Custom Builtins

Sometimes the right cabinet or piece of furniture just does not exist.  Fortunately I have a talented father who works for beer and can guide me through a design.  Lots of dust but the opening below is for a wall over and microwave.   It will not be a combination unit.   Combo unit = $2600.  Separate microwave plus wall oven of same Whirlpool line:   $1400.

The header creates a little challenge because it limits the cabinet size.  The basic idea is that we must fit a wall oven and microwave with trim kit.  The other priority is a large drawer on bottom for pots and pans.  Whatever is left can be a cabinet on top.  There is additional space behind header (see below looking up into cabinet space) so even if we have small doors there can be a pretty large cabinet.

Below is a rough sketch of the idea and it's relatively simple stuff.  Cabinet on top will have shaker style doors with a full overlay.  The top sides and bottom of cabinet can just be sanded oak plywood sheets attached directly to framing.  On the bottom is a basic base cabinet design with just one large 16" drawer and a 4" toe kick.  The primary kitchen cabinets will be a dark maple.  However, this cabinet will be painted white to give the it some neat contrast.

Plan B:  Do not use a trim kit around the microwave.  Basically it could just be a regular microwave placed in a cutout.  That will add 5" to the cabinet doors above.

Plan C:  Ditch the microwave and add two drawers below the wall oven, thereby moving the wall oven up some more.  Then use an "over the range" microwave above the cooktop and get rid of the range hood.  This design is the most practical and the most cost effective, but it does not look nearly as cool!


Another builtin we need will be for the entertainment center.   The photo below shows the space we have to work with.  The fireplace is to the left.  Above the fireplace will be the TV.  You can't see it but 8 speaker wires distributed throughout the lower floor all come out the wall in the corner.  I'm thinking of maybe some shelves that fit the same footprint of the removed drywall on the back wall.  So, the builtin would extent above the window about 1ft on each side. I guess the stereo, DVD, and cable box will need to go to the left of the window next to the fireplace.  Not ideal, but don't know what else to do.  Can't angle them because the space to the right of the window is not big enough.

Drywall

Infrastructure is done!  Time to close it up an make this look like a house again.   $3500 quote was disappointing when I first heard it.  I knew it would be about $2K to do the entire downstairs celings.  What I really forgot to budget for was the kitchens and bathrooms.   All walls needed removal just because of all the plumibing and electrical that needed moved.  Further, there is the master closet, the pantry, new powder room, and tons of patch work.  It adds up now, I just forgot a some stuff on my original budget.  I'm probably at about $1.80 per square foot which is a solid price.


After the extension there was even more drywall work that probably would have pushed the total bid to around 5K.  Patrick and the guys spent around 2.5 days total to hang drywall the entire house.  That way they could work on the extensive amount of mill work.  I subsequently got a bid of $2600 to do all of the finish work.... which is about where I expected.  There must have been about 8 guys doing the first coat of mud Saturday AM.  They were like aunts ... everywhere!

Tree Work

Now that I understand that tree roots beat concrete:

Before.  Those trees are ugly anyway with all the ivy climbing up.

stipple ceilings

Like most of the population, I despise textured ceilings.  Of all the dirty ways builders find to save money I think this is the one that grinds my gears the most.  The savings was minimal but the remediation is painful.  Besides being unsightly, these ceilings collect dirt, dust, grease, and darken rooms by casting thousands of tiny shadows.

The downstairs remedy was easy.  Remove the ceilings and redo.  That decision was easy because most of the ceiling needed exposure given the all the recessed lights, plumbing, HVAC, and framing work that needed done.  The upstairs is a different story because (1) there is minimal infrastructure in the ceilings and (2) all that insulation is resting on the ceilings.  Leaving them is not an option ....

Option 1:  Drywall over the existing ceilings.  I don't like that option because you lose headroom and it cost about the same as paying someone to scrape, skim coast, and sand the ceilings.

