At Home In The Woods

[eepete]

Good catch on the wire :thumbsup:. Like every other deadline, drywall happens "about a week" before you'd like it to because there are still lots of little things you'd like to do now while it's easy. Buy you've planned for those post-move-in things, so you're good to go.

Debt free is really good. People either get it or they don't. And banks, laws, the construction industry, etc. are all wired up to discourage debt free for all sorts of reasons. As if often the case, the right path is the most difficult.

But here's why I'm posting. I took all our drywall scraps and put them on the top soil pile. I then used my FEL to break the scraps up and mix it in the pile. It mixes in fine and helps neutralize the acidic soil. After a year, you don't see any signs of the gypsum or paper. So it saves money in dump fees, time is about the same, and your top soil is better suited for growing stuff.
If you like, you can envision the faces of all the people who weren't part of the solution on the drywall just before you break it up :laughing:.

Pete

 

[Diamondpilot]

Drywall got delivered yesterday. Due to the corrosive Chinese drywall problems, we got a signed statement from our drywall supplier that the drywall was not made in China. The drywall came in 12 foot long sheets. The large flatbed truck that delivered the materials is pretty impressive with the attached crane they use to unload the drywall.

Today the drywall workers installed all the drywall. I'll have to post pictures later. Almost all the drywall pieces are attached using only screws; very few pieces have any nails in them. Tomorrow they start mudding. When I got home tonight, I picked up screws and then sprinkled sweeping compound on the floor in all the rooms and closets to help control the dust when the drywall guys start sanding the joints.

I hate doing it but love the drywall stage. Its the first time you really get a sense of space.

Chris

 

[MarkV]

I hate doing it but love the drywall stage. Its the first time you really get a sense of space.

Chris

I agree Chris, hate to do it but it really puts a different perspective on things. Beware though, often homeowners look at it as the end is near and there is much more time consuming work to come with the finishes.

Obed, I don't recall what you plan for floor finishes. If hardwood is in your schedule you will want them right after the drywall. Let me know if you need advice. That is what I have done for the last 25 years.

MarkV

 

[rjkobbeman]

I agree Chris, hate to do it but it really puts a different perspective on things. Beware though, often homeowners look at it as the end is near and there is much more time consuming work to come with the finishes.

MarkV

Man, aint that the truth. After dryway I had this sense of "almost there". I soon was introduced to reality! I knew what was coming, but I didn't think about how time consuming it is.

 

[brin]

Just my 2 cents...now is when you want to be real careful with contractor draws !!!!

This is the most difficult part for them...at this point they are tierd of your build and anxious to move on. Been there and done that.

 

[walleyed]

Diatribe 2
I've pondered some how to respond to the magazine quotation. Please note that I haven't read the article so my response is in regard to only the provided quotation.

The main floor which contains all our living areas will be very close to being finished when we move in. We probably won't install any crown moulding initially; that's something I can tinker around with myself when I feel like doing it. I will add some Cat 6 network wiring after we are in the house and play around with some home automation gadgets. The front porch and/or basement porches might not be finished when we move in. Landscaping and a walkway to the front door will come later. But everything else will be finished. The basement will remain unfinished until we can finish it with cash. We don't intend to ever finish the upstairs unless we decide the sell the house at some point.

That being said, our reasons for finishing the house before moving in have little or nothing to do with my impression of the intentions of the article. Yes, moving into a house that is still a "project" is extremely inconvenient. We have the ability to finish the house before moving in so that's the way we are doing it. Our initial intent was to get the house "in the dry", live in the camper onsite, and slowly finish the rest of the house in about 3 years after getting it in the dry. Then the wife got wonderfully pregnant and our plans drastically changed.

Our little girl is moving around on her own now. She can move around the floor using her elbows and feet. She'll be completely crawling in a few weeks, maybe days. We are more than ready to get out of the camper after 13+ years in it.

Now for my soapbox...

Do you want to know what's more of a strain? How about an interest only 1st mortgage, a 2nd mortgage, and owing more on your house than it's worth after the real estate market tanked. If you are married to a person who will make your life miserable because the baseboards are not yet installed, you have much bigger issues than a partially finished house.

