There Is NO Driveway...but there is finally some drive
I'm writing today on April 19. Exactly one year ago today I was moving into my "temporary" apartment. Wow! A whole year has gone by! We still don't have a move in date, not even a guesstimate from our builder. The driveway still has not been formed and poured. We have been trying since January. But there has been progress. So read on and see all that has been going on to get this home finished.
Monday, March 30, 2015
It's a full day of masons...and then some.
Pushing out the leaves
7:45AM
All hand dug
Finally!
I hired my own contractors to work on the retaining walls. The driveway cannot be installed until the retaining walls are in. I didn't realize that a concrete truck's load would be too heavy and a driveway could not support this load without cracking possibly. So any concrete that is needed in the back of the driveway has to go in first. The driveway is not completely dry, but dry enough to get this done...finally. They are pouring the footings, double the width of the wall and 12" deep.
Adding variety
Taking out stone
Today the builder's mason returns at 8AM in the morning to see what I want changed on the fireplace. I don't think he was told about any of my issues. When I told him all that needed to be done, I asked him if I had hurt his feelings. Without a word, he nodded "yes". I felt so bad for him. I showed him the 5 pictures that were what I was looking for. We talked for awhile about what of, could have been, and then we decided to attack the, "so what do we do now?" Despite all the miss-communications, the contractor and I had been told by the builder that changes would be made, but only given one day to change them. So I had to pick and choose what were the priorities. So since the original fireplace was suppose to be "no mortar" exposed, it was decided to take out stonework that had larger than 2"-3" or mortar joints and "work" the stone to more interesting shapes and tighten up the mortar joints. Also, the Pennsylvania Blue Stone (my ribbon candy) that had been smashed into flagstone pieces, all the Pennsylvania Blue Stone would be removed and replaced by as large a slab as possible. I had plenty of materials for the redo, just not enough time. I bought them lunch, so glad I did because the two men worked, and I stayed with them, until they finished at 9:09 PM. We all agreed that more could have been done, but not in one day. I appreciated their hard work, and only wished we were on the same page the very first day they started the fireplace. But now there is a story to tell for sure.
Into the night
Before
After
Before
After
After
After
I also had the men change the mortar joints on the blue stone to grey, not white. These pictures are taken the next morning. The mortar has dried lighter and it looks a lot better now. I also like how they removed and reworked the area under the mantel. It doesn't look like the mantel is unlevel and the rock isn't "sagging" over the firebox any longer. There are still some areas with A LOT of grout. But the men worked so hard, and really tried to make it right. I just had to let it go.....even if it isn't what I asked for.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Train Room
Guest Bath
Art Room
Painters are still on the job. I'll save you the long story. They ultimately are on the job now for 7 weeks just painting the inside, when I tell the builder, "you know it's been 7 weeks!". They send a full crew the 8th week and get all the interior spaces done(by week 45).
Pool Bath
Guest Bed Room
The workmanship is EXCELLENT! They have also had to go back and redo several cabinet pieces that weren't installed correctly, or at all. Going back to redo, as well as the many many different paint colors that I chose, all contributed to a longer than what I feel is normal. Not to mention not having a full crew, or even more than 1 or 2 painters at a time because they were working on other new home construction elsewhere.
Future Vanity
You know, watching paint dry is not that exciting. I head back to my apartment and work on the furniture pieces I found at resale shops and antique markets. They are in need of some tender loving care. The mirror I purchased may have been "dipped" to remove the varnish and stain. It had areas where the veneer had delaminated. So with some wood glue, Frog tape, and a clamp, I worked on getting it back in shape and ready for stain later in the week.
The future guest bath vanity also
needed some wood filler for the deep gauges it had suffered through. I'll sand it down and stain it in a few days.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Today we are going to try to get the sidewalk in. The soil is dryer in the front of the house. There was also a large pile of dirt acquired from digging the hole for the propane tank and septic system. We want that to go back into the driveway to raise it up a little because of the rain runoff we are getting from the back of the property. The mason's I hired to build the retaining walls have returned today to start laying foundation blocks. It always feels good when there is a lot going on. Happy day!
Freeforming the sidewalk
A good use of "extra" dirt
Building the first row of many
One thing I have noticed while at the property so much when it is raining is...I know where the water is now coming from. Since we have the equipment onsite I ask if we can't use it to divert the run off. Let's see if it works. I am so hopeful that this will help us get the driveway in sooner. At the very least I am very grateful that someone listened and is trying anything to make this work. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thursday, April 9, 2015
I'm really nervous about today. I was told last week that the sidewalk would be formed and poured on Wednesday. It turns out that the work was done yesterday, but the concrete couldn't be here until today, at noon. The weather report calls for rain at 2 PM. This is not good. I came to the site at 1 PM when they were just getting the concrete. The driveway was too wet yesterday to even consider pouring the concrete. So this crew threw down some heavy gauge plastic over the worse part of the driveway to hopefully allow the rain runoff to go over the plastic and not create trenches into the clay. By the time they finished this the rain was beginning to fall. The sidewalk needed more time to harden.
