Jim's House Rebuilding

[jwstewar]

OK, got it going. It had to do with file sizes. Normally it would either resize them for me, or worst case it would say it is too big. It just wouldn't say it failed. Anyway....

Here are some outside shots of the house.

One thing you'll notice in the shot of the garage doors, they are the standard 9'x7' doors. They were supposed to be 9'x8'. They got missed on the final plans. Along with the window on that side that is just a cutout. They had to order that window in and reframe that wall. The window came in Friday, but they hadn't installed it yet. They have yet to redo the garage doors. Wish I would have notice it before they set the trusses.

 

[jwstewar]

OK, here are a couple of the inside. They are the great room and of the French door that is in the dining room/great room/kitchen.

Also Doc and I were having a conversation about mud over on NTT. This is why the tractor hasn't been out. Did I happen to mention that it is a good that our Silverado and our Trailblazer are 4wd? We had the insurance company bring us some gravel in, but before that it was a muddy mess. Still might have to go off of the driveway depending upon how many construction vehicles are there.

 

[jwstewar]

You might look into www.hughesnet.com they are highspeed internet from "space". I do installs up here in Alaska in my spare time for a friend. Have it here at the house and it requires no phone lines to operate, the dish is .78 of a meter accross so it isn't very big, and in most cases bolts to the side of the house or can be mounted on a pole. About $400.00 in the States and they run a hundred dollar rebate. I think they even finace the cost at about twenty bucks a month for two years now, at no interest.

Thanks for the info, once we get back in the house we will go back to DSL. We didn't have phone service installed into the trailer the insurance company is renting for us. Work is providing the air card for me, so for the few months, I can get buy with the air card.

Here are some interior shots.

First is of the utility room that Monica claims isn't big enough. It is 7'6" x 12'

Next is looking from the dining room across the French door opening to the Great Room. Next is looking at the kitchen from the dining room.

4th is looking from the kitchen to the dining room with the guest bathroom and bedroom located in the back ground.

Next is a picture of the office which is 14 x 11 with 2 big windows facing the front.

Last is a picture of the living room including the framing for the Vent-free fireplace that we just decided to add last week. It will stick out in the garage a little bit, but not much and it will be in the "middle" of the cars so it shouldn't affect the parking area.

I mentioned a guest bedroom in this post. Looks like it won't be a guest bedroom after all.

 

[Doc]

Congrats Jim. That is big news. I'll have to add a cigar smilie so you can pass them out when the time comes.

Your house is looking great. Coming right along. Is there a chance you'll be in by April? Ahhhh, I remember the muddy mess from building all to well. No fun at all ... especially once you get your new flooring or carpet down.

Thanks for BOTH updates! and Congrats!!!!!!!

 

[jwstewar]

Is there a chance you'll be in by April?

Well, we are 2 months in and a month behind schedule. They originally told us 4 - 6 months, we have planned/hoped for by June 1st - Monica's birthday. The way things are heading that is right where we are going to be. Hopefully we make that as we run out of rent on the trailer around the first part of July. We might be living in our camper if it isn't ready by then.

Thanks for the congrats, it came as a bit of a surprise to us. Now that the has worn off, we are pretty excited. The kids weren't excited at first (that might be an understatement), but they are starting to get excited when we go look at toys and outfits for the baby. One will be a lot more excited and one not so excited though once we find out the sex of the baby.

 

[OhioTC18]

Jim, Both of those updates are great news. Looking good on the house. Give Monica a congratulatory hugs from me.

 

[fogtender]

Thanks for the info, once we get back in the house we will go back to DSL. We didn't have phone service installed into the trailer the insurance company is renting for us. Work is providing the air card for me, so for the few months, I can get buy with the air card.

Well for what is it worth, the Hughesnet is much faster than DSL. I had that for a number of years and now don't have to wait for something to keep "Buffering" to watch a video and such like I did witht the DSL..

Very nice looking house job by the way!

 

[Galvatron]

hi jim looks great....can i ask what material the fascia and soffit will be....heres a link to a local company i use over here in the uk ....just curious if you use anything similar.

link
http://www.eurocell.co.uk/

 

[XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq]

Congrats Jim! Nothing like going all out! This will be a big year for you!

 

[Av8r3400]

Looks awesome, Jim. Best of luck on the whole schedule thing! (never goes right, does it?)

We started our house May 1, 2005 hoping for a August 31st move in. We moved in on Thanksgiving (2005) to bare sub floors and no interior walls. I hope you do better than we did!

