Details details

Now that the house is closed in the enormous amount of snow that we got did not affect us much.  We are working inside now with the temporary gas heater blowing away.

Concrete wood stove pad

I tried my hand at pouring concrete with Leah's help.  I mixed while she spread and worked it level.  This little slab of concrete is to hold the wood stove and split wood and will replicate the concrete counters in the kitchen.  It would not set since it was too cold so I left it overnight before troweling it out.  Of course it set over night so I had to apply a broom finish instead of a troweled finish.  It looks good though.

Other things that have happened recently is that all the windows are trimmed out, and I have started laying out the bamboo floors.  This weekend is the big floor nailing weekend so hopefully I'll have completed floors by Monday.  I love the stranded bamboo as it is suppose to be harder than oak, so less dings and scratches over the years.

The stranded bamboo floors

Painting is all done except for the bathroom which will come after the ceramic tile.  That also has to be selected.  Leah was a huge help in selecting colors and in applying the suede paint.


 All in all things are moving along since I have no subcontractors to blame for delays.  Now I only have myself to blame when things are not happening as fast as I would like or when things are done wrong.

Tada!  The painting is done

The Interior (and exterior)

You know, everywhere you look around here, there are rocks.  They are just laying there on the side of the road, in peoples yards and especially up in the mountains, so you'd think that rocks would be a pretty cheap commodity around here.  But, let me tell you, rocks are expensive!  After all that snow, my driveway turned into another muddy mess.  Subcontractors showing up in their vans were just slipping and sliding and getting stuck so I figured that it was time to get some more rocks for the driveway. 

I called my buddy Jerry Henderson to haul some more in.  Now, Jerry is my good buddy so he gives me a good deal.  He gets a $5 per ton discount from the quarry which is just a stones throw down the road (he-he).  So he only charges me what the quarry would charge me if I picked them up myself.  His $5 per ton is his cut.  So, you'd think that them rocks were pretty cheap but a truck load like this is a lot of tons of rocks.  And four truck loads is even more tons of rocks.  Them tons of rocks, they add up.  Jerry and I are talking about raising us some hogs together too.  Sue-eeeeee

So now, once again, anyone can visit even if you have a Toyota Prius and not fear for getting stuck.

Leah is helping me paint.  Thank-you Leah!  Painting is not a hard job but is pretty boring after a few hours of staring at a white wall.  She keeps me company as well as kicking ass as a hard worker.  Cosmo and Pearl also stand by to guard the property, keeping all those pesky squirrels and rabbits away.  I am also very grateful for Leah's cultivated sense of color and texture as I am one of those guys that can't tell green from beige. Ask Leah if you don't believe me.  She is helping me pick out great bold earthy colors for the entire house.  I am of the school that if I like a color and it's good enough for one room then it ought to be good enough for the whole house.  Leah is helping me see the error of my ways.

Here you can see us both covered in paint.

So, I guess I am not going to make my move in date of Christmas.  Even though it looks like I don't have much more to do, there is lots to do.  Painting, cabinets, doors, trim, countertops, flooring, electrical and plumbing trim out, and many other things that I cannot even forsee.  Maybe we'll have a late March housewarming/birthday party.

Next time, I'll tell you all about sewage, or is it sewerage?

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

Exterior almost complete

Checklist:
Roofing - done
Siding - done
Painting - almost done
Deck - almost done

Now its almost time to move indoors.  The HVAC contractor is scheduled to start roughing in the refrigeration lines to the heat pump but needs the electrician to run some wires.  It seems that the electrician had a small problem with this HVAC guy in the past so now there seems to be a bit of a conflict on the job.  The electrician wants something in writing from the HVAC guy as to what he is suppose to do.  Come on now kids, play nice.  No fighting, share your toys.

If everyone cooperates we could get the framing, electrical and mechanical inspection this week and then get started on insulation.  I have decided to let an insulation contractor spray foam in the roof and under the house and I will put in the fiberglass wall insulation.  No problem, I used to have a ceiling business so have done tons of insulation work in years past.  It's not a pleasant job but two days of work and it will be done.

Here is a sample of the maze of pipes that will be one day hidden from view.  I thought it might be a good idea to take pictures, just so I know whats hidden away in my house.

The electrical wiring looks like spaghetti running every which way and all converging in this box.

The gas guy is suppose to come run the gas line to the stove this week also.  His name is Plato.

Got it's Skin

Hugo and the siding crew got to work this week and got some siding on but could not finish as we ran a little short of material and of course it is special order and of course he had to go start another job.  So now the material is in and awaiting Hugo's return.  We are scheduled to complete the siding on Monday.  You can see in the photo the batten strips on the second level and it looks kind of like candy stripes but they will get painted the same color as the siding, green. The trim is going to be a lighter green and the eaves and deck brown.

My friend Joe Burkett is coming over in the next day or two to see about making concrete countertops for the kitchen and bath.  Joe does really beautiful work as you can see in these photos from another job.  I love the heavy look of concrete counters and the lightness of the "Japallachian" vanity base which we will use as a model for my bath. He uses reclaimed heart pine for the base.

 

 Today I got to ride my tractor which is always a treat.  I spent a good part of the day cleaning the job site of debris, burning combustibles, saving what may get reused and piling up metal, plastic and cement products for a trip to the dump.  Then I was able to grade ruts and add some fill next to the house.  It looks great.