what it's worth. I suspect it was people living or visiting across the street.

That lead to a renewed push to secure the backyard. This week was a mad dash to get all that done. We finsihed a gate in the alley on Wednesday. Thursday was a very busy day with the driveway gate being installed, Entergy arriving a day ahead of schedule to hookup my power to the house, the countertop guy coming to make final measurements, and the cabinet guy visiting to install the lazy susan in the kitchen!

That brings you up to date. I'll fill in more details when I have time. Here are some recent photos. The only things you can't see here are the front doors and the driveway gate. Enjoy!

More Driveway and Power Meter News

2009-02-09T21:40:00.004-06:00

I've been busier since leaving my job than I was for months at my job! Last week and today have been a constant whirlwind.

They're continuing to make progress on the driveway. The photo below is from a couple of days ago. Since then, they've compacted crushed concrete and limestone in the back and down the driveway to the street. And also most of the circle in the front. Then they spread sand in the back and down the driveway to the front of the house. That's what the bricks will lay on, but they didn't start the bricks today like they planned. I'm guessing that the bricks weren't delivered in time. Spotty rain is expected tonight and tomorrow, so I hope they can cover where the sand is before rain does any damage to their setup.

Today, I managed to get some friends over to take some of the dirt before I had to pay to get it hauled off. The driveway guys had to split time between spreading limestone and scooping dirt into trailers with their bobcat. After that, I had time to rush home and eat lunch before going back to meet the plumber and the inspector coming to look at the hot water heater. He passed us, but only after talking like he wasn't going to because I don't have a dryer vent on the outside of the house yet. I have the vent, but I just hadn't installed it yet.

I discovered that the trim kit that came with my microwave is too big for the face of the cabinet it's supposed to go in. The cabinet guy came out today and looked at it. He doesn't see a way to make this piece work with the cabinet. A call to Lowe's and a trip to Home Depot revealed no other types of trim kits. My next step will be to Google for some generic kit that will fit.

Tomorrow morning the surveyors are coming out to take measurements for my "final FEMA certificate". I'm told that it's the same thing as the elevation certificate I already had to get, so I don't know why I need another one. But the parish wants that before they will come inspect for the temporary power meter.

My head hurts from trying to keep up with everything that's going on. But at least it means that progress is being made! I can't imagine having to work on these last few days. I would never have been able to get everything done.

Driveway Update; Trying to Get Temporary Meter

2009-02-06T15:06:00.003-06:00

The driveway crew is on day two of their work. Yesterday, they skimmed sand out of the back and the side of the house where the driveway will go. They filled in the alley and piled some sand in the backyard. Today, they're laying the drainage pipe and basins. There's a huge pile of crushed limestone and concrete in the street waiting to be spread everywhere. They still need to skim out the front yard. Tomorrow, they should be spreading the limestone and the sand on top.

My electrical inspection passed yesterday! Immediately, the electrician filed for a temporary 30-day meter on my behalf. I needed to go and sign a paper saying I won't move in until the inspections are all done. Then I found out a few more hoops I need to jump through before I can get my meter: I need the final FEMA certificate from the surveyor (which means another trip out for them to take measurements), and I need a "temporary meter inspection" by the parish... So it looks like maybe next week sometime before I can get the meter.

Cabinets, We've Got Cabinets. We've Got Lots and Lots of Cabinets!

2009-02-04T23:06:00.007-06:00

They delivered the cabinets for the kitchens and bathrooms on Monday. They worked to install on Monday and Tuesday. There are a few pieces in the kitchen that they did not install, either because I asked them to hold off or because they need to wait until the countertops are in. Here are some pictures:

The driveway guys came this morning to start working. They staked out the horseshoe part of the front yard and dropped off some of the fabric that goes underneath everything... Then they left because it was too cold to work! I can't blame them. It was cold today. I ordered the materials for the underground drainage. I don't even want to think about how much that cost. :-( The stuff will be delivered tomorrow, and the driveway guys tell me they'll be back out to start grading everything in the morning.

Also tomorrow, the electrical inspector is coming. If all goes well, I'll get approved. And then I'm going to apply for the temporary meter permit. This will free the utility company to come hookup the power to the house before my final inspection. That will be good for at least two reasons: I can get the alarm system working to protect the appliances and other valuables I'm accumulating, and I can run the A/C to get the wood flooring I buy acclimated to the environment inside the house before I install it.

This will let me remove the temporary electrical pole just in time to get it out of the way of the driveway.

A Time for Change

2009-01-29T23:40:00.003-06:00

No, I'm not caught up in Obama-mania. Far from it... I'm talking about a big change in my life: Tomorrow I'm leaving my job with Sprint Nextel after 9 years.

I started as a software developer with Nextel in 2000. Sprint bought out the company in 2005. I enjoyed working for Nextel very much. It wasn't as fulfilling working for Sprint. So I took advantage of a voluntary severance package they offered (and with this week's announcement that Sprint will lay off 8,000 people, I'm even more comfortable with my decision). I'll still get paid for several months, and I plan to use that time to focus on getting the house completed.

I have some software ideas of my own that I plan to turn into a business. If that doesn't work out by the time my severance pay period is dwindling, I'll turn my attention toward finding another position somewhere.

And then, there Was Light... At Least Temporarily

2009-01-28T23:30:00.003-06:00

Here's a photo showing off the temporary electrical hookup and the new gutters all at once. The downspouts will come later once the driveway is in.

The mechanical inspector came back today and signed off on his final inspection. I still need to have the final electrical and plumbing inspection, and then the overall final inspection.

Ah, Breathe in the Fresh Air!

2009-01-27T23:05:00.001-06:00

My A/C guy came today with some helpers to add the fresh air intake to my air-conditioning system. It's a 4-inch vent pipe that takes air in through the eave of the house and mixes it with the air circulating through the return vent inside the house. The inspector will visit again tomorrow and (hopefully) sign off on my HVAC stuff.

I spent a little time today placing wall plates over my switches and receptacles. Still a ways to go with that, but I passed the time while the AC guys were working.

Let There be Lights!

2009-01-25T22:09:00.003-06:00

I'm in the process of finalizing how I want my gutters to transfer water into my underground drainage pipes. In the meantime, my electrician ran a line of regular house wire from the temporary pole to the service entrance on the house. This was so he could test circuits and switch on lights and so forth. So since Saturday, I've been able to flip a switch and actually turn something on!

It's amazing how fun turning lights on and off can be. Tonight, I went over and finished installing light bulbs all over the place. It really looks different inside with lights on. I joked that, now that I can see it in full light, I'll find out if I like my paint colors or not! I also realize now that I probably went overboard on the lighting outside. My backyard can be made to look like daylight in the dark when all the spots are on. Still, it's better than not having enough light.

This is only a temporary setup until I get my final inspections and the utility company comes to hook me up permanently. I'm not supposed to turn on more than a few lights at a time. No A/C or appliances, etc. But at least I can start memorizing which switches go with what!

Gutters Up, and Setback on the HVAC Inspection

2009-01-21T16:24:00.003-06:00

My gutters are installed now with the downspouts not extending to the ground. This is so the driveway guys can place drains and work without banging up the downspouts. They look good! Pictures to come soon.

My mechanical inspection failed today because they didn't setup a fresh air intake. Because I've sealed the attic with foam, they claim I need to mix fresh air into the circulation system from outside... The new A/C guy (who replaced my original one when he moved out of state) said they should have known that but overlooked it somehow. I thought I had asked the original guy if I needed it. Maybe I didn't. Anyway, he says it "probably" won't cost me anything to add. So that's good.

I paid my deposit for the pavers today and signed the contract. Delivery should be in about 2 weeks, and the process may take about a week once they get started. I need to buy the materials for the drainage and also check to see if the parish is going to have to approve my drainage plan.

Inchworming It: Trim, Gutters, and Driveway

2009-01-19T22:24:00.006-06:00

I've been lax in keeping up the blog lately. People ask me how the house is going, and I've started to reply with "Each day I move an inch closer on my 100 mile journey!" I've been working at the house, and so have others. But it's always disappointing how little seems to be done in a day compared to what needs to be done. I know I'll get there, and any progress is good progress. I suppose I'm just ready to move in and ready for this long project to be over.

My trim carpenter is mostly finished with everything for now. He still has a few things to complete and then he'll be finished until I lay the tile and wood flooring. He's got all the crown moudling in except for one wall in the kitchen that we're holding on until the range hood is installed. All the interior doors are in except for the 3 pocket doors. He had some trouble with those and has to come back when he's got time. And there's the smaller crown for the back garage that still needs to go up. Attic stairs in the front garage are installed, but not in the back garage. Here are some pictures taken since the crown and doors are in.

My electrician came for a good long day to complete alot of things in that department. Many light trims, receptacles, outdoor lights, ceiling fans, and my patio support columns are now in. The HVAC contractor is now free to call for his final inspection since the attic stairs in the house are in place and a disconnect is now installed on the outside of the house for the A/C unit. (I need to follow up and find out if he did that yet.) There are still some receptacles, switches and one fan left to complete before the final electrical inspection.

