This week mostly involved windows, ceiling framing, porch framing, and starting on plumbing..
We met to discuss a couple of items such as the placement of all the plumbing fixtures including the tubs and the upstairs balcony design.
The tub that we chose is a Victoria & Albert Marlborough which is a bit on the large size for the master bathroom space. When centered between the windows where the tub resides, it comes pretty close (1-2') to one of the walls so we had to debate on whether that was ok or whether it needed to be shifted off center (and shift the shower a bit). In the end we decided centering it was best. I've also realized that purely by luck this tub is going to look like it was made to fit. The tolerances on the ends are tight but also the filler and drain will be perfectly centered between the two windows on the wall as thought we thought about that beforehand. There is a lesson to be learned here and it is choose your tub's early when you're working on the design with your architect to ensure that the dimensions work with the space that he is creating.
I would say that the room dimensions also conform to this basic problem. Many of the rooms and bathrooms *seemed* like a good size but at the time that you're working on the plans with the architect you don't exactly know yet what you're putting in the just yet. Once the home is being built at some point you'll need to confirm where every HVAC vent, plumbing fixture, electrical outlet or switch, light, etc needs to go. Thus as an example, you suddenly figure out that a particular bathroom only has room for up to a 36" vanity. Is that a good size for a vanity? Can you find one that size that you'll like and has the storage you want? You *did* think of and discuss that when deciding on the room size didn't you?
Worked on this week:
Interior ceiling framing
Framing out the window and door areas
Continue installing windows (Anderson A-series)
Started covering interior walls
Plumbing shopping complete Kitchen cabinetry shopping complete
kitchen / second story plumbing
small half wall we had installed by the entrance
laundry room plumbing
bathroom plumbing
upstairs bedroom windows and bathroom
master bedroom fireplace framing w/hearth
master closet (left), fireplace, bathroom (right)
master bath shower
shower & tub area
Anderson A-series windows
crawl space plumbing
This week involved plumbing, HVAC, fireplace, and porch work.
I had a discussion with the builder about the placement of the HVAC vents room by room as well as the returns and made some decisions there. As it turns out, the HVAC and plumbing designs are largely decided upon in the field and consequently you can run into some problems/compromises. In my case the second story furnace and tankless water heater didn't fit where they were specified (not enough space in the attic) so we had to locate them elsewhere. Also we had difficulty finding spots for the HVAC returns and one of the compromises we had to make is to locate a return run inside a closet which will result in part of the closet being taken up by a soffit. So a lesson here if you're in the design/architect phase is that it might be worth scrubbing whats going on in plumbing and HVAC moreso then your architect might show you. Ask where the return and various runs are for HVAC and whether it'll entail building soffits to accommodate for them.
We had a similar problem with a plumbing sewage run from the second story. The plumber wanted to put it in a particular wall but that wall wasn't thick enough by design to account for it. We ended up deciding to thicken the wall however that made us lose a couple of inches in the kitchen. Not a huge deal, but something that in theory could be avoided during design.
The fireplaces arrived which was neat and they were installed into the framing enclosures built last week. They also moved our half wall over a bit since we didn't like it's location.
I had a discussion with the builder about the placement of the HVAC vents room by room as well as the returns and made some decisions there. As it turns out, the HVAC and plumbing designs are largely decided upon in the field and consequently you can run into some problems/compromises. In my case the second story furnace and tankless water heater didn't fit where they were specified (not enough space in the attic) so we had to locate them elsewhere. Also we had difficulty finding spots for the HVAC returns and one of the compromises we had to make is to locate a return run inside a closet which will result in part of the closet being taken up by a soffit. So a lesson here if you're in the design/architect phase is that it might be worth scrubbing whats going on in plumbing and HVAC moreso then your architect might show you. Ask where the return and various runs are for HVAC and whether it'll entail building soffits to accommodate for them.
We had a similar problem with a plumbing sewage run from the second story. The plumber wanted to put it in a particular wall but that wall wasn't thick enough by design to account for it. We ended up deciding to thicken the wall however that made us lose a couple of inches in the kitchen. Not a huge deal, but something that in theory could be avoided during design.
The fireplaces arrived which was neat and they were installed into the framing enclosures built last week. They also moved our half wall over a bit since we didn't like it's location.
Worked on this week:
Finished the porch framing and sheeting
Installed the two fireplace inserts
Finished plumbing
Started HVAC - cut register holes, installed gas/AC lines
My camera was out for repairs so no photos this week
Week 19
This week was a shorter week with the 4th of July weekend and thus not as much work got done. We basically lots two days. Most were looking to get out of town early and one day was spent doing some planning around electrical and low voltage.
