Pictures

Rodden's room has a train that circles around on a shelf below the ceiling.
Kinsley and Rodden's house (Built by Grandpa Gene and myself) was relocated by two cranes into the backyard.

The original garage and one room from the original home was kept as a 2 car detached garage and a detached studio and made to look like a barn.

The house was designed around the views.

Most of the house facxes west to take advantage of the views. Thus the "side" is really our backyard.

Sorry...We're not ready for any more interior pictures yet.

Finally...

Last Friday we failed inspection with 11 items (prob typical). Today we barely passed inspection-- the temporary front railing was too small, but luckily we had a more flexible inspector who realized we were replacing it next week with a new railing.

I wish that the inspection meant all the work was done. Pete and Todd are putting up shoe molding to cover the damaged baseboards (from the hardwood), Brian is still painting (including the shoe molding when that is done), freezer is being repaired tomorrow, broken glass pains fixed today, had to remove the chimney cap because it didn't meet code, had to insulate the basement today, yesterday a couple of plumbing and electrical things were done, cabinets were touched up again today (hardwood stain damage to toe kicks), air ducts were cleaned today, cleaners cleaned the chose yesterday, windows started yesterday, outside of windows to be completed tomorrow, locksmith Thursday, fireplace repair tomorrow. We moved our storage unit in on Saturday, our big move is Thursday, whew...

The end is a killer. We had planned to have a leisurely move with the house ready weeks before we had to move. Now they will literally be painting as we move in. Plus there is still a number of exterior punch list items.

A few quick thoughts if I am crazy enough to do this again:
1.) Read the approved plans. The chimney cap was circled in red saying it had to be approved for use with the appliance. The insulation requirement was also there.
2.) Install cabinets after the first coat of the hardwood is done and/or paint on site. Painting cabinets ahead of time still leaves so much touch up and trim its not worth it. The little furniture feet don't work so well after you sand (in our case twice (: ) the floor.
3.) Budget much more than $10,000 in contingencies. It was more like $50,000 in over budget/ non budgeted items. Plus budget another amount for unplanned upgrades. All told about 10-12% for contingencies and upgrades.
4.) Don't be too optimistic on the schedule. 10 months seemed like no problem in the beginning, but it should have been obvious when we were off schedule around drywall time by 6 weeks that we weren't going to make it up. With the extra hardwood delay we were 2 months late. I originally had thought of using Microsoft Project to manage all the steps and dependencies; this wouldn't have been a bad idea.
5.) Have a system to improve communication with subs. So much information is passed on from the builder to the contractor owner to the actual worker. I was constantly being told I'd didn't know this or that by the workers. A big board with notes and info for the various subs would't be bad. My punch list at the end broken out by trades seemed to be helpful.

We love the house, but with so many people working in it each day it doesn't really feel like ours yet. We're just looking forward to getting moved in and having everyone out of the house.

Current punch list items

Here's the current punch list to give you an idea of where we are at.
We are shooting to have most of this wrapped up this Thursday and get final inspection on Friday, allowing Monday to fix any items and get CO next Tuesday in time to move in next Thursday.

PETE & TODD:
--ORB latch for craft room door
--Finish door hardware on barn/ ext garage
-install door knocker
-adjust self closing door south bedroom and master closet door
--Adjust middle door in Rodden's window seat (hard to open/close)
--Hang rod in laundry room
--Plane exercise room door-- too tight with carpet. Check others
--See Andrew and Kaly for other additional work.


FRAMERS (LONNIE):
--Finish barn columns
--Mount window boxes (supplied in garage)
--Trim at master balcony roof
--Install shutters, window boxes and corbels
--Temporary steps for final
--install weather vane
--Price on pergolda


ELECTRICIAN:
--Connect Phone lines
--Hookup AC units
--Adjust heights of some fixtures (maybe already done)
--Hang master bath chanedlier and master sitting chandelier after final
--Install wireless Nuotone doorbell, Oil rubbed bronze bell

Plumber
--Finish Trim out
--Replace brazen bronze fixtures (trip levers and laundry faucet are wrong). Needs to be oil rubbed bronze. (Some have been changed, some have not been.
--Replace/correct supply lines and drain to master bathtub and move bathtub to the right to center in the space
--Test pressure booster, water heaters, water heater recirc pump, etc.
--Replace kitchen sink drain with an ORB drain.
--Extend sump pump discharge around AC units and out into swale

FIRE DEFENSE:
--Missing a couple trim caps in basement under stairs

Garage:
--Install hinges and handles on outside

MOROS FABRICATION:
--Buff out any remaining scratches (seveal scratches at time of install) (FRIDAY scheduled)

DRYWALL: (RUSH)
--Repair in powder room behind light? (Maybe painters can do)
--Repair at outlet in laundry rooom.

ROOFER:
--Finish chimmney cap
--Missing shingles at front (little section)
--Scoopers at master deck
HVAC:
--Vent covers, test ac, new filter, clean and service HVAC (dust).

Duct Cleaning:
-Schedule duct cleaning

Asphalt
--Driveway all the way up to both garages

Drainage contractor
--Caps on window well drains

Steel:
--Complete front starircase railing outside, window wells, ladders, balcony. Provide estimate on gate and wing fence. Coordinate with owner on railing design. Owner has provided some S scroll and decorative pieces to be included in railings.