Knowing that my driveway is not too far off, I started looking for the iron gate I'll need. This is another item on my purchase list that floored me with the price: over $1,000 for a 9-foot gate?!? I know I want something that won't get caught in the hurricane wind like a sail, so a wooden gate is out. I want something that will last, something to provide real security, and something that looks good. This is really the only thing that fits. Prices ranged from $1300 to $1800. I've chosen a guy in the middle of that range. It's someone who's been doing iron work in this area for generations.

I've selected my gutter contractor and scheduled his work to begin. This is a local guy who has been around for years. My mom has used him and she was happy with him. I had also experimented with a local company that installs "leaf guard" gutters that have a metal visor-type of flap on top to direct leaves and debris off the roof but still allow water into the gutter. I thought about putting them on the rear garage where there are some surrounding trees, but it's too expensive. The gutters are supposed to start on Wed. or Thurs. of this week.

Which leads me to the recent swirling vortex of decisionmaking about my driveway: I had always assumed I was getting a poured concrete driveway and that I would get my slab contractor to do it for me. I had a price from him, and since I recetly got my driveway permit from the parish, I had actually called him and scheduled a start date.

After this, my mom suggested I take a shot in the dark and call a couple of paver companies to compare the cost of poured concrete with laid paver bricks. This type of driveway is beautiful, but I always thought it was reserved for the ultra-wealthy. I dug out my brochures from the home and garden shows I attended and also got a list of installer companies from brick maker Pavestone. The first company I called (http://www.lapavers.com/) gave me a price that was 20% higher than poured concrete. I was impressed with them, and their customer references raved about them. Another company quoted a price at %140 higher then concrete! Later, I learned that the going rate is closer to this higher quote. I drove by a few of the jobs done by the lower-priced guy and they looked great.

So I've decided to go with the brick pavers for my driveway! I've got some financial help from my family to help make up the difference in cost, which is a blessing. Now I've got to call my concrete guy and cancel on him after I've already scheduled him to start. That's awkward, but hey I'm making a huge investment in a house I'll be in for a long time. I've got to go with what I think is best.

Trim Carpenter Started, Appliances Delivered

2009-01-01T21:05:00.005-06:00

The trim guy started on Tuesday of this week. He has installed most of the interior doors at this point. I was a bit disappointed when he showed up on Wednesday only to tell me that he was going to finish another job instead and that he was coming back to continue my house on Friday (Wed. & Thurs. was New Year's Eve & New Year's Day). I hope that he sticks with my house once he gets back.

His helper told me that you should never leave doors laid flat across horses because it can cause them to warp. In my case, we had painted three pocket doors and left them on the horses for what must have been close to a week, and at least one of them is slightly bowed. I'm not certain it's because of where I left them, but in any case they stood them up in a window to see if they would heat up in the sun and get some of the bow out.

He also told me that they've never found doors waiting for them that had no casing nailed to it on either side. Some of mine had no casing at all. My door guys had told me "some of the casing came off and we nailed it to the sides." The trim guys say that the doors always come with casing nailed to the side, but that it's supposed to then be installed on one side to keep the opening square before delivery. At least, I think that's how he deescribed it.

Also this week: my appliances were delivered. One of the reasons I really needed my garage doors this week was to have a place to secure them. I have no idea why this picture is displaying sideways, but enjoy it anyway! :)

Every Saga has a Finale: Garage Doors Installed!

2008-12-30T20:50:00.003-06:00

My garage doors were installed today!

Talk about a long, drawn-out process... I had my foolish phase where I tried to go through Home Depot. After about 2 months of dealing with people who knew nothing, I wound up finding this guy through my trim carpenter. Not only did I get the same Clopay doors I was trying to get through HD with all the wind-loading and glass options I wanted, but I got them for about $700 cheaper!

There is a lot of steel on the back of these doors to withstand hurricane force winds. I went ahead and got the insulated door for the back garage as well since it was only $100 more. And I still came out ahead.

My trim carpenter was supposed to start today but he never did. I finally got a reply from him by text message saying he had stayed on his hunting trip for an extra day. He's now starting tomorrow. In other news, the friend who's doing my electrical and outside trim came unexpectedly today to finish the vinyl trim under the patio and install the fiberglass posts. You can see the doors and the posts in the photos below.

Electrical Update

2008-12-26T09:40:00.003-06:00

My electrician did not hookup the house with his temporary setup afterall. He told me that the parish was going to require another inspection before year end even though we weren't ready for a final. So he didn't want his temporary rig to cause us to fail. Later though, he said we were filing for an extension so they wouldn't need to come out again before the end of the year. But I still don't have the temporary setup, so I'm not sure where that stands now.

It would be great to work under real ceiling lights!

Still Painting Moulding, Trim Work Next Week

2008-12-26T09:29:00.004-06:00

My trim carpenter was supposed to start on the day before Christmas Eve, which was Tuesday of this week. He had to push back until this Monday. That's given us time to paint more moulding. We've almost finished all the crown. I also painted a few lengths of baseboard and casing in case he needs them right away.

We're running out of space to put the painted strips. We've been stacking them in the front garage in such a way that there's a spacer between each layer and the moulding on top doesn't touch the one underneath. One sticking point now is that the trim guy and the garage door installer are coming on the same day. The garage door guy needs the garages cleared out to give him room to install the rails, etc. And the trim guy won't be ready to use all that crown on his first day (he's installing the doors first). So for that day, we're going to need to move all the painted crown somewhere else.

As you can see from the photos, these strips are each 16 ft long. We've used every space that would fit them to lay them out and paint them.

Gearing up for End-of-Year Activity

2008-12-17T10:33:00.004-06:00

A lot will happen in the next two weeks. The weeks surrounding Christmas and New Years will see the trim starting to go up, more electrical finishing work, the garage doors being installed, and the appliances being delivered. I'm taking vacation days from work during these two weeks, so I'll also be able to get a lot done myself.

My electrician is supposed to come this Friday and Saturday. He says I'll have power hooked up to the house temporarily when he's done. It will be nice to have real lighting to work under. This will also allow me to call out those contractors that need power in order to complete their next steps. The security company and the A/C guy both need power to finish and test their installations.

We've finished painting the doors and door frames. Last night we started on the crown moulding. The Trim caprenter is scheduled to start installing the doors and crown next week starting on Tuesday. My garage doors are due to be installed on the 29th, and the appliances arrive on the 30th. I'm hopeful that the doors do get put in on the 29th because I really want them in before the appliances arrive. My appliances may have to sit in the front garage and if the doors come after them, they will be open to view while the doors are being installed.

And I've got a to-do list of my own for these two weeks. There's still lighting fixtures and other things to buy, finish work of my own to be done, and more decisions to make! I'm trying to finalize how my circle driveway will be laid out in the front yard. It seems so narrow. But I have to submit a sketch with measurements to the parish to get the permit.

Snow Day in New Orleans

2008-12-11T10:20:00.001-06:00

On Thursday, Dec. 11 we had snow in New Orleans! Anyone from up north would be severely unimpressed, but for us it was a big deal. The snowfall lasted about an hour before it turned to sleet and then to rain. There was a good one or two inches accumulated on people's cars before it started to melt.

Aside from being so rare, it's a big deal around here because we just aren't prepared for it. People don't know how to drive on icy roads, and we don't have equipment to de-ice them. Our infrastructure isn't prepared to handle it, so limbs falling under the added weight took out some power lines.

If you drove about an hour and a half north of here (north of Lake Pontchartrain), my friends in Hammond got 8 inches on the ground! They were without power for almost 4 days.

Photos of Trench Work

2008-12-06T09:24:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of photos of me on the excavator when I dug the trench for the conduit. It was fun working the machine! My friend Edwin came by and took these on his camera phone:

Underground Conduits in Place, Painting Doors and Trim

2008-12-05T14:07:00.006-06:00

You know, there are times when I wonder why I started this process. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally I hit a low where it seems like this project will never end! It may last a minute or a few hours, and then I'm back on track. One of those moments occured on Saturday, Nov. 23 when I rented a mini excavator to dig the trench for the underground conduits. The conduits will hold the electrical, telephone, and coax cable running from the utility pole to the entry panels on the house.

The reason this got me down was that we worked non-stop 6 hours on Saturday and another 8 on Sunday, and this only got us a trench with no roots blocking it! We had to come back again to complete the laying of conduits in it. The problem was all the roots from two big trees I had removed at the front of the property. I tried digging a trench straight across the yard, but this went right through the tree stumps. Even when I dug a bit of a zig-zag around the stumps, we still had to deal with all the roots. The trench for the electrical conduit had to be at least 30 in. deep. We had to get down with shovels and electrical saws and whetever else it took to get through each root. That's what took the time.

It was fun operating the machine, but can you believe it: 2 days to dig a 50 ft trench? During that weekend, it just didn't seem like I was making any progress. All the painting was at a standstill and a whole weekend seemed wasted... But I'm all better now! ;-)

We're painting doors and trim inside now. It's a slow process to prep each door frame. First you need to remove any protruding nails or staples from when it was assembled. Then there's filling the holes and scuffs with wood filler. Once that dries, you sand it down. Finally, it's ready to paint. And it takes two coats to do the job. At least the doors won't have nail holes to fill when we get to them.

