Champagne taste beer budget Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 Talked to my wife a few minutes ago, she just got home from work and we have a roof on the house!! Windows should be here Tues or Wens, so should soon be enclosed. Looking forward to getting into the downstairs at least, been 8 weeks as of this past Tuesday that we've been living in the 14' trailer. As this is my 500th post, I figured I'd do it here in my favorite forum, Architectural, especially since it's about house building. Can't get much more architectural than that, can you? Thanks to everyone that's been helping me learn about designing my proposed listening room, we've been taking pictures regularly so once the actual work gets going on the room I'll start a thread showing from the hole being dug to the finished room. Thanks again. (I'm now officially a Freak. That's a good thing, isn't it?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 ---------------- On 7/9/2004 6:53:13 PM Champagne taste beer budget wrote: I'm now officially a Freak. That's a good thing, isn't it? ---------------- ummm.... sure, why not... but it's all downhill from freak status... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 CTBB: Do you find you have to spend a lot of time on site watching what your contractors are doing? I'm hearing a lot of horror stories about the building process lately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted July 13, 2004 Author Share Posted July 13, 2004 Hasn't been a problem at all for us, but we're living on site and can discuss things with the crew every morning, they're there at 7 and I don't usually leave for work till 7:15. Then we get to check out the days progress when we get home at night. It probably helps that it's a small town and we knew the contractor before we decided to do the house, and also a couple of the crew members. They all know they have to deal with us in social settings for years after the house is finished so that may be to our benefit. Good luck with any project you may embark on, I hope your's goes as smoothly as ours has been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 We live about 35 minutes from where we plan on building (hope to have accepted offer on the land this week) so we won't be so lucky as you! I've talked to a few people who've built here and I just keep hearing horror stories: things going wildly amuck if the contractors are left unsupervised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 ---------------- On 7/13/2004 2:07:30 PM damonrpayne wrote: I just keep hearing horror stories: things going wildly amuck if the contractors are left unsupervised. ---------------- The key is being VERY specific on what you are want, and putting it on plans/paper. When the workers don't know what to do and there is no one around to ask... decisions get taken by them on the spot. Good communication will get things done the way you'd like them. Do you have an architect? Given you don't know your contractor, it may well be worth paying an architect (or a knowledgeable third party if you don't have an architect) to supervise the work. Having a good knowledge of construction techniques will help avoid problems down the road. Oh... and even the best contractors will have some deficiencies. Bring them up, ask for them to be corrected, be reasonable, and don't loose any sleep over them. Just my two cents... Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 I second formicas' thoughts on being VERY specific on items. My wife and I had a meeting with the contractor on-site this morning at 6:30 to go over several items, a wall that needs to get moved a foot, framing around the fireplace, an open area above a room for display purposes, how to finish off the ceiling in the office and what type of ceiling support to have around the landing of the stairway. Without talking about it, I'm sure that he would have just done it the way he thought we wanted it, and could have easily led to disagreements and changes down the road. Probably not inexpensive changes, either. Get there often, I wouldn't leave it to someone else to make the decisions for you, they might not end up being what you wanted, and if you only get there every 3 or 4 days a lot of stuff could end up having to be redone. I'm not trying to scare you about your project, but rather eliminate any nasty surprises. Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 Around here things are nailed down to the letter in a Design Contract with the builder. That doesn't mean there won't be miscommunication with their subcontractors. A couple examples I've been told lately are: 1) Left fireplace out even though the plan and contract calls for it 2) Used grey mortar for brick when plan specified (and charged) white mortar 3) Used Oak for hardwood floors when birch was specified I guess if these things can go awry, anything else could too. If something like my 9' basement pour gets screwed up you'll probably see me on the news... Because we are super busy we will probably hire a building consultant of some kind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted July 22, 2004 Author Share Posted July 22, 2004 Just an update: Met with the electrician this AM for a walk through, we'd went through ourselves and pretty much determined where we wanted switches, any special outlets and what not positioned, only to be informed by him that half our ideas were half-baked. The circuit breaker box and second box for off-peak electric ended up going in the garage instead of the utility room, some switches can't be where we wanted them for various code reasons, etc. The fireplace installers were also there by the time we left, along with the plumbers hooking up the manifolds for the in-floor heat and the framers still working on windows, rafter supports, etc. I think when we left there were 12 people all working on various projects, good to hear all the noise and know things were moving along well. So far all the custom made arched windows have fit into the openings they'd made, they were planning on doing the living room ones today which we've been a little concerned with, was a LOT of money for just three windows with matching arched windows over them, but the center one, fixed, is almost 7 feet square, so some big chunks of glass. Hopefully everything fit and is in and done when I get home. They aren't really arched, as much as one long "eyebrow" covering the three windows, with a 6 inch space between the three for framing and wall support. Got the stairs in two days so we no longer have to go outside and walk around the house to get to the downstairs, which is nice. Cabinet guy can't get there till Monday to mark out placements so the electrician can place some of fixtures and outlets, expect the flooring guy to be there tomorrow to take measurements for carpet and hardwood, things are starting to come together and look like a house! We're really glad the weather broke last night, had been in the low 90's all week, and only have sleeping bags in the camper for covers, so you get too hot, throw off the bag, then