Stucco:
--Seam appears a little noticeable at kitchen nook?


MASON:
--grout at roof line.
--Adjust for drainage at front door

Update

They put the final coat on the hardwood again today, so at least we made up a few days.

Aerial photo

Here's an interesting aerial photo taken sometime last fall that appeared on Microsoft's Virtual Earth (actually on zillow.com)

Hardwood (ugghhh)

We're about worn out on the hardwood floors issue. The scratches (all caused by not sanding enough with an orbital sander originally), that turned into the patchwork refinishing and mis matched stain, that would "go away with the final coat, then go away in 2-3 weeks, then, 2-3 months, then 3-4 months...."

My worst fears were confirmed when I spoke to Craig at Hardwood Floorwerx (an extremely qualified hardwood company at 303-994-6336). I described the process and he said the floors would fade, but never match completely. He said that the process of scraping off the finish opens the grain differently and thus the wood absorbed the stain at a different rate. The floors would need to be refinished.

Votan finally agreed that refinishing is the best bet (how much easier this would have been if people would have listened to me last week before they did the final finish). Now we're backed up another 2 weeks (actually that'll be two months behind schedule if you're keeping track) behind schedule and will have a very rushed move.

I do credit Votan for wanting to make it right, but it's a shame that what was obvious to me as a lay person wasn't acted on sooner. An extra 8 hours of sanding the edges originally would have avoided another 100 hours of work re-doing everything (two times).

Hardwood nightmare continues, cabinets, etc.

I spent the whole day at the job site today.

The plumber looked for the leak over the garage ceiling, but couldn't even find plumbing. We suspect that it may have been a roof leak, although it would have had to come down the attic, between walls and down to the garage which would be odd. It was after a very raining night, though.

The hardwood is as I was worried, turning out to be a huge stress. Everywhere that they sanded the scratches out (just about 2' of the perimeter of every room) was a darker stain. I was assured that it would blend in 2-3 weeks. I questioned why they didn't just sand the whole floor down because I didn't want any delays later. No problem I was assured. Now they put the final top coat on and sure enough the blotching unmatched color is still there. Now they're saying 2-3 months it will blend "guaranteed". Why should I have to wait 2-3 months for my floors to (maybe) look good when it is a brand new house?

The cabinet situation isn't much better. We love the look of the cabinets, but are waiting for them to come paint them AGAIN since they just can't seem to get the color right (the doors don't even match each other). They replaced the backspalsh a second time because they scratched it last time after replacing it.

The shutters and corbels went up today, though, and they look awesome. Pete and Todd finishe dthe stair railing which looks great, the door hardware (Emtek) which we love. So things are coming to gether with the exception of the floor.

Hardwood final finish and other updates

We haven't been in the house today or yesterday because they are finishing the (hopefully) final coat on the hardwood. They works for days sanding out the scratches caused from the original edger. My main concern now ifs that the areas don't appear to blend but they all say that it will when it cures over a couple weeks. Let's hope so. Refinishing the floors once we move in will be a disaster. It's been kind of a nice break to be away-- it gets quite stressful as things are broken lost, or just wrong.

Kinsley's room is all painted with her tree, horse, picket fence on the wall, etc. It looks great.

I've met with several landscapers and have several more to go. It's a lot of area to landscape ($$$).

I was about to buy a new Monogram freezer (due to the other being bent and therefore not repairable). As you'll recall I got a great deal on it- $1600 for a $4,000 freezer, so I was bummed to have to return it and buy a new one, but was resigned to the "get what you pay for" fact. Then today I get a call from Ge following up on my service call. I called them back and they said they would send out and install a brand new Monogram Freezer for just $1000. Thus my $1600 + $1000 is still a lot less than the price of a new one (and I'm getting a new one). It;s still a pain to have to un install it, but it worked out okay.

Here's the current punch list:

PETE & TODD:
--What is the status on the replacement hardware from McGukins?
--Hardware for two doors in basement-- replace hinges with ORB
--Finish door hardware on barn
--Plane and hang exterior closet door
--Finish stair railings
--Finish installing label holders


HARDWOOD:
--Final finish (should be done) and inspection

FRAMERS (LONNIE):
--Finish barn columns when concrete is finished.
--Mount window boxes (supplied in garage)
--Trim at master balcony roof
--Install shutters, window boxes and corbels
--Temporary steps for final

ELECTRICIAN:
--Connect Phone lines
--Adjust heights of some fixtures (maybe already done)
--Replace crooked master bath lights with new ones as discussed (maybe already done)
--Hang master bath chandelier and master sitting chandelier after final
--Install wireless Nuotone doorbell, Oil rubbed bronze bell
--Outside electrical box at left front, appears that cover is on backwards

Plumber
--Finish Trim out
--Replace brazen bronze fixtures (trip levers and laundry faucet are wrong). Needs to be oil rubbed bronze. (Some have been changed, some have not been.
--Replace/correct supply lines and drain to master bathtub and move bathtub to the right to center in the space
--Install owner provided ORB faucet in laundry
-Pressure booster tank needs a check valve installed before the inlet, but after the inlet low pressure cut off switch. Adjust inlet low pressue switch to cut off power if inlet pressure drops below 10 PSI.
--Secure/complete outside hose bibs
-Seal ejector pit
-Seal sump pit
--Fix leak, appears to be coming from Jack and Jill bath. Was dripping through garage ceiling.
--Replace kitchen sink drain with an ORB drain.

