Chadbag's House Construction

June 5, 2023

Nice glue lams! They will look nice.

jeff

June 5, 2023

Roof! Roof!

August 14, 2023

Time for another update

Several weeks ago we installed some doors in the basement between the regular basement and under garage rooms and can now lock stuff up. One of the doors had some issues and needed to be reinstalled which we finally got done a couple weeks ago.

Beginning of July the electricians started wiring the basement and then the main floor. Theer is still some work to be done in the basement and lots on the main floor. They haven't been here for almost 3 weeks but I am assured will be back tomorrow (Monday).

I've been trying to get the plumbers to come and at least get the roof vent(s) in so the roofers could come. They came this last week and got the one vent in that they decided on and have been working on drains and other things since. (The external shot bwlow you can see the one vent sticking up)

One of the things that we found out is that the master bath toilet room has the rear wall, where the in-wall tank for the wall mounted toilet goes, right over a joist. Since the drain has to go down through the wall sill plate that won't work. So I got my handy nail gun that I ordered on Amazon out and built a 4" (really 3.5") wall extension to move that wall in so that the drain won't go into the joist. Because of a window the wall depth extension I built is only half height.

A couple weeks ago I put in a small hopper style window in the non master bath toilet room. I messed up -- not sure how -- and the window sticks out about 1/4" instead of being inset 1/4". The sun was low and I misread the shadows or something so I need to take it out and reset it. I also talked to a company about coming in and putting in my other windows so they came and took a tour and suggested installing one as a test to see how I liked what they proposed. The windows are Euro style tiult/turn and not standard sliders and are insert with brackets and not sill-nail-flange type. So they came in and did a larger window in the laundry room next to the bathroom. They will be here this coming Saturday to do the rest of them. They fit me in their booked out schedule by getting their best guys to come on that Saturday. I need to get ready for them by making sure all the LCL window bucks have any gaps in the foam wall filled with spray foam and then apply a liquid membrane (Semco) around the wall and up on the sill. This is my addition and not part of the normal recommended install procedure. Its to make sure everything is extra water proof.

Here is an external shot of the house from about 2 days ago.

This week the roofers will be here putting on the finished roof -- they are bringing a truck and trailer that will roll the steel for the standing seam on site.

After the roof and windows are done the siding guy will come. He's come by a few times to look things over and I texted him about the window and roof plans so he is coming by to make final measurements and draw up materials list etc.

The roof insulation guy came last Monday to take measurements and talk about different possibilities and discuss the various bits (main roof, over the garage, etc).

I got in contact again with the guy who is supposed to come and drill the geothermal shafts. I had started to talk with him late spring but somehow that petered out -- I was probably too overwhelmed trying to herd all the cats (contractors) and get things done. A few weeks ago I tried to get back with him and finally heard from him Friday. He'd been out. He said he was already booked through late Fall. He did say he would see if he could fit me in. This is an ongoing negotiation.

So things are happening.

Bank said there will be no more extensions after the latest expires in Mid November so we have to get everyone working in parallel and done.

August 14, 2023

Construction never seems to be on schedule. Looking good.

jeff

August 14, 2023

BTW, I took this pic a little over a week ago. This is the train room over the garage

August 14, 2023

Congratulations! Looks like a castle with a gigantic train room to me!

Any layout plan already? Or a general idea?

Marc

August 14, 2023

8 hours ago, Madsing said:

Congratulations! Looks like a castle with a gigantic train room to me!

Any layout plan already? Or a general idea?

Marc

The idea is to erect a 4' wide square around the inside of the large portion of the room (ignoring the cut out on the left which is for a work bench). Inset 2' from the edge so that you can walk around the outside perimeter or the inside. By the workbench area there will be a stretch only 2' wide so that it is easier to crawl under. At some point in the future I may implement a "bridge" that can move to allow easier ingress to the center section.

Initially there will probably be a big circle around it. But the idea is to start to work on small sections, one at a time, gradually getting things more "complicated" as the time passes. I have 30 years* to let it evolve. There is no master plan. There will probably be master plans for small sections.