After the doors, I've got a LOT of trim and moulding to paint!

Moulding Delivered, Garage Doors Ordered... Again!

2008-11-21T13:01:00.003-06:00

My base and crown moulding was delivered yesterday. I had gotten two bids: one from the supplier my trim carpenter likes to work with and one from my window and door supplier. The door supplier was a bit cheaper on some items, but I preferred to use the supplier that my carpenter was accustomed to. I thought it would help the job to go smoother if he already had lines of communication with them. So I asked them if they could match the prices from my door supplier, and they did.

Also yesterday, I placed the order for my garage doors with another contractor. This was a guy that my trim carpenter recommended. He's an independent company. He was cheaper than two other local companies I checked with, and he works with Clopay doors like I originally wanted from Home Depot. Clopay has colors that more closely match my vinyl windows. The guy met me at the house to measure and confirm what I wanted. I paid a deposit of $1,500. He says the doors will take 3 weeks at the most to come in.

Rapid-fire Miscellaneous Tidbits

2008-11-13T22:29:00.003-06:00

I found out tonight that the trim carpenter prefers to start before I tile
I have to go tomorrow to pay for the tile before they order it
The house is all painted, except for a couple of closets. A bathroom needs a second coat on the walls.
I finalized my kitchen cabinet design today! I gave her a deposit. She's going to write it all up as an order and let me know when she sends it to the builder.
The plumbers connected my sewer line to the house today. They had to dig and axe their way through an old tree stump, so they were not happy to see me when I came by! Nah, they like me. But they joked about not wanting me to talk to them.

Garage Doors Cancelled!

2008-11-12T08:52:00.004-06:00

I've had my fill of Home Depot and Clopay and their entire garage door ordering scheme. Two days ago, I cancelled my order completely and I'm looking around at other suppliers again!

In a previous post, I said I thought the nightmare was over and that the order was finally put in for production of my doors. Apparently my faith was misplaced... I had called the woman at Clopay that I had been working with to confirm this was the case. In the meantime, I got another call from Home Depot saying that Clopay had kicked the order back again because the windows I wanted were not available in the wind-loaded door.

Throughout this process, Clopay has claimed that the Home Depot employees have all the catalogs and information on-site to figure out what's available and what's not. The Home Depot people claim they don't have any of this information, and that they always need to go through Clopay. What it boils down to is that the people at Home Depot aren't interested in doing their job. If you truly don't have the catalogs at your disposal, then get on the phone with Clopay and confirm every last detail BEFORE you submit the order and tell me that everything is ok!

This back-and-forth cycle has gone one too many times now. I placed the original order online on Sept. 22. It's been almost two full months! So I'm having to start from scratch.

In researching different things about building the house, I often ran into posts on the web about how awful Home Depot can be. I always knew it was far from perfect, but I've never had reason to vent about them until now.

Appliances Ordered!

2008-11-09T23:36:00.002-06:00

Finally! Tonight I ordered all of my kitchen and laundry appliances from the local Best Buy store. In addition to some items already on sale, they offer a package discount of 10%. This is a better deal than I've found elsewhere. On top this discount, I got a $100 gift card for buying at least two GE appliances. And the triple-points night they had for their RewardZone program means I've earned about $420 in gift certificates for use on future purchases.

I scheduled delivery for the Monday before Christmas. By then I hope to have my cabinets installed.

I stuck with all GE appliances. The oven is a single-double oven that's the size of a single oven with two separate compartments. I think that's cool because 90% of the time I'm only going to be cooking a pizza or a cake. I don't need to heat up an entire oven for something small. And the larger of the two compartments is supposed to fit something like a small turkey.

All I Ever Needed to Know about Project Management, I Learned from Building My House

2008-11-06T14:28:00.008-06:00

Okay, maybe not everything I needed to know. But I learned a great deal and had some other ideas reinforced by my experience. Here are just a few pieces of advice that I want to pass on. Settle in, because this is a longer read than my usual posts:

Plan, plan, plan ahead of time: Define specs, identify work standards, create a budget, take time to pick good people, etc. This time spent up front will streamline the project by minimizing change orders while work is in progress, and will maximize the quality by having a well-thought out house with good workmanship. Good planning and preparation can also help in acquiring funding. Banks are more willing to lend to people who have a solid grasp on their project.
Understand the required process. You may not ever build a house with your own hands, but understand what’s involved in the process and the order of events. Read books or research online to gain knowledge.
Record Everything: Use spreadsheets to track expenses, budget, bids, etc. I have one spreadsheet with a tab for each trade involved. On the tab for Plumbing, for example, I've got all my potential plumbers listed with their contact info, bid price, and my observations and notes. For budgeting, I use two spreadsheets: one where I track every expense transaction, and the other that serves as an overall "dashboard" of my available funds, estimated cost in each category, and the amount spent so far in each category . Everything goes in the expense transaction sheet, whether it's a payment to a contractor or a trip to Home Depot for a drill bit. Each transaction record has the date, category (electrical, flooring, etc.), whether it's for labor or materials, the recipient, a description of what the payment is for, the check number (if applicable), and the amount. If I get a refund later, I enter that as a negative amount. In my dashboard spreadsheet, I've listed all the components of the project along with one column for the estimated cost and another containing the sum of all payments so far toward that category. A sidebar itemizes my available funds (loan, savings, etc.). At the bottom, I compare funds remaining to costs remaining.

Stay organized! Have a plan for keeping your project organized (filing, storage, document organization, electronic scanning, receipts, user manuals, warranties, etc.)

Stay Task-Oriented. Use Outlook (or other software) to plan events, tasks and reminders, such as “call so-and-so”, “get price on x item”, etc. If your mobile phone allows for it, synch your tasks and appointments to your phone so you can be reminded on the go.

Expect a constant struggle between schedule, budget, and quality. In many cases, you can have it tomorrow if you don't mind paying extra and going with the first subcontractor that comes along. Of course, you risk getting a poor quality job. In another example: If you can afford the time to scrutinize for just the right material, then you'll be satisfied with the result and you might even find a good deal on it.

Plan for cash flows over time. At first, I listed all the planned expenses and the current funds I had on-hand. Wow, what a gap in between! As I got the hang of it, I learned to map out a timeline that took into account when I'd have to pay out those amounts and also (and more importantly!) when I would have more money coming in (either through loans or my regular paycheck, etc.). This revealed that the difference wasn't as big as I thought. Yes, if I had to pay the total amount all at once at the beginning then I'd be in trouble! But things seem to even out when I realized my bank account would have time to replenish a bit in between big payouts. A simple "total budget vs. total cost" approach isn’t the best method in cases like mine.

Get multiple bids. It’s always worth it to get a number of bids for each trade and for each material purchase. I recommend getting at least four bids for everything. When I first bought the lot and had to get some big trees removed, I talked to 11 contractors. Prices ranged from $9,000 to $18,000! That's a range of 100 percent! Then I found a 12th person, and he quoted me $4,500. His insurance checked out and my neighbor had already hired him on another job in the past, so he was recommended. In another case, I was searching for a slab contractor. Again I had gone through about 11 or 12 people. Some were way too expensive and others did not do good work. Still others would never get back to me. Finally, I came across a guy who did great work at a great price. Now, I haven't had to go to such extremes for every contractor, but my point is not to accept the first bid you get until you find others to compare it to.

The cheapest bid is not necessarily the best way to go. In the point above, I recommend getting at least 4 bids on everything and I point out how it lead me to some great prices. I only went with those prices because they happened to also be the contractors with very good workmanship. Remember that, in most cases, you get what you pay for. As an example, when bidding out the plumbing I got a range of prices. I ended up choosing someone who wasn't the highest bid, but the second highest. This guy and his dad have been working in this area for years, and they are very good at what they do. I've been very satisfied.

Have the right people on board. Having the right contractors is vital to your success. Spend a lot of time finding the right people before construction even starts. Contact references. Visit & see their previous work for yourself.
Don’t assume. Ask lots of questions. I was new at this, and I there was a huge number of things I didn't know. For example, if you’re not sure if the contractor is including materials in the bid price, then ASK. If someone mentions to you that the local government is probably going to require X, Y, or Z, then ASK them before you get into trouble. ASK your contractors if they recommend people in other trades that are great at what they do.

Know your experts. Your subs are a wealth of knowledge and most are happy to share if you ask.

Always evaluate build vs. buy options. When you are doing work yourself, other work will slow or stop because you are no longer managing. For example, when I started doing the painting myself, everything else came to a standstill. All my free time was spent at the house painting or running to the paint store. (Remember that I'm doing this project outside of a full-time job.) So instead of calling around or arranging for next step, I was busy painting for over two weeks. Consider this when deciding whether to do-it-yourself or to bring in the hired professionals. Yes, they cost money, but they can do it faster than you.