FIRE DEFENSE:
--Missing a couple trim caps in basement under stairs

MOROS FABRICATION:
--Buff out any remaining scratches (several scratches at time of install)

DRYWALL:
--Repair in powder room behind light
--Repair (missed earlier) in garage above service door

ROOFER:
--Copper chimney cap, price, etc. Flashing on chimney (was leaking!)
--Repair to bubbled garage roof; investigate with Lonnie
--Flashing on front side of house over great room where stone meets the roof. and in front at roof return.

HVAC:
--install AC units; finish trim out
--Options on vent covers?

Concrete:
--Finish slab at garage patio

Asphalt
--Driveway all the way up to both garages

Harold:
--Final grade -- See landscape plan
--Fill window wells & check water proof where stucco is down too far
--More dirt to level front area, extend lid on septic tank
--Need more dirt

Steel:
--Complete front starircase railing outside, window wells, ladders, balcony. Provide estimate on gate and wing fence. Coordinate with owner on railing design. Owner has provided some S scroll and decorative pieces to be included in railings.

Stucco:
--Finish touch up at kitchen nook door and skim coat on concrete locks (6" around top)

TILE:
--Install remaining trim tile in master shower.
--Touch up grout and seal
--Polish marble
--Build marble shelf for vanity

MASON:
Done


Painter:
--Paint mirror trim, cork board and Kinsley's mail box
--Caulk all along at swooping ceiling and master sitting area
--Finish inside & touchups, inside of windows, garage door edge, etc.
--Finish touchups on play house.
--Touch up outside barn room and trim
--Finish doors and rail
--Paint screen
--Caulk bathrooms

Security System:
--Finish install once phone line is hooked up

Fireplace:
--Final trim pieces.
--Waiting on replacement manifold

Cabinets:
--Re-repair laminate backsplash
--Replace broken glass door
--Shorten drawer for microwave
--repaint and touch up
--toe kick and trim for dishwashers


MISC:
--Find replacements for pot rack hooks that were thrown away
--New freezer top be delivered in the next 7-10 days
--Need washer and dryer
--Carpet to be installed


Landscaping:
--Conduit across all driveways and hard surfaces
--Downspout buried drain lines as necessary
--Getting bids

Worn out

We're both worn out. We've been at the house or picking things up at the store 6 hours a day. Kaly is mopping the floor tonight to mark the scratches that the hardwood guys need to remove tommorow (I spent 2 hours sweeping earlier tonight).

Appliances installed!

It was exciting today to see the appliances installed. Dan from PCS (303 838 5655) was awesome. When the oven didn't fit the cabinet he modified the cabinet (in contrast to the electrician who wouldn't even cut a hole in the cabinet). It was refreshing to deal with someone so meticulous and experience. If you need high-end appliances installed call him!

We were very concerned about the scratches that showed up on the hardwood floors 9sanding marks that sowed up because of the stain), but Votan Lehnert stepped right up and said 'no problem' and his crew came out to start re sanding and re staining around the baseboards.

Pete and Todd have some of the hardware up. Drywall will be patched tomorrow (had to move switches upstairs because they were too close to the wainscot and not enough room for the switch cover), patch where the pot rack/light had to be moved, etc.

I've been mentionin the covered up speaker wire in the kitchen, but Lisa, the electrician didn't know anything about it, so I hope finding it doesn't cause more drywall damage.

The Stone and Fence should be done tommorow.

Also meeting with Scott the landscape designer on Monday (303 956 3060). We're very happy with his deisgn.

Clean up

We were busy today cleaning up. Now that the hardwood surfaces are done, we needed to get the basement and bedrooms cleaned up so the debris wouldn't be tracked on the new floors. Rick from Colt did a lot, and we had a cleaner come clean the tile. Kaly and I also worked all day (one at a time) Some grout is already dirty, so that needs some more scrubbing and then it needs to be sealed.

The counter top guys were working, and one painter, but that was it. (well, and our friend Camille started on the mural in Kinsley room).

I did walk through the house with Doug, and Tony, from T. Browne Plumbing came by which was good because he said he would fix a couple of odd looking things with the master bath that his "worker/plumber" said were "just the way it is".

Overall though every day that goes by without all the subs on site is stressful, but in reality we needed the day to get the place cleaned up. I just hope we'll have lots of work tomorrow.


Meet the landscape designer tomorrow, the fence guy should come back this weekend, meeting the steel guy Wednesday, The gas connection will finish the fireplace tomorrow, stone guy is supposed to be back tomorrow (waiting on the roofer to waterproof the front stairs)....

At this stage there are so many trades involved it can drive you crazy.

taping the cabinets

The hardwood guys started staining the floors today. Brian and his crew had taped a lot of the baseboards and walls. I figured the hardwood guys would tape up the kitchen cabinets-- but they had no such plan. It drives me crazy how none of the trades worry about the others work. I spent the last two hours (now midnight) taping up the bottom of the cabinets so they won't get stain on them.

