J F
Elite Member
I'm curious as to how the builder ever got a good reputation prior to this build... 
Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days
- Thread starter pclausen
- Start date
dave1949
Super Star Member
I don't think the chimney cap looks bad, it sort of comes with the territory when burning wood. The alternative, a masonry chimney, would be a lot more expensive, and they aren't exactly beauty marks either by the time you put a spark arrester, rain cap, anti-animal screen on the top.
s219
Super Member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2011
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- Virginia USA
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- Kubota L3200, Deere X380, Kubota RTV-X
Here's a shot of our chimney cap from a few months ago:
The pipe sticks out of the chimney structure about 8" before the cap goes on.
The pipe sticks out of the chimney structure about 8" before the cap goes on.
J F
Elite Member
Forgive me, as I don't recall, Pete...is the work all "cost plus"?
mjncad
Super Member
Boy I remember the Gravy Train days of "Cost Plus" engineering in the early 80's; then things went fixed price and it was a whole different ballgame.
PAGUY
Gold Member
I think I would rather have a road to the back of the house aside of the garage than terrace landscaping that requires maintenance. Mom could drive down instead of walking and take more advantage of storing stuff in the basement. It would be especially handy for seasonal storage. The garage will fill up fast enough with every day usable items.
After seeing the pics of day 100-25 of the bathroom and day 100-19 of the fireplace I am convinced that we are judging some of the
workmanship too harshly. Since some of this harshness is my fault from pointing out the ceiling errors in the camera views in past days, I decided to see what, in some cases, is being caused by Peter shooting at the 18 mm zoom setting close to a subject with his camera lens. I checked the EXIF data embedded in the pics and 18 mm is what these were shot at.
There may be more distortion for real than what you see after my corrections. I may have over corrected actual problems a bit.
The ceiling in my correction now has some pincushion distortion, caused by my fix of the wall, since the ceiling is in a different plain.
You will need to look at the attached pics on a decent sized monitor and click on full size to see the guide lines in comparison to the distortion.
The only real way to know if things are straight is by mechanical means as stated before. Putting a framing square under the bottom board of the window trim obviously shows the out
of alignment of the side boards and should have been used when cutting to length and nailing. Just moving it over to be even on the outside would mess up the reveal on the inside edge.
Those errors are obvious with the naked eye and not camera distortion.
You see that the problems concern barrel distortion as well as not holding the camera straight and parallel to the subject, causing perspective problems.
Peter,
I would suggest you try these inside shots and other close ups using your zoom set to the normal 50-55 mm equivalent of a 35 mm camera.
Since your camera doesn't have a full sized sensor the numbers, if equivalent numbers are not shown as well, must be multiplied by 1.6.
IOW, 18 mm x 1.6 equals 28.8 mm zoom equivalent. 32 mm x 1.6 equals 51.2 which puts you in normal eye view range and should eliminate the barrel distortion.
Take the same two pics over again. You will need to back away from the subject a little to get the same field of view but you have room to back up in these shots.
On the deck railing.
The lack of brackets to secure all the joist attachments was discussed at length before the rim joist was even put on.
Your contractor blew it off, saying this is the way we do it and it will pass inspection. You see now there are IRC codes which are
being enforced, more and more, because of the news of so many deck collapses recently. The rim joist and other attachment points need to be done
so there is no chance that a 200 pound force against the rail will cause any nails to be pulled loose in the joist. That's a long fall, even for younger folks.
On this, the chimney, and other things, it seems to be the way he wants it, not the way you, the purchaser, wants it. Strange way to do business.
I suggest hiring a third party licensed inspector, like used in real estate transactions, that has no dealings with this company and its affiliates to do a point by point inspection, prior to
move in, and give you a write up of what he sees wrong. That way you have professional documentation to present in the final negotiation.
Ron
workmanship too harshly. Since some of this harshness is my fault from pointing out the ceiling errors in the camera views in past days, I decided to see what, in some cases, is being caused by Peter shooting at the 18 mm zoom setting close to a subject with his camera lens. I checked the EXIF data embedded in the pics and 18 mm is what these were shot at.
There may be more distortion for real than what you see after my corrections. I may have over corrected actual problems a bit.
The ceiling in my correction now has some pincushion distortion, caused by my fix of the wall, since the ceiling is in a different plain.
You will need to look at the attached pics on a decent sized monitor and click on full size to see the guide lines in comparison to the distortion.
