New Home Construction

[EddieWalker]

bmac,

Steph and I have really enjoyed following the progress of your home and all thats invloved. One day we plan to build our dream home too, but until then, we like to see what others go through, there choices and decisions. One thing we really apreciate about your thread is your honesty in what goes wrong, or what you don't understand. It makes us think about those same things, plus what else is there that we haven't considered.

I've remodeled and installed a few kitchens, but never the high end stuff. Just too complex for a one man operation.

Hardware for the cabinets is one of those areas that can really suprise you on what it will cost. With a kitchen of your size, it wouldnt' suprise me if costs vary by several hundreds of dollars depending on the style you choose. I've dealt with sticker shock with clients that refuse to believe a door knob costs $7 or more for one style, but just a buck for another!!

We're looking forward to your future posts and progress. You have an amazing home.

Eddie

 

[bmac]

Here's a sample of some of the trim work. Some of the detail is hard to see, but maybe you'll get an idea of what's happening.

I'll start with one of the main floor windows.

 

[bmac]

Did you like our pretty yellow dumpster in the front yard?

The bottom part of the window did not show up in the last picture, so here is a picture showing that and the base molding. I think the base is about 8".

 

[bmac]

I posted a picture earlier standing in the dining room looking into the living room and mentioned the transom lights that would be going in. Well, here is the same shot with the transoms in.

 

[bmac]

I have a few more but I need to step away from the computer for awhile. I'll continue this later tonight.

 

[steveinmo]

bmac,

Looking good! The trim is the stage that I found really exciting - when you can start to see what the final product will look like. Looks like your trim guys know what they're doing. I really like the divided transoms.

Steve

 

[steveinmo]

bmac,

To follow up on Eddie's comments about cabinet hardware.....

Hmmm.....now that I'm typing this I remember that you've already picked the hardware out from the cabinet guy so this is probably not relevant. Eddie is right, there is a huge $ swing on hardware pricing. We made a deal with our cabinet guy that we would provide the hardware and he would install it. He was fine with that. We knew what we wanted and scoured the internet to find the best price. We saved several hundred dollars if I remember correctly.

Steve

 

[bmac]

OK, I'm back. this is from the foyer looking into the family room. You can see the trim guys hard at work.

 

[bmac]

Here is a close-up of the crown molding. Hard to get a perspective from this, but the large, white piece is a cove and it is flanked on the top and bottom with the narrow trim. A few inches down is the 4th piece. All 4 pieces and the dry wall above the lower piece will all be painted the same color to give the illusion of a large crown. The total height from the bottom of the lower piece to the ceiling is about 11".

 

[bmac]

We simplified things in the master bedroom. There we are scaling back to a 3 piece crown due to the lower ceiling height.

 

[bmac]

Upstairs, we really simplified the trim. Plain, 4" picture frame around the doors and windows.

 

[bmac]

Here is one of the interior doors we selected. We saw these in the Southern Living Idea House I've mentioned before and really liked them. 5 panel, solid masonite. They are heavy and give you the feel of a substantial solid wood door. As we planned to paint them instead of stain, these are supposed to be dimensionally more stable than wood. The door hardware will be oil-rubbed bronze with the knobs kind of egg-shaped - very "old-timey" looking.

 

[bmac]

I think that is all of the interior trim photos for now. The last picture is of the tin roof on the garage overhang. Clearly, it is a work in progress but it shows nicely how they are adding the flashing or drip edge or whatever you call it at the junction of the roof and the siding.

 

[bmac]

<font color="blue"> Steph and I have really enjoyed following the progress of your home and all thats invloved. </font>

I'm glad you guys have enjoyed it. It been fun and educational for me to get feedback from those who have replied with comments and suggestions.

<font color="blue"> Hardware for the cabinets is one of those areas that can really suprise you on what it will cost. </font>

The cabinet man had a large selection of hardware that was included in the quoted price. Of course, we could have upgraded to more expensive stuff, but fortunately, my wife found hardware she liked in his standard offerings.

Speaking of cabinets, I spoke to my builder today and told him about our little debate we were having here regarding the finishing of the cabinets. He confirmed what I had suspected - that the cabinet guy has a paint / finish area in his shop and everthing has the finish applied before he delivers it to the house for installation. I asked if he knew what kind of wood he was using but he did not see that in his paperwork. Probably sweetgum. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

So, we will see how much damage occurs during the installation and how well he touches up the problems. All of the potential issues y'all have mentioned are certainly valid and I don't doubt for a minute that on-site finishing would have its benefits. My builder said that they used to finish them after installation, but that they have gotten better results having them pre-finished.

I've mentioned that my builder and his son are partners. His son recently moved into a new house that he built and the same subs that worked on his house also worked on mine, including the cabinet man. I've seen his work and, while I did not study it with a magnifying glass, it did look very nice. I also am pretty confident that my builder will do what it takes to make sure we are satisfied with all aspects of the home, both during the construction and after its finished.

Eddie, I can't wait to see what you and Steph build for your dream home. I know the craftsmanship will be top notch, but I'm also expecting to see some real clever design elements and innovative uses of materials. But, first things first. I want to see that lake finished!!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[bmac]

<font color="blue"> The trim is the stage that I found really exciting - when you can start to see what the final product will look like. </font>

Steve,

It really does make a huge difference in the interior appearance. The windows looked nice before. But, once they put the trim around them, the change was dramatic.

