Watching Paint Dry

Watching paint dry, doesn't typically bring to mind a positive emotion, but this past week it took on new meaning.  

Working with 3-4 bricks, in a Sherwin Williams' showroom with florescent lighting, choosing paint samples from swatch cards varying in size from 1" x 3" to 3" x 5", can be challenging. Emphasize challenging!  So the process continues with:

Roycroft Vellum SW2833
House Body candidate

1. Waiting for Sherwin Williams' paint sale of 40% off on all paints
2. Purchase "Color To Go" containers of ALL color candidates at 40% off, including interior room colors.
3. Go to the local grocery store, purchase poster board in packets.
4. Cut poster boards to 8" x 11" sample size.
5. Paint each 8" x 11" poster board, several coats to 100% opacity.
6. Label each color and color # on the back side.
7. The exception is for house color.  Purchase a large poster board to paint a larger area with the body color, and the trim color.
8. Drive to a location that has the brick that has been ordered already installed at an existing residence.
9. Review color choices and make corrections, if any.
10. Give your color choices to the painting crew and then....

Watch the paint dry!  This is when you literally stand there and wait for the paint to dry, because you can't tell if all the work you put forth will give you the results you want UNTIL the paint is dry.  A little bit of anxiety, but in the end....the results.....perfect!

Monday, November 3, 2014

Westhighland White SW7566
House Trim

Protecting the soffit trim with paper before
 applying the body color.

Prepping the exterior of the home is finished.  Last week they finished applying all the house trim color to the soffits under the roof line.   Today is a big day to see if the body color, Roycroft Vellum is a good choice for the house body.  I've been in the Dallas area for the weekend, but am anxious to get back today to see it, as it is applied, just in case there needs to be a change made.

Primed

The highest point gets the body paint first.

Duct-work rerouted to best location??

Too early to tell. One chimney stack does not make or break the deal, yet.  So into the house I go to see what the HVAC team is up to, while I wait for my builder to drop by.  They are really making progress here.  I meet with my builder late in the day to go over the prior week's event, and any issues that might have need of his attention.  He does a walk through and finds several things he wants to address with the contractors.  It is great having him walk through, since he sees things that I don't.  He is looking at it from the construction side, and I'm looking at it from the aesthetic side.  What good is anything that looks good from the outside, if it's not built right on the inside?  I'm proud to say, I'm still happy with my builder!!!! YAY!  So many custom home stories don't have similar opinions.  It was so worth the time and energy researching builders BEFORE we signed a contract with anyone.

Most of the return air grilles are in by now.  After my builder left they had finished the air duct work in the scullery.  I went to find the foreman and showed him the drawings. My drawings do not show placement of air ducts, but they do show placement for lighting fixtures, and this one had been installed right where a semi-flush ceiling pendant was planned for.  

Tip: Try to plan where your lighting will be BEFORE duct work is installed.  You will probably be fine in most rooms, so allow them to place it where it will function the best, they are the experts in this field. However, if you have any type of recessed lighting, or ceiling mounted pendants, be sure to go over this with your HVAC contractors before they start work, or no later than BEFORE the sheetrock gets installed.  That would be an expensive change order, I would think.  So far, this one was an easy change.  From the picture above, it looks like the placement of this one is still in the decsion mode.  Not only are there 2 ceiling pendants planned for this space, but the ceiling is going to be tin in this room.  Perhaps  more information is needed for this room before it can be installed.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Today, I have a 9AM meeting to select door hardware.  My builder recommended that I make the selections BEFORE we order the interior doors.  He's getting to know me, and since I don't always specify "typical", it's best to take a look at the hardware before the doors arrive with or without holes in them for door knobs.  Wow!  What a long day 9-5(with a break for lunch).  But it turned out to be a rainy day, and the showroom was not that busy because of the weather, so we worked on more than just interior door hardware.

