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Hi and welcome to Home Time.
I'm Joanne Liebler.
And I'm Dean Johnson.
Welcome to the house we're building.
We're not exactly building it ourselves, but we're not just watching it happen either.
We're making it happen.
This is the second of two Home Time tapes on how to be your own general contractor on
a house.
And this carries some extra responsibilities with it.
So our most important tool isn't a hammer, but probably a telephone.
Or a calendar, because timing is crucial.
In our first tape, we started with an empty lot.
We followed the construction through the excavation, the foundation, and the framing.
When the shell was done, we started the mechanical rough-ins, plumbing, heating, and electrical.
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Coordinating the exterior construction of the house can be a bit of a nightmare.
Ideally, the order of events is to get the roofing done, or at least get the tarpaper
down while the doors and windows are going in.
And once they're in, the siding can go on.
And the brickwork can start almost any time.
And here's another factor to consider.
It's better for the roofers to wait until all the vents for the heating and plumbing
have already been run.
But you don't want to wait too long for the roof to get done.
This is because the insulation and drywall can't begin until the entire roof is weather
tight.
With some roofing materials, you can put the roughing felt on over the whole roof right
away and get on with the interior work while the shingles are going on.
With our cedar shakes, the tarpaper goes on one row at a time.
However, it's been a very dry summer.
So we may have the insulators start inside before the roof is finished and take a chance
that it won't rain.
Once the roofing has begun, the windows and doors can go in.
They shouldn't be delivered to the side until just before they're going to be installed.
However, you need to choose your windows and doors a lot earlier.
We've chosen wooden windows that have been clad with metal.
The glass is double insulated, which is important in our cold climate.
These windows are made to order from a large selection of styles and sizes, so it's smart
to order them early.
Windows should also be chosen early because framing can't really begin until the window
dimensions are known.
The carpenters have to leave what's called a rough opening for the window.
And when you choose your window, the manufacturer will supply an exact rough opening for every
model of window and door.
The rough opening is a bit bigger than the actual window unit itself, but this gives
the carpenters some leeway to adjust the window while they're installing it and get it right
where they want it.
Okay, Jerry said we could put this one in.
Want to help out?
Sure.
There you go.
To start off, a layer of tar paper gets attached around the edge of the window opening.
This helps prevent moisture from seeping through the gap between the window and the siding.
A layer of fiberglass goes on the bottom of the opening.
This provides some insulation around the window.
More insulation will go into the gaps around the window unit later.
Then the window gets hoisted into place.
Okay, got it on there?
Yep.
There.
All right, I'll go inside.
Okay, joint up a little bit once.
One person goes inside to level the window and to shim it.
Another person then nails it into place on the outside.
These windows have a plastic nailing flange that runs all the way around the unit.
This fastens the window securely in place.
One of the differences between clad windows and all wood windows is that on the all wood
window, there's a piece of wood called the brick mold that serves as both a nailing surface
and the finish trim.
Clad windows like these are more expensive than all wood windows, but they last longer
and they require almost no maintenance.
The one window we installed was just for demonstration purposes.
If you're contracting your own home, leave this job to the carpentry crew.
They can make quick work of the windows and doors and have this part of the house weather
tight pretty quickly.
Our ripping process began by unloading the bundles of shakes up onto the top of the roof.
When you order shakes or shingles, specify that you want them delivered to the roof.
It might cost a little more, but it'll make your roofers a lot happier.
And here's a good time to lend a hand.
Most subs will appreciate a little help now and then.
Just make sure that you don't get in the way or you don't do anything that'll make their
job tougher.
Pitching in on a thankless job like lugging shakes is a great way to get on the good side
of the subcontractor.
Ruffers are a special breed of subcontractor.
It's hot, tedious, and dangerous work, and it attracts a particularly independent type
of craftsman.
The procedures for installing these cedar shakes are pretty specialized.
They're a premium item, and our ruffer estimates that it takes two to three times as long to
install the shakes as it does fiberglass or asphalt shingles.
Let's install a few ourselves and find out why.
There are two basic types of roofing material in common use for new construction today.
Fiberglass or asphalt shingles.
And wooden shingles and shakes.
We're going to throw up some of these on each of these two panels to give you an idea of
some of the terminologies and techniques used in roofing.
Fiberglass and asphalt shingles are popular and economical roofing materials.
They're manufactured in many different styles, colors, and patterns.
Probably the most common is a three-tab shingle.
The three tabs are the three individual shingles attached together into one unit.
The shingles are 12 inches by 36 inches with a five-inch exposure where one row sticks
out from under the row above it.
Taking into account the overlap between rows, this package will cover a third of a square.
In roofing terminology, a square is 100 square feet.
Customers will often bid jobs in materials based on price per square.
In our cold climate, the first thing that goes on the roof is a layer of ice dam protection.
This product is a self-adhering pad, 36 inches wide.
Local codes will dictate precisely how far up from the edge of the roof such protection
must extend.
And this material will help seal up around the roofing nails.
It's also possible to make acceptable ice dam protection out of several layers of tar
paper or roofing felt sealed together with asphalt.
Different roofing contractors will have their own preferences.
Above the eaves, we staple roofing felt out on top of the sheathing.
This is 15-pound roofing felt.
That means that 100 square feet of it, a square, weighs 15 pounds.
This layer overlaps the top of the ice dam protection, and each layer of tar paper overlaps
the layer below it, usually by two inches.
On a shingled roof, the whole roof gets covered with roofing felt right away.
And there's an advantage to this because work inside the house can begin on the insulation
and drywall, and you don't have to worry about rain.
When the roof is all covered, we need to put on a starter row of shingles.
This is a row of shingles with all the tabs cut off.
Shingles are secured with roofing nails.
These are short, galvanized nails with large, flat heads.
Four nails go into every shingle.
The shingles overhang the bottom and sides of the roof by about three-quarters of an
inch.
In these full shingles, the roofing nails go in about five-eighths of an inch above
each slot.
These shingles have a ceiling strip.
