prairieman

Overall: Another good week. We are working a punchlist of tasks that must be completed so we can achieve the goal – to have the Brown County building department give us an occupancy permit (successful final inspection). Our 2 person crew (Kyle and I) continue to chip away at it. The big hitters: install kitchen cabinets & countertops, install bathroom vanities, complete the master bath shower stall, install plumbing fixtures, deck railing, pantry room shelves, laundry room cabinets.

Monday: Menards delivered kitchen cabinets today. Because we opted for RTA (ready-to-assemble) cabinets: we unloaded DOZENS of boxes that Carole and I will assemble to become useful kitchen cabinets. Kyle continued with interior trim work. Me – installing light fixtures.

Tuesday: Our plumber showed up today, to assemble a list of bits & pieces he needs, to install shutoff valves to all toilets and sinks. He also sorted out a drain problem with the kitchen sink. The drain is mislocated in the house concrete slab. He was able to re-position the 2″ drain without much demolition. His drain relocation effort alllows us to install kitchen cabinets along the south wall of the house. I installed ceiling fans today, while Kyle painted additional quantities of interior trim.

Wednesday: Kyle continued with interior trim. I brought the downdraft vent and induction cooktop from dad’s house to the job site and began the task of locating the vent and the cabinet it goes in, and the duct that penetrates the concrete slab where the kitchen island will be. A fun, challenging 3D puzzle…

Thursday: More of the same for Kyle and I today.

Friday: Carole and I attended a one day sale at a local granite countertop installer. Didn’t see anything we felt compelled to purchase on the spot. I already have a quote for quartz from these guys. Travis, Lynn & the boys, Alex & Lacey arrive today from Kansas & Oklahoma for a weekend here. Carole and I are excited to see them.

Saturday: Taking most of the day off. Spent time catching up with material receipt scanning, logging, and database update. All of us made a visit to Howard Ridge to see our progress. Everyone got together for a fun evening at the Johnsons.

Sunday: Up early to watch the Formula 1 race at Monaco, then all of us back together to watch the Indy 500. I was spoiled with another day away from actual work at Howard Ridge. It has been really nice to take a couple days off to get away from the site for some rest.

Overall: Another very productive week. Kyle is focused on interior trim around baseboards, doors & windows. I’m installing ceiling fans, light fixtures, receptacles and switches. Frequent and significant rain are preventing me from getting anything done outside, but that’s OK – we still lots to do inside, and I’m confident June will be a drier month.

Monday: Was surprised to see a large Ash tree on the ground 20-30 yards west of the deck. We are pleased and relieved it decided to fall downhill away from the house. It looked to be a healthy tree, but the exposed root ball had much fewer roots than expected. Losing that very large tree certainly opened up the back yard looking west which is nice. But right now, I’m seeing it as another mess to clean up.

Tuesday: More of the same with Kyle triming out the house. I installed smoke detectors and other electrical stuff.

Wednesday: Light fixtures arrived at our rental home yesterday, so I had fixtures to install today. I created a spreadsheet several weeks when we were trying keep track of light fixture sourcing status. The excel product listed all fixtures (by type) room by room. It allowed Carole and I see see what still needed to be sourced, ordered and installed. Some lights have been easy to select, other fixtures have very difficult to choose. We are rather particular – and on a budget – so price point is a big deal. Out of curiousity I decided to add up everything and was shocked to see a total of 109 light fixtures for the house, shop and breezeway ! We are close to having the remaining few fixtures selected and ordered.

Thursday: Same work for both Kyle and I today.

Friday: Finishing up the week, the same way it started. Lots of doors, windows and baseboard to be measured, cut and installed. Working by himself – Kyle is getting it done for us. Really happy to have him as our carpenter. He really knows his stuff. Me ? same-same. Recall – 109 light fixtures, and switches for all of that, and receptacles, and ceiling fans.

Saturday: Needed a break, so Carole and I drove out to Howard Ridge so she could see the results of our recent efforts. Spent the rest of the day at home, working on an article for the BMW club magazine, and updating construction files, scanning the latest receipts, etc.