Option 2:  Pay a company $2 a square foot to remedy.  eh ...  $2800 not really in the budget

Option 3: Trying sanding the ceilings myself.

Rent a pole sander from HD.  Comes with a hose so you can sync it up with wet/dry vac. Sweet

 The enemy.

So gross ....

The sander worked pretty well ...until I broke the sander.  It kept the dust down since I hooked the hose up to the dryvac.  The problem is that I tried to go too fast.  The tool is made in China and it has plastic pieces.  Duh

Attempt 2:  Orbital Sander ... Besides being way too slow because it's ... smaller,  there is no way to control the dust.  I think I almost choked myself.  The picture below was taken 20 minutes after I was done sanding.  The camera flash exposed all of the dust!

Attempt 3:  Wet and then scrape off the stipple.  I did a whole room in three dirty hours (see below)

However, as the scraping only removes most of the stipple.  I still need to sand the ceilings and probably skim coat because with all the scraping I damaged some of the drywall paper.

Attempt 1 seems to be the best way.  Time to go back to HD and rent a pole sander under a different name.

Electrical

The difference between an electrical engineer and an electrician could not have been more evident than today....   I never heard the phrase ... you can't do that it's against code ... so many times in my life.  Details to come ...

$4K to $6K is the quote.  I should have figured because after going through the house with electrician I could see nothing but $$$.  The plan calls for 30 recessed lights,  almost a complete rewire of the downstairs to accommodate the new floor plan and modified kitchen,  the sun-room addition,  all receptacles and switches replaced,  new GFCI circuits for baths and kitchen,  re-routing of cable, phone, and HDMI lines, countless fixtures, fart fans, etc. etc. etc.


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To cut costs, I scaled back the number of recessed lights, fans, and HVAC service upgrades (which are not required anyway).   After some further diagnostics the electrician agreed to do it for 4K which "sounds" good. It only sounds like good news because it was at the low limit of his bid.  I really screwed up the budget for this one by about $2K.

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First real frustration of the job.  The electrician said he would be done Friday after I gave him for the draw for the work done.  Well, he stopped answering my calls and would not return messages.  Never a good sign.  Then, I called him with another phone and he picked up.  What is this?  Freaking high school?  Says he will be done with rough in on Monday and that he just got busy.  Hmmmmm....

Ordinarily, this is grounds for dismissal.  However, given he is in the middle of the job I need to make an effort to keep the peace to get what I want.  I want the rough in done NOW so this job is not held up.   No electrical = no drywall = no tile, etc.    A few more days though and I'll have to start looking elsewhere.  That would be a pain in the ass!

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LED?   LED lights are bad ass.  Better light, low heat, great energy efficiency, etc.     Freaking expensive though.  I did find some commercial electric (HD brand) recessed trim lights for $20 each.  In case you don't know, a price that low is unprecedented.  Still, with twenty three cans I'm looking at $460.   Compare that to $8 each for a basic trim kit and halogen light ($184).  I calculated I'll save about $100 per year on lighting costs so it's only a three year payback.  Combine that with a light that last longer than your cat and I think it starts to look like a good investment.  Plus they are cool!

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-6-in-Recessed-White-LED-Trim-CER6730WH/203489880#.UomEU8RONLk

HVAC

Got a quote for $800 to re-locate 3 supplies and 3 returns.  Took it right away as the contractor could start the next day and I knew that was about the right number.  This was the easy part ....  The hard part is going to be (1) getting ducts to the sunroom when it's built and (2) deciding when to spring for a new system.....   I'm very reluctant to spend anything on these old systems ... but what if they last 5 or 10 more years ???  It's a hard tradeoff.   It looks like a pair of 16 SEER units will cost me about $8K.  Better than I thought ..


Move a wall? Move a duct.  Master bedroom closet.

 Return on lower floor.  Technician had to fabricate box due to non-standard placement.

Fixing the slab and then breaking it ...... $%#!