The bottom of every row will eventually become stuck to the ceiling strip on the row underneath
it, thanks to the heating action of the sun.
A basic principle of roofing is that it's very important to keep the slots of one row
from lining up with the slots of the row underneath it.
So we stagger the second full row six inches to the side of the first.
This way, rainwater that runs down between the tabs of one row will land in the middle
of the tab of the row underneath it and then keep running down the roof.
If the rows aren't staggered, rainwater can get in between the shingles and the tar paper
where it'll cause rot.
Once this pattern has been established, the shingles just go on with every other row staggered
six inches to the side.
As a last step, we trim off the overhanging shingles along the edge.
Even on a small roof, things can get sloppy.
For instance, the slots may not line up in a straight line after a few rows.
So many roofers will snap vertical chalk lines to keep their staggered rows consistent.
The nice thing about finding a rooper is that it's real easy to ask for references and to
drive by the jobs.
If the slots are aligned all the way up the roof, this is a good indication that the rooper
probably does neat and careful work.
Roofing with individual wooden shingles or shakes like these is a more difficult proposition.
The look is more luxurious, the material is more expensive, and the installation a little
more difficult.
Shakes like these usually come in a couple different lengths, 24 inch with a 10 inch
exposure, 18 inch with a 7 inch exposure.
They will vary in width and thickness.
You'll also have to get some wood shingles for a starter course.
The starter row goes along the eave on top of the ice dam protection, overhanging the
sheathing more than you would with a manufactured shingle.
These get two nails per shingle, one on each side.
Shakes require a different type of roofing felt.
This is 18 inch wide, 30 pound felt.
Once the starter row of shakes is in place, we install a couple of rows, with each bottom
edge 10 inches up from the row below it.
Codes will vary, but roopers usually roll out only two or three rolls of felt at a time
when they're working on shakes.
This means the roof isn't made weather tight until nearly the last row of shakes goes on.
This can slow up work inside if there's a chance of rain.
The first full roll goes directly on top of the starter roll.
I have to stick these shakes up under the second row of tar paper.
As with manufactured shingles, the gaps between the shakes can't line up with the gaps in
the row underneath.
Because the shakes come in irregular widths, each shake needs to be held in place to see
how its edge will line up.
You want the gaps at least an inch and a half apart from row to row, so you might have to
try different shakes, or you might need to trim a shake down a little with the sharp
end of the roofing hand.
Shakes don't get butted up tight next to each other.
They need a little room to breathe.
A roofing contractor will judge how much room to give the shakes, depending primarily on
how dry or moist the wood is.
Once the starter row and first full row are on, each successive row is lined up with the
bottom edge of the tar paper under the previous row.
The roofing contractor on our house is pretty adamant that hand-nailing each shake is the
best method.
However, many roofers feel that pneumatic staplers do just as good a job in a lot less
time.
They find out that stapling is faster and easier, but there's a valid argument that
when you're using an air tool, the shakes are more likely to split, and they're also
more likely to work loose later as they swell and contract with changes in moisture.
So we're not sure whether to recommend staples or nails, but it's probably a good question
to raise as you're talking to prospective roofing contractors.
And again, we've just shown you a few of the basics involved in these two types of roofing
materials.
A last-year roof is a simple one-peak affair.
There are a lot of little details that make roofing a real art, and not nearly as simple
as we made it look in the project center.
For one thing, a roof has a lot of little holes in it for plumbing, heating, and attic
ventilation, and it's the roofer's job to make sure that these are sealed up good and
tight.
The line where two roof areas meet is called a valley.
These require some special attention.
You can specify an open valley or a closed valley.
Look at different roofs and see what you prefer.
Usually a valley has galvanized sheet metal flashing under the joint where the sections
meet.
Flashing is also necessary where a roof butts up to a vertical wall surface.
And the ridge, which is a very top of the roof, gets a special type of shingle or shake.
The barrel vault over the front entrance to the house gets a covering of copper sheet
metal.
The copper flares out around the barrel vault under the flat roof.
So in this area, the copper work has to be done before the shakes are installed.
And the small bit of roof surface that deflects water runoff away from the chimney is called
a saddle.
We've seen how the roofers are sealing up the roof and how the carpenters are plugging
up the holes in the house with windows and doors.
Well, here's another gap in the framing that's quickly being closed.
The carpenters framed out a space here for the fireplace.
Like a window opening, it's got a header.
There's also a special sunken area in the family room.
The concrete hearth will go here.
Now we're building a masonry fireplace.
There are other ways to build a fireplace, but the durability and beauty of an all masonry
fireplace is what we wanted here.
We're also using brick along one side of the garage and as an accent on the front steps.
And somewhere down the road, we'll install a brick planter next to the front door and
around the master bathroom.
These brick elements, along with the cedar shakes on the roof and the cedar shingles
on the walls, will make for what we hope will be an exciting exterior.
The supporting structure for the fireplace required some special planning at the foundation
stage.
For instance, local code requires that the footing be a full 12 inches deep as opposed
to 8 inches for the rest of the foundation.
The foundation was designed with a special area for the fireplace.
The foundation sub brought it up to one course below the rest of the foundation.
The mason added the last two courses of block and then created a bridge of block across here.
To create the hearth, they made a platform of re-rod and wire lath to support a concrete
bed.
This takes a particular type of concrete.
This dry tamp concrete has relatively little water in it.
This way it doesn't drip through the lath.
This 4 inch layer of concrete forms the bottom of the hearth and a layer of concrete block
goes on top of that.
While the work on the exterior brick that surrounds the flues begins, another layer
of mesh and dry tamp concrete goes on the hearth.
Now comes the fire brick.
This brick will line the inside of the fire box.
Meanwhile, the flues and the exterior brick that surrounds them keep climbing up.
The last step in the process of sealing up the house is to install the siding.
And the first step of that is to put an infiltration barrier around the whole house.
This helps stop air from blowing in.
Now it won't stop moisture so it shouldn't interfere with the vapor barrier, which is
what we put on the inside of the house when we're ready to insulate.