I'm still waiting on the front steps to be waterproofed, but Reo didn't show up anyway.

A leak!

The hardwood crew from (Votan from Lehnert Construction) finished up sanding the hardwood today. The plumbers have been making good progress as well, but when they turned the water on it started pouring out of a light fixtures in the playroom closet. Ooos. Luckily the hardwood guys caught it immediately and soaked it up with sawdust. The plumber reassembled the valve in the master shower and it works now. Any scratch, water, dent, etc. at this stage is irritating. We're looking forward to getting it all cleaned up and protected!

Painters are finishing up the outside trim.

Next week we'll need to get the drywallers in to do touch up before the painters, finish electrical and plumbing and countertops and work on getting the appliances installed.

Here's a picture of the front.

Hardwood floors in progress.

The hardwood floors are now in the process of being filled, sanded, stained and finished (one coat now, and one final coat at the last minute)

The masonry guys did the fireplace and stove back splash this weekend. They had to redo the hearth today because they did it wrong, but it looks good now. This was a big worry when we saw it was wrong Sunday morning until it was fixed today.

A lot of the plumbing has been completed (despite several reminders they still put on the wrong colored trip levers on the toilets so they'll have to redo that).

We would have liked to have moved the island a few inches, but now that it is all assembled that would be nearly impossible-- in the future that would be something to confirm at time of installation. We would have also moved the claw foot tub a couple inches, but I suspect that is too late because the plumbing is all in.

The stone on the outside is almost done. Painters got a lot of the outside paint work done today. A lot of the electrical outlets are trimmed out and a lot of lights are up, although not too much else can happen inside this week.

Meet the steel guy tomorrow to go over the window well and outside railings.

More updates

The stone masons are almost done outside. Still need to finish the inside brick.

Painter is done spraying. Still has lots of staining and touch up inside.

Electricians and Plumbers should start tomorrow. Then hardwood guys will start sanding and staining so no one else can work-- prob beginning Monday.

Laundry cabinets were delivered today-- some problem with paint an a few doors (should have been pull out hampers).

Cabinet guys will have to come Friday or later top repaint trim and laundry cabinets.

Adam the fence guy is awesome, but his mother died last week so he is off for a while. Very sad-- he is now taking acre of his 12 yr old sister.

Move in date is here..Just kidding

Our "no problem" 10 1/2 months at the most move in date has come and gone.

The delays really occurred at framing and drywall and we never recovered. We spent a few weeks extra back and forth with structural reviews and inspections on the framing and then the drywall was also a few weeks longer than scheduled. In case you are curious the budget is running about $75k over budget; about half of which were conscious add-ons and the other half was just increased costs or bad estimates. We're excited to finish and get moved in and love the house, but I'm personally getting worn out and ready to be done. The finish work is definitely the most stressful because by now you're already over budget from drywall, framing, electrical, yet now is the time that upgrading things has the most impact. The things that I have taken control of like cabinets, paint, tile, stone have actually remained relatively in budget and we've gotten what we wanted, but it's still stressful. The cabinets have been most stressful, because they keep getting the white wrong (you would be amazed at how the eye picks up different shades of white).

Another thing that can be a bit stressful in building a custom house is that, although you can demand quality work, sometimes in order to get things the way they need to be you just have to pay extra. For example, on our back splashes the cost was going to be $985 for the soapstone. But now because we don't have enough stone left we have to pay an extra $1,000 for another slab, so it's $1985 for the back splashes. It's not really anyone's fault, it just costs us an extra grand to make it right. There's countless examples of things like this where you just have to open your wallet to get it right.

My advice to anyone wanting to build a custom home is that it takes a couple years from start to finish (maybe 20 months from the time we actually meant with an architect), and absorbs about 10-20 hours a week during that time (sure, a lot of that is fun things like shopping, reviewing plans, etc. but it's still time that you have to budget on). I've found it to be a great learning experience, but there is no doubt that my work has suffered which can be tough because it also happens to be a time of writing a gazillion checks. I've taken care of all the money and have a detailed Cost vs Bid sheet that tracks that cost of every time. I have every document imaged as well as filed in a now 6" thick binder. A dedicated checking account and Quickbooks (with all categories setup for tracking) tracks the project and my bookkeeper probably spends another 8 hours a month on it. I would definitely do it again (after a long break), but I would be more realistic on the time commitment.

Here's a quick snapshot of what remains to be done:

FIRE DEFENSE:
--Trim out- prefer this week before hardwood.