Raise your hand if you thought tree roots could crack and push a concrete slab up almost an inch.  I certainly did not but that is what happened.  Below is the culprit the concrete guys excavated.  It's not even that big!  Imagine a big root!  OK, that tree needs to go.

Here is an illustration of the cut out portion of the great room.  Pretty big area.

Dowel into existing slab

Finally going to patch up where the plumbing was moved.  I almost let my contractor pour this with bags.  I'm glad I did not since he was not aware that without dowels and mesh even a small area like this could settle and cause issues for my flooring.

OK, so everything above looks great.  But it's about time we had a little screw up.  That column is a point load on which the end of a 14' span LVL sits.  Lots of mass.   Not as easy to see in this picture, but there is a crack to the right of that column.

I put a level on that crack and was not surprised to see that it was 1/2" out of level.  shit.  should have known that would happen since 

(1) I suspected there was not footer on an interior wall

(2) Breaking up the concrete on one side essentially made a concrete peninsula on which the largest interior load sits.  duh.

OK, not time to panic.  Only do that after kids use a sharpie on kitchen cabinets.   After discussions with GC, engineer, concrete guy we will

(1) Put some concrete blocks to the left of the column and then use a jack and some posts to temporarily support the LVL

(2) Use and LVL piece on the other side of the column to span between two posts that will temporarily support that side.

(3) Pull out column

(4) Concrete guys will dig 24" x 24" x 12" deep footing centered under column, per engineer's specs.

(5) Put the column back after concrete cures ...  then we can just use bags at a latter time to pour back the spot where the temporary support is. ....

All sounds great ... should be doing this tomorrow AM so concrete can still be poured on Saturday.  What could possibly go wrong ?

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Two days later 

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I am 99% satisfied.  There are two high spots the contractor should have dealt with.  One was a small heave in the slab he left behind that would have been super easy to cut off and  re-pour.  The other high spot is because he poured up to the temporary LVL supports.  I emailed him asking to grind them down before payment so we'll see how that goes ...

After the concrete dried, it is apparent there are some high spots.  The company was good about cutting them out and pouring again. However,  after the 2nd attempt one spot is still a bit high.  I'll have to see what the flooring guy says.  If it works for him it works for me.  Otherwise, I'll have to have the concrete guys back out.  

Hall Bath Plans

The hall bath is the kids bath, but it will also be the guess bath.  Therefore there need to be design considerations for both.  I really like the idea of using a 12"x24" porcelain tile.  Big tiles mean fewer grout lines to get dirty and porcelain is a very durable product that is easy to clean.  I also think the big tiles look pretty sweet with the right accents.  Leader in the clubhouse shown below.  I'll use the same tile for the floor  laid out in a brick pattern.  I'm thinking an espresso vanity would contrast really nice in here.  Light solid surface counter top and oiled bronze fixtures.

Fireplace Plans

Exterior:

The fireplace is prefab and the siding around it had plenty of weather damage.  That along with a lot of other siding was replaced.  Also had to add a lot flashing that was missing.  There was just gobs of silcone at a long seem.  How there was no water damage is beyond me given that had been there for since the house was built.  The chimney cap needs replaced.  I was quoted $600 by a reputable company but that sounds a bit much to me.  I'll keep looking on that.  A buddy said he got one for $200 and installed himself.  I won't do that but my GC probably wound not charge over $100 to install.

Interior:

The firebox, flue, and interior construction look good.  I'll need to get it cleaned and probably get a new insert. The wood trim around the fireplace is in great shape and has some nice details.  I'm going to try and save it.   I'll put some faux stone around the base and then some sort of tile on the hearth and border.  Basically cover up all the brick.



Leading candidate for faux stone.  Not sure yet but may want something with a little less tones.