The house wrap rolls out 9 foot wide pieces and gets stapled into place with a hammer
tacker.
The seams between pieces and next to windows are sealed with a special tape and actually
we made a scheduling error here.
It's better to put the house wrap on before the windows are installed.
All of the trim on the exterior of the house uses this rough sawn cedar.
Now the soffits and the fascia have already been installed using this and as the siding
goes on, they'll use more of this trim starting with some rather elaborate construction here
at the bottom of the walls.
The cedar shingle siding is installed so that the bottom edges of each row are flush.
The first row sits across the top of the top piece of trim.
A second row goes directly on top of the starter row.
Like the cedar shake roofing, the joint between any two shingles needs to be at least an inch
to one side or the other of any joint on the row below it.
To make sure that the bottom of each row lines up, the crew tacks the board in place each
time they move up a row.
All the shingles in a row then sit on top of the guide boards as they're installed.
And remember that our exterior is a combination of textures.
Putting shingles on the whole house would run about $2 per square foot.
A brick veneer would run about $5.70 a square foot.
The combination of the two materials will be attractive, cost effective, and will provide
a low maintenance, long lasting exterior.
Building insulation and drywall are jobs that do it yourself or can tackle.
But when you've got a house that's about 2,300 square feet like we do, well, we're going
to call in the pros.
The manpower, specialized tools, and experience that a professional crew brings to both these
jobs is well worth the price.
But to be a good general contractor, you have to know what these crews are doing.
Well, that way you can schedule their work properly, anticipate problems, and you'll
know what a subcontractor is talking about when he says something like, well, I can give
you an R11 on that two by four wall, unless you want to go full wall, and then I can give
you an R13 if you know what I mean.
And if you don't know what he means, we're going to tell you.
In cold weather, heat is constantly escaping from a home.
You can never stop this, but you can slow it down.
Different materials resist the passage of heat differently.
This property of a material, its ability to slow down heat, is rated by a system of R
values.
The higher the R value, the better the insulator.
Glass and wood, the materials on the outside of a house are very poor insulators.
Standard glass has an R value of about one, and an uninsulated wall has an R value of
about five.
So we want to add materials that will insulate better.
Two materials are commonly used.
This one inch thick piece of extruded polystyrene will add R5 to a wall, and this three and
a half inch layer of fiberglass insulation will add R11.
Now, there's already polystyrene insulation on our house.
In the first tape of our two tape series, we installed sheets of expanded polystyrene
to insulate the basement.
To insulate the walls of our house, we'll use fiberglass.
We made the exterior walls of our home out of two by six studs.
Two by fours would have done the job structurally, but by making the walls two inches thicker,
we'll be able to use that much more insulation.
For our two by four demonstration walls, we'll be able to add an R11 to the two by six walls
in our home.
We'll be able to add an R19.
Local codes will usually dictate the R values needed for your walls and ceilings.
Fiberglass gets its insulating properties from the air trapped in the fibers, so compressing
it reduces its R value.
A good insulation contractor won't let it get squished as he installs it.
Part of the art of insulating is learning to work the fiberglass around obstacles.
Here I can tear it a little to fit around this electrical box.
Getting insulation into a wall is one thing, getting it into the ceiling is another.
Local codes in our area require R38 of insulation between a heated room and an unheated attic.
One way of doing this is to install two layers of R19 insulation.
Typically, you put in the first layer from above, running it perpendicular to the rafters.
To fit the second layer in, we work from below and push the bats in lengthwise between the
joists.
This is called friction-fit insulation because it holds itself in place.
There's a related job that you should do when you insulate, and it should be part of the
insulation bit.
That's the installation of a vapor barrier.
As warm air moves from inside the house through the insulation to the outside, it cools off
and the moisture in the air condenses.
This moisture can reduce the R value of the insulation and can also cause the wood framing
to rot.
By installing a vapor barrier on the inside of the wall, the flow of warm, moist air is
stopped.
Most insulation is available with a vapor barrier of either paper or foil on one side,
but we recommend using unfaced insulation and then installing a separate vapor barrier
of four-mil polyethylene plastic.
It comes in rolls eight feet wide and can easily be stapled into place once the insulation
is installed.
A good vapor barrier will have a lot of overlap between the pieces, and a good insulator will
also tape the seams.
The poly goes over the windows and any electrical boxes.
We cut it away from these openings later, and vapor barriers will often wrap around
corners.
Okay, now it's ready for the drywall, but before we get to that, let's see how our
insulation contractors are doing on our house.
We've seen that in theory, insulation is a pretty straightforward job.
In practice, nothing is as easy as it should be, especially in this house, which has enough
vaulted ceilings and curved walls and odd nooks to make any subcontractor think twice.
So Bob says we'll easily be able to get everything done by tonight.
Including the poly on the ceilings?
Yep.
That's great.
Well, then we can have the drywallers start tomorrow, just like we planned.
Yeah, we're in real good shape.
Our insulation work is being done in two stages.
The first step is to insulate all the walls, and then cover the walls and the ceilings
with a vapor barrier.
But the first part of the insulation, we had to do ourselves, and that was a couple of
weeks ago.
What do you mean, we?
This tub surround unit on the second floor was installed when the plumbers did their
rough-in.
Once it's in, it becomes impossible to insulate behind it.
So before the plumbers came, we, I mean I, installed insulation and a vapor barrier.
If something like this gets overlooked, it leaves a big hole in the house's thermal envelope,
which you really don't want in a bathroom.
And the vapor barrier is especially important because there will be a lot of moisture in
this room.
For the rest of the insulation in the house, we're happy to just watch as the professional
crew goes at it.
And remember that no matter how much you increase the R-value in your walls, the windows are
still a thermal weak spot.
So you might want to talk to your insulation contractor about what sort of windows to order.
As the insulators work, another subcontractor is getting everything in order for his assignment.
When the drywall gets delivered to the site, it gets hoisted in through windows to the
rooms where it will be used.
This keeps it from being damaged by being carried through doorways and upstairs.