We had to meet with the builder to discuss the porch columns and purgula. Much of the conversation was about where to place posts (vs whats show on the plans) and about the pergula which they said needed more support. We decided to add two more columns for support, and to add some structure up top because the runs were too long and they were concerned with the boards twisting or warping over time.
We met with the electrical and low voltage subs to walk through the house for each and identify where every fixture needs to go. For the low voltage guy, we went through the whole house since it was pretty straight forward. I'm doing cable/sat, ethernet throughout the whole house. And installing some ceiling speakers in the family room and kitchen. For the electrician, we covered the whole top floor and started on some of the first floor before running out of time.
It's interesting what kinds of "in the field" problems you experience when walking through where to put outlets, switches, and lights. Mostly the lights don't always have space where you want to put them due to ceiling joists. Also I've come to learn that a vaulted ceiling means your LED recessed lights are some special angled version that costs quite a bit more. Also, because our HVAC furnace upstairs had to be relocated, we lost our stairwell skylight so due to concerns of the stairwell being dark we had to redo the lighting there.
The HVAC upstairs was mostly completed with the furnace and ducting work done.
Exterior doors were installed for which we needed the flashing to arrive that runs along the bottom of the walls. So a fair amount of work went into putting that all together before the doors went in.
We had to meet with the builder to discuss the porch columns and purgula. Much of the conversation was about where to place posts (vs whats show on the plans) and about the pergula which they said needed more support. We decided to add two more columns for support, and to add some structure up top because the runs were too long and they were concerned with the boards twisting or warping over time.
We met with the electrical and low voltage subs to walk through the house for each and identify where every fixture needs to go. For the low voltage guy, we went through the whole house since it was pretty straight forward. I'm doing cable/sat, ethernet throughout the whole house. And installing some ceiling speakers in the family room and kitchen. For the electrician, we covered the whole top floor and started on some of the first floor before running out of time.
It's interesting what kinds of "in the field" problems you experience when walking through where to put outlets, switches, and lights. Mostly the lights don't always have space where you want to put them due to ceiling joists. Also I've come to learn that a vaulted ceiling means your LED recessed lights are some special angled version that costs quite a bit more. Also, because our HVAC furnace upstairs had to be relocated, we lost our stairwell skylight so due to concerns of the stairwell being dark we had to redo the lighting there.
The HVAC upstairs was mostly completed with the furnace and ducting work done.
Exterior doors were installed for which we needed the flashing to arrive that runs along the bottom of the walls. So a fair amount of work went into putting that all together before the doors went in.
Worked on this week:
Mostly finished the upstairs HVAC (ducts, furnace, access)
Plumbed the interior walls to make them flat
Installed the remaining Anderson doors (french)
Planning around electrical, the porches and pergula, and low voltage
My camera was still out for repairs so no photos this week
Week 20
This week involved installation of downstairs electrical and HVAC, starting on the roofing, and starting on the exterior trim.
We met with the electrician again to map out the rest of downstairs electrical including the kitchen. Also we met with the builder about the siding. Basically he wanted to discuss how much overlap, where the stonework will meet the siding, and confirm the look of the exterior trim was to plan. Lastly, we met the staircase builder to explain what we wanted there so that he could work up a quote.
The electrical has thus far been the most demanding to walk through and figure out.. So far we've done 3 meetings and spent around 4 hours just talking about where things should be and how they should connect. And that's despite having a pretty solid plan where we mostly just went to plan.
We met with the electrician again to map out the rest of downstairs electrical including the kitchen. Also we met with the builder about the siding. Basically he wanted to discuss how much overlap, where the stonework will meet the siding, and confirm the look of the exterior trim was to plan. Lastly, we met the staircase builder to explain what we wanted there so that he could work up a quote.
The electrical has thus far been the most demanding to walk through and figure out.. So far we've done 3 meetings and spent around 4 hours just talking about where things should be and how they should connect. And that's despite having a pretty solid plan where we mostly just went to plan.
Worked on this week:
HVAC downstairs
Electrical upstairs and downstairs
Low voltage quote received.. $2k
HVAC downstairs
Electrical upstairs and downstairs
Low voltage quote received.. $2k
exterior trim going on
office french door installed
rear french doors installed
family room leading out back
fireplace insert
downstairs furnace return air
recessed LED lighting going in
HVAC vents
water, sewage, gas lines to 2nd story
upstairs furnace, access, and return
master bath shower
future master bath tub spot
master bath vanity wall
master bedroom fireplace
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