My impression is that the author is not a big promoter of living a debt free lifestyle.

Our society is addicted to debt, so addicted that many people don't even consider a mortgage to be debt. They think they are out of debt if they pay off their credit cards. The county building inspectors won't let you live in your house and finish it a little at a time. You are expected to build the house in a short amount of time or you will run into all kinds of roadblocks imposed upon you by the inspection beaurocrats. Thus, our municpalities encourage/force many people to go into debt to build a house. They put up obstacles that impede the homeowner from slowly building a house with cash and paying as they go.

My grandfather built his house on the farm slowly, when my dad was a boy. They lived in the house while they finished it a little bit at a time. They ended up with a beautiful house.

While it's inconvenient to "finish" a house while living in it, that method can be one of the most practical and responsible ways to build a house. That's the way most people used to build their houses before we got so addicted to debt. Unlike the author, I have great respect for people who build their houses using cash by paying for things when they save up the money and would recommend that route to anyone who can swing it.

Just my opinion. Others are free to have their opinions too.

Obed

I knew there was a reason I liked you. We could be brothers. haha

Your comments are right on.

All of the advice you get here is good also although it may not apply to your situation. These are some savy people here on TBN. Everybody looks at situations differently because of lifes twists and turns but they give the advice as they see things without knowing you personally. I know I don't really like to give advice on building because of the differences in codes and such but there are other reasons as well.

Even though I work in this business I have built 4-5 homes for myself that were all done after the normal work day and on weekends. Very little help from guys that worked for me as we couldn't afford it. My wife and I built mostly by ourselves with some help from friends to save a buck or two. They were never 100% done at move in and at times I had to force myself to stay at it until finished but we always did. It takes a large commitment to do this O/B stuff.

Your daughter looks really happy about things. She is cute, must take after mom...

I have 3 girls that are young adults now and 2 grandsons.( Yes they take after their mothers to) When building they were always under foot but they had fun and as they got older they became the cleanup crew. Well when they werenn't banging boards full of nails or borrowing tools they were helping.

I guess I'll end this long pointless rant with one thought. I believe you are doing what is right for you and yours and this is all that matters. I'm glad to get to know you a little bit through your posts. Carry on.........

 

[walleyed]

Marital harmony is another whole can o' worms. You need to both be on the same page for living this way. I bought a book several years back that was titled "Homebuilding - Debt Free". The first entire chapter was basically "are you SURE you want to do this? Does your family want to? It ain't easy ya know! Really not easy! Like hard. Not Easy. Did I mention it was hard? Really, it is." Lots of good lessons in there. So the key point is you all need to understand what you are getting into and all be on the same wavelength.



-Dave

I can only agree. I wish i could have read it back 30 years ago. During our first step into building together we were sure we needed an appointment with a divorce atty for about 3 months of it. There were times when we wouldn't even speak to each other for days.Later builds were relatively easy. We have been married 31 years so i guess it made us stronger.....

 

[Obed]

All the drywall got hung yesterday (all in one day). There was a crew of 8 to 10 men hanging the drywall. The brownish red stuff on the floors is the sweeping compound that I sprinkled on the floor yesterday evening to control the dust. The sweeping compound is basically sawdust with an oily substance mixed. Dry dust will stick to the sweeping compound instead of floating in the air.

 

[Obed]

Today, the drywall subcontractor and his brother taped and mudded all the seams between the drywall pieces. The corners and beads were not taped and mudded. To apply the drywall tape, they used an impressive piece of equipment that rolled the tape onto the wall with mud on both sides of the tape. One person applied the mud and tape and the other person smoothed the mud with a blade. It took them under 4 hours to mud all the seams (excuding corners) in our 2100 square foot house plus 750 SF garage.

 

[dstig1]

Wow. Ain't that amazing for one days' work (crew of 10 or not)? Like the others have said, finish work is slow. You really do start to notice how much slower it goes the farther along the construction time line you are. Cabinets and trim take far longer to show progress than excavation and concrete work...or framing.

So how does it feel now? It is always a HUGE change in perspective once you can't see from end to end of the house anymore.

Keep on plugging!