Quick Pace and Big Under Budget Item

Things continue to clip along at a very strong pace - weather has been conducive to getting the house dryed in, as windows and roof (shingles) are going in/on as I type.

Windows are beautiful - in fact, I would put them up against any thing I have seen on any house in Naperville, Downers, Wheaton, etc....I can not believe how awesome they turned out - the gamble on going with a "different" style paid off and really think it will add a "richness" to the house that cost little more than the standard run of the mill grill pattern and window.

I see my first very minor error in planning. Given the framer (correctly) raised the porch roof from what the architect had laid out - it means I probably could have gone with an 8ft front french door as well, versus the 6'10" - it would have better matched than the 8 foot front door. However, I noticed the house going up 5 doors down (in which we stole the french door on the front porch idea) have the same thing - 8 foot front door and shorter french doors. Inside, it will not be apparent - as the front door is in a small 2 story area and the french door is in a 9ft high room. And even outside, I dont think it will even be visible.

Also, we were concerned on the shingles we had picked out - yes, you even sweat the small stuff like shingles - as there are 3 houses that are close in color to what ours will be over in Downers Grove - 1 has a darker black/gray roof - 2 have a darker brown - each really impacts the overall look of the house, as hard as it is to believe. We had a made a few late trips to Lowes and Menards to see larger samples, so we rolled the dice on the darker brown - driftwood, they call it - and it appears this roll of the dice worked out. The windows frames are dark (chestnut bronze is the color) but when installed on the house - they skew more brown than black - so all is well.

We also have concern about this little rounded arch we have over the front door porch entry - but most on site have assured me it will turn out close to what we desire - so we will have to wait and see. Right now it does not appear close at all, but am having a hard time visualizing it 50% completed - as there is a joist running the perimiter which is simply hard to picutre not being there.

Am trying to shrink my DIY list down a bit - so am rebidding and getting additional thoughts on some other areas. The framing crew - which is top notch - also does interior work - so am thinking if I can strike a deal - I may have his crew trim out the house - versus DIY'ing it as I had planned. I've done it enough to do it well - but realize I need to keep my list reasonable - as it already includeds hardwood floors, tiling, interior stone work, eventual painting (will do most once we are moved in), light fixtures, network/audio/video wiring ,etc. I have already scratched off exterior masonry (it is easy to do cultured stone on the outisde, and certainly is with the small amount we have), but it is not too much more to sub this out and get it off my list - so exterior is cerainly off my list - and we will see about the small interior parts.

Have also ben ping ponging the idea of roughing in a central vac system - everything I read and people I talk to say to do it now, when the walls are open. It appears - from my reasearch - you can rough it in for about $500...and then just buy the unit later...however, doing it once the walls are drywalled gets very expensive (and much harder). The thing that got me interested was those toe kick dust pans - they are the ones that are mounted in the baseboard or under cabinets. Given we have a lot of hardwood and tile, basically you just sweep everything up, take your toe and hit the button, it opens up and sucks the dirt/crumbs away. So we shall see...

Finally, we had been waiting for the invoice from our excavator from back in Nov...as I thought we might be able to come in under budget given we had a connection to a free dirt bump. Well, turns out we came in 25% under! Or $4,000 in total...so a very nice result and certainly will provide a needed cushion in the budget. And is money I would have NEVER have seen if I was not running this pony myself.

I am still hopeful lumber may come in under yet, as may the flatwork and masonry.

Roofer up high continuing work...

The windows arrive, on a full size semi, no less...dude got it backed in 1st try...


Luckily, I just happened to be there when they came...had to lend a hand to get this one off the truck...5 people in all to move this beast...its basically the size of a real small bedroom laid flat - 10x8.


The much smaller front unit...


The basic look of the windows...


Door unit in and looking good.


I think the profile is slick...as they are casements...not double hungs, as they appear. Get the more craftsman look of a double hung with the clean lines, airflow and improved seal of a casement.

