The End...

Link to brochure...

June 1

Been awhile, but any few shreds of time is spent moonlighting at the house - painted is in full effect right now - and I am about sick of it...but it is soooo much easier to paint in a new construction house versus completed (no worries about drips, no taping, etc). Having painted with a couple brands, my ratings...

1 - Sherwin Williams Superpaint - this is want my drywall guys used, so used some on the main walls...give it an A-...goes on like butter and if your good at applying - is truly one-coat...its pricey...$45 a gallon...however, got it at 30% off (9 gallons).

2 - Behr Premium Plus ULTRA - I really liked this deep sage color they had, and this was supposed to be their new super premium line...runs $32 a gallon....boy, does this shit stink!! No way it goes on in one coat - it has a primer built in, with seems to make it "slippery". It redeemed itself a bit after the second coat...as it does look good, but not a very good DIY choice for most. D-

3 - Pittsburgh Paint - Used this on my former basement finish job...really solid brand...probably my favorite - goes on nicely and lap marks are avoided pretty easily. Runs $28 per gallon at Menards - but was on rebate....I would actually use all Pittsburgh Paint next time over the Sherwin Williams...I dont think SW is twice as good as the price would indicate...in fact, PP may be better. Give it an A

4 - Dutch Boy - for a cheapy brand (sub $20 a gallon) - I liked it. They had a deep blue (Hurricane Cliff) that we liked for Connors room...figured I wasnt going to spend big bucks on kids room paint. We got their washable paint ... went on nicely, albiet, seems a wee bit watery. B+.

5 - Valspar Signature - this is Lowes premium line - real solid as well...they had an Eddie Bauer "Craftsman" collection of colors, and the green was a homerun for one of the rooms. Stuff goes on real nice and looks good. At $28...good value.

As far as rollers - I will never roll with anything other the Purdy rollers - they are pricey.. $12 for 3...but they do not shed at ALL and coverage is great. Bought a $195 power sprayer/roller. Tried spraying, but I was not good at it...I put on too thick and I striped the walls quite a bit (did not overlap properly). So I used the roller setting...really slick...a pain to clean up...but probably allows you to paint 3x's faster. Graco Magnum Project Painter 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRT2PGWSxxc)

Besides painting...concrete guys finalllllllllllllllllllly made it out to pour the garage floor and porch - important, as we can't finish siding/stone work until the porch was poured, and I need to store some items (interior doors, cabinets) in the garage shortly.

We also have lights now, electricians were out to hook up almost everything...so its nice to have more than 1 outlet now and not have to lug extension cords and portable lights everywhere.

My time to shift into overtime on the house is coming up quick, with trim work and flooring...many long days and nights lay ahead.

Custom staircase was delivered to the house in pieces today...they will start putting it together tomorrow.


Lights and paint (and yes, there is paint missing where cabinets will go).

Stair parts....

Wainscoting will go beneath the green part...

More paint.

There will be stone up the wall by the fireplace and crown molding (hence, no paint)

Concrete forms up for the porch...

Concrete truck getting to close to the house for my comfort...

May 7th

Quick update given we are in one of those rapid changes phase.

I am absolutely giddy over the way the look of the house is shaping up...the cedar shake siding went up today on the gables, and boy, does it add some great contrast. The siding firm recommended using real cedar for the shakes versus fiber cement (as the siding is). I was leery at first, thinking it was going to look off...but they were right. Not only was it muccccch cheaper, the cedar has a different "grain", "texture" to it that adds some depth.

Roofers are set to finish up the porch roof tomorrow, and the siding guys should finish as much as they can. They plan to come back to complete the job once the stonework is done on the bottom 3-4ft of the house.

The beadboard porch ceiling went up to day...the drywallers also got started. I thought the drywall would make the house feel smaller, but its actually the opposite.



Thankfully, the drywallers were a day behind, which let me get a problem solved that I figured I would have to live with for 30 years if this ends of being the house we stay in. Each volume control knob in rooms needs 4 speaker wires run to it. This one, in the master bath, had only 3. Which meant I F'd up somewhere when running wire. With the insulation blown in, I noticed it too late to change. Or so I thought. Drywallers being behind meant I got an extra 2 hours to go up into the attic, balance across the studs, and dig into 3ft of insulation looking for a needle in the haystack (the wire I didnt drop down from the attic). Low and behold, with my iPhone in hand as a flashlight, I was able to feel out the wire, drill the hole an drop it into the wall.