 

[OhioTC18]

hi jim looks great....can i ask what material the fascia and soffit will be....heres a link to a local company i use over here in the uk ....just curious if you use anything similar.

link
http://www.eurocell.co.uk/

kimi,
That is a very interesting product. I REALLY like that. Something like that is not very widely used here in Ohio. I'm guessing his facia/soffits will be aluminum, vinyl or redwood/cedar. They are the most commonly used materials used around here.
It tends to get pretty cold here at times, so I wonder how well the PVC would hold up. I've only seen temps as low as -30C here though

 

[Galvatron]

kimi,
That is a very interesting product. I REALLY like that. Something like that is not very widely used here in Ohio. I'm guessing his facia/soffits will be aluminum, vinyl or redwood/cedar. They are the most commonly used materials used around here.
It tends to get pretty cold here at times, so I wonder how well the PVC would hold up. I've only seen temps as low as -30C here though

im pretty sure the temp would not be an issue....main reason i use it and recommend it to my customers is it will never rot or fade in color....just every few years get the ladder out and give it a wipe and it's as good as new again.

 

[jwstewar]

That is looks pretty interesting Kimi. I like the looks of the facia. Our facia will be aluminum and the soffit will be vinyl. That is pretty much the norm around here. One thing you have to remember is the US is about 20 years behind Europe in their building techniques. I know you guys have had tankless water heaters for years. They are just now starting to be used here and still aren't very common. We are going with one though.

Av8r, I hope it doesn't take that long - our rent money from the insurance company runs out in July and I sure can't afford to pay the rent on this trailer at almost 3000 month!

I haven't been out to take any pics (been a little under the weather with the flu - haven't worked all week) but the plumber has been here. He has started running the drain lines. The basement guys came yesterday and hooked the sewer lines up to the septic tank. The HVAC guy was here today and ran a lot of the ducts. Oh, also forgot the van load of Mexicans showed up and roofed almost the whole house in about 5 hours on Saturday. They would have finished but they were about 2 bundles short.

 

[jwstewar]

WOW!!!, we went from standing still to moving at 150 MPH. The water line is now hooked up, the framers are there today doing final "punch out," plumbers have been there yesterday and today finishing up that, the electrician is there today expecting to finish tomorrow. They poured the garage and basement floors yesterday. The insulator is supposed to be there Thursday expecting to start blowing on Friday. Been waiting for some of the other stuff to finish up so that I could start running some cable & Ethernet wires. Guess I'll have a couple of long nights the next couple of nights getting at least the lines on the exterior walls in. Wouldn't surprise me if they don't want to start drywalling next week. They are supposed to dig the trench so I can get the conduit installed the electric company can come out and hook up the power.

I love it when a plan starts coming together!!!!

 

[Cowboyjg]

Better get your stuff in before ichalation Jim. How about HVAC? Have they been in yet? Sure glad things are coming along for you..

 

[OhioTC18]

Been waiting for some of the other stuff to finish up so that I could start running some cable & Ethernet wires. Guess I'll have a couple of long nights the next couple of nights getting at least the lines on the exterior walls in.

Jim,
That all sounds like it's coming together FAST. Instead of running your cables in the exterior walls, go to Lowes and get some "smurf tube", blue corrugated tubing in the electrical department. The correct name is Electrical Non-metallic Tubing or ENT. They have 1/2" and 3/4", get the larger size. Nail up some plaster rings and run a sleeve of tubing from there to the basement. Leave a foot or so hang out at the plaster rings for now. That way, you can always add/change cables later when needed. Leave 2 feet hang in the basement. Drill holes and do the same thing for the interior walls while they are insulating the exterior walls. DON'T loop from one location to another. Make them all separate runs to the basement.

If I can help with any ideas let me know. I think you have my work number, right?

 

[jwstewar]

Yep Cowboy, HVAC has been there, I just forgot to mention it.

That is interesting stuff Jerry. I'll have stop and get some on my way home today. I'm going to try to do half day vacation today. I didn't get to do much last night. This daggone flu won't go away. I'm having these coughing spells right now and they cause some serious headache/migraines. They usually don't last too long from them, but the one last night wouldn't go away. Coupled with the darkness and I bought cheap electrical box, I decided I would give it another shot today - hopefully I can prevent a coughing spell and I'll get the electrical boxes I normally buy. I've got your home & cell so I think I'm good to go. I appreciate the offer. I would like for you to come down and give it an inspection before everything gets covered up.

 

[OhioTC18]

I would like for you to come down and give it an inspection before everything gets covered up.

