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...

Framing Days 6, 7 & 8

Things are progressing, visually, too fast to keep up. Virtually, 75% of the 2nd floor exterior walls were framed up by the time I came back out tonight.

Yesterday, had the first call in the morning from the framer requesting that I come asap and make a decision on something. Turns out, the architect miffed on a step up on the 2nd floor...its much to difficult to describe here - as it was hard to visualize when I was looking right at it - but basically, where the architect had something - in reality - it simply could not be there.

So at 8:30 am - I was crawling up a ladder in dress shoes and tie to talk over something with the framer and make a decision within 5 minutes so progress could resume. Luckily, I have some sort of ability to visualize how something will look when its finished - so stared at the spot for a couple minutes - got the framers opinion on it - and we made a decision.

In short - the spot on the 2nd floor where the 9ft/10ft ceiling transitions below on the 1st floor was about 18 inches off where the architect had it. Thus, the stair in the 2nd floor could not be flush with the hall - its needed to come out 12 inches. In the matter of 5 minutes, we also figured it would "look" better if we at the same time bumped another wall out further and chopped back the size of the double doors leading to the master bedroom.

So, those reading this blog that are considering building - it pays off to buy the best framer your money can buy...the crew I have been using has already done the following to save from major gaffs:

1 - Discovered, early on, that architect notated a wall plate height wrong (at 9ft vs 10ft) - would have caused days of delays and $$ had he not seen it.

2 - Noticed the concrete crew missed a small footer in the basement - apparently, it is not that big of a deal - he put in extra support and the concrete guys will put the footer in when they pour the basement.

3 - Rejected several large "dirty" and moldy" looking joists - told me he would not put them in his own house - so he's not going to put them in mine. I am guessing many crews would have just put it up to avoid the hassle of waiting for another delivery.

Roof pieces are to be delivered to the site on Monday - so hopefully by the end of next week we are scheduling the roof/shingle guys and prepping for window delivery.

Naperville was also out and installed the underground electric service - it is not energized yet - but appears their undeground work is completed. Nicor Gas is the last utility to be hooked up.

Hopefully any snow holds off - as was out at the site last night and swept/shoveled out the inch that was laying on the first floor - probably the only time in my life I will say I had to go shovel my house.

Lots of progress...by the time I got back to the site at 5pm, most upper walls were up - front porch is still missing, as is area above garage.

It feels pretty cool to be on the 2nd floor with no walls up - the new house dwarfs its 70 yr old neighbors.

Looking down into great room - it will not be two story (not a fan of two story rooms - something cold and uninviting about them) - it will simply have 10ft cielings - you can see how the roof will slope up by the missing Tyvek on the left hand side...thats where the roof will be.



The master bedroom area - I was not there - but apparently they built that large wall on the ground and pushed it up into place!!


Getting ready to put up the foyer wall...where the guy is standing on the "bridge" - that will be the foyer - 2-story from the ground up. Where the bald guy is, is bedroom 4 - otherwise know as grandma/grandpas room - when you have 1 year to play with the design - I was able to somewhat seclude the guest room from the 2 kids rooms.


The master bedroom ...

This is the area that caused the problems - its the 2 kids rooms - they are raised up because below this area is 10ft - below all other areas is 9ft - I originally wanted the step to get to this area to be recessed into the area - but know it has to jut out 12 inches


Trees that once seemed fairly away from the house are now very close. You can see where I had to trim this tree off already. Its not on my lot - so I really only have "air rights" to take out what is over my space - however, it is large, old - probably 80 years - and not sure if it will survive long term with the shock the foundation dig put on it...


Up goes another wall...

Framing Day 4 & 5

Framers were off on Friday - a delay in getting the shipment to the site. Not to big of a deal.

They are still working at a very good clip - the entire first floor is pretty much done - today they started on the joists/lvls for the 2nd floor...having something above your head certainly gives it more sense of space.

This weeks weather looks pretty good - if you call below avg good - cold, but no snow except for a few passing flurries - temps in the low 20's. Hopefully, substantial progress is made - as hopefully, in two weeks or so, the roof will be on and we wont have to fret the weather anymore.


Lots of lumber - ceiling starting to go on 1st floor...


The back of the house - sans the 2nd floor...


Steel is set in the garage to support the rooms above it...

Framing Day 3

What a difference a week makes...dry weather and decent temps. In the matter of 3 days the crew has hammered away and basically has 3/4 of the 1st floor walls up.

I have been making sure to go on site every morning to ensure things are going to be framed out how we want them. So far we are batting 9 out of 10...there was a small error with the height at which they roughed out a couple of the windows in the great room...but I think it is a fairly quick fix, will find out tomorrow morning when I go to the site.

You can really start to get a sense of the space by walking the floor now...that rear patio door is going to be ginormous - as are the 10ft ceilings. I am glad we scaled back on some of the window sizes a bit...as some of the rough openings are large, even after scaling back...but I think the light it lets in will be awesome.

