More Sheetrock and Taping and Floating

It seems like with this project there is something that always needs to be tweaked.  A lot of this probably would have been ironed out in the very beginning if we'd had a set of professional.plans drawn up but because our GC has been doing this for a long time we felt very comfortable that he would be there to make suggestions along the way. And maybe he would have if he hadnt been so busy with all the houses hes doing.  It's also a good thing that we are not inexperienced when it comes to home building.  We have been able to correct things before they got to far along in the process and before they were too far along and we had to " live with the mistake".

This is in the guest bath and where the bathtub will go.  There should of been backer board put up here because there will be tile applied around the bathtub.  No idea why it wasnt done and now these sheets have to come down and backer board put up.  

This is in the living area where the wood burning stove goes.  There will be rock applied for a hearth for the wood burning stove to sit on and then up the wall to the roof top to protect the wall from the heat from the stove pipe.  We decided the easiest way to correct this was to just apply the backer board right over the sheetrock. It wont show as the rock will cover it all and we will get that much more fire protection.  

Work continues, and we have good weather conditions for the next couple of weeks.  Doors are still slated for mid January along with the 2 windows.  

Sheetrock and Tile

The insulation guy came back and finished up on Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon the sheetrock guys came.  They got a lot done for the short amount of time they were here.  Then they came back the next day and finished the job.  There are a couple of things that need to be changed.  They should have put " backer board or cement board" in several places but didnt.  That's what is used on the walls that will get tile or rock.  So for some reason they didnt do it on the tub surround.  The 2 water lines are there and a diagram of the tub was on the floor so I have no idea!  Where we will have the hearth for the wood burning stove and chimney they didnt put it and they didnt put it in the kitchen where my stove will be.  I have a restaurant stove and make a lot of bread that calls for temps in the 400 to 550 degree range.  It's just a safety precaution.  Our last home had a stainless steel  panel behind the stove but with the cost of everything escalating so rapidly it would be less expensive to do cement board and texture the wall like normal.  

So this is the great room ( kitchen/dining/living).  It feels really spacious and I am pleased that it stills feels that way even after the sheetrock has gone on.

A couple of days ago Bob and I ventured into town (Austin) to pick up all the tile for both bathrooms.  They called and said the whole order was together so we made the trip in.  Unfortunately the grout wasnt included with the order so will have to make another trip to get that.  But we have plenty of time to do that.  

Air Conditioning people are supposed to be out here this weekend to put in the boots for the vents.  They were supposed to do that before the sheetrockers came but like so many things on this job the cart has come before the horse.  It will just be harder on them but it's totally on the A/C guys so I dont feel sorry for them.  

Electricians were here and finished hooking up the connections from the meter to the house so there is electricity down at the house now.  EVERYONE will be very happy about that including me as I've wanted to take the shop vac down there and do a little cleaning.  

Taping and floating is next but they have to get the guys back to change out the sheetrock to backer board.

Color me Happy!

The spray foam insulation guy was supposed to show up on Monday morning but I received a text from the GC that the job he was working on was taking longer so he'd be here on Tuesday.  Tuesday by 10 a.m. I knew he wasn't gonna show...no idea what the excuse would be but I could just feel it.  I received a text from GC that foam guy had to take his child to the Dr because his wife could not get off work, he'd be here if it didnt take too long but I already knew that he wouldn't show.  

But he did show up this morning.

This is the trailer that houses the 55 gallon drums of liquid that becomes the foam.  If you've ever used that expandable foam in a can to seal a hole up its essentially the same thing but with more insulating power.

This is the inside of the trailer.  There are 2 different chemicals in each 55 gallon drum and they are fed through 2 hoses that eventually come together in a wand and when they combine you get the foam.  There are 2 types of foam, closed cell and open.   We are getting Open Cell and the walls will have 6 1/4 inches and 4" in the ceiling.  

Here's the wand that disperses the foam.

The tool in the upper portion of this picture is a shaving tool.  When the foam goes in between the studs it is sort of controlled chaos.  If you look behind the tool you see what the foam looks like.  They use that tool to take off the major bumps.  Then they use the tool in the picture  below to shave everything off even with the wall studs. 

Its like a long serrated knife and the picture below is what you are left with. 

The first day he got a little more than a third of the way through and today he got about a third more done.  And he will finish up tomorrow.

I am still shocked that almost all of these subs dont show up to work until 10 ish in the morning and they shut everything down around 3 and are gone completely by 4....if I can still put in an 8 hour day of working at almost 67 years of age they should certainly be able to do it...I'm left shaking my head.  

Also today the sheetrock arrived and if all goes well, they will start on Saturday, if not they should be here on Monday.  So color me a happy girl!