Plan for project management time. During the building phase, plan time for management and administrative activities. Those receipts aren't going to scan and file themselves, someone needs to make the phone callse, and no one is going to think about your next steps except you. One thing I did was use the time before bed to enter my tasks for the following day. Then Outlook reminds me each day what I need to accomplish.

Don’t micromanage. You hired people who are professionals in their field. Ask questions and make your specifications known. Then be available in case they have questions. Sure, you need to visit the site and verify the work as they go, but don’t try to “help” them constantly and don’t question every swing of their hammer.

Managing different personalities: Each of us has a different personality, and we each interact differently with others. Expect to adjust on the fly as you learn about your people. My framer did a wonderful job, but he was a gruff, no-nonsense kind of guy. He had his own style of communicating that I didn't learn until it bit me in the schedule. At first, I asked him a lot of questions about when I should order things, like my exterior doors. He told me I was "thinking too much" and that he'd let me know when I needed to do it. Later he asked me "What about your doors?", but he never told me "Now is the time to order your doors". So I didn't understand the message he was sending. Later, he scolded me because I hadn't ordered them yet even though he had "told me to". Overall, he was mostly growl and no bite, but I could have avoided a delay if I had stopped to make sure I understood what he meant by his comments. On the other end of the spectrum is my plumber. He's a jolly, easy-going guy who cracks jokes with his workers and communicates more clearly. I'm more comfortable approaching him with a question or calling him about a problem.

Always stay 2-3 steps ahead of what’s currently happening. While task A is in progress, you also need to be doing what's required to setup for tasks B and C. While you're busy painting the inside of the house, you should be lining up the trim carpenter and ordering the receptacles and light fixtures so your electrician can come out to finish up.

Don't relax. At certain times, you might have people working at the house and it looks like you can take some time off and let your brain decompress. As much as you want to use the time to relax, you should be using it to prep for upcoming steps. My sheetrock guys worked for several days and finally the texture was sprayed on. I didn't prep for anything else while that was going on. And for several days afterward, I didn't look into how I was going to get the primer sprayed on. Before I knew it, weeks had passed before anything substantial got done.

Keep your contact info with you. Keep everyone’s contact info with you at all times (in your phone/PDA, etc.). You never know where you’ll be when a call from one sub or supplier prompts a quick call to another.

Stay in charge. Don’t let a sub or supplier rush you or cause you to change your schedule in such a way that’s not good for you. You are paying them, and they need to accommodate you. Likewise, don't let an incompetent contractor or supplier slow you down or cost you money. When Home Depot couldn't get my garage door order right after two months, I fired them and found someone else.

Inspect completed work. Always inspect and verify completed work before signing off on it (or paying for it). Early on, my plumber made an honest mistake when he forgot to run a water line to the kitchen freezer for the icemaker. When I inspected the work and found the oversight, I got him back out to add the line before I poured the slab. In another case, I had to get the people from the man-made marble place back out 3 times before their shower installation was acceptable and I could pay them. Never pay for work that hasn’t been completed yet.

On-site supervision: You don’t need to be on-site all day every day, but do stop by at least once or twice per day when work is going on. Visit in the evenings to clean up and survey what has been done.

Communicate. When there was a long lull between times when a contractor was needed on-site, I would stay in touch with them to let them know where I was in the process. For example, the security company came out to survey the site and get a deposit during the framing. So much time had passed that I called him to let him know I was still around and give him an update. He said he had seen me on his list and was wondering how my project was going. You also need to communicate clearly what you want from your contractors. Several times, I printed portions of the floorplan and marked it up to show someone what I wanted. When I ordered cabinets, I spelled everything out clearly by providing drawings. I also used painter's tape to mark on the kitchen walls where the cabinets would be placed.

On-site appointments. Once the house is locked up, never rely on anyone to call you before they come. No matter how much you explain that the house is locked and you need to meet them there, they are not likely to call until they get there and find the house locked. I've had local inspectors do this to me where I specify they need to call me ahead of time and they don't even bother to call me when they get there. They just leave and then charge me for another visit. Delivery people are bad at this. I always ask that they add a note to the paperwork to call ahead of time. They've only done this a couple of times. Mostly, they wait until they get there and realize they need to call you. Luckily, I only live (and work) 5 minutes away. Otherwise this would be a real problem. I thought of putting a sign in the window near the front and back doors with my number to call for gaining access, but I doubt they would read it.

Take action early on project risks. As soon as you hear about a possible risk to the project, take steps to head it off. This could be a delay in a delivery or a code requirement you didn't know about, etc. Don't wait to make a call on stuff like this. Fixing it or clearing it up could take longer than you imagine. So start early.
Provide what's needed. In many cases, you’re responsible for getting people the materials they need. Don't get caught in a situation where the job site is ready for them but you don't have the needed materials on hand for them. This causes an unnecessary delay. Make sure deliveries are on time and correct. Coordinate what's needed with your contractors and stay in touch with them about delivery times, etc.

HVAC Guy Trying to Finish Up

2008-11-06T14:17:00.002-06:00

My air-conditioning contractor has been out to put in the vent covers now that the ceilings are painted. He's moving out of state at the end of November, so he'd like to finish up everything before then if he can. He's selling his business, so there will be someone to take up where he leaves off.

Today, he and his successor are at the house doing some electrical hookups to the equipment in the attic. Tomorrow, they plan to install the condenser unit in the back yard. I'm a little leary about having that valuable piece of equipment where anyone can get to when I'm not there. But I do want my original guy to install it if possible, and I don't want to wait until the last minute when something may happen to prevent him from doing it.

Anyway, I'm trying to come up with ideas for how I could secure the unit until I move in. Maybe I'll install tall fence posts around it and space them so that no one could squeeze the unit between them. I thought of a simple chain-link fence, but if the posts aren't close enough, someone could just snip the fence away and carry off the unit.

Garage Doors Ordered: For Real This Time!

2008-11-06T13:53:00.003-06:00

I posted in the past that I had decided on my garage doors and had placed the order. Well, that was just the first step in what turned into a long, drawn-out process. I think I've finally reached the finish line and my order has been sent to Clopay to be fulfilled.

When I placed the order online, I saw no way to specify the wind-load reinforcement that I need to meet local codes. When the installer came out to measure and I asked about the wind-loading, he said he'd make a note of the request on the order and someone from Home Depot would contact me about the additional cost. After two weeks, that hadn't happened. When I called the local store, it was a chore to get through to the right person (Tommy in the millworks department).

Tommy and I have been playing an annoying game of phone tag. I talked to him at first to learn that the model of door I ordered for the rear garage could not be done in a wind-loaded fashion, so I had to get a different model. Then it became a long process to find out what the extra cost would be. Early on, he did call me back. That time, I couldn't answer and let it go to voicemail. By the time I called him back the next day or so, he was off for a few days. When he was back in, I could never get him on the phone. I asked if others could help, but they deffered to Tommy since he had the paperwork and was familiar with the situation.

Finally, I called Clopay myself to learn exactly what the differences were and the changes I needed to make to my order. Later that day (Monday), I managed to get Tommy on the phone to make the changes. The extra cost was $140. I drove to the store that evening to pay the balance. I just left a message with Renee at Clopay to confirm that everything is complete. I'm waiting for her to call me back.

Painting Continues

2008-10-30T14:08:00.005-05:00

Since my last post, we've finished painting all the ceilings. Most of the walls are also done. Everything is getting two coats. The only walls we haven't painted are the two extra bedrooms, the closets, the laundry room, and the bathrooms. Those won't take much time because they're so small.

I've used two brands of paint: Behr and Benjamin Moore. I'm sure they are both fine products as far as quality goes, but I've noticed a difference in how they go on. Behr goes on with a nice consistency and covers very well on the first coat. BM seems thinner, and takes a good second coat to cover everything. The first coat soaks in and lets a lot of the white primer show through. Now, it doesn't matter because I'm using two coats no matter which brand I paint with. But it was a noticeable difference.

Here are some recent shots of the painted rooms, starting with the tile I'm probably going to use laid against the TV room wall:

Also, here is the concrete pad we made for the air conditioner unit in the backyard:

Painting Started!

2008-10-21T11:23:00.006-05:00

Here are some pictures after the first weekend of painting work. We've finished the office, and moved on to the ceilings in the foyer, TV room and kitchen.

And here's a bonus picture of some other tile I'm considering. The one on the left is $3.90/sqft and the one on the right is $4.95/sqft. They're close enough that I would obviously go with the cheaper one. But I'm still looking at other tile as well.

Sewer Connection Done

2008-10-17T09:48:00.003-05:00

The pipe is now laid under the street. I'm told that another crew comes later to rip up and replace the two pads of concrete that cost me $6,000. Here are some photos from the second day of work. Since then, they've refilled the hole and smoothed over it with dirt.

