Thread: Checking in

Tweet

How did you final walk through go Mike? Good I hope.
.

The final walk thru happened this morning so the only thing left now is a cleaning team will be coming thru to give it a good cleaning.

There were only 2 small electrical issues. One of the 3 way switches for ceiling light in the living room doesn't work (the factory will be checking on that) and an outside 110V outlet was omitted (a local contractor will take care of that).

Once the cleaning is taken care of I can finally start moving the stuff out of the garage and into the house. In the meantime I'll probably get started on the last 50' of trenching I need to do to get the ethernet cable over to the new house tomorrow.



.

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

A 'city manager' is nothing more than a bean counter that can't hold a real job.

The city manager in the town where I work is a puke. Like Mike said, an overpaid moron who can't do anything but make sure the city is running in the red.

Seems most of the cleaning crew came down with the flu so it took over a week for them to get to my place.......I don't know why I expected that last little job to go smoothly

We did get the aprons to drive up on the pad poured where the car port will go while we were waiting. At least that's done and I can get a load of gravel poured for one of the driveways.

Once the cleaning team was gone Cade and I were able to start moving a few things into the house and finally out of the shop. The first things were the hearth for the stove, the stove and the entertainment center.

Z F E by M Patterson, on Flickr


I have a gas fireplace/stove and similar style entertainment center in the main house and really enjoy them so I wanted something similar in the new house.

We actually ended going with an electric version of a Franklin Stove rather than a real wood stove (or a version with a gas insert like the one in main house).

I've been around real wood stoves pretty much all my live and 2 things I do know is they need to set on a hearth of some kind and they need a stove pipe. Building the hearth was not a major job but the placement was right over the register in that corner of the room. I had to build it tall enough that I could incorporate internal ducting and a toe kick register on the front.

The stove is electric so naturally it doesn't need or come with a chimney/stove pipe......it also doesn't look right to me without one so I ended up adding one.


Z F by M Patterson, on Flickr


Surprisingly the flames are pretty realistic and it does incorporate a pretty decent electric heater in bottom. I found out this morning it does a good job of taking the chill off the living room without having to fire up the furnace so all in all think it was a pretty good choice.



I really like the style of the entertainment center in the main house but it's kind of limited on the size of TV it will hold and like the hearth where I wanted to put it was right over the register. So with that it was a trip to Lowes for a pile of boards.


Z E by M Patterson, on Flickr


I ended up building in more ducting and another toe kick register. The bottom also has 4 doors to cover 2 of the speakers and hold a laptop and storage for tapes/CDs.

When I was in the process of building these a friend of mine said "I thought you said you hated working with wood". I told him just because I hate working with wood doesn't mean I don't know how to.

Anyway I guess it's on to ceiling fans with remotes and replacing closet doors with Bi-Fold doors.



.

Progress is a GOOD thing

Progress is a good thing...……...

It's looking real good and I like your faux chimney for your electric fireplace.We have a wood burning fireplace in our basement and a propane one upstairs, no need to say which one is easier to turn on.

Very nice work Mike! What is all left to do before you could technically move into it?

We could actually move in now Ryan. It's probably going to be 1 1/2 to 2 years before Donna and I actually move in, so I've time to get some things taken care of before we do.

I did get the Bi-Fold doors on the closets and one ceiling fan hung. While Cade was over this weekend we got the majority of the security cameras up and wired.........we've gone thru the whole 2000' of cat6 cable and come up about 100' short for doing the last 2 cameras. Donna and I ordered the new chairs and love seat she/we wanted and those should be coming in over the next 2 days.


The "To Do" list is pretty long but getting shorter.

A few minor things are left on inside of the house, shower doors a couple of ceiling fans etc.

We still have to get the carport added. The engineer drawings came in and as soon as the county approves them and issues a permit I'll get that ordered and hopefully up before the new year.

Next spring I'll be adding a deck to the front of the house .

At some point before we make the move I'll also put in a whole house generator and I've been looking for a good deal on a wheel chair lift for the eventuality of either Donna or I needing one at some point.

At least I know what I'll be doing in my spare time.


.

Sounds like you have it all under control

That list doesn't sound too bad. At least it isn't anything major.

Just catching up a bit (and venting )

Got the inside stuff like shower doors and ceiling fans done so other than building some shelves in cabinets the inside of the house is pretty much taken care of.

I’ve had 2 large trees next to the shop (and right next to the power line going to the house) that started dying a couple of years ago. The good news is the local power company will remove them for free…….the bad news is it takes forever for them to get a crew out. The crew finally showed up a week ago and the trees are now gone. By then the trees were well and truly dead, and every time the wind blew I was afraid they would end up going into the power lines or thru the roof/skylights on the shop or both. We have 45 MPH winds forecast for today which doesn’t bother me near as much now as it would if the trees were still standing.

I also got 20 tons of gravel delivered and spread just before the rains started. So I now have a nice driveway from the street to the back of the new house. I still need to get another 10-15 tons to do the driveway at the front of the house to the other road, but that will go across the new leach field so I’m going to give the dirt a little more time to settle over the winter before I do that one.

Finally the carport……it’s finally on order and will likely be here before Christmas. Of course I need a building permit to put one up (and yeah if I lived a little further out in the sticks I’d probably would not have bothered with one). I got the permit package done (which is always a joy) and turned in. With the $500 for the engineered plans for the carport and $250 for the permits I now have permission to have a carport. I’m not sure what pisses me off more, having to have permission to do something on my own property or adding 15% to the project cost to get the permission. But at least I’ll have a carport.

So anyway I’m starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.


.

Thanks for the update. And to quote "but that will go across the new leach field so I’m going to give the dirt a little more time to settle over the winter before I do that one.".. up in this neck of the woods, that would be the kiss of death. adding compaction into the field wouldn't be a good thing - but maybe it's different with"your" soil there.

Nice to hear the home is basically done. Someday when Chris and I are retired to Alamogordo I hope to make a trip to go see your workshop! I'm a huge fan of lineshaft drive! LOL...

One more big one checked off the to do list. The car port is finally done. What a PIA. It took me and 2 other guys (mostly the 2 other guys ) 4 Saturdays to get it done. I don't just scamper up scaffolds or ladders like I used to. It's mostly held together with self tapping and because of how hard the beams were almost all of them need to be drilled with pilot holes before the screws would start.


Carport done by M Patterson, on Flickr


We finished up Saturday and the county came by Tuesday to inspect and green tag it. Cade and I still have to hang the security cameras but that's only a hour or 2 job.

It's big enough to get the wife's car and my truck in it which is a good thing.....if it came down to only one guess who's it would be. Until we actually move in though the Ram 50 has it all to itself.

The "last" 2 major projects will be getting gutters put on and then building a deck on the front. Neither job requires a permits or inspections so I think I've seen the last of the county inspectors.


.

Good progress and inspectors can be a pain being a contractor I dealt with them a lot. Most were cool but some you just can't talk to. I built a garage once and called for the concrete inspection, no one showed I took pictures and poured. I called again for rough frame, no one showed. I finished it and called for final. He finely came, When he got out of his car he said I have never done a concrete, rough frame and finish in one visit. You will today. lol