This month was a somewhat slow month for a couple of reasons..
First, the exterior stonework quote came back quite a bit higher then what was originally quoted for two reasons - We had added some columns to the back porch that weren't on the original plans and there was more vaneer square footage required then what was on the plans. Consequently we had to stop and re-measure everything to see what was going on, get an alternate bid from another stone worker, and discuss whether we wanted to stay with the columns at the rear or not. That cost us what seemed like a few weeks. In the end we did have to come up with another $5k because of the added square footage and also dropped the columns at the back to save money ($4k). We decided we could live without them..
Second, the interior trim subcontractor had hip replacement surgery and he's a guy who comes in from out of town so is therefore much cheaper then using someone local. Sadly, while we waited for him to heal up and reach out to us again, I ended up having to cancel having him do my interior trim anyways because my budget keeps going over (e.g. the stone work above). So in the end, i'm going to have to do the interior trim myself and some of the work that would've happened got pushed back and/or isn't happening at all now.
However while the house didn't see a lot of progress, our work with the interior designer did. She did a fantastic job bringing out 5 different piles of materials representing 5 different looks as well as some printed 3D drawings of ideas. After some back and forth the next couple of weeks, we have what we think is a bathroom design and we're close on the bedroom..
Towards the end of the month we also realized that with the trim on hold we may as well start painting the interior (at least the primer). The builder normally does the trim first and then starts painting but in our case he's not doing either on the interior - we are! Reading around online, there doesn't seem to be a lot of consensus around whether you must do one before the other so in our case it just seems to make sense to get going on the inside and paint.
So having never painted the interior of a brand new home before, I had to do some research. Again there isn't a lot of consensus of how you prep the interior drywall for painting from what I could tell reading and watching youtube videos. It seems to vary from people (pro painters) who simply brush the walls down with a broom to people who go all out and brush, vacuum, and even wash them first. We decided we'd brush them down with a brand new floor broom, vacuum them and the floor with a shopvac, and then give them a quick wipe with some microfiber cloth.
We also had to figure out what painting supplies to buy.. I got a 5 gallon bucket of Fresh Start Primer by Benjamin Moore since everywhere you read people say not to skimp on paint quality. I also got some quality rollers, extension poles, and other items. We spent our first weekend brushing down the whole house with the broom and got a downstairs bedroom, bath, and laundry room fully cleaned up. Lastly, i managed to paint the corners of the bedroom by brush. It's surprising how time consuming it is to carefully brush all the corners of a room.. It probably took me 3 hours just to do that for one room plus another hour to roll the ceiling with a roller!
On the exterior, they finished up the rear pergola.. It still needs to be trimmed
Also on the exterior, the guys came and poured the concrete for the stairs leading up to the front and rear porches and poured the columns now that we decided the configuration.
Worked on this month roughly in order:
Rear Pergola
Interior Doors
Interior Designer - Master Bed & Bath Design
Interior Painting Supplies
Exterior Stairs
Exterior Columns
First, the exterior stonework quote came back quite a bit higher then what was originally quoted for two reasons - We had added some columns to the back porch that weren't on the original plans and there was more vaneer square footage required then what was on the plans. Consequently we had to stop and re-measure everything to see what was going on, get an alternate bid from another stone worker, and discuss whether we wanted to stay with the columns at the rear or not. That cost us what seemed like a few weeks. In the end we did have to come up with another $5k because of the added square footage and also dropped the columns at the back to save money ($4k). We decided we could live without them..
Second, the interior trim subcontractor had hip replacement surgery and he's a guy who comes in from out of town so is therefore much cheaper then using someone local. Sadly, while we waited for him to heal up and reach out to us again, I ended up having to cancel having him do my interior trim anyways because my budget keeps going over (e.g. the stone work above). So in the end, i'm going to have to do the interior trim myself and some of the work that would've happened got pushed back and/or isn't happening at all now.
My apparently complex 7-piece window trim (that I will have to install)
However while the house didn't see a lot of progress, our work with the interior designer did. She did a fantastic job bringing out 5 different piles of materials representing 5 different looks as well as some printed 3D drawings of ideas. After some back and forth the next couple of weeks, we have what we think is a bathroom design and we're close on the bedroom..
Some of the bathroom materials and drawings that we were looking at at the initial meeting
the materials that we were leaning towards
Some of the materials with paint color
Potential Vanity Design
Towards the end of the month we also realized that with the trim on hold we may as well start painting the interior (at least the primer). The builder normally does the trim first and then starts painting but in our case he's not doing either on the interior - we are! Reading around online, there doesn't seem to be a lot of consensus around whether you must do one before the other so in our case it just seems to make sense to get going on the inside and paint.
So having never painted the interior of a brand new home before, I had to do some research. Again there isn't a lot of consensus of how you prep the interior drywall for painting from what I could tell reading and watching youtube videos. It seems to vary from people (pro painters) who simply brush the walls down with a broom to people who go all out and brush, vacuum, and even wash them first. We decided we'd brush them down with a brand new floor broom, vacuum them and the floor with a shopvac, and then give them a quick wipe with some microfiber cloth.
We also had to figure out what painting supplies to buy.. I got a 5 gallon bucket of Fresh Start Primer by Benjamin Moore since everywhere you read people say not to skimp on paint quality. I also got some quality rollers, extension poles, and other items. We spent our first weekend brushing down the whole house with the broom and got a downstairs bedroom, bath, and laundry room fully cleaned up. Lastly, i managed to paint the corners of the bedroom by brush. It's surprising how time consuming it is to carefully brush all the corners of a room.. It probably took me 3 hours just to do that for one room plus another hour to roll the ceiling with a roller!
On the exterior, they finished up the rear pergola.. It still needs to be trimmed
Also on the exterior, the guys came and poured the concrete for the stairs leading up to the front and rear porches and poured the columns now that we decided the configuration.
New stairs and columns poured in concrete.. you can also see the siding and vents under the front gable roofs that were completed last month
Worked on this month roughly in order:
Rear Pergola
Interior Doors
Interior Designer - Master Bed & Bath Design
Interior Painting Supplies
Exterior Stairs
Exterior Columns
New stairs at rear poured
new stairs and columns poured
Master bedroom doors
Office door that should be a 10 light french door (doh!)
new basement door