The stuff we are putting in upstairs is a little under-whelming (compared to the treatment they are doing on the main floor). But, my wife and I did not see the sense in making a huge investment in the upstairs trim. My kids would not appreciate it nearly enough to do that.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm still waiting (as are several others) to see more pictures of your finished palace. You built a real show-piece.

 

[steveinmo]

bmac,

Your trim is looking very, very nice!

Hey, I'm sure your cabinets will be beautiful. In thinking about this, I know that lots of people buy semi-custom cabinets from the big box stores (and there are some big names). Looking at these cabinets they look very nice. So I'm sure they know how to install them without damaging them. I guess it's just a matter of how the builder / cabinet maker does it.

It may be too late to bring this up but have you thought about cabinet lighting? Over and under? We worked with the cabinet maker and the electricians to include both. The cabinet guy has a really neat method of raising the bottom shelf and then providing a false bottom. In between we put in halogen lights. They are basically flush with the bottom of the cabinets. I thought they might be a little harsh but they turned out great.

On the top......I don't know if it showed in the earler pic's.....we put crown molding that sticks up above the top of the cabinets. We had the electricians put outlets above and then installed inexpensive rope lighting. Looks very nice at night.

I know, I know.......I didn't get around to getting any more pic's posted this week. Things have been pretty hectic, but I'll get them in the next few days.

Steve

 

[bmac]

<font color="blue"> It may be too late to bring this up but have you thought about cabinet lighting? </font>

Under - yes. Over - no. However, I don't think we were as clever as you with the false bottom on the overhead cabinets. I think ours will just be fixed to the underside like hockey pucks instead of being recessed like yours.

<font color="blue"> I thought they might be a little harsh but they turned out great.
</font>

My understanding is that the "harshness" depends in part on the reflectivity of the countertop and, I would guess, the intensity of the lights. We haven't picked out our fixtures or counter tops yet. Do you have any comments on what to look out for here?

I like the idea of rope lighting on the tops of the upper cabinets. I don't know if we can do anything like that at this point or not. I assume they are on a seperate switch? I'd like to see a photo of those if you can find the time. maybe a picture of your kitchen with the rope lights on? That would be great.

I'm pretty comfortable with how the cabinets will turn out. I do have some uneasiness about the combination of the cabinet color & tile color and how they will look together. But, I left this to my wife and she says it will look good. Time will tell.

Thanks for the lighting suggestions. I may talk to my builder about this. Keep the comments and tips coming. I really appreciate them.

 

[steveinmo]

bmac,

We've been really busy with the holidays around here. I'm taking some time off after Christmas so I'll make it a point to get some of the pic's you and Eddie have asked for.

I'll try get one of the rope lighting over the cabinets also. I'm a big fan of indirect lighting. Yes, both the over and under lights are on separate switches.

We had planned on using Corian for the counter tops in the kitchen. Well, it's like most of those things - there are different "grades" of Corian with corresponding prices. I think they just take the ones that people like and jack up the prices on them. I doubt seriously that it costs much more to make one over the other. Well, you guessed it, the one my wife picked out was the most expensive "grade". So then we started talking about granite and quartz. The quartz probably has the most going for it as far as durability and stain resistance but is also the most expensive. Long story short, we ended up going with one of the more common granites. I think it cost us about $300 more than the Corian we picked out. I'm really happy with it so far.

As far as light fixtures I don't have a whole lot to offer you. I have a personal preference for fixtures that shine up instead of down. I guess what I mean is that the bulbs aren't visible. I don't like bare bulbs shining in my eyes. But that's just me - I could be wrong. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RobS]

<font color="blue">We haven't picked out our fixtures or counter tops yet. Do you have any comments on what to look out for here?
</font>

We would have loved Corian or granite but couldn't swing it in the budget. Ended up with a granite-like formica in a textured finish. It's been great. Doesn't show scratches or even dirt and does a reasonable job of passing for granite. I was skeptical but it's been one of those decisions that turned out much better than we would have guessed.

We have tons of undercabinet light and that's been another great decision /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[bmac]

As its been a couple of weeks without an update, I thought I better check in. Although I have no new photos, work has been continuing, albeit somewhat slowly. The trim carpenters have gotten to a good stopping point. They need to wait for the cabinets to be installed before they can resume work. The tile guys have done their prep work in all the bathrooms and have completed laying the tile in the kitchen / breakfast / mudroom area. We've covered the tile with paper and plywood to protect it so I can't get a picture of it now.

My son and I stopped by on Saturday and found the tile guy unloading a trailer load of tile my wife had purchased earlier in the week. I made the mistake of offering him some assistance with the unloading - he accepted my offer. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif He had been unloading by himself for and hour and a half when we arrived. By this time, the only tile remaining to be unloaded were the boxes of tile that were to be installed upstairs (3 bathrooms). Now I realize just how out of shape I am. I was soon huffing and puffing carrying one box at a time (probably 50 lbs/box). This guy was carring 2 boxes each time. Well, at least I kept up with my 14 y.o. son - he was blowing as bad as me, maybe worse. Lesson learned - tile installation is a job for folks younger than me. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

We are picking out paint colors tomorrow, hoping that we can get some of the interior painted before the cabinets are installed (scheduled for Jan 16). Also, we will soon be picking out lighting fixtures, for the second time. We did this once many months ago, but did so without checking the prices on the fixtures. It came as no surprise that our selections came in way over budget. Now, we get to do it again, this time paying more attention to the cost of each fixture.

That's about all for now. I'll take some more pictures once something noticeable happens.