This product has a lot of names.
Wallboard, gypsum board, sheetrock, drywall.
But whatever you call it, compared to plaster and lab, it makes house building go a lot
faster and it's a lot less expensive.
Now drywall installation always begins on the ceiling.
All set?
Sure.
It's preferable to attach drywall so the sheets run perpendicular to the studs and joists.
Although codes and convenience may dictate otherwise in some situations.
We put drywall nails all the way around the edges.
And the special drywall hammer makes a slight depression around the nail head.
This creates a cavity for the joint compound that will eventually cover the nail.
Drywall is pretty easy to cut.
Once it's been measured and marked, I score it with a utility knife.
Then it snaps apart along the score.
The plaster core breaks cleanly and only the paper on the back remains.
A special circle cutter can score around holes, like this one for an electrical box.
On walls, the best place to start is at the top.
Butt the first sheet up to the ceiling pieces and hold it in place while we nail it.
Another tool for cutting drywall is this keyhole saw, which we use to cut out an opening for
an electrical outlet in the bottom wall piece.
Foot levers are used to hold the drywall up while it's nailed.
These can be wood or metal.
Often rockers don't pre-cut the sheets for obstacles.
They just hang them and cut them afterwards.
They'll do this for doors where they can just run a drywall saw around the opening and cut
the piece out.
With the drywall in place, we can finish securing it.
Local building codes usually require double nailing every foot.
That's along every stud and joist.
You'll rarely see a professional crew do it this way, though.
They'll use drywall screws and a screw gun.
The screw gun drives the screws in with just the right force to sink them a little below
the surface.
Generally, you don't need as many screws as you would nails, but the building code is
very specific about how many fasteners are needed in various situations.
There are lots of different thicknesses for drywall.
Now, we used 5 eighths inch on our ceiling and half inch on the walls, but a lot of times
half inches used on the ceilings, depending on how far apart the joists or the trusses
are and how much the drywall might sag between them.
And there are some required applications, like 5 eighths inch fire rock between a garage
and a house to resist fire.
Drywall installation isn't that complicated, but at the rate we've been moving at, doing
a whole house would take us seven episodes.
But that's not so with our drywall subcontractors.
The crew that hangs a drywall is called rockers, and their movements are almost choreographed.
Among the specialized tools they have to make the job go quickly is a router that cuts holes
for electrical boxes while the sheet is right on the wall or the ceiling.
For the high vaulted ceilings, they set up rolling scaffolding.
These ceilings are exceptionally difficult to work on.
When you've got a complicated design like this, you want to hire the best rockers you
can find.
Among the other complications in our house is this curved wall in the living room.
Normal drywall won't bend around a curve like this, so our drywallers will use another
type of material for the first layer and then 3 eighths inch drywall for the top layer.
Normal drywall is either half inch or 5 eighths inch thick.
The 3 eighths inch drywall is thin enough so that it can be bent, but it has to be soaked
with water and left to droop around to curve form.
While the drywall is setting, the rockers attach a layer of eighth inch masonite to
the curved section of the wall.
The masonite is flexible enough that it will even out the curve of the wall and help form
the drywall.
The moist drywall is pretty flexible, so a little jockeying gets it into place, and it
can be screwed in.
The combination of 3 eighths inch drywall and eighth inch masonite makes the wall a
half inch thick, just like the drywall on the flat surfaces, and the combination of
the two layers gives the wall the necessary strength.
They use the same technique for the barrel vault in the master bathroom suite.
However, here the carpentry crew made a first layer of half inch plywood.
The rockers attach the 3 eighths inch drywall to this.
In the bathroom upstairs, they used a different drywall material.
It's called green board because of its color.
It's designed specifically to go in areas where there's moisture, like around the tub.
As the walls go up, the rooms start to define themselves.
You finally see how large each room is and how it feels.
Your first reaction might be that the house has suddenly gotten smaller.
It's not so much that the rocking made the house seem smaller.
The open framing made it feel bigger than it actually was.
We can also see how the ceilings can make such a difference in how a room feels.
For instance, in terms of actual floor space, the kitchen and breakfast area is about as
big as the family room, but the vaulted ceiling in the family room really adds to the sense
of space here.
Well, this holds true for the entire house.
The concept of volumetrics is what makes this house feel a lot bigger than 2200 square
feet.
The drywall contractor has two separate crews.
The rockers have already moved on to another job, and the tapers are ready to move in here.
The mudding and taping will cover up all the seams and screws in the drywall, so the drywall
inspection, which is a check for correct materials and fastening techniques, has to be done before
the tapers move in.
In this, the drywall subcontractor will schedule.
One of the first steps in the taping process is to reinforce any corners on the drywall.
We use a metal corner bead for this, and we use this bead on any outside edges, but we
don't use it for the insides of windows or doors because these get covered up with wooden
trim at the finished carpentry stage.
We'll be nailing our corner bead.
There is a tool that we'll cinch it on by sinking small teeth into the surface of the
drywall like this.
However, this technique isn't as strong as nailing.
When you get your drywall bid, ask if they plan to nail or cinch the corner bead.
This will give you an indication of how careful a job they'll do.
The edges of the drywall are tapered, which leaves a shallow area for mud and tape over
the joint.
The first layer of mud starts to fill this up.
Everyone calls this mud, but officially, it's joint compound or wallboard compound.
It comes in many different grades and in powdered form or premixed, like we've got here.
Once the mud's in the joint, we set the tape on top of it.
Then I use the taping knife to flatten the tape down.
Tape gets folded up and set in the corners where walls meet.
It also goes along the joint where the walls and ceiling meet.
At this stage, the corner bead gets mudded in place, too.
No tape goes here, and the depressions around the nails and screws are covered, too.
Our little demonstration is pretty simple.
Our house isn't.
Well, for instance, the tapers have to adapt some corner bead for the ceiling in the dining
room.
In this case, they spread it wider for one edge of the trade ceiling.
One tool you'll see professionals use is called a banjo.