Sunday: UPS dropped off more ceiling fans on Friday, so I had planned to install them today. When I walked onto the breezeway and looked at the cut limestone steps, decided that would be a more entertaining puzzle to solve; seeing if I could move and place the steps by myself. Using pieces of pipe as rollers, furniture dollies, prybars as levers, shims, and a trusty Bloomfield jack – was quite satisfied I was able to accomplish that task and without any heavy lifting. Several more pictures are posted on Facebook.

Overall: We are making great progress. Kyle is getting it done, focused on interior trim and hanging doors. The HVAC system is complete. We moved the cut limestone steps from pallets in the yard to the breezeway. Our “free” refrigerator was delivered to the site.

Monday: Kyle worked all day on interior trim, while I installed light fixtures and receptacles.

Tuesday: Menard’s lumber delivered bathroom vanities and the refrigerator we purchased using Menards rebate dollars. Purchasing materials at Menards brings an 11% discount; if you mail in a copy of the receipt. We had accumulated $1900 worth of “Menards dollars” as of April, giving us more than enough to cover the cost of the fridge. We recently placed $21K of doors, vanities, and kitchen cabinets. When we receive rebate checks for that pile of stuff – we will have enough rebate bucks to purchase double convection wall ovens. Kyle continued with his efforts, and more of the same for me.

Wednesday: HVAC crew arrived to complete their part of the build. They believe it will require 2 days effort to finish the installation.

Thursday: Heat pump & air con for the house is 100% completed and fully operational. Same for the mini-split air con system in Carole’s textile space in the shop building.

Friday: Joe was available with the his tractor/loader this morning. The project was to move the cut limestone steps from the yard into the breezeway. The largest chunk is 45″ by 36″ and 5″ thick. The framed opening in the breezeway is 37″. What could go wrong ? The task went as well as I hoped, and easier than I expected. We set the largest stone on several 1″ pipes to roll/move it out of the way and close to the final destination at the entry into the house. The other pieces went onto furniture dollies. We will complete this heavy task in the near future.

Saturday: 2 inches of rain overnight ! The site is muddy again. Very grateful we were able to move limestone slabs while the ground was dry. Online shopping for light fixtures… and door knobs.

Sunday: Installed ceiling fans in the breezeway and the front porch. Carole and I are ceiling fan zealots, and his home build reflects that. There will be a total of 15 fans in both buildings.

Overall: Good progress, getting a variety of tasks in work and completed. Ordered cabinets for the kitchen, laundry room, and pantry. Picked up cut limestone entry steps, Kyle painted interior trim boards and has begun installing baseboard trim. I’m installing light fixtures. I’m putting a date on our possible move into the house: the end of June. We will see if I can make that deadline a reality.

Monday: Picked up the limestone entry steps from the quarry I had custom ordered last month. Beautiful buff Indiana limestone. Five pieces and 2200 pounds. Ralph and Joe on site working on electrical stuff. Kyle is painting interior trim boards. Kermit is here setting tile in the master bath walk-in shower

Tuesday: More of the same

Wednesday: Dejavu all over again. lol

Thursday: Installed central vacuum doors in the house and shop. Also installed the central vacuum machine in the shop mechanical room. Need one additional length of 2 inch pipe to complete the installation. Borrowed a utility trailer to move our Hustler mower to the property. I want to keep the grass/lawn that have, properly mowed. Kermit here grouting shower tiles

Friday: Unloaded the limestone steps from my trailer. Mike Baker provided his compact tractor with pallet forks. Need the trailer ready to work/haul, as I’m hoping to rent an excavater in the near term to complete dirt work and get grass planted. All I need is several sunny days to dry things out…

Saturday: Carole came out to the site to clean drywall mud and general nasty dirty condition of entry door thresholds, and drywall dust on window jambs. I was installing light fixtures. Kermit on site cleaning up the excess grout. Shower floor looks terrific !

Sunday: Spent the morning scanning receipts and updating excel files. Went to Menards in the afternoon after seeing the refrigerator we want is on clearance sale with 3 units at the Bloomington store. Had enough Manard’s 11% discount rebate cards to purchase it without using any cash !