I also added sound control insulation between some rooms to cut down on noise...


A lot of drywall mud stocked by the drywall firm...having done a basement...thank god I wont be doing this.


Giant 4x12 sheets of drywall are stocked in the house...


Drywall progressing...and actually begining to look like a house...


Bead board porch cieling - once again, trying to add in some of the tried and true historical touches...a very small cost item with a big impact...it will be stained darker to match the door.



Cedar shakes look very good...


Wider shot.

May 3rd

Some great progress since the last update. Siding is finally going up and wow, do we like it. We (or at least I) was always concerned we were taking a bit of a risk going with a more "old school" arts and craftsy style (dark windows, light window trim, darker siding) but it looks real good.

Been fighting the rain/t-storms the past week - so hopefully we make up some time this week (lost 4 days, the last 7).

Drywall starts on Wednesday, so have been making sure anything we want "in" the walls is done (things like any speaker holes, cut outs for alcoves, cut outs for soap/bottle ledges in showers, etc). Am also going to throw in some insulation in the interior walls seperating the master bath from the bathroom, bedroom 3 from the 2nd bath and some of the laundry room walls. At $25 for 100sq ft...its a no brainer. There was nothing I hated worse in our old townhouse - being able to hear the shower/hairdryer plain as day, even when the door was closed.

Pretty sure we are going with a Jatoba (brazillian cherry floor) - it will be one of the only areas not true to the arts crafts style - but adds a nice contemporary feel. Had looked at rift and quartered white oak - but doing that on the staircase gets pretty pricey - plus we would need to stain it to get it darker, and that is somewhat of a crapshoot. With the Jatoba - its dark enough right away.

We are going with Stile and Rail type doors - meaning they have squar sticking - or in other words - no molded sections. All lines are straight and clean. http://www.builderonline.com/Images/0808shelfCMI_2_tcm10-80517.jpg
Very much like these, but 2 panel - not 3 a the pic shows.

The molding/trim work will also be very arts and crafts - much more squared off and straight lines. Our rental house (built in 1920's) has the basic design we are going to do (s4s molding with a back band around it).


The small areas of copper roofing are on...I am not at all a fan of the way it looks now...it should patina to a deeper maroon color within a couple months...

I am knocking out some of the insulation in the shower areas to create ledges (for soap, bottles, shavers, etc.) Basically, these will be tiled, so there sould be a 3-4 inch ledge for stuff once all is done.

The siding is going up...a prefinished custom job from a local supplier.

I love the look - exactly what we were hoping for...can't wait to see the front, where some additional details will come into play...the gables (peaks) will be staggered shakes, bottom 4 feet will be a stone.

April 22

Off topic for a second - we walked downtown last weekend and noticed the old Sharper Image building being gutted and I had no idea what was going in there (I usually keep up to date on comings and goings - so was rather miffed). Well, after some googling - it appears the transformation of Naperville into a mini downtown Chicago continues - as apparently, one of those spiffy, shiny, flagship Apple Stores is going in across from Lou Malnati's. It will be interesting to see how busy the store becomes. I remember when I got my iPhone at Oak Brook - and had to wait for 45 minutes amongst 150-200 people jammed in that store on a Tues afternoon - and the guy said that was a slow day.

Anyway - the house IS progressing. I was able to juggle the schedule last week and was able to get the insualtors in and out in 3-4 days. Which means we picked up a week or two of time. Those guys were amazing - clean, quick and high quality. We went with wet spray cellulose. Its amazing how dense that stuff is and how it fills every little nook and cranny. The stuff is so dense, that just standing in the house now, with no siding or drywall, there is complete silence.

Tomorrow - siding/shakes/soffit/exterior trim are delivered and will start going up. The roof will also be finsished up. Siding guy thinks my job could be 2-3 weeks given its detail. Hoping to start drywalling within 10 days.

However, the realization is setting in that I likely will have to try and extend the lease 1 month - as I just don't think this can all be done in a little over 2 months - its possible, but who knows. So hopefully it will not be a problem to extend it out - we will see.



