Wow.

I have ceilings.

I just had to come back and say that.  We took a quick swing by the house after picking up the kids at school; after checking to see if anyone was on a scaffold in the foyer, we stepped in and lo, there they were, at the top of the stairs, fastening a sheet of drywall to the trusses where the stairs meet the foyer ceiling.

Gotta' remember to take the camera next time, wish I'd taken pictures before work began.

Wow.

3:47:32 PM    comment []

I received a lovely email from "MB" yesterday.  It was such a wonderful piece of writing, more than mere correspondence, that I think MB should consider blogging.

Drop a note here in comments and let MB know what blogging has done for you.  Go ahead, let your hair down, spill your guts.  Has it been a good, bad, indifferent experience for you?  I've already told MB that blogging has been one of the best things I've ever done, but that's just me.

If you're only a browser or reader of blogs and do not actively post to a blog, what is it you get out of blogs?

And lastly, whether a blogger or a blog reader, does it matter where the blog is located, referring to the ring or community of blogs to which a blogger belongs?  I've got a bias, admittedly...but what about you?

12:11:30 PM    comment []

This is a tough job, made tougher by the elements depending on where you live.  These guys on the scaffold are working during what is a rare day in Michigan winter – sunny, with temperatures in the mid-20’s.  It’s warm enough to shed the heavy outer coat and work only with several layers of insulated sweatshirts, as long as the work is in the sun.  Siding requires dexterous finger work; I know I couldn’t do it in 20 degree temperatures, sunshine or no… The temperature will fall, though, and they won’t be able to do any work outdoors.  When they don’t work, they don’t get paid, and clients get itchy about schedules slipping.  Damned tough job.

There are other tough jobs on site concurrently, besides the siding.  While these guys are working outdoors, the plumbers are working indoors on plumbing rough-in.  It’s actually much colder inside the house, out of the sun – bad before windows are installed, only nominally better afterwards.  The lack of garage doors on this house means a stiff north wind blowing in the front of the house, chilling anybody inside to the core.  More work requiring dexterous finger work, what with threading copper tubing and fittings through framing.

During December I’ve been on site nearly every day, to check the work done or to pick up the work site or meet with the project manager about construction draws.  Strange things have happened, unexpected things that a more disengaged building owner might miss.  Heck, even the contractors on site have missed them…

There’s a beat-up white pickup truck parked out front of the house one afternoon, a man seated inside, another rummaging through the dumpster out front.  Materials in the pickup bed suggest they’ve been doing this elsewhere, accumulating a pile of scrap aluminum.  Phone calls confirm this two-man crew is not affiliated with any of the contractors working on this job; they’re simply scavenging scrap metal for resale.  They are quite bold, coming right up to the porch and the front door, peering into the garage.  I ask the one doing the perusal of the scrap on the porch whether I can help him; he asks if he can take the metal on the porch.  I tell him to check with the siders working in the back to see if they need any of the scrap first; he agrees – then leaves.

We’ve already had lumber taken out of the garage during the latter part of framing; from here on out we have to lock this place down.  I’d hate for the new aluminum in the garage awaiting installation to go missing before the siders are done.

There’s another concern, too; I wasn’t friendly when I spoke with the scavenger, used my professional voice to address him.  While I’m very glad the scrap is going to be recycled, I’m worried that appearing to encourage this activity might appear to be an invitation.  Were someone to hurt themselves seriously while rummaging through the dumpster, they could sue me.  We’ve already insured the house and included general liability in the policy, but it can’t hurt to make it clear there is no invitation for legal purposes.

Construction started on the second lot over, the one with the large oak tree.  The house plan apparently spares the oak, a feat we could not manage with our own house plan.  Good for them; I hope this majestic tree that once stood in the middle of a rolling field will survive the backhoe’s work between now and final landscaping.

The crew working on that house’s foundation formwork has been making use of the dumpster on our site; no wonder it is filling up so rapidly.  I might have to have a chat with the general contractor about it, work out some trade for the use of the dumpster.  Fortunately I know the contractor, should be easy enough to work with him.

I wouldn’t have seen either the scavengers or the dumpster “allocation” if I hadn’t been on site and paying attention.  These are just two more examples of hidden costs.  Had I not mentioned the scavengers to our project manager, I’d have not heard about the theft of the lumber from our garage – example number three.

