Carrie's Building Journey

The builder sent me a picture of the stair railing and I love it! I’m SO glad I upgraded from the half drywall “railing”. The first upgrade level is open rail with basic posts, which is what I got. The next level would have had more fancy posts and railing, but that was another $2500 so I stayed with the lower level. This was going to be all white, but I like the contrast of the white rails with a darker railing, so I signed up for another DIY project….staining the posts and railing.

I may fancy up the posts later, but for now, I’ll just stain the posts and railing. It’s going to be a pain with the rails, but it will be worth it.

As I said before, I hate wasted space. I asked for the space under the stairs to be accessible instead of closing it off. Not only did the builder make an opening to access the area, they drywalled it, put in flooring, molding and added this cute little access door. My son has already claimed it for his secret hiding place, but I’m planning to use it for longer term storage of paper products, canned goods….wine maybe? Looks like Dobby the elf could live in there. I love this!

The front wrap around porch is done! At least the boards are all done. I still need to paint the fascia white and will have to put a rail on the stairs since there are 3. I’m really hoping railing isn’t required around the porch itself because I don’t want anything blocking the view.

I got less expensive boards for the back step since that will be temporary. Of course, there isn’t enough to cover the entire thing. I am planning to buy a board that doesn’t have the groove on the side, remove the boards and use the un-grooved board to make a border on the deck part, then re-cut all these deck boards to fit within the border. More work, but it’s only a 3’ x 6’ area and won’t take long. I saved over $10,000 doing the deck “myself” (my dad was a HUGE help, really did most of it), so it was worth it and looks gorgeous. The builder would have used cedar boards, which would require frequent refinishing/staining, especially being close to saltwater. The composite decking will hopefully last for years and years with little maintenance required.

There were no major changes over the last week. Looks like they were starting on the stairs, framed in the opening to the secondary laundry room so a door could be installed and covers were placed over the fire sprinklers.

The remaining decking was supposed to be delivered but that wasn’t there. It didn’t make it on the truck. It should be there now, so I’ll be heading out again to finish the deck this week. PLUS, my closet organizers are arriving so I need to get them into the house. The delivery driver drops them in the road, not even into the driveway and they told me the total weight is 600 lbs. Great…hope it doesn’t rain that day because I’ll have to unpack it on the street and carry it in piece by piece.

I arrived at the house to find a nice little gift from the builder’s office…it’s an unofficial gift. Not sure if it’s to make up for not getting my kitchen cabinets right. The cabinets were supposed to be white with a black glaze and I specifically said no brown. But, I ended up with brown. Was a nice gift, though.

Here’s what I wanted for cabinets and I sent them this picture.

Here’s what I got….yes, still nice, but not what I wanted. I don’t know if I’ll have them painted white and glaze them myself later or if I’ll end up loving them. Cost me $1200 to get them glazed the wrong color, so I’m a bit sad about that.

I also chose a grout color too close to the color of the tile (that’s on me). It’s hard to know what something will look like from a sample in the store. The store recommended a grout stain that I’ll use to lighten up the grout so there’s more of a contrast. Easy fix at least!

Start of trimming out the stairs. I thought they were going to put a knee wall up the side and put the open railing on top of that, but it looks like they are putting the railing below the steps into the wall there.

Septic is all covered, wiring is in and it’s been inspected. The trench from the garage to the shed is covered. Now I just need a chain harrow and a tractor that runs to smooth out everything, pick rocks, smooth it out, pick rocks, smooth out, pick rocks and plant grass. 🙂 I actually bought a chain harrow off of eBay, but it never arrived. Maybe I’ll make one with some cyclone fencing and cement blocks, or maybe I need to find a friendly farmer. Hmmmm

The lighting has been installed, countertops, sinks and interior doors installed. Over last weekend, I worked on the deck with my dad. We could have finished, but I’m short 14 boards so I have to order those to get it done. Then I’ll need to figure out what to put on the back step. It will probably just be wood boards because that is temporary. Eventually, I’ll put a patio out back with some nice steps down to our outdoor area with a movie screen.

Tip this week is —your builder is only as good as the subcontractors they hire. The contractors installing the doors into the Master bedroom and to the bathroom had to cut up into the wall so the doors would fit. I guess that means the framing company screwed up, but these guys also did a crappy job cutting the opening bigger. Instead of drawing a line and cutting straight across, it looks like they just hacked away at the wall until the door fit. The casing/molding will cover this, but Jesus Christ….I could have done a better job. You can’t fix drywall like that afterwards. They also were setting tools and the 2x4s they ripped out of the door frame on my brand new counter tops without any protection on them and the bathroom floor had drywall all over it the guy was stepping on the brand new flooring.

That is the bedroom door looking out to the mini laundry room on the 1st floor, which was kinda a bonus as there is a full laundry room upstairs. The problem with this is that there is no door framing for that “room”. It is supposed to have a sliding door, but at his point, the door needs to be 9’ high to cover the opening.

My pantry door is also supposed to be a barn style sliding door, but they installed a swing door. The door to the laundry room upstairs has to be opened out to the hall instead of into the room because if it opens inwards, it blocks the light switch. And, all the doors are supposed to have oil rubbed bronze hardware, but all the hinges were silver. So, a few minor issues, that the builder said they will remedy.