They'd run out of plastic. Now there was a mad dash to find some plastic elsewhere. They found some painter's plastic to put down over the sidewalks and then we all went for cover. There more than two heavy down pours, but when the rains lightened up they removed the plastic to wash it down with a hose to get an aggregate finish.
Ironic isn't it. We needed more water to finish the sidewalk. The heavens opened up at 5:15 PM. Everything was finished after 6 PM. The pour was at 1 PM. Thank heavens the forecast was wrong and it didn't come at 2 PM as reported. GOD is good.
Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12, 2015
Fabric and wood selections for the Gathering Room
We have appointments at the Nebraska Furniture Mart of Texas to make selections for the Gathering Room. We've been at this for awhile at various other stores, but this one has EVERYTHING under one roof. For me, details matter. We were lucky to meet Molly Royse, Interior designer from Kansas City. I use to sell several of the companies they carry, but I was not up to date with all the current manufactures. I've been told the market has changed a lot since I was in the field. We really appreciated Molly's guidance. She was able to make the most of our time there. Thank you Molly. Monday, April 13, 2015
I pick up the Walker Zanger tile in Dallas and take it back to Glenda of Whitehouse Floors. This tile will be used in the tub room. Tip: If you are looking for ways to save on your budget ask your flooring supplier if you can pick up materials. I am fortunate to be near Dallas so that is possible. The freight can really add up. It might be worth it to you.
I also make a phone call to the plumbing supplier to make arrangements for some of the fixtures to be delivered to the job site. When I call, and ask for Kathleen, my go to for everything from plumbing fixtures to support overall, I'm told she is no longer working there. What?!!!!! I hang up but something doesn't sound right. I text my granite counter top go to, Nikki Fontana, to see if she has everything she needs for the granite counter-tops. Two hours later I see a text that says she received nothing yet. Something is not right. When I get the tile unloaded, I head to the plumbing supplier. When I arrive, no one looks familiar. The entire company has QUIT!, all accept 2. It takes more than an hour to find my sinks but I drive them to Nikki Fontana so they can fabricate the counter tops. Tip: We are now into week #45! If I've learned anything, it's VERIFY. If you want to keep the project moving, then pick up the phone and check if products are ordered, received, delivered, inspected, and properly billed. It's a big job. However, taking each day and working at it steadily you can get through it. Mistakes, loss of time, is costly. Who ultimately pays for this, the homeowner. Be your best advocate! Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Today is a big delivery day. I'd called my builder yesterday and left him a message that maybe 4 x 8 sheets of plywood laid down the driveway would be a good idea. When I arrived this morning there were multiple sheets of plywood down and suppliers ad contractors were singing his praises. Today the plumbing fixtures, and the lighting fixtures arrived. The lighting company didn't pack a dolly, but fortunately my masons had one still on the job. The plumbing company, now short staffed after everyone quit yesterday came with just a driver. I ran around the neighborhood and found David, doing lawn work and power washing, to help unload the slipper tub and the cast iron laundry sink. The plumbing company ASSUMED there would be lots of contractors on the job site. Not! Just me today. It was like Christmas, as I lifted each package and brought it to its proper room for the soon to be installation. Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Tip: What to do with all that cardboard, especially that huge box for the slipper tub? I know! I'll cut it up to the size of each piece of furniture we are considering purchasing, and verify the location of the floor electrical outlet while we are doing it. Found out the sofa that we were considering is too large for the space, as well as the area rug is too too big(a tripping hazard). It's easier than tape or chalking the floor. This way you can play around with various room arrangements(even if you know the one you selected is perfect).
The lighting fixtures that were delivered yesterday are going in today. It's like candy! Some say this is the jewelry of the room, I like candy, so it's candy. lol
Tip: Spray paint lighting trim
Not all fixture come in the trim colors that might look best in your space. So below, you can see that I have applied painters tape to the LED lens and then I'm going to spray paint the trim a brown walnut. It will look a lot better next to the dark ceiling fan centered inside these 4 recessed lights.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Stair trim and railings
Range Kitchen
Shaker Knobs
A change in the tub drain
Scullery in Mombasa Granite
More block set
Another busy day with electricians, trimmer, granite install, masons, plumbers and me on hardware. Once again, it's such a great feeling when your home is filled with contractors. Today I caught myself singing around the house, and I didn't care that I was not that good at it. It's been a long time since I felt like spontaneously singing. This was a great day.