The only real way to know if things are straight is by mechanical means as stated before. Putting a framing square under the bottom board of the window trim obviously shows the out
of alignment of the side boards and should have been used when cutting to length and nailing. Just moving it over to be even on the outside would mess up the reveal on the inside edge.
Those errors are obvious with the naked eye and not camera distortion.
You see that the problems concern barrel distortion as well as not holding the camera straight and parallel to the subject, causing perspective problems.
Peter,
I would suggest you try these inside shots and other close ups using your zoom set to the normal 50-55 mm equivalent of a 35 mm camera.
Since your camera doesn't have a full sized sensor the numbers, if equivalent numbers are not shown as well, must be multiplied by 1.6.
IOW, 18 mm x 1.6 equals 28.8 mm zoom equivalent. 32 mm x 1.6 equals 51.2 which puts you in normal eye view range and should eliminate the barrel distortion.
Take the same two pics over again. You will need to back away from the subject a little to get the same field of view but you have room to back up in these shots.
On the deck railing.
The lack of brackets to secure all the joist attachments was discussed at length before the rim joist was even put on.
Your contractor blew it off, saying this is the way we do it and it will pass inspection. You see now there are IRC codes which are
being enforced, more and more, because of the news of so many deck collapses recently. The rim joist and other attachment points need to be done
so there is no chance that a 200 pound force against the rail will cause any nails to be pulled loose in the joist. That's a long fall, even for younger folks.
On this, the chimney, and other things, it seems to be the way he wants it, not the way you, the purchaser, wants it. Strange way to do business.
I suggest hiring a third party licensed inspector, like used in real estate transactions, that has no dealings with this company and its affiliates to do a point by point inspection, prior to
move in, and give you a write up of what he sees wrong. That way you have professional documentation to present in the final negotiation.
Ron
While I have this picture up, I might as well stick my neck into the paint issue.
My wife, the painter around here, reminds me that the colors of the walls should be complimentary to the key element, the fireplace.
Here I selected 2 of the stone colors to use for the wall and trim paint. Another 2 or a lighter shade thereof could be selected as well.
She says, to give the rooms a feeling of being bigger and not so cut up, that all the green walls of the living room, the entry hall walls, the dining
and kitchen area should be the same color. The orange wall could remain if it is a complimentary color of the main walls.
The cupboards in the kitchen and probably tile between the countertop and wall cupboards will hide most of the kitchen paint exposed to view.
The floor tile is another big player and needs to be complimentary as well.
I tend to agree, but wouldn't admit that to her, except on her birthday, maybe
Ron
My wife, the painter around here, reminds me that the colors of the walls should be complimentary to the key element, the fireplace.
Here I selected 2 of the stone colors to use for the wall and trim paint. Another 2 or a lighter shade thereof could be selected as well.
She says, to give the rooms a feeling of being bigger and not so cut up, that all the green walls of the living room, the entry hall walls, the dining
and kitchen area should be the same color. The orange wall could remain if it is a complimentary color of the main walls.
The cupboards in the kitchen and probably tile between the countertop and wall cupboards will hide most of the kitchen paint exposed to view.
The floor tile is another big player and needs to be complimentary as well.
I tend to agree, but wouldn't admit that to her, except on her birthday, maybe
Ron
Back in for a quick break from mowing 5 acres. Beautiful weather here finally.
Here is a sample where I used the wall color for the trim and lightened the wall color more. The lighter the color the bigger the room looks.
For you digital guys:
The previous colors were, trim R 128 G 117, B 118 or # 807576 Wall was R 183, G 169, B 149 or b7a995
This latest combination was using the previous wall color for the trim and lightening the wall to R 230, G 222, B 223 or # e6dedf.
I wanted to mention, I really like the design of the post and rails on the deck. A gate just like that for the basement stairs in the garage would be great.
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.
Back to mowing.
Ron
Here is a sample where I used the wall color for the trim and lightened the wall color more. The lighter the color the bigger the room looks.
For you digital guys:
The previous colors were, trim R 128 G 117, B 118 or # 807576 Wall was R 183, G 169, B 149 or b7a995
This latest combination was using the previous wall color for the trim and lightening the wall to R 230, G 222, B 223 or # e6dedf.
I wanted to mention, I really like the design of the post and rails on the deck. A gate just like that for the basement stairs in the garage would be great.
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.
Back to mowing.
Ron