Build My First Home | The trials and tribulations of building a first home

Coming Together!

Posted on the February 9th, 2010 under First Stages by admin

Its been a while since my last post… We’ve been BUSY! We purchased almost all of our great room / dining / common area furniture. We are about 90% done with the great room. We still have artwork, pictures, and all of the accessories left to hang and place.

The hardwood floors came out beautiful. This is because I laid about 80% of them my self. I utilized a floating method with a very expensive waterproof under-layment pad. It ensures a silent floor (no crackle when you step on it) I glued each groove of each board by hand and then laid the floor. We had a tiny bit of swelling at the tongue and groove from the small amount of glue applied. This will dissipate after some time goes by. All in all, the floor came out beautiful and compliments the house perfectly. More photos to come!

EKTORP: Chase Lounge ::: Purchased from IKEA

Sitting Area

EKTORP: Three Seater Couch ::: Purchased from IKEA

Sitting area... Chelsea absolutely LOVED this chair. I had to get it for her!

EKTORP: Three Seater Couch ::: Purchased from IKEA

Great Room

My Main Man... Noah

Dining Nook (and, the computer I use to make the posts)

Some fresh pictures of the kitchen and the new carpet arrival

Posted on the January 17th, 2010 under First Stages by admin

Stainless Steel kitchen appliances, black granite countertops, subway tile

Exterior of home

Stainless Steel kitchen appliances, black granite countertops, subway tile

Stainless steel sink with American Standard faucet shown

Stainless Steel whirlpool dishwasher shown

Wine / Coffee bar shown complete

Whirlpool side by side stainless steel 25 cu/ft refrigerator

Granite bar shown

Looking from rear of home to side yard

Carpet arrival

Carpet pad shown

Carpet installation begins

Stainless steel appliances installed and cleaned

Posted on the January 13th, 2010 under First Stages by admin

We started to clean the house to get ready for the move in. Our stainless steel appliances are finally installed. I will take better photos tomorrow. I am very tired and going to bed

Stainless Steel Kitchen

Driveway formed and ready for pour

Posted on the December 23rd, 2009 under First Stages by admin

Our driveway was formed and is ready for concrete pour. We must first get a pre-pour inspection before concrete can be added. This will most likely be on Monday.

Driveway formed and ready for pour

Some updates on the house

Posted on the December 23rd, 2009 under First Stages by admin

Well, We had our final inspections for the trades yesterday and we passed our final mechanical (HVAC) inspection. We failed our final electrical inspection because the light that was in our master closet was a chandelier and the county requires the light to have a globe. Grrrr We also failed our final plumbing inspection because the water well did not have a check valve at the head of the pump. We are correcting these issues this week and we will re-apply for inspection on Monday morning. We also decided to add tile to the kitchen in lieu of wood floors. This was for 2 reasons. 1.) We cannot obtain a C/O without a finished floor in the kitchen. (We need a C/O to turn on the power to be able to lay the wood floors) 2.) The tile in the kitchen proves to be much more durable over time than a wood floor.

The damaged wood floors were removed from the great room and the mirrors, towel bars, and toilet paper holders were installed in the bathrooms. Soffits were built for the laundry room and the kitchen to hide exposed pipe.

Tile floor shown in kitchen

Wood floor removed from great room

Mirrors hung in bathrooms

Towel bar and toilet paper holders installed

Outdoor A/C unit installed

New American Standard faucet installed

Soffit to cover exposed pipe in laundry room

Soffit to hide exhaust vent in kitchen

What to do now…

Posted on the December 18th, 2009 under First Stages by admin

After talking with my General Contractor today. We determined the best plan of attack to get this house finished and how to get the floors down the RIGHT way. Apparently the floors are way beyond repair and must be removed.

Steps to complete the home:

Trim the tree that is blocking the connection of the house to the power pole outside this weekend.
Have air conditioning compressor set outside and have connected by electrician on Monday morning.
Schedule all three trade inspections for Tuesday morning. Plumbing, Mechanical (HVAC) and Electrical Finals.
Once the final electrical inspection is passed I will contact the chief building inspector and ask that he send a release to our electrical company. He will also have the county issue a temporary Certificate of Occupancy (C/O) provided all of the misc. fees are paid to date.
Call electrical company and have them come to the house and connect the electricity to the house.
Have the first start performed on the A/C by the HVAC company and begin running the A/C.
Call health department and schedule a water test on the well and get that approved.
Bring all wood product into the home and begin the acclimation period.
In the mean time, schedule a FINAL BUILDING inspection on the home. (This is the last inspection needed where there will be a county official inside of the home. This means we can move our stuff in a little early and if the electricity is on, guess what, we will be living there permanently!!!
After final building inspection is passes we can do our site grading and get the drainage work done with the tractor in 1 day. Cover up all holes in the ground, remove leftover construction debris, etc…
Schedule final Land Alteration inspection (Site Inspection)
We can begin the wood floors after 7 days of proper HVAC moisture removal and wood floor acclimation. The floor will take 3 days to install. After wood floors are installed we can have our carpet installed in the bedrooms.
If all of this “STUFF” goes well, we can apply for an official Certificate of Occupancy and be done with this crazy crazy process!