And then there’s the use of the porta-john by any and every contractor in the neighborhood working on neighboring construction of condos and homes. [sigh]   I’m just going to ignore it and hope the finish plumbing is completed before the porta-john needs servicing…

There have been other opportunities to save money along the way making up for accumulating minor leakage of expenses here and there.  Hubby and I went to the building center with the project manager to check out the contents of the “bargain barn”.  We wound up buying $4000 worth of cabinets for $900, along with some odd-lot bales of insulation.  The building center cleared out all cabinets that had minor damage, were overstocks or rejected for miscellaneous reasons; some were samples on the showroom floor.  All were semi-custom cabinets with high-end hardware.  To reduce their tax burden, the building center clears these and other oddments out during December at steep discounts.  Most of the cabinets will end up in my spouse’s new workshop, but at least one will end up in the utility room, fitted with a new bar-utility sink.  It was a sample from the showroom floor, in natural maple nearly matching my kitchen cabinets, for only $70; the bar-utility sink cost only $15.  Cheap, cheap, cheap.

We found a number of places once framing and insulation were completed that still needed insulation; the odd bales we bought from the “bargain barn” worked perfectly for this purpose.  The walls between the bedrooms are now insulated; no more worrying about keeping the kids or guests up with the television.  The walls behind the showers were insulated as well; hubby won’t wake me up when he gets ready for a business trip at 4:00 a.m.

And the master bedroom closet floor, located partially over the garage, won’t be chilly.  We insulated the floor.  We also filled a few other spots that appeared inadequately insulated; we found them in the evening, when shining a work light from inside each room.  Light leaked through holes that were later filled with the odd-lot bale insulation, or caulked if at corners of rooms.  The already cheap insulation will pay for itself in no time during Michigan winters.

While shopping at the building center, we met the assistant manager.  The project manager explained the assistant manager was responsible for the installation of our new and as-yet uninstalled garage doors.  I asked him when they might be in since the plumbing crew was working in frigid and damp conditions; the doors might cut down on the wind entering the house and speed up their work.  He said he was sorry they weren’t already up, but that they’d be up inside the next two business days.  When I spoke with the project manager the following day, the garage doors were being mounted – and the assistant manager had knocked off $300 because of the inconvenience posed by not having them installed on a more timely basis.

It pays to whine, I guess.  Or I should say, guilt trips work.  Cha-ching!

The biggest money saver continues to be cash – and paying on a timely basis.  It’s a major complaint of contractors that they aren’t paid promptly.  Negotiate terms of payment when you negotiate price, slice and dice it any way you can, and be prepared to be there with the money before work begins.  Naturally, you should already have done your homework on the trustworthiness of the contractor before you begin; our project manager has done that for us.  The best approach so far has been part cash up front, with cash or check on completion for those contractors whose burden is primarily labor.  With those contractors that are material intensive, offer to pay for the material by check and pay the balance of quoted costs by cash upon completion.  We’ve saved about ten thousand dollars merely by being flexible and prompt with payment.

Word gets around, too.  One contractor tells another if you’re on the up-and-up, if you’re paying cash and paying promptly.  Some of the discounts have shown up quite unexpectedly, as soon as the contractor appears on site…be ready for it.

We’re now getting down to the nit-picky stuff, the drywall and other detail work.  Drywall starts today, delayed by a week because of the holiday.  I’ve been assured, though, that I’m getting an extra large crew and that the work will be done in two days. This unbelievable timing of two days is completely unreal – it’s one of those hidden bonuses that comes of negotiating with flexible payment.  If we can get our certificate of occupancy earlier rather later, we can sign on a mortgage at a lower rate.  Rates aren’t likely to be lower in another month; this expedited work may ultimately yield HUGE savings over the life of a mortgage.

TWO DAYS.  If you haven’t built a house, I can’t convey the magnitude of this figure.  Drywall was originally scheduled and anticipated to take two weeks.  Granted, the crew was much smaller, but two weeks sounded rational, amounting to a room a day. 

I can’t tell you how much this trips me out.  I haven’t picked out the carpeting yet.  I haven’t ordered the lighting fixtures yet since we are still negotiating pricing.  I don’t have the kitchen counter surfacing ordered, or bathroom counter surface ordered either, or the kitchen island top designed or ordered, or the hearthstone selected or...

Oh. My. God.

You can imagine what I’ll be doing for the next couple of days.  Catch you later. 

9:07:09 AM    comment []