I’m still glad to see progress taking place and will be out at least once a week to check on things. I LOVE my floors and the wrap around porch is looking awesome. The concealed fasteners are a pain in the ass. If I had to do it over again, I’d just screw all the boards from the top.

I’ll take pics the end of this week of doors and countertops. I was kinda in a hurry this last weekend because there were 3 guys working and I didn’t want to be around them for long or get in the way. We all had masks on, though.

The cabinets have been installed. They aren’t all finished yet, but here are some pics.

The flooring has been installed everywhere except the Master Bathroom which is different than the rest of the house. I absolutely LOVE the flooring. It’s 100% waterproof, has texture and, is just gorgeous. Hoping it takes dog claws, riding toys, furniture moving around, etc.

Deck – My dad and I have been working on the deck. We’ve spent 12 hours so far and only finished one side. The rest is actually bigger than this, so I’m estimating 18 hours more. It’s a pain. In. The. Ass. If I had to do it over again, I think I’d buy the composite decking that you just screw in from the top and not worry about hidden fasteners. I’m still saving over $10,000 installing it myself and it is beautiful.

The cabinets arrived yesterday! The lighting has all arrived as well. Interior painting needs to finish and then they can finish electrical and install cabinets. The cabinets were a concern as the manufacturer had to reduce staff due to COVID. The other one that may be an issue is appliances. Those were supposedly ordered a couple months ago, so hopefully we’re ok.

I have a calendar I’m using to track guesses for my move-in date. It’s just for fun and I’ll give some sort of prize to whomever is the closest or on the date. If you’d like to participate, let me know and I’ll send you the link to look at dates.

We are moving for the 3rd time in less than 2 years. This time, we are moving in with my mom to get through the last stretch of the house build. We have gone from 1800 square feet to 1200 square feet to 900 square feet and now down to one shared room together. When our house is done, it’s going to feel like a mansion!

Drywall has been installed, taped and mudded. Now to wait until that dries and then it’s texture and paint. Hoping that will happen next week. I’ll be continuing to work on the fence this weekend (will post pics when done). It’s coming along nicely and I think I can own the elephant I’ve always wanted because that’s how strong it is! Goal is to get this first 10 section part done before we move.

After painting comes cabinets, then flooring, THEN maybe I’ll have a better idea of a move-in date.

The painters finished the outside painting today on the siding and porch posts. I LOVE IT!! This is what I have been dreaming of for 3 years. White on white.

Siding and blown in insulation is done! This is not the color of the house. That’s just primer. It will be white on white. Decking will be a darker brown – Dark Roast by Timbertech, entry doors will be black.

Next will be drywall, which everyone says seems to take F-O-R-E-V-E-R. This whole project feels like it has taken forever, so what’s new. October will be 2 years since I purchased the property! I got conduit to the shed for electrical and internet completed with my dad. I need to get that inspected and then we can bury that so there’s not a huge trench in the yard. Hope everyone is staying safe, healthy and sane. I have maybe 2 out of three.

Last week ended with plumbing, electrical, HVAC and fire sprinkler rough-ins being completed. This week is starting with insulation on the inside. The floor in the garage is supposed to be poured and the superintendent is pushing for permanent utilities to be hooked up.

My dad and I will finish framing the deck. It’s mostly him and I just pick up/put down/hold what he needs and get lunch when we’re hungry. It’s awesome that the deck will be done on day 1 of moving into the house. I had to take the money from the driveway and move it to the deck, because for some stupid reason, I didn’t include the deck in the budget. Probably because I knew I’d be building it myself and it’s not a requirement for the house, so the bank didn’t point it out. The builder wanted the ledger board on the house before siding (not 100% required, but would be better so we didn’t have to rip it off later). Driveway can be gravel until I can get that done later. The wrap around porch/deck is more important to me. I’m planning to spend plenty of time out there with coffee in the AM looking at the view and wine in the PM watching the sunset.

I also need to get the permit in to convert my shed to add utilities to it. The ditch is there to put conduit in so it’s ready for when that comes in.

This week, the house is getting wrapped with Tyvek, windows and doors going in and required fire sprinkler system going in. The water from the hydrant is only 5 PSI and they need 30. So that means an extra $17,000 for a sprinkler system with a 300 gallon tank and pump in the garage. The positive side is that IF there’s ever a fire, there is an average of $40k LESS damage if you have a sprinkler system. Also, I never have to buy emergency water because I’ll have 300 GALLONS in the effing garage. I don’t honestly know if it’s drinkable, but I’m trying to find a silver lining.

I also received the cabinet layout for the kitchen. I asked them to remove the cabinets above the range hood and to see if they can give me at least an inch on each side as I’m planning to build a custom hood cover.

In other news, my Shed Chateau was delivered this week. The end goal is to make this a guest house. I have a lot of hoops to jump through and with the extra expense of said fire sprinkler system, I’m not sure how quickly I will be able to make it happen. At a minimum, I’m hoping to have electrical and internet to the shed so I can work from there while the kid is in school, if there is school. Would cut out two hours commuting to an hour.

It’s pretty amazing how they bring in these buildings. They use a mule to pull it into place. This one is a 12 x 36 (4 ft of porch). The back end has a 9ft loft and 4 ft loft over the porch for extra storage. I got this from shedgal.com who is a distributor of Graceland Portable buildings.