Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[pclausen]

I got 5 50 lbs bags of Kentucky Blue Grass “Southern Lawn Extreme” and 4 50 lbs bags of 14-20-14 starter fertilizer. I spent a good deal of time talking to the guy at Landscape Supply, Inc, where I picked this up from. He said that once it "takes" it must be watered at least once a week (twice preferred), but as long as you keep watering it, it will grow very fast. Mom's landscaper also recommended this brand, and showed her pics of a garden he put in about this time last year, and it is really doing well.

 

[pacerron]

Peter said, "Appreciate the feedback regarding the railing posts. Something definitely needs to be done. I suspect that part of what threw them off was when I requested that the 6x6 support post be set back a foot from the edge."

Peter,
The 6 x 6 post location has nothing to do with the equation. The rim joist was nailed into the end grain of the joists coming from the house. End grain has very little nail holding strength. This is why metal should used.
Ron

 

[mjncad]

I also appreciate your advice about having a professional inspector come in to provide an unbiased assessment of everything. If he has any questions about how something was done during earlier stages, I have pictures from just about every day of the construction I can show him.

Day 102


Here are various closeup shots of how the railing was attached to the deck. In a nutshell, 2 fairly small lag bolts were used for each post, including the 6x6 ones!

The main tile is finally here, but someone messed up as their is way too little 6x6 tile for the pattern we choose. Super is looking into it.

Pete:

Are home inspectors licensed in your state? If not take extra care to find a reputable one. In Colorado inspectors are not licensed and anyone can install a gun rack in the back window of their pickup, throw a level in the rack, and call themselves an inspector.

Are they going to do something to cover up ends of the synthetic deck boards? That looks as tacky as wavy fiberglass roof panels that were common in the 60's for patio covers.

Make sure you get an extra box of tile preferably with the same lot number to keep on hand in case you need to make repairs in the future. Because once they quit making that tile pattern, you are screwed if you need to replace a tile down the road.

 

[sixdogs]

...

...
So I picked up 250 lbs of grass seed, 4 bags of starter fertilizer, and 2 bags of lime to the areas with poor soil. I then went picked up 50 bales of straw as that was all I could load onto my truck (didn't feel like pulling the logs off the trailer). The 20 mile ride back from Lowe's, which included about 10 miles of Interstate driving definitely kept me on my toes, especially when tractor trailers blew by at 70mph (I was going 40).

According to my calculations, the area that needs to be seeded is about 42,000 sq. ft. which is just shy of 1 acre. So I have been tilling it and picking up rocks and sticks by hand, and then slowly increasing the depth of my tiller. I'm at about 3 inches now. Should I go deeper? I got all day tomorrow to continue tilling and picking up rocks/sticks and then using my rake with gauge wheels with the small tractor. Should I consider rolling everything as well to get it as plane as possible before seeding and strawing? I'd love to end up with a perfectly smooth lawn, but I think that is close to impossible, especially since the dirt hasn't settled yet, especially over the septic field.

You can do this an easier way. Till at 540 rpm at maybe 1.0 or so mph and you will bury all the rocks. I do it all the time. Then get a cultimulcher and go over the ground till it's flat. Seed it three directions with a Brillion seeder. I do this all the time with great success. Sell the hay
If you're nervous, buy a few hundred feet of garden hose and water nightly for a week or two.

Actually, you should seed with an annual rye or wheat or something and come back in the fall when everything has settled and it's a better time to start a lawn. Till everything in and start from scratch.

 

[pacerron]

Pete:

Are home inspectors licensed in your state? If not take extra care to find a reputable one. In Colorado inspectors are not licensed and anyone can install a gun rack in the back window of their pickup, throw a level in the rack, and call themselves an inspector.

Are they going to do something to cover up ends of the synthetic deck boards? That looks as tacky as wavy fiberglass roof panels that were common in the 60's for patio covers.

Make sure you get an extra box of tile preferably with the same lot number to keep on hand in case you need to make repairs in the future. Because once they quit making that tile pattern, you are screwed if you need to replace a tile down the road.

mjncad,
Home inspector certification in Virginia was developed in 2001 and enacted in 2003.
State Home Inspector Regulatory Legislation | ASHI, American Society of Home Inspectors
Care must be exercised, in any case. A $300,000 + home is a big investment.