It has a compartment in it that wets down one side of the tape with mud as it's rolled
out on the joint.
On a simple house, a good taping crew might be able to do the tape coat in one day, let
it all dry overnight, and be ready to do the next coat the next day.
Our house isn't that simple.
But that doesn't stop them from starting the second coat on the second day in areas that
were taped the first day.
The second coat is simply another layer of mud, but it's done with a wider taping knife
than the first coat, feathering the mud out away from the joint.
The tapers bring the same experience to the finish coat, which is the final layer of mud.
The finish coat is done with an even wider taping knife and gets feathered out even farther
than the second coat.
On some of our ceilings, the tapers have applied what's called a putty coat.
They've added a coat of mud between the mud that covers the screw heads, in effect covering
the entire ceiling and making a very even surface.
They've done this here in the living room and in the kitchen.
The finished product is a smooth ceiling that takes a coat of paint well.
The extra steps required to get the smooth painted ceiling add to the cost of the drywall
bid.
A less expensive alternative where we only need to give the ceiling a final finish coat
is to texture the ceiling.
We're doing this in many rooms of the house, including the family room here.
There are a couple of different types of texturing.
Ours, believe it or not, is called blurping.
So once the rockers and the tapers are done, it's time for the attack of the blurpers.
Don't let the costume distract you.
It's necessary for this messy job.
The drywall contractor will usually have a separate crew that just does ceiling texturing.
For blurping, they mix up joint compound to the proper consistency and pour it into a
special sprayer.
Then the mud is sort of splattered onto the ceilings.
A second man flattens the texturing out and also scrapes up any that's gotten on the
walls.
The last step in the drywall process, once all the taping and texturing is done, is to
sand all the joints in preparation for paint or wall covering.
Because of the dust in the air, this is a day when other subcontractors will tend to
stay away from the job site.
The drywall process creates a mess, especially in the hanging stage.
So make sure that your drywall bin includes a cleanup of all the drywall scraps.
Now it's time for the last bit of insulation.
Remember how we were waiting for the rock to get on the ceiling before we insulated
the attic spaces?
This is because we're going to have the attic insulation blown into place.
Let's take a look at what that involves.
Inside the insulation contractor's truck is a large blower.
Bags of special blowing insulation are poured into a hopper.
A flexible tube carries the fiberglass up to the attic where it can be directed into
almost any space.
It's easy to get the 14 inches necessary for R38.
One job that falls to the general contractor is to make sure that the entire floor is clean
before the underlayment goes down.
That includes scraping up any joint compound that's left over from the drywall work.
And doing a thorough sweep up of all the dust left over from the drywall sanding.
We also need to make certain that little repair on the subfloor gets taken care of.
With all the work going on on the inside, the subfloor, which is only half inch plywood,
is broken in a few spots.
This is inevitable, with all the scaffolding, wheelbarrows, pipes, lumber, and heavy tools
moving through the house during the past couple weeks.
So make certain that your carpentry sub takes care of these repairs.
The underlayment is the layer of flooring that goes on top of the subfloor, but underneath
the finished floor.
And the choice of underlayment material depends on the finished floor.
For instance, here in the family room, there's going to be carpet floor.
We use an all purpose underlayment product here.
The underlayment and any repairs to the subfloor that are necessary are the responsibility
of the finished carpentry crew.
Where there will be vinyl flooring, we use the same underlayment.
On surfaces where there will be hardwood floors, like here in the dining room, we don't need
an underlayment.
The three quarter inch oak floor has plenty of strength and can be laid directly on top
of the subfloor.
Here in the front entryway, we'll be using ceramic tile, and the tile contractor takes
care of the underlayment.
And as you'll see, ceramic tile underlayments are unique products.
Once the underlayments are down, the carpenters turn their attentions to the interior doors.
The doors, like the casing, jams, and hinges, are all ordered from the lumber yard.
Now, in ordering the doors, there's one thing that you'll have to note, and that's which
way the door swings, right or left.
A good way to determine this is to place your back up against where the hinges will be,
and note which way the door swings.
If it swings to the right, it's a right-handed door.
Now, the lumber yard should do this for you, but it's just nice to know in case any questions
arise.
New doors come already attached to the jam, and with the casing attached on one side.
Once it's leveled into place, it gets nailed.
The power nailer is loaded with finishing nails, which go through the casing and into
the studs around the rough opening.
Now, working from the other side, he supports the jam around the sides with shims.
The shims provide a backing that holds the frame securely in place.
Nails into the jam, through the shims, and into the studs.
The shims break off flush with the jam, and the first part of the job is done.
The jam must be built to the thickness of the wall, and usually this is four and nine
sixteenths inches, a two-by-four stud, and two layers of half-inch drywall.
If any walls are going to be thicker, you need to specify this when you order the doors,
and this might be the case with exterior walls, or walls that contain plumbing, and sometimes
with a supporting wall in the basement.
The last step is to put the rest of the casing on.
The door comes with a trim for this.
The carpenter cuts it to length and miters the corners, then it gets nailed to the jam
into the studs in the wall.
Between the master bedroom and bath, we've got a pocket door.
A pocket door slides into the wall next to it.
Now, the pocket door frame was installed during the framing process, so all that was left
for the carpenters to do at this point was to hang the door from a track and slide it
in.
Where we've got closets with bi-fold doors, there's some extra trim considerations.
On this door, we've got the two-by-four and drywall ends exposed, and they'll be covered
up with something called a full jam.
Another option is to wrap the drywall around the opening and just put trim in front of
the door.
This is called a half jam.
Make sure you tell your carpenter what kind of a jam you want before he frames in the
rough opening.
This will affect how wide he makes the opening.
Casing also goes around the outside of the window.
This is called Princeton casing.
That refers to the millwork on the surface of the wood.
The Princeton trim has a slightly ornate and old-fashioned feel compared to some of the
other styles.
Choosing the right trim style is an important design choice, so make sure you give it plenty
of thought.
It'll define the style of the interior, and it's not something that can easily be changed
later on, like changing the color of the room simply by repainting it.