The wood knobs are from Califon NJ, close to my childhood home. I bought them on eBay and am now conditioning them, staining, and ultimately sealing them with a polyurethane. Toothpicks from the kitchen, left over packing from the cherry counter tops in the kitchen, and some plastic gloves...I have plenty of work to do while on site waiting for the next question a contractor might have. Today it's mostly how far down do you want this pendant hanging from the ceiling. It's a really good idea to be on site when these decisions are being made. You can always install it at the "typical" height, or you can consider the heights of those that will occupy this home and install it to a more "custom" height.
Water runoff from the plastic
Plastic still on the back "driveway"
And then the rains came in raging. The granite guys had arrived at 8:30 AM, but were waiting on more pieces to arrive at 4 PM. We got out of the house at 7:15 PM. A long day. The house looks beautiful, so who cares. Off to Lowe's to purchase recessed lighting that the electricians didn't have with them, and they asked me to go buy them. Dinner at 9 PM. I slept well. Friday, April 17, 2015
Screen Porch
The tile starts being installed today. The first room laid is the screen room. The verdict is still out on this one. The singular floor tile and paint swatch that my builder used to select this stone looked good when not installed. Here the floor really doesn't match the fireplace, but the walls and trim and ceiling are still unpainted. That yellow that you see is the fiber cement board's original shipping color. There also isn't any grout selected yet. The shutters were installed yesterday. The builder missed them when working on the budget, so I found them on Craigslist in Dallas and bought them last summer. They've been in storage until today. There installed on the west side of the home, so the intention is to keep the space cooler and shaded when the sun is coming down.
The laminate in my art room was installed today. It took 2 men nearly all day to install it. The wood tops were already on. This created a condition in the corners that I'll show you below.
Before
I wanted a stained front edge on the counter top. I'm going to bump into this often and a stain will be easier to maintain, and the bumps, and scrapes will add "character" to the cabinetry. But since the tops were installed and fixed to the base cabinets the laminate fabricator could not get his router to miter the edge once it got close to the back walls and taller side cabinet. As they were leaving, I was headed up to inspect the work. They said they were going to take just one more load to the car and then come back, but guess what? They didn't come back. So what to do? I have a brand new file back at the apartment. So the next day I do some handy work(before the stain is applied). I think it looks a whole lot better.
After
Saturday, April 18, 2015
The tile crew are all back in full force until mid afternoon. They are working on 2 showers, the tub room, the laundry. The husband gets to do a walk through. He hasn't been here in more than 2 weeks. The improvements are dramatic, and he has a smile on his face, especially when he sits on the front porch and dreams what it would be like to sit on the porch and feel the breezes and watch the inlet. "Oh", he says, "if only we could live in a place like this. Oh, that's right we will....someday."
You know, watching paint dry is not that exciting. I head back to my apartment and work on the furniture pieces I found at resale shops and antique markets. They are in need of some tender loving care. The mirror I purchased may have been "dipped" to remove the varnish and stain. It had areas where the veneer had delaminated. So with some wood glue, Frog tape, and a clamp, I worked on getting it back in shape and ready for stain later in the week.
One thing I have noticed while at the property so much when it is raining is...I know where the water is now coming from. Since we have the equipment onsite I ask if we can't use it to divert the run off. Let's see if it works. I am so hopeful that this will help us get the driveway in sooner. At the very least I am very grateful that someone listened and is trying anything to make this work. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I'm really nervous about today. I was told last week that the sidewalk would be formed and poured on Wednesday. It turns out that the work was done yesterday, but the concrete couldn't be here until today, at noon. The weather report calls for rain at 2 PM. This is not good. I came to the site at 1 PM when they were just getting the concrete.
The driveway was too wet yesterday to even consider pouring the concrete. So this crew threw down some heavy gauge plastic over the worse part of the driveway to hopefully allow the rain runoff to go over the plastic and not create trenches into the clay. By the time they finished this the rain was beginning to fall. The sidewalk needed more time to harden. 
They'd run out of plastic. Now there was a mad dash to find some plastic elsewhere. They found some painter's plastic to put down over the sidewalks and then we all went for cover. There more than two heavy down pours, but when the rains lightened up they removed the plastic to wash it down with a hose to get an aggregate finish.
Tip: What to do with all that cardboard, especially that huge box for the slipper tub? I know! I'll cut it up to the size of each piece of furniture we are considering purchasing, and verify the location of the floor electrical outlet while we are doing it. Found out the sofa that we were considering is too large for the space, as well as the area rug is too too big(a tripping hazard). It's easier than tape or chalking the floor. This way you can play around with various room arrangements(even if you know the one you selected is perfect).
The lighting fixtures that were delivered yesterday are going in today. It's like candy! Some say this is the jewelry of the room, I like candy, so it's candy. lol
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