All the orange tape areas are where they covered outlets (makes sense - otherwise - they would have been buried and invisible).

Connor it his future backyard - manufacturing those smiles.

Inspections

Time seems to be at a premium lately - hence both blogs have been left hanging. We had inspections the other week and we certainly hit some foul balls. Out of the 5 we had, we passed only 1 - the gas piping. Plumbing, electrical, HVAC and framing all got denied.

Plumbing was mostly some small issues - they had them fixed in a couple hours and have since passed.

Electrician had place all the 1st floor switches at 52" off finished floor - turns out Naperville is ADA compliant - and 1st floor must be 48". So that meant they all needed to be lowered. They also needed to raise the lower outlets - but that was accomplished by using an offset mudring. They had also measured some of the spacing between outlets incorrectly (apparently, when measuring from a 4 panel door- you measure from the panel that opens - not the fixed panels - so that threw a couple things out of whack. They needed to add a couple here and there. Anddddd...they also needed to run wire in all the boxes for the inspection to determine the "box fill". So they had a couple days of work....but have since passed.

HVAC got dinged on a 25+ foot dryer vent run...they had about 28...they have modified...we have yet to get it reinspected as it needs to be done along with framing.

Framing got dinged 15-20+ ways. Many I, I think are overkill, but it is what it is. Many are small and are corrected...but we actually had to call the architect out to the site to sign off on something. We are awaiting reinspection.

And we have had a small issue arise with insulation meeting code .... but I think the issue may be for naught - as the architect told me today the issue should not apply to our house...we shall see.

Other than inspections - things have slowed a bit...as siding is on order, but is about 10 days out yet...so we really can't do much (insualtion, drywall) until the siding is on, as there are still spots where water seeps in due to siding not being on. And since we are going with blown in cellulose - it can't get wet and it needs a couple days to settle once installed without any banging (ie siding work)...so we are going to have to try to wiggle both in somehow at the same time.

Timing is starting to concern me a bit...as our rental runs unitl end of June. I originally thought that would be more than enough...now its getting tight.

Budget took a few hits - as cabinets ran a few thousand over and the siding/fascia/soffit was a few thousand over as well. On the siding - I realized that an aluminum soffit would have looked bad on a house with fiber cement siding and miratec trimwork - thus we had to upgrade to a cedar soffit - it will all be custom colored to match the miratec trimwork - what you see on most teardown houses. So my little cushion is dissappearing as well. Good news is 90% of the big ticket items have been booked...so the amount left to be decided yet is small.

Awaiting Inspections

Get 2 days to exhale while we await a series of 5 inspections this Friday…those consist of mechanical, plumbing, electrical, gas piping and framing. The chance of us skating through all 5, I am guessing, is zilch…but we will see. Have spent many of the past nights at the house running over 5,000 ft of coax, cat5e and speaker wiring – so have not been home for dinner too much…Diet Cokes and Fiber One bars for me…but I am complete (my goal is to not have my DIY work slow the process down at all – which it has not so far).

Naperville requires some more unique tests on plumbing and gas. They do what they call a stack test…basically fill up all the pipes and returns, fill up the bathtub and if it does not hold the water at a certain level in the bathtub…you don’t pass. Same with gas piping…fill the pipes with gas, attach a pressure meter and hope it stays about 30…or you don’t pass.

My only concern about the inspections is the framing/plumbing…we have finished living space above the garage – which includes plumbing. I am not sure if they are going to require anything special in terms of building that area out more. We shall see.

After inspections – or I should say, after passing inspections, I hope to get the siding guy up and running and then at the same time get the insulation guys in there. Quicker we get to drywall phase, quicker we can get on to the finish work.

My desires to turn this project into a long-term business model appear more and more possible – my problem is my mind is always thinking about the next step and every time I sketch an idea on paper (i.e., parlaying this build into two builds, and so on) – its seems possible and only gets me thinking more about it, which leads to more ideas and so on. However, the fact that we are as far into this as we are is something I would not have thought possible 3 years ago…so taking some (calculated) risk and putting your mind to something goes along way.

The other day, the 60yr old HVAC guy was over and made a comment that he wished everyone ran a build like I do – that most builders are morons! So I guess I am doing something right.

More on the inspections after Friday…

Progress continues...