Another trim item to think about is the baseboards.
Again, we'll be using the Princeton trim here, and this room will have carpet on the floor,
so we can install the baseboards now.
Baseboard gets nailed into the studs.
On a carpeted floor, the carpet will come right up to the edge of the trim, but the
under space the baseboard a little bit up from the underlayment.
The carpet pad will go under this.
Here in the entry area, we'll be installing ceramic tile.
In the living room, we'll be installing hardwood flooring.
Now the baseboard sits on top of both of these types of flooring, so the next thing on the
agenda, install flooring in both areas.
We'll be using ceramic tile to dress up several areas in the house.
Now, because ceramic tile is typically used in bathrooms, we'll be using it in all three
bathrooms in our house, the master bathroom, the powder room, and the second floor bath.
We're going to put tile down on the floor in the front entryway to the house.
This is a good idea where the ground is wet with mud and snow a lot of the year.
Tile is a very versatile material, and one way to create a unique design is to use different
colors and different sizes of tile.
Well, for instance, here in the bathroom, we're using three different sizes and two
colors.
The cost for a good tile installation is an extremely stable underlayment.
Even the slightest bit of flex in the underlayment will crack the grout and the spaces between
the tile.
So our tile setters will use two types of underlayment.
We'll get a mud bed on all the floors.
This is a specific concrete mixture that's sort of dry and clumpy when it's installed.
It's also called a mortar bed or thickset.
Here in the shower area, the mud bed is sloped toward the floor drain, and a waterproof membrane
called a shower pan liner is installed over it.
Not all tile jobs will require a mud bed, although most good tile setting crews will
install one wherever they can.
The alternative is to use a tile backer board, and our crew is using that in the platform
and step area of the tub.
The product design specifically is a tile underlayment, and it's often called Wonderboard,
which is the brand name of one manufacturer.
It has a concrete core sandwiched between two layers of fiberglass, so it's almost
like putting a layer of concrete down.
Our curved wall around the shower is going to get a thickset underlayment, like the floor.
The mortar is pressed into a wire mesh, which has been attached to the wall.
The first coat of thickset is often called a scratch coat, because once it sets, the
tile setter scratches the surface to give a second layer something to grip onto.
The floor in the master bath is the last area to get a mud bed.
With tile work, you almost always leave the floor till last.
This goes for setting the tile itself and for installing the underlayment.
The setters use straight edges with level set on top to make sure the bed is at the
proper height all the way across the floor.
The crew also puts down a mud bed for the upstairs bath and the front entryway.
Although the powder room, which is next to the entryway, also gets a tile floor, they
won't install the mortar bed until the entry tile is done.
This way, they'll be able to match the heights better between the two thicknesses of tiles
in the two rooms.
Installing the underlayment is the first part of the tile setter's art.
The second part is figuring out the exact placement of each tile.
This is all done ahead of time, before any tiles are set.
This job requires the setter to be part artist and part mathematician.
You want to avoid having to cut any tiles into thin slivers.
You want to try to put full uncut tiles in the most exposed places, and you want to have
the grout lines in the floor line up with the grout lines in the tile on the wall.
The setters start with the tile for the curved wall in the bath.
These small one-by-one tiles are called mosaic tiles.
Often they come preset in sheets.
They're attached with what's called thin-set mortar.
Like the thick-set underlayment, this is a stiff cement mixture.
After the shower wall, they turn to the platform around the whirlpool bath.
Here they're using eight-by-eight tiles, many of which have to be cut to size.
The standard tool for this is a tile cutter, which scores the tile so that it can be snapped
apart.
Thin-set mortar is used here, along with small plastic spacers to keep the width of the grout
lines consistent.
In addition to most regular tiles, sometimes called field tiles, most lines include special
trim tiles, and the most common of these is the bullnose tile.
Bullnose tile has a special edge that's rounded down.
It's used to make corners or to make the transition between a tiled and untiled area.
You shouldn't have to worry too much about trim tiles.
Just work out the design with your tile contractor, and he'll figure out the details of your tile
order.
For instance, the top of the tub platform gets two-by-two mosaic tiles with a row of
bullnose along the edge.
The odd shape of this unit, like the bevel at this corner, demands some special cutting
tools.
A tub saw or wet saw cools the diamond blade with water as it cuts, and tile nippers trim
off any small pieces by hand.
On some walls, the center can use a premixed adhesive.
This type one adhesive is designed for prolonged moisture situations, like a bathroom.
It can be applied directly to the drywall.
Farther up on the wall, we'll place an accent stripe of one-inch mosaic tile.
Using different sizes and colors can really enliven a tile design.
When the walls are finished, they'll finally set the floor, starting in the corner, cutting
tiles around all the plumbing obstacles.
Well, once all the tiles are set, the next step is to grout the spaces in between the
tiles.
But before we do that, let's take a look to see what's going on in the other rooms of
the house.
The front entryway gets a larger 12-by-12 tile.
We're also laying it so that the grout lines run diagonally, which will create an interesting
visual effect.
In the upstairs bath, most of the floor will be a 2-by-2 mosaic tile laid in sheets.
But we're running two blue accent stripes around the edge.
Again, we're creating a unique design using standard sizes and colors.
We're taking this technique of designing with tiles to the limit in the powder room.
The mosaic tiles are going to create a pattern that's almost like an area rug.
Now, this doesn't mean any additional cost in terms of materials, but it does in terms
of labor.
And most of all, it requires careful planning.
The tile contractor is preparing a fairly complicated mosaic pattern we've given him,
so he'll be able to set it in sheets.
With enough advanced planning, it's also possible to have the manufacturer prepare these sheets
for you.
The final step in any ceramic tile installation project is to grout the tile.
Grout is a fine mortar mixture that gets worked in between each of the tiles.
And the selection of grout color is an important design choice.
For instance, you want to avoid white on countertops or on floors because it gets dirty really
quickly.
So, in our case, we're going to be using darker shades of grout throughout the house.
Grout is forced into the joints with a special padded float.