In the pictures, you can also see the other utilities running underground:

Interior Doors Delivered

2008-10-15T11:08:00.002-05:00

I ordered by interior doors back in June. And I paid most of the balance at that time. Since I wasn't ready for them yet, I didn't press to find out what was taking so long. Finally, with the economy tanking, I decided it was time to start looking into the doors before the supplier or the vendor went under! When I called, he said most of my doors had been in for quite some time. They had trouble with the wooded door for my office and had to send it back 3 times because of defects.

In the meantine, I asked that he deliver all my other doors. They came last week. In addition to my office door on back-order, they delivered the wrong door that leads from the foyer into the attached garage. Instead of the Therma-Tru fire rated door, I got some door with a big glass pane. I sent that back with the delivery truck and called my salesman. He's looking into it.

Here's a shot of some of the doors laying around the house now. I've used Post-it notes to tag each one as to where it goes. This helped me check off the list to make sure I had everything.

Sewer Connection in Progress

2008-10-15T10:56:00.004-05:00

My $9,200 sewer connection is being laid across the street. Work began yesterday, and they completed the first half: across the street where the main sewer line is. Today, they're supposed to finish my side of the street.

In the process, neighbor across the street had his yard torn up pretty bad. They had to dig down to the sewer line on the parish property part of his yard. They put all the mud back and laid the grass in place again, but it still looks pretty rough. After seeing the mounds of mud during the day, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it looked as good as it did, but it's a shame his yard had to be messed up.

I spoke to him last night and offered to help in any way to get his yard looking back to normal. He thanked me for the offer. He had already called the parish to tell them it wasn't acceptable. They told him they'd come back out if it didn't settle correctly in the next couple of weeks.

During the work day, the parish called to tell me they needed to know how deep the sewer line is as it comes out of my house. My plumber told me it was between 30 and 36 inches below the surface. The surface at the house is higher than at the curb. The parish worker told me that the main sewer line is about 5 ft below the surface on the other side of the street. So I should have plenty of room for a slope down to the main.

Garage Paneling Complete!

2008-10-15T10:53:00.003-05:00

This is one of those jobs that seemed to drag on and on. We finished hanging the paneling in the rear garage last night. All that's left back there now is to put moulding around the top and down each corner.

Biting the Bullet on the Sewer Connection :(

2008-10-01T12:36:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I went to the parish office to give them a $9,200 check for installing my sewer connection. It was a sad, sad day. :(

I had spoken to just about everyone in parish government that would talk to me and also two lawyers. The lawyers took time to call some contacts they had. Everyone confirmed that there was nothing I could do to avoid this. So, I wanted to get the ball rolling.

This is because the main sewer line is across the street from me. My particular lot doesn't have a sewer connection running across the street. Remember, my lot used to be part of the lot next door. When it was subdivided, the people built on the half with the existing connection. I could do something like run my sewer line laterally down to the neighbor's line, but I'd need the neighbor's permission and I'd have to pay to replace the driveway that would be dug up in the process. I'd rather have a direct line across the street.

I was told that the ticket will be passed to the sewer department and a work order will be created in 5 days or more.

When the work begins, my neighbors are going to be inconvenienced again. Replacing two pads of concrete in the street is going to create a big work area. I'm not sure if they'll do one side of the street at a time or if they'll block off the entire street since people can get out by going the opposite direction.

Colors, Colors, Everywhere!

2008-09-30T11:28:00.005-05:00

Among other things this week, I've been narrowing down on the colors I want to use to paint the house. I have one question: just how many shades of beige and tan can there be?!

I've had a friend from church over to help me pick the first few colors. Now that I know what the finish on my cabinets should look like (a mid-to-dark cherry color), I'm ready to continue through the kitchen and the rest of the house. My mom's cousins also came over a week ago to give their input.

Everyone tells me that staying "neutral" is best because then you have a lot more leeway in how you decorate. By neutral, most people seem to mean beige or off-white colors. I'm okay with using colors that are "neutral" versions of themselves, like an earth tone color that's shifted toward the beige end of the spectrum. But I can't see painting every room in the house beige! Yeah, I know: you liven each room up with colored furniture and decoration. Okay. But it's hard for me to wrap my brain around that just now.

The local Helm Paint stores offer a service to come out and help you pick colors. It costs $35, but that get's credited toward your first purchase of paint. I arranged for her to come out on Saturday, and it was a good experience. She also pushed for a lot of beige, but I was able to steer a few colors slightly toward some other colors. Here's a snapshot of what we came up with:

Okay, alot of it is still beige. So leave me alone! :) The office and master bedroom colors actually look green when you see them on a wall. And the "sea haze" color in the master bath is a blue color. And even the alternative colors for some of these are (you guessed it) beige!

You can see my cabinet color in the kitchen part of the image above. The other insert in the kitchen are two countertop colors that might work well. I need to finalize the countertop and tile colors to finish out the selections.

News on Cabinets & Garage Doors

2008-09-22T22:55:00.005-05:00

Cabinet Supplier Selected!

Over the weekend, my mom & I visited Wood-n-Things unfinished furniture in Gretna. I had met with a girl from this store at my house during the week, and I was impressed with her knowledge and attitude. She called me the next day with a price and I was definitely impressed with that since it was the lowest so far! And the visit to the shop confirmed that the work was up to par as well. So I've decided who will supply my cabinets!

It takes a lot to impress my mom. She's a perfectionist (even moreso than me) with a good eye for detail. But she was impressed with our visit. The quality of cabinets was good, and the people are helpful and down-to-earth. The owner offered to show us some of their work in progress, and we followed him a few blocks to his workshop where they were finishing some furniture.

They offer pre-made cabinets from a few places, but I'll be getting my cabinets custom built by a guy named Bruce in Dallas. Now that this is settled, I just need to figure out exactly how I want my cabinets configured. It turns out this is no small set of decisions either! Uggh... It never ends! :)

Garage Doors Ordered

Another big step accomplished is that I ordered my garage doors today. Home Depot had a 15% off sale on Clopay doors. I got a traditional-looking door for the rear garage and something a bit more stylish for the front garage. The next step is for someone to come out to measure and inspect the site before they actually make and ship my doors. This was another decision that's been hanging over my head for a while, and it's a relief to get it done and move on. I need to finish hanging paneling around the door frame and finish the insides of the frames with Hardie board before the doors get put in. That should be in 2-4 weeks.

The front garage door

The back garage door

Paneling Progress

We spent this evening hanging more paneling in the back garage. Here are pictures from our work as of Saturday. As usual, I'm behind on pictures of what we did today, so a few more panels are up on the wall from what you see here:

Garage Paneling Photo

2008-09-18T16:37:00.009-05:00

Here's a picture of the paneling in progress for the back garage:

What you see here is where we left it on Tuesday night. we worked on it again tonight, but Murphy's Law kept us from making much more progress than what you see here.

Shower People, Paneling, Colors and Cabinets - Oh My!

2008-09-18T16:37:00.006-05:00

So the owner from the shower place came out with another guy. They looked at it and reluctantly agreed to do more to get it better. He said it looked better than the original installation (which is true) and that you can only see the defect if you're standing right underneath it. Also true. However, I'm going to be standing right underneath it every time I take a shower. And it's still not acceptable. So they're supposed to deal with it when they come back to put on the last trim piece they've created. I also have to get the door put on. I hope I don't have problems with that also. At this point, I plan to go to the other man-made marble place in town for my bathtub alcove...

My Dad and I made good progress on Tuesday night putting the paneling up in the back garage. We finished most of one entire wall. The plywood sheets are laid horizontally, and with my 9ft ceilings, there are two full (4ft) sheets and an extra 1 ft to deal with at the top. We completed the two full layers. We're going back tonight and I'll get some pictures.

Like everything else, it's taking more time than I thought. If we could just slap each sheet up there and nail it, things would go fast. But we need to cut many of them so that two sheets will meet on the center of a stud. This allows you to nail the edge of both sheets. It's just time consuming, probably just because we aren't used to doing it. But the wall is coming out nicely. With the fluffy cellulose insulation behind it, there are some places where you can see a slight bulge outward.

My mom's cousin cleans houses. She got permission from the owner of one house for me to come and look at her wall colors. I did that yesterday. One room had the shade of green I'm really looking for. It's a but more muted than the avocado color I've been toying with. Most of the other walls were cream, off-white, or a light beige. I see the merit of using all very neutral colors so it's easy to match furniture and accessories later on. But I want to avoid a house that's all one blah color if I can. There's a happy mix in there somewhere.

On the cabinet front, I visited a woman's home who had cabinets done by my friend's cabinet guy in Hammond. They seemed to be built well, but she opted not to get the nicer drawer glides and hardware. Her cabinets were painted white with a fancy glaze. I prefer stained wood finish. She was very happy with the cabinet maker and the finished product. She said she's remodeled other houses and this guy was the best value by far. She had to drive to Hammond about three times during the process to see how it was coming and make design decisions.

I also met this week with someone from another local custom cabinet maker. She came out to the house to measure and talk about what I want. She had helpful suggestions to make and a women's perspective to contribute. I appreciated that. Her cabinets are made by a guy in Dallas, and they are finished at her shop before installation. She also measured for the office desk and the bathroom vanities. Today, she called with price of $8,463 for the kitchen, $2280 for the bathrooms, and $4,166 for the office. That's cheaper than the guy in Hammond (for the kitchen at least -- I didn't get the Hammond guy to quote the other rooms). I need to go to this local shop to get an idea of their work.