Overall: We are steadily inching toward the finish line. Still lots to do, but having painted walls greatly helps motivate us to complete the rest of the tasks we have to complete before moving in. Flooring installation for the house was completed this week, electricians were installing switches & receptacles. Travis visited for the weekend from Kansas City and installed 15 light fixtures and the great room ceiling fan.

Monday: Kyle and I are installing flooring. Ralph & Joe were here sorting through an issue with the electrical system. They think a receptacle box was covered by drywall, which apparently is a common mistake made by crews hanging drywall. They are testing wires to isolate the problem and are confident they will get it corrected.

Tuesday: Pretty much a repeat of Monday…

Wednesday: Kyle worked alone with the flooring task. I spent the day with Carole, driving her to Indianapolis for a medical appointment.

Thursday: See Monday – pretty much the same effort from electricians and Kyle. Kermit was also on site to install tile in the master bathroom walk in shower.

Friday: Completed flooring installation for the house ! Ralph and Joe are convinced that an electrical box is hidden in the mudroom wall. They came up with a fix by routing a new wire from a box in the laundry room, up into the attic then down to the main panel. They tell me it’s fairly routine to have these sorts of glitches, and they are used to troubleshooting, then isolating to the root cause and correcting it in the manner they did here. Our oldest son Travis arrived from Kansas City to put in some labor for us. Gave him the task of installing light fixtures in the kitchen and great room.

Saturday: Carole, Travis and I spent the day at the site. Travis continuing with light fixture installation. Carole worked hard cleaning up drywall dust and paint overspray. Kermit was here for awhile, continuing the shower stall tile task. I drove to Indianapolis in the morning to return extra/leftover flooring. Got $1500 back from the $8500 quantity of flooring purchased last month. That money is welcome and goes back into the cash we have on hand to finish this project. We still need to purchase kitchen cabinets & countertops, bathroom vanities, interior trim and doors, and a number of other things.

Sunday: Travis and I travelled out to the site early in the morning to install the great room’s 80 inch diameter ceiling room. A very large fan for a very large room. He left for the 500 mile drive to Kansas City. Carole and I spent the afternoon at the site. Carole continuing to clean up and I spent the time installing more light fixtures.

Overall: We are back in control of both buildings. Painters completed the interior of both structures last Friday. Flooring is going in this week, Ralph & Joe (electricians) are installing switches, receptacles, and light fixtures.

Monday: Spent the morning getting caught up with receipts, and other paperwork. Submitted the next-to-last construction loan draw over the weekend. Moved ladders, scaffolds, tools, and other miscellanaous crap from the storage unit back to the construction site. The caution to completely empty both buildings before the arrival of drywallers and painters was sound advice. Those guys are pigs. We have a mess to clean up…

Tuesday: Got started with the task of installing luxury vinyl plank flooring in the house.

Wednesday: Kyle and I installed flooring all day. The electrician-brothers showed up to begin finishing the house and shop electrical bits & pieces.

Thursday: Continued flooring effort. We are making great progress, and the task is going very well. Ralph was here continuing with electrical work. Kermit showed up to begin the master bath walk-in shower installation.

Friday: Guessing we are 60% complete with flooring in the house. Ralph & Joe here today to install electrical bits & pieces. Kermit here for a couple hours working on the master shower.

Saturday: More site cleaning. Carole and the dogs spent the afternoon at the site. Carole cleaning up drywall dust – that is everywhere – and Layla & Millie having fun running through the breezeway from the house to the shop.

Sunday: All morning spent on the computer updating various files, and scanning receipts. Spent the afternoon cleaning up the entire site and tweaking the east end house entry door. Neglected since installation a few months ago. The door was too “tight” near the lock mechanism when opening and closing the door. Neglected until now, was able to open the jamb a small amount so the door opens and closes as it should.

Overall: Reached a significant milestone/tollgate this week. The interior spaces of both building are completely painted. Weather has been sunny and warm all week, finally drying out the bare areas of yard. I rented a trenching machine late in the week to complete unfinished water and electrical needs.

Monday: Paint crew is on site and applying primer or paint, depending which building they are in. For me – more online research and shopping.

