Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[dave1949]

Our kitchen wall cabinets go to our 8'-6" ceiling. It just stuff up there that we seldom use but don't want to part with. Let the kids deal with it when we keel over, that's my motto.

I think the last time most of it was out of the cabinets was to wash and clean everything. Then we put it all back so we can do it again--someday. :laughing:

 

[mkane09]

Our kitchen wall cabinets go to our 8'-6" ceiling. It just stuff up there that we seldom use but don't want to part with. Let the kids deal with it when we keel over, that's my motto.

I think the last time most of it was out of the cabinets was to wash and clean everything. Then we put it all back so we can do it again--someday. :laughing:

Riiight. OK. Got it now.

mkane09

 

[pclausen]

The reason mom wanted soffits above the cabinets is that she has that in her current kitchen, and she needs that space to hang all these fancy plates, each with a different bird species painted on it as best I recall. I think there are 12 in all, once for each month of the year.

Ron, the final draw payment should be very interesting. On the previous draw, they gave us ~$3000 credit for the trim, which was exactly how much extra they charged for the paint grade. I purchased all the switches, receptacles, cover plates, ceiling lights, LED bulbs, all appliances, well pump and the water heater, I'm probably leaving out a bunch of stuff, but I have receipts for everything. So it will be very interesting to settle all this up at the end.

I think they ended up using about 50 6x6 16' treated posts for the landscaping, and 2 guys for 4 days. That's going to cost...

Btw, my Ikea uppers are 39" measured by the door height, and with the trim above it, the total height is 41.25". I love how they go up. You install a metal track and then hang the uppers on it. Super easy and guarantee everything ends up perfectly level and even. The lowers have adjustable legs in each corner (much like an appliance), so once you get everything adjusted just right, you attach to the wall. You then snap on long pieces of toe kick panels, which means you can span across appliances where it makes sense, like the dishwasher as seen here.

 

[pclausen]

Looks cleaner than ours with a 3 year old and a 8 month old...
I really like the built in drainboard over the dishwasher.

Thanks. That's a Kohler Pro sink. Boy was it expensive, but we love it. The reason I redid my kitchen in the first place was that I had a major water incident (water to air heat exchanger froze in the attaching and released about 3000 gallons of hot water down through the house.) Caused $70k in damage. I did a lot of the repairs myself, so I was able to upgrade quite a bit from what I had before (vinyl floors, pink, yes pink counter tops, low end appliances, white painted cabinets). In fact, here's a few pics from just after I had laid down the tile.

Grouting that style tile with the "broken" corners was a royal pain!

 

[FairfaxStu]

Peter:

The stairs and flower boxes are looking quite nice indeed. It also appears that some parts of lawn have grass coming in nicely. Are you going with the same white stone in the stairs that you plan to use for the driveway? I know you and your Mom already decided on the stone for the driveway but personally I would probably go with asphalt. Reason being that I know you have some seriously heavy equipment that will be on it from time to time - your big tractor and your truck. I just don't know how well that gravel will hold up with that much weight on it.
-Stu

 

[dave1949]

Peter,

The easy install (and uninstall) of kitchen cabinets from Ikea goes back to their European roots where it is/was not uncommon for the kitchen cabinets and appliances to be treated just like any other home furniture. You took your "kitchen" with you when moving.

I think it is a fading practice as homes there have become more upscale, and have adopted kitchens like here that designed for the space.

 

[kevin37b]

That landscaper should have taken over after the S W . Seriously , this project has got to have you about wore out .

 

[FairfaxStu]

The easy install (and uninstall) of kitchen cabinets from Ikea goes back to their European roots where it is/was not uncommon for the kitchen cabinets and appliances to be treated just like any other home furniture. You took your "kitchen" with you when moving.

Dave, that is a fascinating reason. I had no idea. I suppose kitchen's were pretty standard in size back then. Interesting note: People were/are taking cabinets and even plumbing fixtures and copper pipes with them even in today's market because of the recession and foreclosures.
-Stu

 

[pacerron]

Peter,
It would be interesting to see your current list of what all still needs to be done by the builder before your mom can move in?
There have been a lot of promises to fix mistakes and finish things but not many have been done yet according to your nightly reports.
Has the tongue and groove ceiling ever been sanded and refinished?

If there is a Blitz of all the trades there at once and it is the same bunch that did it the first time, they will get in each others way without constant supervision and may not improve the issues much.
Ron

 

[pclausen]

You are exactly right Ron. None of my original concerns have been address yet, and right now, those include:

• Rake fascia
• 2 sliders that bow
• 2 windows that bow
• Railing posts that need blocking or something to make them stable
• Mater bath vent pipe (will be a real pain now that the ceiling insulation is in place)
• 3 lights in the attic space - would have been real handy yesterday as I was crawling around up there pulling the generator control panel wires
• Basement Window well needs to be screwed into the wall (after being dug up and repositioned properly)
• Hardwood floor in master bedroom where it meets bathroom floor
• Front door needs to be reset to close properly at top and bottom. Ditto on basement walkout doors

I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out. Granite counter tops will be installed tomorrow. Yes, I did measure the openings for appliances, and they are spot on now.

They came to pick up the dumpster, but the truck driver said he could not pick it up because the column was in the way. Something about snapping his cable if he tried?

I got my tractor and gave it a shot from just past where the lawn was seeded with a 100 ft chain. No dice. I even had the front wheels on the road, trying to find grip. I had the chipper on the back, and loader forks on the front, so about 14,000 lbs in 4 wheel drive with a locked rear diff.

I was only able to move the dumpster 2" or so. Tomorrow I plan to pick up a cat2 drawbar and try to lift the front to pull it out. I'm not going to give up that easy.

Yard is starting to come in nicely

They began cleaning up everything today

Stucco applied to the wall leading down to the basement, and trim installed all around

Steps added at the bottom of the stairs into the basement

2nd attempt at installing the dryer went was better than the first one, but still nothing to write home about...