The Shower Adventure Continues & Office in 3D

2008-09-16T14:20:00.003-05:00

I visited the man-made marble place today, but the owner wasn't in. He called a few minutes ago about meeting me at the house to look at it today. I asked him to call me when he's on his way.

In other news, here's a rough 3D mockup of what my office should eventually look like. I used the free Google Sketchup software to create it. I love that tool! The colors are a bit darker then what they will be. That's because I can't model lighting in Sketchup to make them look accurate. The tan rectangle on the right wall is my marker board. Rather than using a plain white dry erase board with the cheap, tacky aluminum frame, I hope to create my own glass board. This is just a sheet of glass mounted on the wall that you can write on just like the regular ones, but they are easier to clean (writing doesn't stick when it gets too dry). I've seen them with a color painted on the back of the glass (or a painted sheet of steel behind the glass so you can use magnets to stick stuff on the surface). The color can be used to match your room. I thought a nice beige color would complement the others.

First Painting Pictures!

2008-09-16T11:17:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple of shots of the front garage now that it has paint on the walls and ceiling. The corner with no paint is where the utility sink will go. I'm going to glue a thin piece of veneer (like formica) on the walls here to make a backsplash. I want to glue to the primer instead of the paint.

Last night, my dad and I put the first piece of the plywood on the back garage wall as paneling. it's thin, smooth plywood made for this kind of thing. I'll have pictures of that project soon.

Painting Begins Today!

2008-09-12T15:33:00.003-05:00

One of my next goals is to get my garage doors. Before they can be installed, I need to paint both garage ceilings and install some Hardie Board as trim over the exposed wooden beams inside the doorway.

So this week, I picked colors for the ceiling and the wall of the front garage (the back garage is getting stained plywood paneling). I bought the paint last night. Here's the palette:

I'm using a flat sheen on the ceilings and satin on the walls. The only accent I can think of will be the sheets of Formica veneer that I want to install on the walls where the utility sinks will be. This will serve as a backsplash to keep the walls from getting wet.

We're going to start this evening painting the back garage ceiling. I'm looking forward to this. To see color actually go on a wall will make it start to feel like a real house!

Shower Installation, Take Two

2008-09-12T15:23:00.002-05:00

Early this week, the man-made marble company called to say that they were ready to come try again at getting the installation of the shower right. If you're following along at home, you may remember that the original installation was sloppy in some respects. Seems where two pieces of material met were uneven and details like that. They sent the same installer again. I called the owner when I found out he was coming back. He assured me that this guy was capable of fixing it.

I met the installer at the house. He looked at everything with me and made some excuses. The wall wasn't straight... Caulking is more of an art than a science, so he might not be able to make the job look better...

My parents had a new shower put in a few years ago from another company. Their house was built on a tight budget and there are alot of details that aren't perfect. I know their walls can't all be straight as a needle, and this other company did a very nice job making their shower look good. I spent two days checking studs and making them straight. Most of them were straight already. I can't imagine that each and every stud in my shower is skewed. And that's what I'd have to believe if I accepted what this guy had to say. I told him I expected him to try his best.

I left him to do his work. In the end, it does look better than before. But it isn't perfect. The bench seat looks ok now. He didn't touch the caulking, as far as I can tell. And the seam that was out of whack is closer to what it should be.

They still have to come back out and put one last piece on that he didn't have the right size for. I haven't decided how I want to proceed. I'll let my mom look at it and see if she thinks I need to protest some more.

Back Online After Gustav

2008-09-08T14:47:00.003-05:00

The power was out from Monday until late Saturday. Meanwhile, houses all around our 2-3 block neighborhood never lost power at all! That was a bit frustrating.

But my house came out of the storm untouched. Everything was fine. Not even too many leaves and twigs to pick up. Before the storm, we had tied a rope from the portable toilet to both the temporary electric pole and the nearby utility pole. A neighbor across the street described how the wind had the toilet leaning over on one edge. Only the rope was keeping it from tipping over and blowing down the street! Then the wind changed direction, and the toilet went upright and slid against the temporary pole for the rest of the time.

Here's a picture of the street I'm building on after the storm:

The power on this street also went out during the storm. It came back on earlier than my parents' house. I think they were back in business on Thursday.

Right behind Gustav is Hurricane Ike. It looks like that storm will graze Louisiana and go into Texas at this point. We don't need another one coming here right now!

Spoke Too Soon

2008-09-01T09:50:00.000-05:00

About 10 mins after my last post, the power went out! I'm posting this short msg from my mobile phone.

Gustav in Progress

2008-09-01T06:55:00.002-05:00

So far, so good. The power is still on and although you can tell there's a hurricane outside, the winds haven't been dangerously excessive. I got about 5 hours sleep before the noise from outside distracted me too much. There's still about 4-5 hours to go until the storm's eye makes landfall, but we're optimistic now that we won't even lose power. That would make all the difference in the world! Even if we do lose power, it seems that everyone prepared so well for this event that the restoration effort wouldn't take weeks like it did after Katrina.

Here is a photo of the house with all the windows boarded up:

And here's one from Friday showing the primer sprayed on the walls and ceilings. You're looking in through the front door:

I'll write more later, assuming I still have power and communications.

First Impact from Gustav

2008-08-31T19:31:00.004-05:00

About 10 mins ago (7:25pm Central time), Gustav made his first impact here. We were outside and saw the dark band of clouds coming. Suddenly, the wind went from zero to very gusty, and the rain started to pelt us. There were a few pellets of hail right off the bat.

He's heeeeeerrree!

Battening Down the Hatches!

2008-08-30T23:07:00.003-05:00

Gustav is coming!

It's the new hurricane sensation that's sweeping the nation! (Or at least, the Louisiana part of the nation...) The storm is expected to make landfall in about 48 hours just west of the greater New Orleans area. We'll be on the east side of the storm, and that's the worst side to be on. Gustav is not a wimpy hurricane. It could be as strong as a cetegory 4 when it hits land. For the first time, I have a house to worry about during a storm. We've covered most of the windows at this point (the rest will be done tomorrow), and installed plywood covering over my 18 ft wide garage door opening.

I trust that God will take care of things. He always does, even if we have to wait for the long term to look back and see it.

My family has decided to stay put at home for this storm. It's a decision I'm not at ease with, but I want to be where my family is for this. The Katrina evacuation consisted of a 15 hour bumper-to-bumper drive and a grueling week cooped up in a small hotel room in a small town with 4 people and 2 dogs. That was followed up by a 14 hour ride home and a week doing clean-up in the sun with no electricity. This time, I guess we're hoping to avoid the evac misery and just endure life at home with no power. I do not live in an area that flooded after Katrina, and there's very little chance we would be affected by flooding this time. So I'm not worried about my new house getting damaged, unless it's by a wayward falling oak tree. Did I mention that I know God will take care of things?

Preparing for Spray Primer... and Hurricane Gustav!

2008-08-28T00:07:00.003-05:00

It's weird... I've been at the house almost every evening doing stuff. But it's little stuff, and I can't lump it all into one category to say, "I've been working on THIS." Where does the time go? :)

Back from the Beach: Shower Install, Take One

When I got back from the beach, the guy came out to install the material on the walls of the shower. It took most of a day. He didn't do a neat job. The rear wall didn't come out flat, and it's obvious he didn't take steps to shim it out or anything. The bench seat wasn't scribed to the contour of the uneven wall, so you see a big gap in the corner. One leg of the bench seat is not squared properly. And there a couple more items that aren't right. I called, and one of the company's owners came out to look at it. He says they're going to take steps to fix it. But he's going to try to fix the back wall without removing the left and right walls. So I don't know how neat that's going to come out. We'll see.

Caulking & Attic Insulation Gaps

After placing a lot of plywood decking in the attic we moved on to other tasks, like caulking around the exterior of the windows and doors. I used gray caulk to match the color of the brick mortar. It was kind of fun doing that. We prepped for this by scaping away loose mortar and vacuuming out the dust. The actual caulking took less than a day. We finished (I think) a day before the remnants of Hurricane Fay came through and dropped a lot of rain.

I've noticed two spots in the attic that don't have insulation coverage. I've called them, and they're coming back out to patch it up. One of the areas is over the wall between the master bedroom and the patio. I can see down behind the bricks and there are spots of daylight, so I'd say that's a big weak spot in the thermal envelope!

Driveway Bid Progress

My slab guy finally came out to look at the driveway job this past Thursday. Now I'm waiting for him to get back to me with a price. I talked to him yesterday. He says he has the estimate at his office and he's supposed to call me back with it. I can't imagine that I wouldn't go with him for the job, but I got another guy from my original concrete subs list to come out and look at it also. I'm waiting on his bid also.

