Painting

Friday we bought the paint we would need for all of the downstairs except our bedroom. We had intended to get things started but I had to do a lot of running around for a couple of customers so the day's time got ate up. We need to first go through the house and use a shop vac to make sure there isn't any dust or residue from the drywall finishing that could get stirred up and on the wet paint.

The drywall finishing turned out looking really good. Bill Thompson and Jimmy Walker did the job. I was happy with their work but it took much longer than we were quoted because they sub out the hanging, tape, and mudding. Bill and Jimmy then come in and do only the finishing. The entire job required 240 - 4x12 boards, 3 - 4x8 green boards, 41 buckets (60 lbs each) of mud, and 2 - 500 ft boxes of microbead for the corners. They preferred to use the paper backed corner bead because the paper blends into the mud and results in fewer chances of future cracks. Their work is guaranteed for 2 years.

I hope to have gravel poured early in the coming week and concrete poured by the middle or end of the week.

Drywall finishing up

The drywall will be finishing up this weekend. The guys doing the tape and mud are completing their part this evening and then the texture will be done this weekend. We are going to have a light orange peel type texture on the walls and what is called "knock down" on the ceiling. The finishers are going to do the paint on the ceilings while they are in the house. The hanging crew accidently covered up the socket for our washer so they are going to have to fix that before the job is complete. We also realized we have to cut a vent for the dryer to the outside.

Once the drywall finishers get out of our garage we can move forward with the concrete. We went to the house this afternoon but didn't accomplish much. I need to pick up more siding and am hesitant about the soffit and trim work on the exterior. The aluminum coil is coated in vinyl and is bent around the corners and requires a "metal break or bender".

Once the interior is ready for paint we need to get on the kitchen first. The cabinets arrive the 8th of May to be installed. Weather has been great and it looks like Spring has arrived finally for good.

Ground inspection, concrete, brick

Tomorrow we will call for the ground inspection on our electrical work. Once that is approved we can fill in the trenches in the yard and arrange for the concrete contractor to begin work.

The brick is as far as it can go while waiting on the concrete to be poured for the front steps. The drywall contractors are working slow. It has made me wonder about getting someone else out to finish the job but that might delay it more.

Brick

The brick masons started yesterday and finished about 80% of the job in one day. We will need a concrete base poured before the brick front steps and brick mailbox can be done. The masons have the wall on the front of the garage, the last row on the back of the house, the front steps, mailbox, and the walls on either side of the garage door opening left to complete the work. We had rain today and I don't think they worked because of the weather.

The drywall contractors called this morning and finally got back out on the job. We are at two weeks now since materials were delivered and the finishing just started today.

Once I can get the electrical ground inspection done we will have the excavator fill in the trenches in the yard and level things out. After that work is complete the concrete work will begin.

Paul Miller (Steelers fan - even has a tatoo!) is doing the garage, driveway, base for the steps, walkway, and base for the mailbox. He does detailed work with etching on the edges, uses expansion joints to prevent cracks, and is reasonably priced as well. He prefers to do the entire job in one day.

The new old front porch - HGTV pro article

By Marcia Jedd
As more porches sprout in front yards in neighborhoods across the country, the builders of the homes behind them meet the wants of today's homebuyers with a kind of architectural back to the future. Popping up in both renovations and new construction in many parts of the country, it seems to be all about the new old-fashioned porch.
"On one hand, there's a comeback in vintage or traditional-looking homes and front porches are inherent to those homes," says Paul Buum, AIA, associate with SALA Architects, Inc. architectural design firm in Minneapolis. "On the other, porches are very popular because of the resurgence of urban living that we see in many cities in which people want to reconnect to their neighborhoods and the social aspect is a big part of that."
In fact, some new master-planned communities are even requiring front porches, he adds.
Bigger is better Porches are also larger these days, Buum says, often spanning the full length of the front of the house. Depending on the style of home, many production builders also are making front porches standard and building them wider than a decade ago—eight to 10 feet wide instead of four to six feet.
"In both remodels and new construction, full lengths are nice for homes facing a street, and so are wider porches to accommodate tables, chairs or the old-fashioned porch swing," Buum says. He adds that wraparound porches with screened-in portions are popular in rural settings and on farmhouse-style homes.
Design considerations Ensuring continuity with the architectural style of the rest of the home is a key design consideration. A porch should be consistent in detail and character with the rest of the house. "This is particularly true with front porches," Buum notes, "since it's the first introduction a person has to the home."
Buum outlines these porch design trends:
More color. Design elements emphasize color. "You see a lot of multi-color palettes today. You can have one siding or cladding color, another trim color and an accent color on window sashes," Buum says.
Bolder columns. Architectural columns often are on a larger scale for design or aesthetic purposes while enclosing a smaller structural column (typically 4x4 or 6x6 posts), as long as the columns are scaled appropriately to the home. "Columns can be round, squared or tapered and sit on the deck of the porch or a pier."
Durable materials. A well-designed porch typically will encompass the same exterior material as the rest of the home, such as stucco or brick, or synthetics such as fiber cement siding products by James Hardie, Maxtile or CertainTeed's WeatherBoard siding.
Flooring. In addition to traditional pine or cedar floors on front porches, an increasingly popular choice is ipe, a Brazilian hardwood that is an incredibly strong wood, resistant to insects, rot and mold. "Ipe is moderately priced," Buum says. "Installation can be more expensive than other wood floors, because it's more time-consuming given the very dense wood, which requires pre-drilling."
Especially in remodels, Buum advises contractors to consider how views from the inside of the home will be altered from front windows and how an expanded porch could alter light flow inside the home.
Buum stresses that porches should be pitched to drain away from the home. He also recommends floor venting to prevent moisture build-up and the many accompanying problems that result. "It depends on the base of the porch, whether it's on piers or a continuous long low brick wall. In any case, we vent from underneath the porch, at the base or perimeter walls, to the sides or front so you allow air movement to keep the joist space ventilated and dry."
Marcia Jedd writes frequently on design and construction issues.

Hanging sheetrock

The sheetrock hanging is about 90% done now. The drywall contractors are way behind what we were told as far as a completion time but it is coming along. I had to have more sheetrock delivered this morning to cover the garage and a few areas of the interior.

We are having cold weather this week and that has pushed back plans for the brick until Monday. It will be better to have that job done when the temperature gets back into the 50s and 60s. I think tonight will be in the 20s.