Rocking out with Sheetrock

I think that the fact that Mercury was in retrograde stalled progress on the house.   Builders First Source refused to deliver the sheetrock due to weather, being shorthanded and the economy and finally suggested that I buy it from someone else.  So I did.  Lowes not only met the lower price of BFS but gave me free delivery and delivered it with a smile the next day.  How's that for service?  Hey BFS, why not just shoot yourself in the foot while you are at it?  I was a cash paying customer building a house.  What more do you want?  Well anyway Lowes is my newest favorite store.  Actually it always was but now I am proclaiming it. 

I ordered my interior doors yesterday from Lowes and they gave me a ten percent discount just for asking.  Wow!  I never thought they'd do that but asking for it saved me $290.

The hall (living room)

The drywall hangers came out yesterday and got started and they finished up today.  They were quick and efficient and did a great job.  I thought their price was reasonable too.  It's really nice to find someone that does good work, is on time and charges a fair price.

The bedroom

 As an added bonus today, I also installed my main entry door.  I love this door (also from Lowes).  It is made of fir and has full panel reed glass.  It is a contemporary classic.

Now it is time for sheetrock finishing.  They are scheduled to come in tomorrow and get started.  I am hoping that by Wednesday it will be completed and we can get started texturing and painting.  Then time for trim work.  I am looking forward to getting my miter saw out and cutting some trim wood.

The view from the pasture

Grinding to a Halt

This week proved to be totally unproductive unless you count the day I went there to correct a few of the incompetent framer's errors in framing up rough door openings.  Sheetrock was scheduled to be delivered on Monday but due to the enormous blizzard (by WNC standards) of 2 inches of snow, delivery was postponed.  No amount of pleading or threats was sufficient to motivate Builders First Source to make the delivery this week.  Each day more phone calls and still no delivery.  It boiled down to the fact that the delivery guys just didn't want to, but they managed to come up with the excuse that there was too much ice and snow even after I drove in with my two wheel drive pickup and then scraped the driveway with my tractor.  Each new week is a learning experience in building a house.  This week the lesson is patience.

My somewhat eccentric electrician sent me a bill this week demanding immediate payment explaning that he could no longer carry the burden of the expense of this job.  He also stated that he would no longer do extras unless paid for in advance.  The strange thing is that he has never before requested payment and only recently completed rough in.  His check is in the mail.

It's cold out there and makes it difficult to go there an do anything outside, like clean the jobsite, which is in desperate need.  I also need to build a pump house since the new pump has been installed.  I have to give a plug to McCreary Well Service for their very prompt and courteous service in drilling the well and now in installing the pump.  They were also a thousand dollars cheaper than another bid I got on the pump.  They came out the day after I awarded the job to them and completed it that day.  I would hope that some other subcontractors and suppliers could take a lesson from them in how to do business, especially in this depressed economy.

The great blizzard of December 2010

Nice and cozy

Just in time for the big snow and freeze, we got the insulation in this week.  It only took three guys less than a day to do it too.  I had considered doing the fiberglass insulation wall installation myself but when I found out how much they were going to charge me, decided not to.  There will be plenty of work for me to do pretty soon though as sheetrock is scheduled to go in on Monday if we do not get too much snow that it.

Leah lent me a really great propane heater which I got installed today.  After it's initial lighting, it only took a few minutes to start feeling the warming up effect in the house.  It will be nice and cozy in there this December and January while I am painting and doing trim work.  The all resourceful Leah also has a finish nail gun and compressor to lend me to make that work go even faster and smoother.

I am in the process of trying to make a decision on which wood stove to put in too.  I am torn between the ever popular and reliable Jotul like I have in my current home and the really cool Morso which costs more.  I am also considering yanking out my Jotul from my present house and installing it in the new house and then replacing it with a fireplace insert since there is an old fireplace in the living room.

There are just so many important long term decisions that have to be made in such a short period of time.  I think that has been the most challenging part of building a house.

Sprayed foam in the roof and fiberglass in the walls

The temporary heater sure is nice.

Sitting in this chair trying to imagine the finished living room