Changing the Footprint

My dad made a good request to put a sketch up for some perspective.   This sketch is not quite to scale .. but it is not too far off either.  Two open items illustrated on the sketch are:

•  (A) a possible new exterior door.   The reasoning here is that it is that we may not want the sunroom to be a traffic area.  Also, there will be a patio behind that utility room and the kitchen ... and probably be the place for the grill.  
•  (B) possibly open the wall between kitchen extension and sunroom.  I'm on the fence about this but I'm leaning to a yes.  The reason here is that wall space is not as critical.  This room is wide enough that a couch and table can be offset off the wall without interrupting traffic.  At the least I will need a column at the corner to support the load of the exterior wall.... so it can't be 100% open.

Master Bathroom Ideas

Insipration Done.  But you know what really grinds my gears?  I need to pick out a rough in valve to finish the rough plumbing.  I'm shopping around and am finding that a $200-$300 shower kit that looks nice that is supposed to be "brushed nickel" is actually  made of mostly PLASTIC!  Check it out for yourself ... Delta In2ition shower kit at home depot ... $219 ... freaking plastic.  And that is what really grinds my gears.



To keep Miceli contracting on the move we decided to have them do all the tile work.  Great!  The only problem was that I needed the tile right away and special order would just not cut it.  That being said the tile I needed to get for the master was a shade darker than I wanted ... but it will look great once we get light and other finishings into the room ...

Sammy and Nelson cutting tile for the master bath while Patrick yells for the next tile.

Master shower under construction

Note the tile is much more gray than the inspiration pictures.  In fact, this tile actually matches the countertop in the inspiration.  The floors are carrerra white marble which has grey veins in it.  The vanity is a pure white shaker style.  The paint is Sherwin Williams Ancient Marble.  That is the light greyish/green that Roddy really liked.

I need to pick out the vanity top and the shower seat.  Of course, the shower seat stone are the pieces that are fabricated for the entry into the shower and the tops of the knee walls that the glass enclosure will sit on.

Already installed:

Grey subway tile surround
white shaker vanity
white carrerra marble floors

Need to select:

Vanity top
Shower seat
Backsplash

Option 1:

Light grey vanity top, white subway tile back splash, and white quartz shower seat.

My main concern here is too much going on.  I can't use the light grey for the seat and backsplash because fabricator does not have enough.

Option 2:

Some combination of the above, but just use a DARK gray quartz that matches the shower subway tile (see pic below). The fabricator has enough dark gray quartz that I can use the same product for the backspash, top, and shower seat if I want to.  My main concern here is that the dark gray top does not match the tile exactly, but the slight contrast looks awkward.   Also, that it is too dark.


Option 3) Others?

Kitchen

Initial kitchen layout.  

Probably will do a microwave above cooktop.   Going with cooktop because I'm sick of nasty grease, taco meat, baked beans, marinara sauce, etc. that always finds its way between countertop and range.

New peninsula will look out into open sunroom and extended kitchen area.  Area will be flooded with light.  The wall oven on the right will go in the space occupied by the original hallway.

 Pantry next to wall oven.  Pantry will be pretty deep.  We are taking 6" away from powder room width which should give us about 2' deep shelving.  Opening leads to dining room.    Once design consideration are the wall cabinets.  Current design has a filler strip and crown moulding that goes all the way to ceiling.  I'm not sure if I want all cabinets to hit the ceiling for asthetic reasons.

Sunroom and kitchen extension

Sunroom will have same footprint as screened in porch.  All windows but with 8' sliding patio door that leads out onto the deck.  To the right is the current kithen bay window.  That will be blown and moved back 3'. 

Here is the design for sunroom and kitchen.  Need 14  windows.   30' x 54.5' R.O.    and one really big sliding patio door.

Here is the window.  Anderson 100 series with dark bronze exterior/white interior.  Made of maintenance free composite material.  It has a cleaner look than vynil because there are no weld seams.  No grates.  Low E glass.   Buidling supply wanted $270 per window.  HD wanted $220 per window.  Went to HD to order and found out Anderson was having 15% off all special order windows.  Yes please.  Saved about $700 off windows and patio door.    +1 beer for HD associate.