We addressed the covering of the synthetic deck board ends in a render some time ago. The recent close up photo you posted reveals that this has not been done
and the trim board over the skirt is not even wide enough to cover the skirt at the top. A piece needs to be installed to fill this area, cover the ends of the deck boards, and be thick enough to have a notch/half dado on the bottom to cover over the top edge of the existing trim and form a drip edge.

Having extra tile of the same batch left over is a good point to make. I have 3 boxes from 20 years ago. Luckily, I haven't had to use any. The grout is always an issue. We clean and seal our grout every year but new grout replacement of the same color, even with careful blending usually shows. Sometimes if you only have a hairline crack that is hard to see, it is better to live with it.
Ron

 

[tractchores]

On the deck posts - I have the same type of fasteners on my posts. They definitely loosen over time and though we now have replaced most of them with bolts that can be tightened they still wobble. I'm not sure if there is a better way, but something to be aware of. You may end up fine, my deck railing is very long (100+') so that probably doesn't help. I would at a minimum definitely get bolts with nuts and washers on there. Looks like the rest is coming along nicely!

 

[Obed]

Paint usually peels from treated lumber. If you get semi-transparent or solid stain for the posts instead of paint it will hold up much better. The semi-transparent lets the wood grain show through for a nice effect.
Ron

I wouldn't paint or stain the PT wood until it has seasoned for 12 months. If you paint it now, it will almost be certain to peel and be a big headache forever. PT wood has been soaked in liquid and needs some time to dry before painting or staining. We stained the PT wood railing on our deck and porch but our wood had been sitting in our garage for over a year. I would recommend eventually staining the PT rails or they will turn that weathered grey color.
Obed

 

[tractchores]

I wouldn't paint or stain the PT wood until it has seasoned for 12 months. If you paint it now, it will almost be certain to peel and be a big headache forever. PT wood has been soaked in liquid and needs some time to dry before painting or staining. We stained the PT wood railing on our deck and porch but our wood had been sitting in our garage for over a year. I would recommend eventually staining the PT rails or they will turn that weathered grey color.
Obed

I did a semi-solid stain on my deck and it's held up really well. We didn't wait the recommended 12 months and whole most of it stuck, some definitely peeled and had to be redone the next year. The nice part about the stain VS paint is that the stain just wears and lightens VS peels like paint, it makes for a MUCH better look if you're like me and don't redo it regularly. We did paint on my parents and unfortunately it's not a big maintenance hassle because the paint chips and peels every few years and needs sanding and repainting.

 

[radioman]

I'd wouldnt till it any deeper. You would just bring up more rocks and make more work. As long there are no rocks poking up- I'd leave it alone. The areas over freshly dug and covered holes -- just bear in mind that if it wasnt packed in 2 inch lifts, you will have dips after a heavy rains. This is easy to fix by filling in and planting grass again.

 

[pclausen]

Day 103

I got the hay over to the house this morning. I did see the suggestion to use a brillion seeder and a cultimulcher but I'm in a real time crunch getting this done before Monday all by myself.

I made 4 passes with the tiller. Some areas were very hard packed from the dozer, but I finally got down about 5 inches everywhere. The tiller I have does not push the rocks down, it pulls them out of the ground.

Here are one load of rocks after one tiller pass from one area

One of my rock and root piles

After I was satisfied with tilling, I made long straight passes with the rake on the little tractor to compact the soil as little as possible

Still got more rocks to pick up, but is it looking a lot better

This is the seed, fertilizer and lime I'll be spreading

Inside, they got tile in the master bath done

And got started on the kitchen. The tile there is "English Grey". The rest of the tiled areas will be "Tuskan Blue". Same look at feel in the same line of tile, but more blue overall. The same pattern will be used.

I also noticed they got the shut off for the log starter installed

Builder/Super did stop by and he'll take care of the railing. He plans to add blocks under the post. He will also add a trim piece to cover the cut off Trex boards. I think Trex make a trim piece just for that. He was going to rip 2x4 pressure treated to fit, but I'd rather have a Trex end piece if they make it. Will have to check their web site.