The excess is then wiped away, first with a float and then with a sponge.
And our tile contractor is using a latex additive in the grout.
This will make it stronger and less likely to crack.
A little cleanup, some soap dishes and towel racks, and the tile work will be finished.
While the work's been going on in the inside, we haven't neglected the outside.
The backfill's been settling around the foundation.
And because of the unusually dry summer this year, to facilitate the settling process,
we've been watering around the outside of the house.
Now we're ready to pour the concrete for the driveway and the stoop.
Our foundation subcontractor is back to do these jobs.
Compared to the basement and garage floors, pouring the driveway is only complicated by
a few factors.
For one, any topsoil must be removed and the soil under the driveway needs to be well settled
and compacted.
The surface of the driveway also needs to be carefully finished.
After the final bull floating, they give it a broom finish.
This will keep it from getting too slippery in rain and snow.
The front stoop of the house is a combination of materials.
Once a concrete crew formed the steps, our masonry crew came back to add brick treads.
And while they're here, the crew's going to finish off the masonry fireplace.
This entails putting the brick veneer up against the wall above the fireplace.
It also means building the brick hearth out in front of the fireplace.
This interior brick work has to happen after the insulation and drywall installation.
We want to direct our attention now to the kitchen cabinets.
We want to install the cabinets before the hardwood floors are sanded, stained, and sealed.
This way we don't have to worry about ruining the finish during the installation process.
Timing out when you should install your cabinets will vary, depending on what kind of a finished
floor you're going to have.
For instance, in a room with a vinyl floor, you want to install the cabinets after the
underlayment's gone in, but before the vinyl floor goes in.
And again, the reason is to protect the vinyl from being marred or scratched.
The rules for ceramic tile are slightly different.
You want the mud bed in before the cabinets are installed.
This way you're working with the correct floor height, then you can just set the tiles
around the cabinet for a tight, clean look.
Usually you buy your cabinets at a showroom.
There you work with a consultant or designer who makes a plan and specs out the product.
Your choice of kitchen and bath cabinets are an important part of the overall design process,
so research it thoroughly.
Check out a lot of different showrooms.
The salespeople there can give you a lot of good ideas on what type and size of cabinet
to get and where it should go.
They can also give you a real good idea of the cost involved.
For a house like ours, the cost of the cabinets, excluding the installation, could range anywhere
between $8,000 to well over $25,000.
Now the make and style of cabinets we chose list for about $24,000.
However, cabinets like automobiles seldom sell for their full retail price.
On our cabinets, the drawers have solid wood sides with plywood bottoms.
The faces of the cabinets are solid wood, and the visible side of the cabinet uses plywood.
The only place we're using particle board is on the back and sides where it's not visible.
Cabinets are one of those areas of the house where quality is worth paying for.
Every time you open up a cabinet or pull out a drawer, you'll feel better about the whole
house if the mechanism works well and the material feels strong and solid.
Although the cabinet design will be created by working off the blueprint, it's a good
idea if someone measures the space exactly before the cabinets are ordered.
This way the installers won't have to improvise to get the correct fit and spacing.
They'll just have to work around known obstacles like heating and plumbing, and then level
and secure everything.
We've got a few last finished carpentry projects going on still.
One important one is the staircase.
Staircases are one of the toughest finished carpentry jobs.
This is when the carpenter may bring out some special tools.
There are so many elements, treads, risers, rails, noodles, spindles, that each staircase
is a little different, and a good job will take some time.
With the finished carpentry and ceramic tile work done, we can go ahead and stain the trim
and paint the interior.
There are two schools of thought about staining interior trim.
One is that you stain everything at once, the baseboards, the door jams, and the window
trim before you install them.
The hitch here is when you have to cut the trim to fit, the finished edge isn't stained,
and this unfinished area might show.
So we'd have to go around after the trim's been installed and touch up these areas.
The other practice is to stain and finish all the wood after it's been installed, but
you have to be a lot more careful if you do it this way, because you don't want stain
going on the walls or any other place where it doesn't belong.
That's what we're going to do.
In addition to that, we're also going to be doing all the painting ourselves.
We've done a lot of this before, and it's a good way of cutting down on some of your
overall construction costs.
Still, it's not easy, and it's going to take a while.
So don't attempt to do this yourself unless you're prepared to spend a solid week or more
at the job.
After giving the wood a preliminary sanding to remove splinters and marks, we apply the
stain.
This can be done with a roller or pads over the brush, which is what we're using.
We can lay it on pretty thick.
We want to make sure that each part of the wood gets all the stain it needs.
Then we wipe the stain off with a cloth.
How long you let the stain sit on the wood before you wipe it off determines how much
stain will be absorbed.
Of course, this controls how dark the wood will be.
Once the stain is dried, we apply a sanding sealer.
This prepares the surface for sanding by sealing up the wood and raising the grain.
Sanding sealer isn't as hard as varnish, so it makes sanding easy.
This should be a very thorough sanding.
We use soft sanding pads, which help us get into the contoured surface of our Princeton
trim.
After the sanding, we clean off all the dust.
You can use a tack cloth, a small brush, or a rag, but if you're working with a lot of
trim, it pays to haul out a vacuum cleaner.
Another job at this point is to fill in any nail holes with putty.
The finishing nail should have been set a little below the surface, leaving a small
space for colored putty.
The last step is to give the trim a coat of varnish.
If the sanding has been done well, the varnish will dry to a smooth, hard, finished surface.
Some painting contractors may try to cut corners by applying a second coat of sanding sealer
instead of varnish.
If you contract out your painting, be specific about this in the bids.
The staining part of the job took us about five to six days.
Now we're ready to move on to the paint.
When you buy a home that's built by a builder on spec, without a particular buyer in mind,
chances are all the walls and ceilings will be white.
If your house is custom built or you're being your own general contractor like we are, you
can have the walls painted any color you want.
The colored paint doesn't cost significantly more than white paint, and since somebody's
got to paint the walls, might as well be in color, except the ceilings, they'll be white.