Flooring & Cabinet Search

I've been to a couple more flooring stores. There are a LOT of choices out there. I think I'm settling in on something that's a blend of gray and terra cotta colors. I have a couple of favorites so far, but I haven't been able to get samples of those. As for cabinets, I visited one local pre-fab custom cabinet shop. I still like the idea of having mine built from scratch. The two bids I've gotten are $11,000 and $18,000. My original estimate from Lowe's was $14,000. So the custom-built-from-scratch idea isn't out of the park on price. I'm trying to get up to Hammond (over an hour away) to visit the cheaper guy's shop and get a look at his work.

Priming Spray Prep

On Friday, I have someone coming to spray the primer coat on the ceilings and walls. We've been preparing by stuffing newspaper into wall outlet boxes and ceiling fixtures. Tonight we laid down paper on all the floors to protect from overspray, and tomorrow we'll use plastic to cover all showers and tubs.

Hurricane Gustav Prep

And the most recent development has been Hurricane Gustav, which is currently in the Carribean and forecasted to make landfall close to New Orleans early next week. My dad and I picked up plywood yesterday and made cut-outs for most of my windows. We still have two to cut.

We also picked up thinner plywood for paneling the rear garage. That's because I still have my netting on the walls holding in my cellulose insulation. If we get high winds and driving rain, that insulation will get soaked! So the idea is to stain & seal this paneling and put it up before the storm gets here.

On Friday, I was supposed to go visit the cabinet guy in Hammond. However, there are going to be a LOT of people leaving town on Friday ahead of the storm. With all that traffic congestion, I think I'm going to postpone the trip.

Back from the Beach

2008-08-18T08:16:00.003-05:00

Well, it's back to my day job today after a week off. My 4 days in Gulf Shores last week provided a much-needed rest from work and from house stuff. We had our share of rain, but not enough to ruin the trip. I love having a balcony right over the beach! This way, even if it rains I can still sit and listen to the waves. And that's all I really need. :)

After I got back, I went to another flooring store on Friday and my dad and I spent Saturday decking the attic floor with plywood. This will provide more space for storage (and also minimize the chance of someone accidentally putting their foot through the sheetrock into the living space downstairs)! Also on Saturday, my sheetrock guy came to put back the green rock in the shower that had to be removed for the pan installation. I also got a painter to come look at spraying the primer on the walls and ceilings.

For this week, I'm continuing the cabinet search, as well as looking for garage doors. Narrowing down at least my cabinet wood color will help with picking out paint and flooring for that part of the house. I need to get ready for the primer spraying by putting paper in all the lighting cans and outlet boxes to keep the paint out. Once I know a definite date, I'll also need to cover the floors with paper.

My slab guy was supposed to stop by on Saturday to look at my driveway job. He didn't show. So I have to work on him again.

Not an Abandoned House Anymore: Yard Work Done

2008-08-08T13:11:00.002-05:00

After getting the sheetrock cleanup done last week, I took time on Saturday (8/2) to turn attention to the exterior. The grass in the yard isn't everywhere, but where it was growing, it was getting high and shaggy-looking. After raking up some left-over brick mortar debris in the alley, I cut the grass. Wow, what a difference. It doesn't look like an abandoned home anymore! :)

There's also been a pile of sand in the front yard left over from the bricklayers. I'll need this later when I lay bricks for a patio in the back yard. Early this week, we moved the pile to the back of the house. My front yard looks so good with that pile of sand and blue tarp gone!

Also this week, my dad and I went into the attic and began making strongbacks out of all the 2x4's bracing up the roof. A strongback is when you take one stud and attach another one to it lengthwise that's at a 90 degree angle. So a cross-section would look like an "L" or a "T". This keeps the original stud from bowing over time, and this will minimize any warps developing in my roof and keep it nice and flat.

Even with my insulation in the attic, this August heat makes it quite warm up there. While it doesn't take your breath away, it's not a comfortable place to work for a long time. So we've finished almost 2/3 of the strongbacks. I'm waiting for an overcast or rainy day to finish the rest.

I've taken the last two evenings off from work on the house. I'm preparing for a beach trip to Gulf Shores this coming week, and I've had my car in and out of various shops giving it the attention it has been craving. I've had the brakes & spark plugs changed, the tires rotated & balanced, and part of a front CV joint replaced. Just getting it ready for the road. I need the break next week!

Sheetrock Cleanup

2008-07-29T08:44:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday (7/19), we spent the whole day loading sheetrock scraps into a trash trailer to be hauled away. I'll bet they've never seen a trailer so neatly packed as to fill every cubic centimeter of space! It was all fit together like a 3D puzzle so that I could pay only for a 15 yard trailer instead of springing for the 20 or 30. But in the end, all the trash is gone. It's nice to be able to see my front yard again!

This Saturday (7/26), we spent the day cleaning all the sheetrock dust and mud from the floors. We only got through about half the house in a full day, so that's turned into a real job! Each room was done in three passes. First, we swept up all the loose dust and debris. Then, we used shovels to scrape up hunks of mud and stuff that came up easily. Finally, we mopped up the rest.

The stuff dissolves easily in water. You just have to scrub a little bit. Some final spots required a scraper or a wet rag to get up. We had to stay away from the edges of the rooms with the water since we don't want to wet the sheetrock. So we left the edges to get later with a scraper or some other tool. The slowest part of this job is constantly rinsing the mop and changing out the mop water. Like I mentioned, we only did about half the house on Saturday. This evening, we'll start on the rest.

It's great to see clean floors again!

Spraying Texture Today

2008-07-23T13:48:00.003-05:00

This morning, we went to the house to open it up for the guys spraying the texture on the walls and ceiling. I'm getting a very light orange peel done everywhere. Yes, I've heard people say that perfectly smooth walls are coming into style. But if there is any defect in a wall at all, it will stand out like a sore thumb on a flat painted surface. My walls have been done really well, but I just don't want to risk it. I think the light orange peel will look fine.

We also brought over the plywood doors we made. These will go up in place of my real front doors until I'm finally ready to hang them. I was going to hang them now, but multiple people recommended against it. We hung one side, and we'll do the other one this evening when we lock up.

I need to call around for information on a paint sprayer. That will make it easier to paint the primer all over the house...

There was a heavy rain for a while this morning. It's coming from the outskirts of Hurricane Dolly, which is making landfall in Texas today.

Prepping for Post-Sheetrock Work

2008-07-17T14:33:00.003-05:00

You mean after all this, I still need to decide on colors for EVERYTHING in the house?! Wow! Another marathon of decisions are ahead.

The sheetrock finishing guys are moving right along. They tell me I could have texture on the walls by this Tuesday! Afterward, I'll be ready to paint walls, lay down tile, and all the other finishing stuff that comes afterward.

I've talked to two custom cabinet makers. One is coming to measure within the next 2 days, and the other lives over an hour away, in Hammond. He's looking at my plans and tentative cabinet layout before working up a ballpark figure for me. I've also contacted the interior trim & finishing guy that I want to use. I met him at the house today. His price for all the base and crown moulding, installing cabinets and doors, and all the trim like towel and toilet paper holders, etc., is $4795. That doesn't include moulding material. If I choose to do some of the work myself (like the cabinets, etc.), he'll take off for that portion. I know that this guy does good work with a lot of attention to detail.

As for colors, I'm starting to get input and advice from a few people. I have a few vague ideas about wall colors myself, but nothing definite. My pastor's wife is talented in this area. They're coming by tomorrow for her to take a look at my place and give me some ideas!

It's amazing to look at the house today and remember back to when it was a vacant lot. So much change! I'm heading into the home stretch now, even though I'm sure the remaining work will go the slowest. I enjoy painting, so I'm looking forward to that. I've never put down tile, but I've seen it done and read about it. My knees may not enjoy that work too much, but I'd like to save money and do that myself.

Garage Insulation Blown. Taping Sheetrock.

2008-07-16T09:36:00.005-05:00

There's a lot more sheetrock scrap than I predicted. There are at least 4 piles of the stuff all around the yard. I'm planning to have a trash trailer or a dumpster brought to the site so we can load it up and they can haul it away. We've usually just brought trash to the dump ourselves. But there's enough of it here to make it worth the $175 - $285 for a container.

They have worked 2 half days at taping all the sheetrock. Today they start working whole days because their other job is finished up. Woody, the guy who seems to be the supervisor working with them, tells me that the end of today should be the half-way point in their work. So far, it looks good.

We finished blowing the insulation into the garage walls and attic at 10PM on Monday night. That ended a 4-day marathon of work on that project. I hope I never have to do that again!

Blowing in the attic was far easier than the walls. Just point and shoot! The walls took so much time attaching the netting and then having to hold the hose just-so. And there was so much starting and stopping for each stud bay.

I took yesterday evening off from working at the house. Except for closing up the place and meeting a friend of mine to talk about doing the finishing of the garage door arches, I didn't work over there.

Rear Garage Insulation

2008-07-14T08:51:00.004-05:00

While the guys were hanging the sheetrock in the house, my dad and I got to work insulating the rear garage with blow-in fiber material from Home Depot.

Yes, that's me! See, I really am capable of physical labor!