Framing Days 11, 12 & 13 & Kitchen Info

Walking in the house today, it is pretty amazing to think that what started out as a off the wall idea to buy a teardown lot and a floorplan sketched on scratch paper is real. The more amazing part is there are really no "oddities" in the house - everything flows properly and feels how it was envisioned to feel. My biggest fear was always that the house would have all sorts of problem spots and not feel like a professionally designed house - and then I would have to live down all the comments as I am the one that drew it. But it is actually quite the opposite- it really is cool!! Now I am sure some may not find the design "traditional" enough - with 10ft ceilings, a kitchen island our kitchen designer said "is the biggest he has ever seen", contemporary craftsman styling, no real "formal" rooms, and no master bath tub - instead a massive walk in shower.

Anyways, only got three days of framing in this week...Tuesday and Wednesday were just too cold...and by today it was darn near 60. We are still on pace to get windows started this coming Wednesday, and possibly get the shingles going as well. Weather looks good, with another near 60 day coming on Tuesday and temps otherwise in the 40's...hopefully by weeks end this puppy can be "dryed in".

My bigger concern of the moment is what is still in the basement. Given the brutal January weather, there is still a good deal of ice and snow down there, and it is now covered by 2 floors of a framed house. So even though it was almost 60 today, in the basement it feels about 30...as the warm air can't get down there easily to melt the ice. I am hoping with the warmth of the next 4-5 days - it wipes it out, but we shall see. I may have to get creative and stick some space heaters down there or something...as it needs to melt and dry out to get that basement floor poured.


Some of the final outlines are going up. The area above the garage - which will be the master closet, is framed. The only exterior feature still missing is the front porch area...


Just 5 months ago - this is what it looked like...crazy!




The great room area...pic does not do it justice...as those two windows on the back wall are giants...as those are 10ft cielings in that room. The cut out by the tyvek house wrap is where the firepalce will be. Stone will go from floor to ceiling.


Looking into the kitchen...


This is the layout for the kitchen...and yes, that island is large and in charge...it will contain the sink, dishwasher, special "dish" drawers (dishes will be in lower pull out drawers, not in high cabinets), micorwave, a seating area on the opposite side and just altogether, likely the central gathering area in the house...


Now, the pics below are 90% accurate and dont look that great - but give an idea of the layout. The column that comes into the island will not be that large - and I plan to do some sort of "craftsman taper" to it to make it mimic the ones on the front of the house...The color of the cabinets in the mockups below is jsut general...in reality, the wall cabinets will be what KraftMaid calls "Canvas w/ Cocoa Glaze" - and if we have the balls to see it through - the island will be a very dark cherry color - they call it Peppercorn. It is quite possible we have spent nearly as much time planning this kitchen as laying out the house - well, probably not, but it seems like it. And if anyone ever needs a good kitchen designer, I would recco mine to anyone...





The color scheme will be very very close to this - light wall cabinets, dark island. We like it, just get nervous going with two diff color schemes. If we puss out...the island will simply be the same color as the wall cabinets.

Another look into the great room...den and powder room are on other side...

Framing Days 9 & 10

I am still amazed at how in the matter of 10 working days, a crew of 5 can be at the point where they have begun to frame the roof. I now have hopes that we are getting back on pace and actually making up a bit of time.

Somehow, someway, after what has been one of the coldest, snowiest winters on record, we have had 2 weeks of calm, but cold weather and no days have been missed due to weather. Long range forecast points to upper 40's this weekend...so might actually lose some days to rain if it holds true.

We are "juiced up" as I saw the framers had tapped into the panel today...so we have power again.

Other than that, working on getting the roofer in line, followed by all the "guts" = plumber, electrician and HVAC.

I will be out at the site tomorrow morning to talk to the head guy - get his best estimate on roof completion - also need to go over some other items - I noticed the master shower was framed out with a full wall- it should be a half wall...also need to see about the way they have one transom window framed out may be too close to the roof line.

Bridget had the idea to have me actually be in a few pictures...so here I am...joy!


Bridget was not a fan of using my make shift ladder to get up to the second floor...


The framers constructed this catwalk to aid in framing...crazy, considering this is already on the 2nd floor - so in essence the ladder is positioned nearly 4 floors high...needless to say, I wont be going up there to take any pictures...



View from the back...