Well, we had success with the basement pour last Friday. Concrete crew was in and out in less than 3/4th of a day - and the best part is we did not have to pay $1900 for a pumper. They were able to cut a 2x2 hole in the floor between the joists and pour it in from there (thank god). When they were done, they put the floor back and it looks good to go.

My planning ahead and having the framer scheduled for today worked out well - as they framed out the basement stairs, got the kitchen island kneewall up and finished some odds/ends. They should finish up by tomorrow. Have the electrician back tomorrow to wrap up his part (which may bleed into Wednesday), HVAC guys set the furnace in the basement today as well.

This was the first day in which I actually took the entire day off and worked the entire day 7 am to 7pm (pretty good, considering we started this thing in Nov and so far have been able to survive by stopping by at 7am and nights/weekends). My plan for today was to be on site when the framer was wrapping up and at the same time start all the wiring I planned to do. I made very good progress on my DIY tasks - got all the RG6 Coax run, majority of the Cat5e run and got all the in ceiling speaker mounts up. Much easier than I thought, and glad I am doing it myself - as was able to modify stuff as I did it. My initial idea was to "home run" to the basement (ie, run all wire from EACH room back to a central hub in the basement - this central hub simply houses EVERYTHING in one location - meaning you somewhat future proof yourself by having a separate run to each room versus the old fashioned daisy chain method). However, the one finished room in the attic for the furnace worked out much better. Given our open floor plan - was difficult to get stuff to the basement - was much easier to drop down from above. Basically each room will have RG6, Cat5e and phone - some will have in ceiling speakers. One of the big advantages of having Cat5 in each room is some of the technology that is spawning from it - like running an HD signal and having your PC/DVR distribute a movie via Cat5e to rooms in your house. For example, I could pipe a a movie into Connors room and maybe pipe the same DirecTv signal that is playing in the great room into the Den or Master Bedroom. Most of this stuff is overkill - but when the walls are open and Cat5 and RG6 are pennies for a foot - its a no brainer to at least set it up.

Anyways - we are hoping to be calling in for rough inspection by early next week...I am meeting with the siding crew this week, in hoped to get them lined up to start asap once we pass inspection...after siding - its blow-in insulation and drywall - and then pretty much the final stretch of the interior finishing (floor, cabinets, etc) - which will take some time.

Framers putting the island kneewall together...


Its a lot of wiring ... and a little hot working up on the attic level...


Starting to get the wiring "cleaned up"...

Another view of the island...keep in mind - cabinets will sit in front of this - doubling its size.


In ceiling speakers in the Master...

Dominos

We are at the part of the build now where it is like an intricate string of dominos - each part of the build is like a domino and you really can't knock down the ones ahead of you until you knock down the current one. The domino currently standing firm in our way is the pouring of the basement floor. Without the basement floor poured - we have pretty much knocked down as many dominos as we can. All the plumbing, HVAC and electrical is roughed in - and framing is 98% done - but they to, need the basement poured to do their last 2%.

So this week has been a scheduling maze to get everything lined up for an attempt at the basement pour on Friday. We hadthe rough in for a future basment bathroom installed, had it inspected, got a temporary furnace hung from the basement cieling to make sure any frost buried below the inches of stone fill is thawed and a spent a night cleaning all the crap that had someone accumulated in the basement from all the crews coming out. And I also remembered last minute today that I should probably have the 12ft dumpster removed from the driveway, so the concrete truck can back in (boy, that one almost got me).

So tomorrow morning the concrete guys are coming out to see if all is well for the pour. The more interesting part is going to be seeing how they plan on getting the concrete down to the basment, seeing the house is now framed in completely. If they can't get their basic equipment close enough - then its a $1,900 hit to the budget to pay for a pumper. I am hoping that can be avoided at all costs...even if it means taking up a section of the floor and joists - replacing that will only be a few bucks, not $1900. All of this is due to the challenges presented by a city lot...as there is no way they they can get to the sides or back of the house with a concrete truck.

So, hopefully by this time tomorrow - concrete is down in the basement - and we can move on to the next stage - as I already have the framer lined up to come in on Monday (I have learned its better to have folks lined up tight or even overlapping than have gaps - this way no time is lost).

Mechanical s coming along...


The supersized fireplace is in place...