Inside the range vent hood

Back at the site, my builder was working with the plumbers and the HVAC crew to make some changes and clarify some placements, like the range vent hood.  When he walked through on Monday, he looked up inside and saw the water lines installed right through the middle where the vent ducts would have to be installed.  It was already a tight fit, but judging by the picture the two trades worked together to resolve this issue.

Gas to the Screen Porch fireplace

The plumbers finished running all the gas lines for the range, fireplaces, and the front porch lanterns today. They also finished the stub outs for the faucet fixtures which will be wall mounted in the pool bath and the powder room.  On my way out of town last Friday, I stopped by Canton and found 2 mirrors.  One will be used in the pool bath, $12! What was important about finding this piece, was to be able to tell the electrician where to mount the wall sconce over the mirror.  The mirror is 43" tall.  If I didn't have the mirror first, the chance that the wall sconce was mounted at the needed height would have been slim.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Rain, rain, rain!!!! No one is at the jobsite today.  So, the bad weather has me back at the hardware showroom to finish up on hardware selections, including cabinet hardware.  It's another full day.  However, it's not all hard work, as they share recommendations for shops, salons, restaurants, etc...as we browse through catalogs and utilize their extensive collection of finishes and options.

Tip: Make hardware selections BEFORE selecting cabinet finishes and/or signing off on your custom cabinets.  As a kitchen designer, I was use to selling the cabinet first, then selecting the hardware.  Now, as the consumer, looking for a period look, I quickly learned some of the old hardware used isn't suited to a full overly or partial overlay door.  Some cup pulls need more space to fit, so slab drawers would be better suited for some.  As far as finishes, I had 4 paint colors selected as prospects for the wetbar cabinets.  However, when I put the samples up against the hardware, only one of the colors looked great.  So my hardware is now chosen, and so is the paint finish for the cabinets. 

I had an initial meeting with the cabinet maker 2 weeks ago.  He is due to come back with some drawings based on my drawings.  The new information gathered while selecting hardware needs to be sent on to the cabinet maker.  Fortunately nothing has been built yet.   So it is all good.  So happy to be working on things "too early" rather than too late.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

The rain has stopped, but the site is too muddy for anyone to go there. Today I work with Cassity Jones looking at interior door selections.  Prices have gone up on the door most common to the house.  There are some other "funky" choices to decide on regarding the batten door, and pocket door in the scullery, and the pricing on the study and master bedroom doors have outright "spooked" me, so I'm hesitating here.......What are my options?  To be continued...

Friday, November 7, 2014

By Friday, the painters are back working a full day. You can see better, the house body color as it is compared to the unpainted, but primed dormers on the main house.  The front porch is still not painted or primed so what you are looking at is the fiber cement board.  The painters will need to protect the IPE floor on the porch before moving forward on this portion of the house. The builder has something special in mind to do the job, so they are waiting for his return.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Suggestion: Next time prepaint before assembly.

Because the painter lost out on days to paint on account of the weather, they return today to try to finish up.  They have finished all the  house body paint, with the exception of the front porch. They finished trimming out with the Westhighland White, all the windows and door trim, and then got started on the pergola.  They first applied an oil base primer, then applied a latex primer.  They worked until 3-4, and decided that they would have to come back Monday.  We need to get the roof on, especially since the plumbers bored such large holes for all the roof vents.  But the roof can't go on until the painting of the pergola is finished.  The over spray was not much on Friday, but Saturday it was really windy at times, and we don't want the paint on the roof shingles.  The last mild day left in the forecast is for this Monday, 70 degrees. After that the weather is suppose to get to 42 degrees.   So hopefully they can recharge their batteries on Sunday and pull it off next Monday.

Tip: Pick up lots of free chipwood paint stirrers and keep them handy.  For me, that means my car.  When your painter is painting one of the colors you have chosen, have him dip it in the bucket and let it dry.  Once dry, label it, drill a hole on one end. Get a simple ring chain that can hold your collection all in one spot and thread each stirrer as you acquire them throughout your painting projects.  Save it to refer to when needing touch-ups, or even selecting fabrics for rooms where that paint color is applied.

Til next time....