DRYWALL:
--Drywall repair in garage
--Drywall repair touch up in master
--Drywall touch up to elc outlet moved in laundry room
--Final Drywall touch ups

ROOFER:
--Roof at balcony needs flashing
--copper chimney cap, price, etc.
--repair to bubbled garage roof
--coordinate on blower install

HVAC:
--install blower
--install acs

ELECTRICIAN:
--Trimout
--Install blower
--finish heated floor
--Outlet in blue bedroom for train shelf covered up
--Outlet needs to be moved in Upstairs bath (front of house) where it will be in the way of the mirror
--Outlet in laundry room had to be moved-- add box.
--Wires to gate in future (not ready yet, but we seemed to have already paid for this, so will there be another charge)

Plumber
--Trimout
--Replace brazen bronze fixtures
--Don't forget hot water recirc, and water pressure booster pump
--Don't forget water line for freeze
--Don't forget the fresh water chiller and filter system

Concrete:
--Slab at garage patio

Asphalt
--Driveway all the way up to both garages

Harold:
--Final grade (wait till fence is done)
--Fill window wells & check water proof were stucco is down too far

Steel:
--Confirm price on Doug's steel guy includes powder coated Oil Rubbed Bronze finish. All railins, I supply decorative piece. If so proceed (confirm price was $7k and include two ladders for a couple window wells for escpae from the basement). Confirm includes all window wells, balcony, and outside stairs.


Stucco:
--Complete stucco consistent with grade outside area by door from breakfast nook.

Mirror & Doors:
--Install shower doors
--Order and install mirrors

PETE & TODD:
--Remove the board that Pete & Todd put up today below the niche/shelf above the doors to the master bedroom. Not sure why it is there- they said you told them to put it up, but Kaly thinks it looks funny and preferred the drywall.
--They still need to put up the trim at the edge of the roof at the master balcony.
--They centered light at entry, but what happens to the cutout spot where they moved it from?
--Jack & Jill bath still needs some plinth blocks and baseboards.
--Trim mirrors same as windows.
--Door and bath hardware
--Modify doors of antique vanity

Counterops
--Install
--Add backsplash
--Cut hole in antique vanity ($75)

Masonry:
--Cement blocks at large window well
--Finish stone
--brick fp and behind stove
--flagstone cap on hearth
--Steps at front stairs

Custom iron works
--Front gate w/ wind fence on each side, opener controls

Fence:
--Complete fence


Painter:
--Finish inside & touchups, inside of windows, garage door edge, etc.
--Shed, playhouse, well house
--Touch up outside barn room and trim
--Window wells
--Downspouts, Flashing and mechanical on roof
--Stain doors and rail

Security System:
--call for trimout

Fireplace:
--Confirm all trim in glass
--ordered new liner kit
--Trimout before or after brick??

Cabinets:
--Laundry room hamper correction
--Dining room niche install and cover adjustable shelf holes
--Repaint laundry room and misc trim

Me:
--Deliver light fixtures to rooms
--Order pulls and label holders
--Put up weather vane

Landscaping:
--Select co and plan

Open Items

Just an example of the things I'm tracking that need to be done:


2/26 Fire valve on outside of garage. Status? Also need trimout
2/26 Roof at balcony on roof- needs flashing and trim.
2/26 Center light at front door. This needs to be done so it can be painted.
2/26 Electrician- outlet in bedroom for train that is covered up. Speaker wires in kitchen and outside.
2/26 Chimmney caps, sizes, prices, etc.
2/26 Status on slab at garage?
2/26 Price on concrete drive and asphalt. I think we will go with all asphalt.
2/26 Waterproofing stucco on window wells (Doug to provide) Material that rick started with seem to fall off?
2/26 Who/when on backfilling window wells. (wait for Brian to paint)
3/5 Roof on barn where it is popping up
3/5 Estimate on outside railings. When can your steel guy give me an estimate on all this?
3/12 Install blower on roof.
3/18/2007-Stucco to be consistent at ground grade on West of hoiuse in courtyard area.
Status on mirrors and shower doors.

Open items for Pete & Todd:
Trim piece at balcony
Trim mirrors (same as windows-- space between bottom trim and top of soapstone counter).
Center light at balcony
Trim master ceiling
Trim corner toe kick at master bench seat
Door and bath hardware
Modify doors of antique vanity
Open items for stone:
Brick at FP and stove, stone hearth
Finish stone and window wells
Stone step
Steel:
Balcony, window wells, stairs, entry gate and wing fence
Painter:
Inside
Shed, playhouse, well house
Touch up outside barn room and trim
Window wells
Downspouts, Flashing and mechanical on rood
Electrical trimout-Let me know when lights should be put out.
Plumbing- no brazen bronze. Install booster pump (test first). Is recirc pump installed?
Would like faucets for island asap.
Misc:
Security system trimout
Fire System Trimout
Touch up paint on cabinets from Hellers
Moros- any remant of Soapstone- can we have? I think we need to add backspalsh to bake center.

Update stone & paint

The stone masons (two guys working the last two days) are making progress and it's about 3/4 of the way done.

Painters are ready to spray the main floor (primed and prepped). It's been about 3 weeks tomorrow on the inside-- what he figured. A crew of around 3-5 people at a time. There will still be a lot of touch up I'm sure.

Pete and Todd are coming by Saturday for a couple of small items (light over outside entry needs to be centered, trim at master ceiling, trim at toe kick on bench seat in master).

The electricians had to wire the front steps before they could pour concrete, but they did that and now the concrete is poured, forms are off and it all looks good. The electricians put outlets and switches in the basement and upstairs and put up the exterior lights, but ran out of work for now.

