Every Saga has a Finale: Garage Doors Installed!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

• 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!

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!

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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 :(

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!

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

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

Gustav in Progress

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.