I REALLY want to take a "look" at it for you (as in a thorough inspection).
These past 4 weeks, I've been doing 6-7 days a week 11-12 hours each day. New computer system rolled out on the 25th and of course even with all of the testing before roll out it doesn't work. Data migration and upgrade patches caused corrupt data and now we're scrambling to correct it. Doesn't help that part of the testing team thought it was monotonous and boring, so they goofed off and reported no "fail point" issues. I'm hoping for this Saturday/Sunday off. If the insulators get there Friday and start blowing, I still may be able to see what I'd like to see by the weekend. I asked if you had my work number, I can't answer it right now and I don't have time to answer voice mails, so the cell is the best number.

 

[jwstewar]

It looks like the insulators have been pushed back. Electricians haven't gotten as far as hoped. I had thought it was a bit ambitious to get the whole thing wired in 2 days. They done a lot, but not quite that far. I would think by weekend though they should be pretty much "wrapped up" ready for the next step.

I stopped at Lowes and bought me some Smurf tube. Pretty neat stuff. I went ahead and bought the low-voltage "boxes." They work pretty well with the ENT. At this point I'm only worried about getting that put it in and I'll come back later for wire. I'm putting it "everywhere" even if we don't have plans for something there. Easier to put it there with a blank plate and not use it then it would be if I ever needed it. I'm only going to worry about the Great Room TV & our bedroom TV. These are the where the satellite boxes will go. They need 3 coax cables (I'm running 4) and they also need a phone and/or Ethernet so I'm going to put both at these locations. This could be kind of tight so I might have to actually put 2 lines in.

Here are a couple of the jacks that I put in the Great Room. I haven't run the wire yet. Hopefully this weekend when it gets up to a balmy 40.

 

[OhioTC18]

Here are a couple of the jacks that I put in the Great Room. I haven't run the wire yet. Hopefully this weekend when it gets up to a balmy 40.

Do yourself a favor, run the wires later. They'll only get screwed up during insulating, drywalling, painting and trim out. Just get as much of the smurf tube and boxes in as you can. As long as you have a drop to the basement, you can figure out the wiring later.

edit......the drywallers may use a router to cut out the box openings. They have a tendency to nick the wires making them useless.

 

[jwstewar]

That is a good point about the wires. I guess I will focus on finishing up my boxes and tubes. I will also run the wire for the rear speakers in the Great Room. We are not doing a whole house entertainment system, just want to get speakers in the ceiling for surround sound. I always hated those speakers sitting on the floor.

 

[Bobcat]

Bundled cable might be an easier pull. http://www.futurehomesystems.com/w177.shtml Also, when you pull ethernet, you've got your phone line as well. Only two pair of the four pair are used for the net.

 

[jwstewar]

Thanks for the tip Bob. I've done that a few times when the wire was already run and I needed something else, but typically if I'm running new wires I will keep them seperate. I guess it gives me the ability to use the other should something damage one or I need an extra. I guess just me being a little paranoid. As far as the wire, I've already got my Cat6 wire. Our wire rep here at work gave me a 1000' box of Cat6. Saved me a few $ by him giving me a "sample."

 

[OhioTC18]

Jim,
I should be able to come down tomorrow. I'd like to run a few errands first and be down your way 11-1 or so.

 

[jwstewar]

I'll be here. I was hoping they would have gotten the meter base hooked up to the breaker box, but they didn't. They didn't have the parts to do it. There boss was supposed to show up with the parts and he didn't.

 

[OhioTC18]

WOW, that is going to be a nice house. Went down today to have a look see at the electric since Jim lives in an area that doesn't have inspections. The electricians did a pretty good job. A few things here and there that might need some attention. Mainly aesthetics, but a couple of safety issues. The siding guys were there sloshing around in the mud.
I've been in the construction trades for a number of years and kinda know my way around the framing portions as well. The framers and GC seem to know what they're doing as well. Nice framing job. I think they're gonna be happy with this house. The plumber has been in and is running the PEX. The HVAC dude has been there and looked to be done with the rough.
Didn't get to say HI to the expecting Mom , she was at work, but did get to see the kids and say Hi to them.

Very nice Jim.........

 

[Bulldog1401]

Wow, I have heard of places not requiring licensing, but none that do not require an inspection.

 

[Doc]

I guess AEP made some kind of deal so that inspections are not needed. I've run a new power line to my pole building and just now picked up the meter socket. Once I have that and the panel in place AEP comes out and runs the wire. I guess they are the installers and inspectors.

 

[Bulldog1401]

Who is AEP and what wires do they run?

 

[Doc]

Sorry.
AEP = American Electric Power. The electric provider for South Easter Ohio (and maybe more).
So the power company will come out and run the wires. They also inspected my ditch before I buried the conduit. No county inspector needed.