The next steps are trim electrical, install counters (tomorrow?), install remaining cabinets in laundry and niches (tomorrow), install plumbing fixtures, sand and finish hardwood with one coat, finish trim out, install appliances, finish last coat on hardwood and install carpet and clean.

I still need to get the window well, stair and balcony railings ordered (comparing bids), teh front gate ordered and installed, and find a landscaper. We are also waiting on the asphalt-- they don't open until late spring.

Paint and stone

The stone work continues (1 guy, not the 30 Rigo talked about) and they are making good progress and we love the stone. The fence builders have also got a lot done and are very good guys.

Painters are about done with the basement and upstairs and are done priming the main floor so they should be wrapping up in a few days.

The copper roof at the office bay was put on today and looks great.

Electricians are starting to trim out the outlets, etc. By next week we should be able to get a lot of electrical and plumbing done. Countertops are supposed to be here this week.

The stone arrives, fence building and big beams

Wow. A lot has happened in the last week...

First off, the beams were put up in the great room. Check out the time lapse video courtesy of www.watching-grass-grow.com. Pete and Todd are true craftsman. Todd may have enjoyed this even more than building the train shelf around Rodden's room (and he thought that was pretty cool).

Brian, the best painter ever (call him 303-249-1080) is cranking away despite having most of his crew out with the stomach flu last week. He's been at it two weeks and the upstairs is done and the basement, so now another 1 1/2 or 2 and he should be done.

I got a little frustrated with Rolando, the builder's stone guy's bid (long story, but it started labor and materials, but then I needed to get the materials, but his labor price plus actual materials was higher). I got a referral to Rigo Marquez from Robinson Brick Co. and Rigo is awesome. Price was much better, and he showed up the next day. He calls me to tell me when he'll be there, and even called Kaly and I to come see it today to make sure we were happy with the work. What great service.

Picking the stone was tough. Kyle, our architect liked "Trailhead" a random shaped stone because it looked like more rural. Doug thought it was ugly. In the end we chose Kiamachi which looks more European which is what we wanted anyway.

I also found an awesome fence guy on Craigslist. Adam Gallegos. How often does your subcontractor text message you? He's awesome about communicating with me which is key with any subcontractor. The guys great and a great deal since there is no middle man. $2.50 a ft for labor for the fence. With materials that only like $10/ft for a 6 ft high split rail fence with welded wire.

I looked at gates online at gatecrafters . com , but found a local place in Brighton, (Custom Iron Works) that had just as good of price and would install it.

Kitchen cabinets and bath vanities were installed this week. We love them! A few more issues with paint matching, etc. but Steve has been great about making them right and I have a much greater appreciation for the work involved in building and painting such cabinets. I think Terry, the main carpenter that built them is ready to be done with the job. We think that he thinks were crazy for wanting painted cabinets with inset doors (most new houses have stained cabinets with European hinges-- the kind that are hidden and adjustable where the door covers the opening-- ours are old fashioned inset doors where the door has to be precisely fit to the opening and the hinges are exposed on the side). The funny thing is that only the most expensive custom cabinet companies do this kind of work...If you check out http://www.peacockcabinetry.com/ the Scullery Kitchen you'll see one of the most exclusive cabinet company's work... We saw this add in a magazine and I called them. They said there cabinets start at about $100,000. So, I'm not quiet sure that Terry fully appreciates the style of his work on our house, but we do!


The laundry room and niche cabinets will be delivered next week.
Need to template for the counters for the vanities.
Stone started Wed and should be done early next week.
Still waiting for the front steps to be poured, should be Monday.

finally starting to paint

Things are really coming together. Pete finished up the staircase at the end of last week and it looks great. Todd did the train shelf in Rodden's room and it will be a lot of fun. The wood ceiling in the entry was a great idea (Todd's idea I think). The fireplace is also done. We had a plaster decorative piece that we found that we are putting on the mantel. The window seat in the master sitting room was also a great add-on (Kaly's idea).

Brian and his crew have been prepping the upstairs and the basement. Brian sprayed the upstairs today. Pete and Todd will be out Friday and Brian will paint the family room ceiling Friday and Pete and Todd will be back next week to put up the beams (which finally arrived today). The window

Steve the tile guy finished up on Monday and things look great. Just got the shower door measured.

Cabinets are now delayed until next Tuesday, but that shouldn't affect the schedule.

The outside is still moving slowly. caissons are in for the steps, but no forms yet and the stone will be a big job.

I'm in the process of getting estimates for railings for the balcony and window well, fence and automatic gate.

Progress Report

Tile guy should be finished up by the end of the week. Looks good. In the future we need to plan better for the height of the heated floor, though. Should be able to ramp up carpet otherwise we'll need to get a custom thresehold made up.

The staircase and fireplace was started today. We beefed up the bottom newell post a little, but otherwise looks good. Besides the beams and base these are two of final trim items.

The painters should be able to start inside later this week. They finished the barn area. We should have included in the original bid painting the gutters, flashing, and inside of the window wells, so we'll need to add this on.

They poured caissons for the front steps, but we're waiting on the backhoe to dig out the trenches for the forms (their was some confusion on this-- Doug didn't think they would be 3' under ground). I also need the backhoe to dig up a leaky pipe coming from our well (must have frozen and broke).

