Building Closet Shelves

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Office Floor in One Day!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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! :)