All in all, this framing crew cost a bit more...but boy, so far, they are worth the price...I have no worries with what they are doing...things look just as desired.

Hopefully more progress tomorrow!



The back wall of the house by the breakfast room contains very little "lumber" - that hole is all patio door. Nearly 10ft wide and just over 8 ft high!! Plus, there will be two skinny windows (as seen in the angled bump out) flanking the door. And, there will also be nearly 9ft of a high placed awning window on the right...(if you go into a lot of homes on these narrow city lots...these narrow windows, placed high are used heavily...they let in a ton of light, still crank outward, yet, you dont have to see into your neighbors house or stare at their brick/vinyl/cedar siding). The key is to let a ton of light in through the back of the house.

A view through the front of the house...the hole in the front is the other patio door that leads to the front porch...the holes in the floor are where the staircase will go...


Just 72 hours ago there was no steel in the basement, no first floor deck, and no first floor walls. At this rate - the shell of the house may be completed by mid next week (knock on wood). Missing from this picture is the garage framing (to the left) and the porch framing, to the right.


The staircase will be open - as in the part leading to the basement (the smaller hole) will have no door...railing will be placed along the perimeter leading down. At the last minute, we also placed a narrow awning window in the basement landing (can see at the left edge of photo)...will let in more light in that area...make it feel less like your going down to a basement.


This is the only "mess up" so far - the headers on those two awning windows should nearly touch the top of the wall...hopefully, tomorrow, they can adjust. You can notice the height difference in the ceiling here. The left of the picture, the wall is shorter...that is the den, where it is a 9ft ceiling. The great room, is 10ft. The white "hole" in the middle is where the fireplace will reside.

Framing Begins...

Framing has officially begun ... its seems like it took forever to get here, but was at the site this morning and met the framing crew...head guy is probably in his late 50's - splits time between Phoenix and Chicago - only reason he is up here is to do our house.

I was at the site at 8:30am and they were blow torching off the ice on the concrete and getting ready for the steel columns and beams. I had figured they would be lucky to get the steel set by the time I got back at 4:30 - however - to my pleasant surprise - they had gotten a very good start on setting all the joists/beams - so there is actually lumber in place.

Am anxious to see how quick they move over the next few days now - as temps forecast to be between 20-35, and no precip!!


I guess we are used to having an 8ft basement -looking down into the 9ft basement with the joists above seems large.

The very attractive "port-a-potty" in the front yard...

Jan 14th

Ahh, if only we had started framing the other week when it was 60 degrees...now its 5 and miserable.

The framing - which was supposed to start on Monday got as far as takign some final measurements - and with the snow on Tue/Wed and now temps of 0-10, looks like this week is down the crapper. Framing is likely off until next week.

As you see on HGTV - and you never think it will be you - nobody finishes on time - I can now vouch for that. Between are little blueprint change, the framer being out of town for a week and now this week weather delay - likely 3 weeks off pace - which is about the amount of time it would take to have the framing done - which then we wont be impacted by weather as much.

Other than that, at a stand still this week. Will work on getting ahead in some of the other areas - but really just want to see some lumber going up. 10-day forecast shows dry conditions and a return to normal temps next week, so hopefully we make some progress.

I have monday off (MLK day), so may try to get with the kitchen designer to get us on pace there with our revisions. Every time we think we have it figured out, we deviate somewhere else.

Our project has now made the website of the service we are using...

http://ubuildit.com/resource-center/projectgallery/mokena-illinois/

You Win Some...

…and so far, haven’t lost too many.

We are set to begin framing on Monday/Tuesday…go figure that it looks like the coldest weather in some time is headed for us next week, with highs forecasted to maybe be 12 degrees for Tue/Wed/Thu – so we will see what gets accomplished…

And as far as winning some – revised lumber price with 10ft ceilings figured in was virtually unchanged – partly due to lumbers slide (a great time to build, lumber is at 10 year + low).

We passed electrical service installation – meaning Naperville will now dig the underground service to the house and 1126 Webster will be back on the “grid”.

We also passed “top of foundation” survey – meaning the excavators and concrete crews did their jobs to precision – leaving exactly the required 6 ft side yards on each side – was pretty tight going giving the house uses ALL of the width it is allowed – was not an inch to spare – so pretty crazy how precise they can be.

Also came down to the wire on appliances – not that we needed to order them now – as we don’t need them anytime soon – but was able to get 2008 pricing yet on all appliances – so booked those now. Most are (or have already) gone up 5% in 2009.

And a word to the wise – you can negotiate the heck out of appliances…for example, a KitchenAid counterdepth French Door fridge that retails for over $3,000 in stores, was locked in at a hair over $2,400. An Electrolux Double Oven and Cooktop – that is price protected (meaning the price is fixed, can’t be moved)– was able to negotiate down $400 via a total order kick back. Same on washer, dryer and dishwasher….All in all, probably saved $1,500 just by engaging in some friendly negotiation. In addition, we will be eligible for any rebates that apply when we take “delivery”. Right now, that would save another $800 if we took delivery today (however, we are not doing that yet).