Doug thinks we'll be done early April. Pete and Todd say 3 months (end of May). Hopefully Doug is right.

Counter tops were installed in the kitchen yesterday. They look great, except that they had to shim them up to be level, which created a gap at the cabinet base. Apparently the cabinet bases weren't totally level. Normally you would just shim them up, but with the furniture feet on them this would look funny, so the best course of action is to add a small piece of trim at the top of the base cabinets.

I'm working on getting gate and fence estimates. We'll also need railings around the window wells, not just grates, because the windows extend up above the top of the well. This will look nice, but be more expensive.

In the future I would have both the framers and trim carpenters review the plans before they are finalized and also have the trim carpenters walk the house at the end of framing. There are numerous items that I think the trim carpenters would notice early on that could be changed in the framing (nothing big, just details where trim gets cut off, door headers crowded, etc.-- all typical in any home.)

Tile almost done, front steps started

Ever since the poured the foundation I've been wondering (and asking) what the deal with the front steps was (they weren't there). Basically they weren't shown on the structural plans so they weren't included as part of the foundation. Of course they are part of the foundation-- they need caissons, concrete, etc. The weather has finally improved and, knowing that we really must have front steps, they got started today. I could have saved a little money and not poured them on caissons, but with thousands of dollars of stone on top of the steps I don't want to risk them settling. The total is $3400 (plus the stone will be at least that). Of course none of this was in the budget since they were ignored by all until the foundation was poured. Of well.

Custom Iron Works out of Platteville, CO came by today to give me an estimate on an automatic front gate ($5500 plus wireless controls and keypad, etc.), and railing for all the window wells and the master balcony. We need a railing on the window wells, not just a grate, because the casement windows open out and are mostly above the top of the window well. Railing will look nicer, though-- hopefully the cost isn't too bad (not budgeted for of course).

Brian's crew from Assorted Color (awesome painters- 303 249 1080) was busy finishin up the painting on the barn. They will be ready to start inside next week.

Steve Yates, the tile guy (303 478 0375) is almost finished. He has worked hard to layout all the tile precisely so there are no short cuts, etc. About 3 weeks of work, 6 days a week or so for him (he works alone). $7500 price for labor was about $3k cheaper than other bids.

Pete and Todd are busy-- the swooping entry ceiling looks awesome with v groove wood. And the ceiling in the master with the window seat is perfect. They have about 2 1/2 weeks to go on baseboard, stair railing, fireplace and beams.

Cabinets were again delayed until 3/8/07. Soapstone in the kitchen will be installed tommorow.

No Internet, but work continues

If you noticed the lack of video it's not you. Pathbroadband has been down for a week now. A company wide outage. Maybe they are going out of business? There voice mail says it will be up tomorrow. We'll see.

Pete and Todd continue to plug along. We keep adding more work. The latest is a window seat in the sitting area of the master bedroom. They have a few weeks left by my guess-- built in at kitchen, mudroom and master should be about a week and a half, the stairs about a week, the beams and ceiling in the entry about a week and the fireplace a few days.

The tile guy should have been back at it today. Floors should be done soon.

Cabinets to be repainted Saturday. Countertops installed in the kitchen next Wednesday. The rest of the cabinets next Friday.

Then we'll need countertops for the vanities templated. Painting can maybe start in a week upstairs.

The outside is at a standstill over weather. I did decide to go with caissons for the front step. Waiting for an estimate on that.

General Update

Soapstone cabinets from Dorado Soapstone and Moros Fabrication have been templated. Should be ready to install 2/19.

Base cabinets will be repainted on site Sat 2/17. Terry, the cabinet maker will be here tomorrow to scribe the sink cabinet (it's a farmhouse sink so the front face of teh cabinet has to be cut to fit the contour of the sink).

I'm also meeting a carpet installer to measure for carpet.

Hardwood stair treads were installed this week. Recvd samples of iron balusters today from www.stairpartswarehouse.com; Pete and Todd will confirm quantity and we will order.

Ordered the wood beams from www.fauxwoodbeams.com this week.

Tile guy is 80% done with marble in master (I learned tonight that the color changes with moisture, so the part that is in mortar looked different than the rest-- I was scared for a moment.)

Drywall is finally done.

Stucco is 98% done. Still waiting on better weather to get the front steps poured so we can start the stone work.

A few things learned:
There is part of a steel beam sticking 1/2" out at ceiling of basement bathroom. In the future I'll watch for this (fix is easy- add crown molding)

Don't plan on 4" for door casing, plan on 7" to allow for the top of the header that has a return.

Confirm all selections-- drywall and stucco both cost more because of the texture we chose-- but the subs didn't bother to tell anyone this information when we were making the selection!

We have done a good job with the trim carpenters (and tile guy) of keeping an itemized list up to date of all jobs and costs. Never just say-- add this or that, without getting a cost (the garage remodel was exactly this and it cost 3x the budget).

Drywallers show up

After a month, the drywallers finally came back to sand the walls.

Muddy but lots of work

Check out how many cars are in the muddy mess of the driveway today...Trim carpenters, hardwood guys, painters (in and out), stucco guys, tile guy and the dry wallers!