*30 years is about how long I give myself before my family holds my funeral

August 16, 2023

I was already stressed out to the breaking point just getting a new kitchen and floor installed, couldn't imaging juggling all the contractors for an entire house ..

Definitely starting to look like a house now, will be cool to see everything finished 😄

August 16, 2023

5 hours ago, Martijn Meerts said:

I was already stressed out to the breaking point just getting a new kitchen and floor installed, couldn't imaging juggling all the contractors for an entire house ..

Definitely starting to look like a house now, will be cool to see everything finished 😄

Recently I've been waking up for an old-man pee trip to the WC and not falling back asleep due to the stress of this whole thing. Some days I feel "yes, I've got this" and other days "wo is me, I'm ruined, we'll never get this done" and feeling overwhelmed with what is left. I didn't really want to be doing as much work myself -- more just the arranger and labor for various bits -- but everything is up to 50% more expensive than originally estimated/planned (inflation, market demand, post covid bounce, change in interest rates) and so I'm having to take on more to be able to get stuff done within budget. Getting things done feels worse than herding cats sometimes.

Anyway, the roofers were supposed to start Monday. They were here but their materials (different contractor) didn't show. Tuesday the materials guys came but were late. They finally got set up and started rolling the steel for the standing seam. They got a lot done but then two of their rolls of steel were defective so they couldn't finish. The roofer crew was there for a while but did not do anything. I guess it was late enough they didn't want to start.

Today the materials guys showed up I guess early and finished the steel. I didn't get up there until about 10:15am and they were gone. But the roofing crew was up on the roof getting set up.

Last week the plumbers were working -- don't know where they are this week. Anyway, one of the things they were doing is setting drain pipes etc and they had laid the shower pan (prefab -- not build in place) and marked it. Since we are using infloor radiant and the actual floor will be about 3" above the subfloor (1" foam insulation and 1.5-1.75" lightweight concrete (gypcrete) plus LVP, and because of the way the prefab shower pan is built and parts need to stick down below the subfloor, and also because the shower space was about 2.56" two wide, I built a platform and also furred in the side walls to fit the pan. I did this over the weekend. I still need to cut a slot where the bottom of the shower pan will stick down -- the trough that has the drain...

Also, on the north side in the above garage bonus space there are a few small office type rooms (for my WFH office and the wife's place to organize herself and a small project room "daughter's office). Each has a tilt/turn window that is 36"x36". Originally the plans called for a 38"x42" or close to that window (HxW) but the window lintel was too shallow and to make it bigger they had to change the height of the window a few inches and because of the ratio limitations on this sort of window they had to make the width a little less. However, the guys who were helping me had an older plan set for some reason (I had sent them the newer ones but they called the wrong ones up) so they built the wall with the original openings for the larger windows (and shallow lintel space). I didn't realize they had done this and thought the shallow lintel was just a measuring issue somewhere else that manifested itself at the top of the wall so I put extra steel in it to support it (it only supports the roof and not more wall above anyway). So the window openings for those 4 windows are larger but the windows we bought were to the new spec so they are much smaller. So I've been working to frame in the opening to make it smaller. I got one done last night and now that I know what to do the other 3 should be done by tomorrow. In the pic below the orange colored frame is the original opening and you can see where I built it in.

I used a 2x4 front and back and filled the gap with foam, and then laid a 5/8" OSB left over from the roof on top of that, and then one or two layers, depending on how much I needed to bring it in, of 1/2" plywood that we had from our flooring order -- they had used it to support the flooring on the top of the pallets...

You can see the finished result here. We'll "paint" the inside of the frame all around on the 1/3-1/2 depth from the outside in to the house as well as the outside wall around the frame with some water proofing material (Semco polyurea based) and then they will of course flash it all as normal with Vycor Plus... So it should be good and waterproof after sealing with sealant/silicone. The window guys come Saturday so I need to finish these frames as well as the waterproofing (with the Semco) around the frames for all the windows not yet done by then.