So with windows locked in, appliances locked in, and the framer set to start – next items up are finalizing are kitchen layout (which we thought we had done) and flooring (still struggling with wood floor type – solid or engineered, handscraped or normal, prefinished or site finished, etc)

After that, with framing progressing, things will come quick (like lighting, plumbing fixtures). I also plan to do extensive wiring while the house is “open” (no drywall) – as it costs very little to run speaker wire, cat5, satellite wires now – so the plan is to have ceiling speakers in kitchen, breakfast room, dining room, den, front porch and backyard (would just prewire out there). Also thought it would be wise to do cat5 in the house, but with wireless so prevalent – will cut back on that a bit –will just have a few “hard” land cat5 lines in a few places.

Have also been amazed at the number of people emailing me about my blog – have had several asking about the process – many from surrounding suburbs – trying to determine if they want to tackle the same project we are doing. Funny to see people at the same point we were at two years – not knowing if you can do it, if your capable, have the resources (mentally, financially), etc. Not wanting to live in a cookie cutter subdivision – but not knowing if they have the wherewithal to redevelop an in-town lot with amenities close at hand (and by foot). Not wanting to live far out in a cornfield - but not knowing if their budget allows to live closer in.

I have not responded to all of you yet – but if your reading this now, I will sooner than later.

Hopefully some pics of framing at some point next week!

Jan 4th Update - Progress Continues

It feels like we have been on the verge of starting framing now forever. It has actually only been 2-3 weeks...but am real anxious to start framing and see some above ground progress - it will actually look like we are making progress.

Things have been happening - its just the stuff that makes no "visual" progress. Sewer and water is hooked up and approved via Naperville. They had to dig into Webster St - so a cold patch of asphalt had to be laid - and they will do a hot patch sometime when the temp is more stable outside. Nothing surprising - as the patching was all in the original proposal - we would have gotten a credit had they not had to go into the street.

Electric contractor was out and has the service box installed. He should have called for inspection when he was out there, but did not, so Naperville will be out on Monday - hopefully it passes. If it does, Naperville (which runs their own Electric Company) will be out to install the new underground service. Previously, these old houses had overhead service - all new houses have to have it underground - the main lines run through the lot line in the back yard (actually, pretty smart of those folks back in 1930 - locating the lines in the back yards - not the front yards),

The "top of foundation" survey folks were also out - these are the people that determine the locations of all the foundation walls and their distance from the lot lines. I am not expert - but from viewing what they gave me - we should be good to go. We have the required 30ft in front - 6ft on the north side, and nearly 6ft on the south side (we are 2cm off - but they allow 6inches of deviation).

Nicor is taking their good ole time – but gas is not imperative to have now, however, hopefully, it is sooner than later

Spoke with the framer this week – the coordination with the steel guy, the lumber guys and the framers has now started. Apparently, the framer knows my lumber guy, so makes things a bit easier. Hopefully, the sounds of power nailers will be heard with 7-10 days. Weather has been very good every since a 62 degree day wiped out the snow pack – so missing some good weather – but hopefully it holds up.

Windows have been ordered - so that ordeal is done – photos of what we have settled on are below.

Of course – looking at the plans everyday causes you to second guess everything – so we are now contemplating the kitchen layout – good thing is we can change it at will – as we are just modifying the layout, no impact on walls, etc. We are thinking about going back to a large (massive) island – versus the setup we have now (breakfast bar wrapping around the kitchen, smaller island inside). I think the massive island layout is what we prefer – plus I think it will probably save $4,000 in countertop, edge, and cabinet costs - so could be a win-win, we shall see.


The windows...these are casements - ie, they crank out...however, the look like double hungs due to the grille pattern...windows will have actual grilles (not between the glass, but real wood on the inside and clad on the outside)

There is a mix of casments with fixed transoms above - they differ greatly in the drawings below - but great care has been taken to make sure most will line up with each other from room to room. For example, there will be two of the windows labled 'great' on the back wall in the great room. On the wall to the left, there will be two awning windows that will be the same size as the transoms on the windows on the back wall (ie, they will all line up visually). Also we are using more awning windows placed higher on the sides of the house (neighbors within 12 ft on each side) and making the back of the house heavy with windows (as it will look out to the backyard with trees). You quickly see how window selection goes from an afterthought to primary time "sucker".


This is a very very very very very large 4 panel french door that will be nearly 9 ft high and 10ft wide!! Yes, very very big - but it will let in a ton of light and add a lot to the hosue...in addition, the windows titled "breakfast" above will flank the 4 panel door at an angle, so even more light will be let in (again, the transoms, and heights will all be lined up). This door alone, ate up 20% of the window budget.


And we have decided to mimick that back door on the front of the house leading out to the porch (on a smaller, and cheaper scale). No transoms above, and sticking with a smaller height keeps costs down. The room where this goes in only 9ft high...the other door is in a 10ft room.

The exterior window cladding will be Chestnut Bronze (as in the picture below)...