This material is like the lint you clean from the filter in your clothes dryer mixed with random pieces of newspaper and plastic scraps. You break it up from the bag into a hopper, and it blows though the hose. It's dry, so it doesn't stick in the walls on its own. You need netting installed across the front of the studs to hold it in.

Like everything else, this has taken much longer to complete than first anticipated. As I write this, we're not done yet. If you buy enough material from Home Depot, they let you rent the machine for free. They say they don't want you to keep it longer than 3 days, but that didn't sound like a hard-and-fast rule. Just a request. I picked it up Friday afternoon, so this afternoon would make 3 days. I'll bring it back tomorrow if we can finish tonight.

The stuff is dry and fluffy, so it gets everywhere. In the picture above, you can see it coating my arms and clothes. The gear on my head is keeping it from my eyes, nose and mouth. The material is treated with a chemical. I presume it's to make it fire retardant. But if you have any open cut, blister, or sore, it burns like crazy on contact.

So far, we've completed all except the right-hand wall. Blowing in the attic should go mch quicker than the walls since we don't have to stop to hang netting and I don't have to hold the hose over my head. I'll be in the attic blowing down in between the rafters.

The stuff seems really good at sound insulation. I hope it's good at keeping some of the heat out. I know I'm not cooling the inside of the garage, but it would be nice for it not to be 100 degrees in there.

On the Sheetrock Front...

The hanging is done, and the next crew is starting the next stage today. I know they start with taping, and I guess the next step is called floating? In any case, I'm told they're going to start after lunch.

Photos of Sheetrock in Progress

2008-07-10T22:22:00.001-05:00

Random Thoughts

2008-07-10T12:45:00.003-05:00

Regarding Contracts...

I spent time and money up front to have a lawyer draw up contracts and lien waivers to use when subbing out the work. I'm glad I did this because I now have them in case I need them. But I haven't used them much. I've had a few subs sign lien waivers when I paid them, but I haven't had anyone sign one of my contracts up front.

I've gotten two or three people to sign lien waivers, and each one looked at me like I was from another planet. The roofer looked shocked, hurt, and offended. Looking back on it, I'm glad I got him to sign it because he seemed a bit cagey. But the plumber is a fine upstanding guy who has worked in the area all his life. There's no real need to have him sign them.

I think if you hire someone who is new to the area or someone you have no prior knowledge of, the formality of the contract and lien waiver is a good idea. If you either knew of the contractor through some prior experience, or even if you know they've been well established in the area for years, then it's not as necessary. That's just my amateur opinion. If I got burned once, I'd probably turn that opinion around. But for now, that's the way I see it.

Regarding contractor clean-up vs. doing it yourself...

On a semi-related topic, the contract template I have talks about the subcontractor having to clean up after themselves. It's great if they do, such as in the case of the insulation with all the sticky overspray, but I personally enjoy going over and picking up inside the house and around the yard. And sometimes, you don't notice some detail about the work that's been done until you bend over to pick up that piece of debris.

Sheetrock, Day 1

2008-07-10T00:23:00.003-05:00

The guys showed up around 9:30 this morning. Their first task was to count and sort through all the sheets that were stacked. They found that many of them were cracked and busted. Basically, they said it looked like the beat up stock from the back of the yard. I called to have the supplier come out to look at it. They did, and the replacement stock should be there tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, they were able to get the top half of several rooms completed: the office, the front bedroom, the bathroom, and several closets. They finished up around 3:30 today because the lead guy was tired from an early morning and a day of traveling.

It was nice for me not to work at the house this evening. It was a relaxing one at home!

Tomorrow, I expect that they'll get more done since they're already setup and in motion. I'm assuming they'll be able to work a bit longer also. Photos to come soon!

Sheetrock Delivered

2008-07-08T11:58:00.003-05:00

Delivery people rarely follow through with the phone call they promise before they show up. I woke up this morning to see on my phone that I missed a phone call. It was the driver with the sheetrock. He hadn't left the yard yet, and he was calling for directions (not necessarily to let me know he was coming). I told him the place was locked and I'd be over there in 15 mins. They beat us there. So had they not needed directions, it would have been more of a rush on my part to go over & let them in.

All I can say is: I now have a LOT of sheetrock!

There are three big stacks in the living room, two in the kitchen, and one in the garage. The green rock is next to one of the bathrooms. The truck they used has a boom arm on it. The arm lifts sheets off the truck and extends out to the front door. So the guys just take them off the arm and onto a dolly with wheels. Then they take them to the stacks in the house.

It'll be interesting to see where they start hanging the stuff and how they maneuver around the stacks.

One thing I noticed is that some sheets were scraped and gouged by the time they were put on the truck and handled by the crane arm. I assume they either don't use the gouged pieces or they can mud over the scars later on.

I left a voicemail with my sheetrock guy letting him know the material is on-site and that he'll need to call me to get in the house when they're ready to start... We'll see if they are another group that forgets to call first! :)

Late Night at the House

2008-07-07T23:11:00.003-05:00

I worked with my mom & dad's help until 10:30 tonight! That's a record. My friend Ken was over earlier in the evening. He marked on the floor where each outlet was so the sheetrock guys can keep better track of them (and I can make sure I don't lose one without realizing it). Then he helped me run a couple of speaker wires.

Afterward, my dad and I finished straightening out bowed studs. If a stud is even at the top and bottom plates but it bows in into the room at the center, it could affect how the sheetrock job will come out. (Yes it's probably overkill, but I'm a perfectionist!). So we cut a diagonal slot into the stud on the side where it's bowed into a room. Then a screw is applied on the edge to close the gap that's been made. This usually makes it straight. In most cases, we also screwed a piece of 2x4 over the cut to strengthen the area.

Then it was back to running speaker wire. I tell ya, no matter how much you think to do, and how much you accomplish, it always seems there's something else lurking out there: another wire you could run, or something else you could accomplish in the attic before the sheetrocking happens, etc.

My mom helped outside with the pile of sand I have left over from the brick-laying. I'm keeping as much of it as practical because I'll need to lay more bricks for steps, and I may also put pavers down in the backyard. She filled buckets with it and we moved them to the back garage. She filled around 7 buckets and it's probably less than half the pile! I'm not sure how much sand is practical to store in buckets. I know I'll use some of that to fill in low spots in the yard. But I wanted to clear that pile enough so it's not in the way when they deliver the sheetrock tomorrow.

Post-Insulation, Pre-Sheetrock

2008-07-07T08:26:00.002-05:00

The insulation is done. The sheetrock is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday, with the hanging work starting on Wednesday. In the meantime, we've spent a lot of time cleaning the foam overspray out of the attic. The sand-like residue is everywhere! We scraped and swept everywhere on the flat deck up there. We also did a lot of scraping on the beams and supports, but there is more work to do if I want to get it completely clean.

We've also begun finding wall studs that are bowed and correcting them. This will make for walls that are more straight and level. I've also got to finish running speaker wire to a few rooms, and mark on the floor where all the outlets and switches are so that I can make sure none get accidentally covered by sheetrock.

My brick layer came back to hang the new address number. This time it's level and un-chipped. It looks good!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

2008-07-03T22:14:00.003-05:00

The insulation guys finished up day three today of what should be a 4-day job. It's coming out great. I have learned a few things along the way about the spray foam insulation. First, there is a misty overspray that comes from their work. Foam particles land EVERYWHERE and then expand, like tiny styrofoam spheres. The stuff coats everything. It's not a problem because the guys were really good about covering everything with plastic(windows, doors, tools, equipment, etc.). The other thing is that the foam expells fumes after it's applied. My vision was hazy after spending much of the first day on-site. Venting the house is important.

I used a company called Energy and Comfort Solutions. The crew is Spanish-speaking. They know only a little English. That has caused at least one minor problem. I asked them if they could save a particular room until last because there were still some things I was considering installing in the walls. They said yes, but they did that room first! It turns out it wasn't that important, but still...

This company offers a caulking package where they caulk seems everywhere (between two studs, between the sill plate and the slab, around window & door headers, etc.). It's another thing to help with air-tightness. They've done a good job with that.

I also have to thank the management of the company. I have a bathroom with bedrooms on either side, and I'm concerned about noise from the bathroom spilling into the bedrooms. I purposely designed it so that the plumbing for the shower is NOT in the wall that borders a bedroom, but I still wanted to add something in the walls to absorb some sound. I had not planned to put spray foam there because it's more expensive than other materials. I called them to ask what other material they thought was second-best at absorbing sound. He offered to just have them spray the walls while they were there at no cost! I hadn't had sheetrock installed on one side of the walls, so I had to rush over to staple some tyvek material on one side of each wall to provide backing where they can spray. They are going to do this tomorrow. Afterward, I'll peel off the Tyvek and the foam ought to stay in place.

Here are a few pictures from Day 2. This doesn't show all they finished today:

First Attic Insulation Photos

2008-07-01T23:44:00.003-05:00

The pictures above are from the first day of insulation work. They're done with about 3/4 of the attic. The last photo is just to show the outside now that the trim work is done.