August 16, 2023

Best of luck chad, know that wake-up stress, not fun! It’ll get done.

we are putting in windows to the screen porch this summer and window cost keeps jumping all over, contractor coming today with final window build costs hopefully, not wanting to see the final price.

on the good side I got a load of FSC batu (South American mahogany) for the back deck shipped in cheaper than fir or cedar! Beautifully milled with quarter round edges and very well kiln dried 1x4s! Very happy sourcing these. PITA to move a ton of wood off the truck and up the driveway by hand. Probably going to hire a high school football player to move it around the back of the house… But then deck screws in red/brown are out of stock all over! So have to go to 2”. Tiny portion of the juggling you must be doing!

jeff

August 16, 2023

We're probably going to use this rock based product that is pressed to look like wood called Tanzite for our porch. I'll be screwing in supports soon. But it is cheaper than Trex or Timbertech (main concern right now) and supposedly easier to maintain / stays good looking longer and doesn't heat up as much in the sun...

Supposedly my sample pack of Tanzite arrived or is arriving. I have a large stack of unopened boxes by the front door.

August 16, 2023

Hmm didn’t run across that one, several other composites. Stayed away from the composites as in this area the extremes in temperature have many of the plastic composites expanding and contracting way too much. Luckily shaded most of the summer with lots of big trees, but still worried about hot boards and popping screws. Everyone I talked to around here wished they had not done it and contractor now makes their clients sign a form that they are not responsible for fixes due to composite expansion/contraction issues.

interested to see what the stone composite is like. I looked at bamboo composites, but similar issues with trex type composites.

jeff

August 17, 2023

The roofers seem to have gotten the north side "done". The south side is still just ice and water flashing and roofing paper but with a stack of steel. They got a late start I think today due to the materials guys needing to finish. Hopefully they can finish it up tomorrow.

January 19

I have not posted in a while though we've beenb busy. Since August the siding has been put on (paint will be done when weather gets better), roof of course is finished, soffits etc put on, wallboard has been hung and is now being mud/taped. I've put some of the outside lights on, some of the garage inside lights. The radiant has all been installed amd gypcrete poured and the main floor is working using the boiler. Waiting for the driller to drill the geothermal shafts in the back. His truck has been here for 2 weeks sitting out front but I don't know what is up. Windows are all in. Exterior doors are all installed. The add-on patio room is on but the slab is not yet poured and the siding is on but the trim not yet on that room because we need to install the glass doors/full height windows so they know where to put the trim. Metal roof also needs to be put on the add-on room.

A retaining wall was also added on the north property line more or less to meet code since the drainage and stuff wouldn't work due to lack of room.

January 19

Some more (related to above post)

January 19

Last couple since I hit the limit

January 19

You must be exhausted Chad! On the downhill side now.

nice you can do the geothermal on the property.

jeff

January 20

3 hours ago, cteno4 said:

You must be exhausted Chad! On the downhill side now.

nice you can do the geothermal on the property.

jeff

Once they get it drilled. Been waiting for months. Finally the rug showed up but been parked for 2 weeks. No idea on what the plans is.

January 22

Didn’t get that much done yesterday (Saturday). Got the last coach light in the front down and some outlets in the garage installed (not yet powered on as all the outlets on the circuit aren’t done yet).

January 22

one of those photos. it looks like lego flooring before concrete pour

January 22

The whole house is a giant Lego construction, walls are foam Lego blocks filled with rebar and concrete inside! Just needs a Lego block roof, but I guess sort of with seamed metal sort of like the long flat smooth bricks. Chad just needs a full sized Lego person in the front yard.

jeff

January 23

10 hours ago, beakaboy said:

one of those photos. it looks like lego flooring before concrete pour

Those are floor insulation sheets that are nubbed so that you can push pex tubing down between the nubs and it holds it in place. For radiant floor.