I don't know how that front loader is going to do any good with all the cars in the way, though.

Cabinets Delivered

The base kitchen cabinets were installed today. Watch the time lapse video courtesy of Alek at watching-grass-grow.com. It's pretty exciting to see this much progress in one day. As you recall we had an issue with the paint color and quality on the previous sample and they spent the last three weeks sanding and repainting-- the quality is now perfect and we love the color (Benjamin Moore Simply White aka Pottery Barn white). Luckily the electricians were there today (working on the heated floor in the master bath) since some wires for under cabinet lighting needed to be pulled through the cabinets (would have been tough otherwise).

Steve Yates, the tile guy, is a hard, fast worker. He's got the basement craft room done, the laundry room done, and the mosaic tile almost finished in the basement bath and the upstairs bath.

We're leaning towards cast iron balusters now as opposed to white wood.

Pete and Todd are making good progress. They are working on the window seats in the kids rooms. They are waiting for more of the wood to be milled for the wainscot. I'm not sure why we are getting poplar though as Todd said Ultra light is cheaper and works as well. I'll have to ask about this in the future.

Tile and Trim

I hired Steve Yates yesterday to do the tile. He seems very experienced (18 yrs) and good references, and a very good price. We're still making some changes to the trim pieces at the showers-- strangely the bullnose cost the same as decorative trim pieces (I wish I would have known before ordering all the bullnose).

We decided to add the wainscot all the way up the stairs ($1000 labor + materials) and beadboard in the main floor 3/4 bath ($400). Here's Pete working on the wainscot at the stairs.

Curious if the drywallers will show up today-- conflicting opinions on how long it will take to get it right (Tim, the owner says 5 minutes a room, Doug thought two guys 15 hours each, Diego- the one actually doing the work just looked bewildered). We also need to uncover the niches at the tubs that the drywallers covered up, but know one knows for sure where they are located.

Stucco should be about done since we've had good weather, but we still need the front steps and all the stone work.

Drywall

I sent Kaly over this morning to meet with Doug (Builder) and Tim & Diego (Drywallers) to go over the sea of blue tape. Kaly has an eye for drywall defects and I was afraid to OK anything. Kaly seemed to have everyone smiling (see photo). She should probably be there more often directing things. (Although she did ask to have wainscot added up the stairs while she was there, so that might get expensive).

We found a great deal on the old fashioned Octaon w/ dot tile we were looking for at Home Depot-- it was a 1/3 the cost of the same thing at Prosource. We got the ceramic tile at Floor & Decor, the marble (Carrara marble for the master bath) and subway tiles at Prosource. Interestingly we found that certain Dal-Tile decorative trim pieces weren't much more than the bullnose pieces. In the future I might make more use of the trim versus the bullnose.

Pete and Todd have put up the Bead board in the playroom and laid out the spacing for the panels in the dining room. A few outlets and vacuum outlet need to be moved slightly. This would be good to coordinate on with the electricians when they are putting them in.

Drywall pains

Kaly and I spent 5 hours yesterday marking all the drywall defects. We were a little frustrated because there were so many obvious defects that if the drywallers had just done a careful walkthru we wouldn't have had to spend so much time. So we probably were pickier than we would have otherwise been. Drywall mistakes is a big pet peeve of Kaly's and we let everyone know upfront that this was an area of particular concern.

One costly mistake is the door to the garage. Every other door is 8' on the main floor, but it is only 6'8" and looks awful short. I think we're going to replace it ($900- ouch).

Note to self (for the next home):
1. Check all door heights.
2. Check all door framing. We have a 4" trim on the doors, plus a header that sticks out another 2". Many of the doors are 4" from a wall, not 6", so the header gets cut off. The architect, framers, etc. need to take into account the full width of the door with trim and header.

We've decided on marble floors in the master bath and basement bath, an old fashioned looking white octagon for the two upstairs baths (the two main floor baths are wood) and white subway tiles for the showers and tubs. We didn't care much for Capco tile-- it seems like all they want to push is what they are putting in all the other new homes and we want a very traditionally styled home.

After much agonizing Kaly has switched back from Marble to Soapstone countertops. She loves the looks of marble and could even handle it staining easily, but she is very clean and the thought of not being able to use bleach based cleaning products was too much. We found a great slab (four actually) of Soapstone at Dorado Soapstone and Moros Fabrication will finish them. Both companies have been great so far. Soapstone does scratch, but can be easily sanded by the homeowner and it is impossible to stain or burn.


We love the custom front door. Against the advice of other we designed an 8'0, 42" white full arch top door with six pains of glass, plank style our of knotty alder and we love it. Kevin of Appalachian Woodworks in Colorado Springs made it along with a matching outside closet door.

Pete and Todd, the trim carpenters are doing great. We love their work and its nice to have someone on the job everyday working.

The stucco guys keep getting frozen out and the stone isn't even started. Hopefully it will warm up sometime soon.

The cabinets are delayed another 10 days, but I really appreciate Stever of Hellers Interiors stepping up to make them right. He painted them without confirming the exact shade of white, and after 24 hours of stress on our part, he insisted that we were right and he would make them right, and that he also, didn't think the finish was perfect and they would all be resanded and repainted.

Cabinet Questions