Tuesday: Drove to Indianapolis to pick up the vinyl plank flooring to be installed in the house. Painters are still painting…

Wednesday: Kyle started framing the east and west ends of the breezeway in preparation of eventually installing screens. I worked on site preparation to rent a trencher tomorrow

Thursday: Got the trencher and went to work while Kyle worked on breezeway framing. Ran a trench for an RV shore power receptacle from the south side of the house. Also trenched electrical wire to the future location of a combination lawn equipment & chicken coop shed. Finally, trenched a water line from the meter base to the future shed. A lesson in flexibility applies here. The original planned location for the shed became impossible, when the trencher would hit tree roots or large stones. Had to stop and assess my options. Made the decision to relocate the future shed, and was able to complete the water and electric service trenches without difficulty. The new location is less desirable, but will be workable.

Friday: Returned the trencher and spent the day, laying in the water line and electric wires before backfilling the open trenches. Arrived at the site around 9AM to discover a large truck and a crew blowing insulation into the attics. YIKES ! I still had work to do in the attic, and spoke to the insulation company earlier in the week and we decided they could start on April 19th. I stopped their effort while I called the coordinater. At first she disagreed with me, so I said: check your email “sent items folder” and look for your reply to me on April 11th at 11:30AM. Whooopsie… lol. We all make mistakes and she quickly admitted to her scheduling goof up.

Saturday: Spent the morning working in the attic. I neglected to include RG6 cable to employ an outdoor FM antenna for music receivers in the house and shop. I also needed to pull wires for the central vacuum from the attic space in the shop into the shop mechanical room. Also needed to terminate shop security camera wiring from the attic into the mechanical room. Was getting hot in the attic by 11, so spent the afternoon moving scaffolds, ladders, extension cords, tools, light fixtures, etc and etc. We emptied both buildings before the drywallers arrived. Now that painting is complete – time to move back in.

Sunday: Much cooler weather today, was able to complete everything electrical in the attic. An entire day of up and down ladders in and out of the house and shop attic space. I’m already stiff and sore from the workout, so tomorrow should be delightful. The good news: we are 100% ready for blow in insulation next week.

Overall: The drywall task is complete, so interior painting is this week’s focus. More storms and rain on Wednesday. I’m spending most of my time consumed with sourcing materials. I’m finding multiple vendors for similar products, and frequently, significantly different prices. If money didn’t matter, it would easy to pick the first source found, but we are on a tight budget. Additionally, Carole and I can’t purchase the larger stuff until the painters are done, as we have filled all available storage spaces.

Monday: A crew is at the site sanding drywall. I’m at the computer doing online stuff and shopping locally.

Tuesday: The sanding crew finished up late today. The painter says they will start Wednesday morning. I will be interested to see how many gallons of primer & paint are consumed. SO-so many square feet of walls and vaulted ceilings…

Wednesday: Severe weather is forecast, with a possibility of tornadic activity locally. The impressive line of storms extends from Corpus Christi TX to Quebec, Very early morning tornados reported in Missouri on our local news this morning. Thunderstorms arrived late afternoon as predicted and luckily for us, was limited to thunderstorms. More rain, but no tornados.

Thursday: Meterologists are predicting an extended period of dry, sunny weather here. This good news have raised my hopes that I can finally complete a trenching project. Wet soil conditions have been persistent, causing a delay since the end of February (see week 45 summary).

Friday: Picked out the color/pattern for the master shower panels and got the stuff on order. I gave up trying to hire a tile setter – apparently they are all busy and not interested to provide a quote. Not a surprise, this has been the typical contractor-lack-of-response since we began this project. Went on a search for an alternative to ceramic tile and finally found a product called wetwall (wetwall.com). Affordable, attractive and within our capabilities as a diy project, saving labor/install $$$.

Saturday: Painting crew is working today, which makes us happy. I’m still hunting for house stuff.

Sunday: Easter. Enjoying hot coffee, the Sunday morning music show on wtts radio and posting to this blog. Carole is preparing a fantastic Easter meal for local family members and a couple close friends. Zack (paint contractor) believes he will be done late Tuesday, which gives the project back to Kyle and I to begin interior trim, flooring and cabinets. Will also open the flood gates for Carole to order bathroom vanities, interior doors, etc.