January 23

On 1/22/2024 at 12:04 PM, beakaboy said:

one of those photos. it looks like lego flooring before concrete pour

Except in one room we actually poured a lightweight concrete that uses gypsum powder and sand instead of sand and gravel. 30% lighter but not really structural. (It beraks up easily). When they poured it it was like dirty water coming out of the tube. And it was self leveling since it was so watery. The unfortunate thing is we had some leaks in teh floor -- they tried to plug them using fiberglass insulation -- but in some places we have lower points where it leaked so when we put the flooring down I'm goingto have to use a level and find the places where it is has slopes down to a leak and fill it in with self leveling compound. Also some places ended up being a little lower because of leaks all around and they moved on so I have to fill in some places as well with self leveling materuial. I was not as impressed with it after they were done as I was before and during the pour. Too many places I have to fix after the fact.

February 9

Last Friday I started spraying primer/sealer and my mom has done some final rolling of paint (I did 1 small toilet room and part of a hall as atest and she did most of the rest tht has been done). I also sprayed final paint on some of the ceilings (the on vaulted ceilings) in the hall, front parlor, under the overhang, mudroom, walk in closts in master bedroom, and a hall closet. My mom is 82 and in the dim light I think her eyes had some trouble as there are a bunch of places I'll need to touch up where coverage was not the best or missed a little but the major part was done. I also need to figure out how to do the wall/ceiling joint without messing up the ceiling in a non-labor intensive way and that is easily doable at height -- standing high on a ladder, doing 3-4' manually, them moving the ladder, etc is not what I want to do. I tried some corner or edge tools but they were getting too much paint on the ceiling. I can touch up a random miss here or there but don't want to touch up the whole ceiling line.

We're spraying two coats of PVA sealer/primer and the rolling, using a power roller, a single coat of the Behr Marquee or Behr Dynasty "single coat" paint. Both in the same color. The Dynasty in the higher trafficked areas as its supposed to be a little more durable and the Marquee everywhere else. Both are the high end Behr (Home Depot) and have good reviews. The color chosen is a beige-ish off white that is in their "one coat" category. We're using power rollers to avoid spray and backrolll labor overhead and to get slightly thicker than just spray alone so you can get by with one good solid coat of the expensive paint 🙂

I'll post pics later. All I can say is that the airless sprayers are way cool and quick. I can prime/seal a single coat in a bedroom in no time at all.

My nephew in law is a small handyman/contractor in Wyoming and loaned me his Graco X7 sprayer. I bought a power roller atachment (not a Graco version) but have not tried it yet. I also bought a stand alone Wagner power roller which works pretty well. I also bought a no name airless sprayer off Amazon as my BIL and his son in law, the nephew in law I mentioned, are supposedly coming to help tomorrow and Saturday and so I want to have two sprayers and two rollers (total three gadgets) available to expedite work. I need their heklp with the high up walls and ceilings as I don't want to get up there myself. The high point in the main room is about 24'. we have the drywall guys scaffolding but I don't like going up on it.

April 26

Haven't done an update in a while. We are actually way past where these pics are for the most part. The only recent ones are the tile ones at the end.

Most of the painting is done and has been done. STill some cut-in at the ceiling, a few really high up last few feet in some halls and a bathroom, and some closets still need to be done. Most all the lights and outlets and switches are in. Jiust a few random ones here and there not.

Garage doors were installed -- not sure when and if it was before the last update. Kitchen cabinet boxes were installed between eb and yesterday. The countertops were installed in February. The wall cabinets in the last couple weeks with the final stuff yesterday.

Two showers were tiled (but not yet grouted) and the Ofuro (Japanese bath) room floor was tiled and grouted (no pic after grouting though) but the wall not tiled yet.

Solar panels were installed in February but just came online a few weeks ago (bureaucratic snafus) and are generating. They're only half of what was planned at the moment due to cost increases in everything else. But it is still 18 panels.

I'm tiling the kitchen backsplash today and tomorrow and we'll start putting LVP down asap as well.

Most of these pics are older and I need to go around and take a bunch more.