the misquitoes start having snacks off your body, so you get the bag back on for some protection, then get too hot again and off comes the bag, makes for some long nights when it's probably still 80+ in there at 3 in the morning. Well, I'm off to pick up lumber scraps and cardboard, we're gonna have one hell of a weinie roast this weekend with parts and pieces. I think the cardboard pile from just the windows and assorted boxes from the project is higher than a pickup and bigger around. Oh yeah, and I'm picking up the Levitron Distribution Panel this weekend and running phone, computer and cable wires throughout the house. OH BOY, doesn't THAT sound like fun!! Drilling God knows how many holes and pounding in all the retaining clips to hold said cables in place as they snake through the joists. Hopefully 250 feet of each wire is enough, I kinda got a feeling that SWMBO is going to balk at the price of the stuff, but hey, you only build a house once, right? Or twice? Thrice? LOL.. I'm 43, I don't see us moving anywhere in the next 15-20 years, figure do it right and worry about the cost once it's finished. Edit: BTW, when I say contractor, I actually mean the builder. We're subbing the project ourselves, and though I was originally very apprehensive about it, my wife was quite adamant that she wasn't going to pay someone $10-20,000 to make phone calls and run parts. So far, so good, though I'm sure it helps being a small town where all the guys know each other. In fact, this morning, as we were just starting on the walk through with the electrician, who hadn't been on-site other than to hook up the electric meter and some preliminary outlets on a phone pole for everyone to get power from, he was like, "Hey Chris, how's it goin?" and "Morning Brian" to the guys on the framing and plumbing crews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Dude, That is interesting. This is one of the most memorable times of your life!..........ENJOY! ...Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted July 30, 2004 Author Share Posted July 30, 2004 daymon, just thought you might appreciate an update... Things don't go perfect, even when you're there every day. We have some large windows in our living room overlooking the lake, a 5 x 6 picture window with 5 x 3 1/2 crank outs on either side. There is an "eyebrow" over the top of them, with a leg coming down on the outside edges of the ones over the tops of the operators, so going from the outside, it curves up, then breaks to the center window, which continues the arch higher and returns down, continued to the last one over an operator which has a leg at the side of it again. I hope that made sense! They are supposed to hinge on the outer edges, the opening starting on the inside near the fixed picture window. Somehow when they made the windows, they put the hinges on the inside, so the opening started at the outside of the window. We didn't notice it until a day after they had been hung, before that there were just a bunch of cardboard wrapped windows leaning against the wall in the garage. Straight down from this window, on the downstairs, is a matching sized/set of windows, but without the arch windows over them. Since the upstairs ones cranked out from the outside, the builders assumed we were odd and wanted them that way, so they installed the ones downstairs to match the ones upstairs. Ended up, they could easily remove the downstairs ones and reverse em, but the upstairs ones are custom made, need to have a tech from the window company come out and flip the hardware, replace the sash and some other trim pieces, and all will be well. In theory. Other than that, the fireplace guys used a string of nail gun nails to level the fireplace. I made a metal shim to replace it with. The flue for the chimney had to do a slight jog to clear some roof trusses; the original plan was for "X" diamater pipe, with the bend they need to use a larger diameter, bumped up the pipe cost $750. The builder thought we were going to box in the chimney where it goes through the roof, put in flashing assuming that. We weren't, which requires a larger flashing, out with the new, in with the newer. On the bright side, we passed our electrical inspection yesterday, they were there at 7 this AM starting to put in insulation in the walls. We got the garage floor poured Weds, came out smooth and nicely tapered to the floor drain. Siding is going up, have most of the lower level done, wish it was just a tad lighter, but so be it. Sure I'll adjust. Kitchen appliances are supposed to be here Tues, woohoo!!! Now the bad part... Next weekend, my wife wants to rent the biggest U-Haul they have and go on a 150-200 mile round trip to all the places our "stuff" is stored at and get it all back home, into the basement. We have some serious, room sized, garage filling piles of "stuff" scattered around the country, and it all going to either have to go up a couple 2x6 boards that go up from the garage into the house, then down the stairs, or else get carried down a fairly steep grade of sand where they made the "road" for the big forklift truck to drive around the house for the framers/roofers and come into a patio door in to the basement. In either case, it ain't gonna be any fun, but will be nice to have all the "stuff" home. Couches, beds, pictures, toasters, tools, knick-knacks, lamps, computer, STEREO, dishes, everything that we own except what will fit into and be required to live in a 14' trailer for a few months. I don't doubt we'll still be unpacking come Christmas, but at least we'll be unpacking it in our new home. Wishing you the best again on your project, expect some screw-ups, but roll with em, lifes too short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Lol reminds me of a problem i had when i replaced some of my windows. One unit had frosted glass in 4 asymmetrically divided sections. Some worker at the manufacturer (I had these custom made) figured that I probably wanted these symmetrical... and made them this way. I had to have the unit remade... but this time it came with Clear glass. They came to replace the glass... (they had the measurements on file) only to discover only one of the three pieces fit. They took new measurements, and had three of the pieces remade. Guess what happened next? One of those three pieces still didn't fit! Finally the last piece arrived and fit, but so much time had passed that they had changed glass supplier and the thermal break on that unit was metal while the others were plastic. If this were in different rooms, it wouldn't have bothered me... but since they all went into the same unit, it visually showed, and that I'm a picky ba$**** I had them take another crack at it. Most clients wouldn't have been as patient... but thats one of the thrills of construction. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted July 31, 2004 Author Share Posted July 31, 2004 Ain't it a joy? The trials and tribulations of custom windows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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