Overall: Another week of drywall installation. This week: drywall finishing. AKA: taping seams and spackling over screw heads. With 2 buildings, combined to 4600 square feet, and vaulted ceilings; there is a LOT of drywall to be finished. Once the finishing effort is complete, a sanding crew comes in to make the walls and ceilings smooth. Then the painting crew arrives. Probably going to be another week before we can get into the house to begin installation of flooring, trim, doors and cabinets. I am using the “downtime” to source & select all of that finish material.

Monday: Pella technician arrived as scheduled to install the custom screens for the french doors. Drywallers still doing their thing. Spoke to a design engineer representing an LED strip light distributor. Getting a material list and a quote. The planned LEP strip lights will be installed on the deck railing and the bulkheads along the kitchen wall and the north wall of the great room.

Tuesday: More online shopping. It’s a never ending list. Look around your home; every switch, receptacle, light fixture, mirror, appliance, drawer pull or handle has to be selected for style, fit & function, and….. cost.

Wednesday: Visited Big Creek quarry and Quality surfaces to get quotes for limestone entry steps & raised hearth (wood stove). Ordered the limestone which will be ready in a couple weeks. Got a quote for quartz countertops. Of possible interest: this is the second stone countertop installer who told me: the popularity of quartz has lowered the price of granite. A surprising quantity of granite colors and patterns are a lower price point than quite a few quartz offerings.

Thursday: More sourcing/shopping…

Friday: Severe weather forecasted over a week ago, arrived right on time. The NWS said there were 9 confirmed tornadoes in central Indiana overnight. The worst was an EF-3 in Sullivan, approx 50 miles west of us. Our decision to install a tornado shelter was affirmed after seeing all of the destruction to homes & businesses, with the closest tornado only 20 miles from us.

Saturday: Cold and windy today. Spent the day at home shopping on the internet.

Sunday: See Saturday.

Overall: The guys installing drywall had control of both buildings this week. Too wet for me to trench a water line and buried electric for RV shore power. The week was spent making decisions & ordering materials for the final phase of construction.

Monday: Spent part of the day, pulling trash and scrap material up to the roll off dumpster. Pretty sure the drywall crew will more than fill it, ultimately needing another dumpster. Nice to get the site cleaned up.

Tuesday: Part of the day spent pulling wire for the slab heat water circulater/pumps. Going above and beyond – it would have been easy to route the wires inside the mechanical room, but I wanted a “cleaner” installation, so drilled holes near each pump and routed each wire into the wall cavity, then out of the wall at the control panel, resulting in a lot less “clutter”. Most won’t notice the effort, but I will; every time I’m in the mechanical room.

Wednesday: Public Service Announcement: get checked for colon cancer if you are old enough or have a family history. Today was the day I received a colonoscopy… for the fourth time, actually. I read a NY Times article on Monday, talking about the increased rate of colon cancer in younger people and how medical experts are working to understand the reasons why. It’s treatable folks; if you catch it in an early stage of development. The prep and sedation definitely ruined any productivity for me on our construction project, but am pleased to say I got a clean bill of health.

Thursday: Visited a local countertop installer to get a quote for granite or quartz for the kitchen. Retrieved the BMW that stranded me at the property in August with a dead starter. Finally broke down and trailered the car to a local BMW independant mechanic. I bought the new starter a few days after the car died in August, hoping to find some time to replace it. The bill was 375 bucks, all labor (this bimmer is a real PITA to access the starter). Expensive to have someone perform a task I’m capable of doing, but at the end of the day – worth it. I have zero spare time for much of anything beyond this construction project. Very happy to be driving the car again.

Friday: More work to nail down some of the details we will be faced with, once the drywall is finished and the interior of both buildings are painted. Drywall installers completed their portion late today. Drywall finishers begin on Monday.

Saturday: A monsoon weekend with 4 inches of rain since Thursday. On the computer, sourcing materials.

Sunday: A sunny and warm Spring day. Other than taking the dog for a walk; another day spent on the computer.