$1,000 of wood floor RUINED! Bad Times: Please Read

Posted on the December 17th, 2009 under First Stages, Second Stages by admin

The past few days have been extremely stressful for us. Here is the story:

I arrived on site yesterday morning to find that our beautiful floors had a cupped shape on each board. This was highly noticeable when you look at the glare of the sun on the floors. The glare isn’t smooth or glassy, instead it looks jagged and similar to an ocean ripple. In the previous post I was talking about how the installers were complaining the glue they were using was setting up too fast and very difficult to work with. Because of this, they returned all of the Urethane based glue and exchanged it for (a much cheaper) acrylic urethane latex adhesive, A.K.A. :: WATER BASED GLUE THAT DESTROYS A WOOD FLOOR UPON APPLICATION!

The floor guys told me that they used this “new” glue a million times on floors in the past and they all turned out beautiful. The geniuses failed to mention that they used the glue on engineered and laminate floors and not solid wood floors. The result of their actions is approximately $1,000 of beautiful wood floor ruined due to excessive moisture absorption!

Trusting the floor installers, I never researched the new glue and I never looked twice at the glue cans they brought on site and were using. … BIG MISTAKE! If I had looked a little closer at the glue cans, they are marked clearly on the face of the label “FOR USE ON ENGINEERED FLOORS ONLY” “DO NOT USE ON SOLID WOOD OR BAMBOO FLOORS” This raises so many questions: Did they do this to save big bucks on the glue cost and pocket the difference hoping that we wouldn’t notice? Did they forget to read the label on the front of the cans? Did they wake up that morning and forget their brains at home?

We are now faced with a more delays in completion and our floor is on back order and will take 2 full weeks to have delivered. Tomorrow is a big on site meeting to determine the best action to take on the removal of our newly purchased firewood!

A LITTLE EDUCATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE PLANNING TO HAVE A WOOD FLOOR INSTALLED: Please Read

Our floor installers laid the first 7 rows of wood floor down with the correct urethane adhesive. This floor still remains perfect and not cupped or damaged. The newly laid floor that the installers laid down with the incorrect acrylic urethane latex glue cupped approximately 8 hours after install.

The reason for instant cupping: Solid wood floor and bamboo flooring is not man made and is a natural wood product. This makes it extremely vulnerable to water damage. The garbage water based glue (Roberts 1407) has way too much moisture content to be used with solid wood and the water used to make the glue is instantly transferred to the new floor and the result is expansion of the edges. This results in wood floor cupping.

The moisture cure urethane adhesive (Roberts 1408) originally used has no water in the adhesive. In fact, it acts as a protection to the solid wood floor by detecting moisture (in the concrete slab) and instantly curing to lock the moisture out. This acts as a moisture barrier.

Summary:

When laying a SOLID WOOD FLOOR: Use a moisture cure urethane adhesive. Roberts 1408

When laying an ENGINEERED WOOD FLOOR: Use a moisture cure urethane adhesive. Roberts 1408

What to do with acrylic urethane latex adhesive (Roberts 1407): Shove it up the salesman’s ass at your local home improvement store if he recommends it to you for your floor. I care about the environment so I wouldn’t even recommend it as a boat anchor!

Solid wood floor cupped due to incorrect adhesive application

1407 Roberts Acrylic Urethane Latex WATER BASED adhesive

1408 Roberts Solid Wood Floor Adhesive URETHANE

Wood floor cupping and crowning

Wood floor BEGINS! Day 1

Posted on the December 14th, 2009 under First Stages by admin

Today the wood floor installation started. We are using a very very very very strong glue to adhere the floor to the concrete slab. The glue provides a moisture barrier, sealer, and adhesive all in one. The problem with this glue is the “work time” Most glues can be applied to the slab and the installers have about an hour window of time to work with the glue until it begins to cure. This glue begins to cure in 10 minutes. When the glue begins to cure the glue turns into an elastic type material, thus making the floor very hard to shape from board to board. It also makes the wood very hard to keep the joints tight because the elastic effect moves the floor out of alignment.

The blue masking tape you see on the floor is to hold the joints tight and straight while the first 7 rows cure. This is the most critical part when installing a wood floor. We lay 7 rows of wood floor in a randomized pattern. We make sure that the final row of the floor is perfectly straight. This straight-edge acts as a guide to install the rest of the floor. Once 24 hours passes we are ensured that the floor is fully cured to the slab and we can proceed with the rest of the wood floor installation.

Wood floor install: Glue down application

Wood floor install: Glue down application: GLUE SHOWN

Some fresh photos

Posted on the December 13th, 2009 under First Stages by admin

Chelsea standing in Great Room: Almost Finished!

Me in the great room (I need a haircut!!!)

Ikea chandelier in entry

Another one of Chelsea

Ikea pendant lights shown: Over Bar

New window trim shown

Exterior Coach Light Shown

Master bathroom tile shown

LG Front Load washer and dryers waiting to be un-packed!

Ikea pendant lights

Wine / Coffee bar

Hall ceiling light shown

Coach light at garage service door

Windows in great room

Chelsea

Adding window trim changes the room

Posted on the December 8th, 2009 under First Stages by admin

One project that Ive been wanting to do for a long time was to trim out the windows. I think it totally transforms the look of the great room. In my opinion, window trim makes the window look finished and also acts as a picture frame for the view. Take a look at the before and after photos of the window trim installation. I will finish up the rest of the rooms in the great room in the days to come.