Temporary bracing in place so that footings and slab can be poured for sunroom.   The perimeter of the existing patio will be torn up so that footings can be poured.  Concerete will also be poured to bring slab to same level as main living area.   Work should begin Monday.

Concerete contractor said 8" deep and 15" wide footings are good enough.  I consulted my engineer and he wants em 12" deep.  I have heard many varying accounts on what footers should be.  I'll need to consult the building codes to see for myself.   Rebar will also be tied and doweled into existing slab.   I have never poured concrete before ...  makes me a little nervous.

The first real frustration to log:   Argghhh!!!   I finally had a concrete contractor lined up to start tomorrow AM. I found him on homeadvisor.com which is supposed to pre-screen their pros for applicable licenses, etc.  I texted this guy 6PM Sunday night asking him to bring proof of insurance.  Turns out he does not have any.  See that structure in the picture above .... It would not be a good idea to let someone cut out big chunks of concrete under that thing without their own liability insurance.  Just FYI:  Homeowners does NOT cover an incident where someone is hired as an independent contractor.

The real pain in the ass here is that I have already had 5 guys come look at this job ...  including the guy with no insurance.   Two of them came out to look ... and then would not even return my phone calls requesting a price. One guys came out to look and then said he was too busy, and the last guys charged me $600 over what I wanted ($4K).  That extra $600 does not sound too bad right now.

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I sure am glad I switched companies ... these guys have ran into thick concrete, tree roots, etc... and they did not complain or ask for more money.  They just did the job.  The prep included breaking up the old patio on the perimeter while digging minimum 16" deep and 16" wide footings.  A little extra because code only requires 12" deep or 8" below ground level (below frost line).

  Two strands of rebard tied around perimeter and into existing slab.

  6mm poly film and wiremesh on top.  Engineer likes it. I like it.  Sweet.

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Two days later ...

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Slab looks good to me :)

Miceli contracting is in town so it's time to get some real work done.

Three pictures above were taken about the end of day one.  Kitchen wall removed and most of the permanenant structural support has been added for extension.

The windows and sliding glass door were also delivered on day one.  The door is ummmm.... the wrong size.  Like freaking huge.  S#%!.    No time to do another special order ....  I'll have to pick a door off the shelf at HD.

By the end of day 1, the HVAC ducts were also ran to the extension.  HVAC guy tied a 10" line into air handler, down an upstairs closet, and into the top of the extension as showed in the top right of the picture below.  There were no manual D calculations done and that certainly worries me.  The project was just moving too fast and I dropped the ball on that one.  Hopefully the duct design flaws can be cured when we install new HVAC.

Skip ahead to day 4 and the building is now water tight.  Framing, windows, flashing, siding, roof, and exterior trim is all complete.   Patrick and the guys really blew through this addition while making it look great.

Note the white french doors.  Since the special order was screwed up I had to pull a door of the shelf and will have to paint to match.  This is also my first real screw up.  That door should be a slider instead of french doors.  Can't put chairs right inside the doors because they open into the room :(  

After passing HVAC, electical, and framing inspections all in one week we were given the go ahead to close our walls.  We did intially fail HVAC and electrical for nit pick type items.  The framing inspector also turned out to be from NY ... and because he knew Patrick was from NY he made sure some balls were busted before passing us.


Fast forward a few more days and the boys had the entire house insulated, drywalled, and mostly trimmed out.  We did insulation around all bathrooms for privacy and below the master bedroom for peace and quiet.


View coming into new kitchen sitting area from garage:

Coming into kitchen from dining room

View from middle of kitchen into kitchen sitting area and sunroom.

View into living room from sunroom.

After 13 strait days of 8-10 hour days it was time for Patrick, Sammy, Nelson, and William to leave.  Great job guys!