December 2, 2021

So we had a good week a couple of weeks ago and the plumber finished up his part for now.  The electricians finished up their part.  The A/C guys got their part done...for now.

Still no porches built.  Still no soffits and trim and no sign of the rock mason.....but someone was here and did this.

This is the floor protection in prep for the foam insulation.  

This was done in a couple of hours.  They still.have a bit more to do and the 2 pieces of tin on the roof need to be replaced before they can actually do the foam.  

The GC texted and said that he will be here on Saturday (shocked) along with guys who will build the porches and the sheetrock guy who will get his count on how much sheetrock he needs.  I will believe it when I see it...

The Second Week in November

Gotta say I'm a lot happier this week than I have been in weeks past.  The electricians AND the plumber were here...ALL WEEK, well almost all week.  Can't get over excited about something that should have been happening all along but right now I'll take my bit of happiness.

This also arrived.

This for the less knowledgeable is all the components for the A/C units.  Because of the way the house is designed we have 2 separate living areas and a central one.  Square footage puts us at 2400 sq ft.  Formula for figuring out what tonnage you need in a unit is 1 ton = 400 sq ft.  We need 6 tonnes but they dont make a 6 ton unit so we have (2) 3 ton units.  1 unit will take care of Master bedroom, closet and master bath, the other unit will take care of guest bedrooms, guest bath, fly tying room, pantry and mud room.  They will each share in cooling the " Great Room" ( living, dining and kitchen).  

I think this was all prompted by our last meeting with the GC.  He wanted another draw.  Our agreement with him is that he wouldn't get very far ahead in the money paid to the work done.  Right now we figure he owes us about 15K in work...that would be the finishing up of the plumbing, putting in the trim and soffits and getting the 2 porches built.  With the rock Mason coming just makes good sense to have him do everything hes here for instead of piecemealing it out.  So he has the sides of the house, the rock columns for the porches, the hearth and pad for wood burning stove and the shower in the master bathroom.  We might even have him do the wall behind the cook stove...considering that now.  So hopefully this trend continues as we are now 10 months into a 6-8 month move in ready home and we arent quite 1/2 way.   

And last but not least is the 2 MIA windows that are supposed to be here 2nd week in December...its always something.

October Blues and now it's November

So October has passed with not a lot of work finished.  By that I mean they got all the tin on but there is still trim that needs to be put on and the soffits to install.  

Electrical and water trench should have been finished weeks ago is still in a state of disrepair.  GC has been reminded twice about it and it seems to go in one ear and out the other.  We are at our wits end and dont know what else to do.  

The electricians have been here and are almost finished with this part of the wiring.  I think they have about 1/2 day left and they will be done with this part.  

Plumber was supposed to start on Monday but that's a toss up now cause our GC has decided to use someone different.  I was told he would start on Monday but hes not been here to see what he needs for material so IF ( and that's a big IF) he comes on Monday it will only be to see what needs to be done so he can make a supply list and talk to us and then who knows when he will show back up.  I was also told that A/C guy wanted to visit with us this past week but we've not seen hide nor hair of him.  I got a text that they would be working this weekend but no other sub has so I kinda doubt that will happen.  And no ETA on the Stone Mason.  I was under the impression that he would be started already but I guess I misunderstood.  

Latest pics below. 

SNAFU

For those that don't know what that means....systems normal all f*@ked up.  Excuse my french.  Sometimes you just have to say the worst word. 

So the crew brought out a small mini hoe to finish digging the trench to lay the rest of the electrical line.  But they couldn't find the rough out for the electric....hmmm we could of sworn it was out the side.  So we went inside and shown  flashlight down the conduit to see which way it pointed and it pointed out toward the back of the house.

You see where the stick touches the tin...yep, that's where the stub out is.  Now if our GC had been paying attention he would have caught this BEFORE they poured the back porch.  

Of course everyone in the crew said we could just go through the wall...uh..no.  Our home and we aren't OK with this.  Not on our watch, this is not our problem to solve. It's the GC AND he needs to solve it to our satisfaction and going through the wall IS NOT an option.  

Bob and I studied on it a while and came up with a solution that the GC is not going to like cause its costing him more money but hes not keeping his eye on things the way he should so tuff tiddy said the kitty when the milk ran dry.  

We can move the position of the box inside and GC can rent a core driller and set it up at an angle near the edge of the slab and drill out the concrete.  If they do it correctly the hole will be covered up with landscaping dirt.  So problem solved.  And as it turns out the plumber has a core driller.  So they just have to get back out here and do it.  

They should have been here last week but I think the excuse was the rain.  We didnt get but 1 3/8" so no excuses as far as we are concerned.  

Someone better be here tomorrow.