The 300lb cast iron tub is in place in the kids bathroom (no, I didnt carry it up 2 floors - the plumbers did thank god). The pocket door frame seperates the toliet and shower area from the dual sinks.


5,000 ft of RG6 Coax, Cat5e and in wall speaker wire that I get to run in the house one of these nights. Also not in the pic - all the in cieling speaker brackets. Idea is (because it is so cheap to do it now when walls are open) is to run 2 coax and 2 cat5e to every room and also have a couple 3.5mm outlets/jacks to plug an iPod into the main stereo system at several points in the house. I just could not justify the money and didnt see us using all the features of some of these high end whole house audio systems . With the cheap setup I am doing, each room will have a volume knob that controls cieling speakers - which are all home-run wired back to the main reciever in the great room (thus, DirecTv, iPod, FM, CD, BluRay) can be heard in any room. Realistically, will likely use it most in kitchen, front porch, back yard and den.

March 1

Been a bit since the last update - have been less motivated to post, as we have reached the point where the daily visual changes no longer occur. All the action is now occurring in the guts of the house - plumbing, HVAC, electrical, so those great visual leaps and bounds dont happen anymore, as this is the part where it slows down a bit.

Have been able to keep the plumbing, HVAC and electric within tight timing - in fact maybe too tight. Plumber started last Tuesday and HVAC came in on Friday. Electrician is itching to get in tomorrow (Monday) but will have to delay him a few days - as there is simply too much going on in the house right now for him - and plumber and HVAC get "priority" over location of piping/etc...electrician gets the space thats left over. Of which, I am learning my massively open floor plan has created some challenges for the plumber/HVAC - but nothing they have not been able to figure out.

Last Thursday we got about 3 inches of rain/t-storms in the matter of 4 hours...given that the lot has not been final graded, all the rain got funneled into the sides of the foundation and the sump pump was running non stop. Basically the water that was pumped out was circling around back to the window wells, via all the little rivers created by the electric service underground install. I simply went out back and dug a couple holes to divert the water and within 2 hours, sump had turned off. I was surprised when I heard the sump running non stop...as when this lot got 10 inches of rain in the matter of 2 days back in Sept, there were no water issues. Plus, the excavator had commented how dry it was digging nearly 10ft down - never hit a drop of moisture. So my hunch is once the lot is graded, this wont be an issue again.

Also, the other day, I had stopped by the site and happened to run into a Verizon tech at the site. Apparently Nicor gas had called them to flag their utilities on site. It was perfect timing as we always had what I called the "hatch" from Lost in the front yard - basically a 4ft by 2ft utility vault in the ground that was going to be an eyesore and cause issues with the final grading and driveway. I dont know if it was my lucky day or just got a nice service tech...but mentioned to him the situation with the driveway and final grade. I was hoping at best to get them just to agree to bring it up to the level of final grade and put in a new cover - as the current one was cracked and likley 20 yrs old. Well, after discussing the options and him making a few calls...he more than surprised me when he called me about 2 hours later and said they will not only take care of it...they will just bury the wires and fill in the hole - meaning no hatch and no eyesore. Better yet, it is all on Verizons dime. From the way the tech was talking - I think Verizon was more concerned with someone/something falling into the hatch and blowing out service to the northside of Naperville...burying it, I guess, solved that concern.


A functioning casement window above the garage...

The master bedroom cieling has plenty of room...

The nearly 5x6 walk-in shower...(keep in mind - we ditched the whirlpool tub and put the $$ in a massive shower).
For virtually no xtra cost, the framers are putting 2ft "tray" cielings in the other 3 bedrooms...and they are fabulous...not the small tray you see in some tract housing, these are some deep trays...amazing what and experienced framer can do. Make the rooms feel much larger.

One of the awning windows functioning...this one in bathroom #2.

An inside look at the breakfast room door and awning windows...

Left side of great room...cutout is for fireplace...

Back wall of great room...middle area is for the TV....


Another shot of the door that ate up 20% of the entire window budget...

The shot of the plumbing aren't exactly sexy...but its progress...

No more telecommunications hatch in the ground...

HVAC picutres aren't as sexy as windows either...

The 8ft crafstman front door...

Connor would have fun in this mess...


A look down the hallway into the 2story foyer...