An oil-based primer goes on all the surfaces first, starting with the ceilings.
The airless sprayer makes quick work of this.
An extension to this, called a pole gun, allows me to spray even the high-vaulted ceilings.
Notice that we put plastic over the doors, windows, and brickwork, and we've used tape
and paper masking along the trim.
Taking the time up front to mask everything thoroughly makes the rest of the painting
go much quicker.
As you've seen, the ceilings aren't that difficult to paint when you're using a sprayer.
Now it's time to move on to the walls.
Walls aren't that hard to paint either, but they do require a little more time and a little
more elbow grease.
But once they are painted, the room really starts to take on character.
And now's a good time to paint the walls.
There aren't many obstructions.
The carpet hasn't been laid, and we haven't made our final plumbing and electrical hookups,
so we can do a good, thorough job.
Again, we start with an oil-based primer.
We cut in around the edges using a brush.
Then we roll the primer onto the large areas.
On walls where we'll be putting up wallpaper, the primer will be the last coat.
The wall covering goes on top of this.
In rooms with painted walls, the color goes on once the primer is dry.
Again, we start by cutting in by hand around the trim and along the top of the wall.
We're getting close to the end of the building work on the inside.
So now's the time to have the wood flooring contractor come back in and finish the floors.
And we scheduled this toward the end of the interior work so we can be pretty sure that
the finished floors won't get damaged.
And if you can, you want to keep your action in the house to a minimum while the finishers
are at work.
So try to give them full run of the house for at least three to four days.
The first step in finishing the floor is to sand it down.
This is done in a couple of stages.
The first is done with a drum sander and fairly coarse sandpaper.
The drum sander is a powerful beast.
Professional models run on 220 volts, and the operator is strapped onto it to give them
better control.
The drum sander can take a big bite out of the floor, so he eases it down gently as he
begins each stroke, and he makes many passes.
After the first pass with the drum sander, a little putty gets applied to the cracks,
joints, and holes.
This hardens, and the drum sander comes back for a second time.
To sand close to the edges, the finishers have a special tool called an edger.
As you can see, the sanding disc can get right up to the side of the floor.
After two, or sometimes three passes with the drum sander, they use a buffer.
This can be fitted with a couple of different sanding materials.
For this pass, they use a fine sandpaper.
After buffing, an orbital sander takes out any small marks around the edges.
This prepares the floor for a final pass with a buffer, and every now and then, they bring
out a vacuum to clean up all the sawdust created by the sanding.
The final passes are made with the buffer.
For these, it's equipped with either an abrasive pad or a fine metal screen.
This is the last sanding step before the staining.
We chose to stain the floor, but it's always possible to leave the wood natural and jump
straight to the sealing stage.
The stain we're using is very light.
It'll really just even out the coloring of the different pieces of wood.
After staining, the hard finish is applied to the floor.
Polyurethane varnish is one type of sealer.
Our subcontractor uses a brand-name product called Glitza.
It's harder and stronger than regular varnish.
It also has a hideous smell, so the floor crew can be pretty sure of having the house
to themselves this day.
We're putting down three coats of Glitza, and each requires a full day to dry, so count
on shutting down the rest of the work inside for at least that long.
Now that we're ready for carpet, we want to do our most thorough house cleaning ever.
Joe, you all set up there?
Yep.
I'm all done.
Okay, good.
We also want to try to make sure that everything else in the house is done, and we've managed
pretty well on that.
All that's left to do is the plumbing trim out and some door and drawer hardware.
So hopefully all this will keep the carpet looking as new and clean as possible once
everything's installed.
Here, I'll help you out with this.
The first part of carpet installation is to put down what's called tackless.
This strip of wood has small nails sticking up out of it to secure the edge of the carpet.
Then the installer puts down the carpet pad.
This is a urethane foam, and we're told that it's the best carpet pad available.
You shouldn't skimp on carpet padding.
A good pad makes a carpet feel better and last longer.
Other paddings commonly used are rubber waffle and jute.
Our installers prepared the carpet itself back at their shop.
We cut it roughly to size and made any seams that were necessary.
To lay the carpet, they stretched it out between the pieces of tackless.
We've chosen a highly stain resistant carpet.
This family room will get a lot of use, and it includes a door that leads directly outside.
Since we have a light shade of carpet here, resistance to stain was an important factor
in our carpet choice.
Laying carpet is not an especially difficult or complicated process, but we don't recommend
that you do it yourself.
All carpet is priced with installation included.
A house built on spec will usually have pretty bland carpet colors.
Since we're our own general contractor, we've chosen carpet colors that appeal to us.
And the colors complement our paint job, like a dark blue carpet here in the master bedroom
to match our blue walls.
In the mud room, we've chosen a vinyl tile.
For this product, the installer spreads an adhesive out on the underlayment and lets
it set up for a couple of hours.
Our carpet supplier is also supplying and installing the vinyl tile.
Now comes the trim out stage.
This is when the electrician comes back and hooks up all the receptacles, the switches,
and makes his final connections to the load center.
If the electrician has done the rough end properly, the outlets and switches should
go in pretty easily.
Each outlet will have one ground wire.
This should always be attached to the green ground screw.
When attaching the other leads, the electrician might make use of the quick connect terminals
where he can push the stripped wires into small holes on the back of the outlet.
The wires are carefully folded back into the box, the device is secured, and the cover
plate is screwed on.
The outlets and switches throughout the house are the easiest part of the trim out.
And all these connections need to be made before any individual circuits can be hooked
up to the service panel.
The electrician is the supplier for the lighting fixtures, too.
The recess lights were installed during the rough end, and these fixtures usually just
need trim and bulbs now.
Surface mounted lights, on the other hand, usually need some wiring and hardware at this
point in time.
The various mounting pieces needed varies greatly with the type of fixture, and a good
electrician will be familiar with all the hardware possibilities.
Ceiling fans fall to the electrician to install also.
These present another set of hardware problems.
In our case, it took a lot of scouting before our electrician found the right support rod.
It needs to be long enough to allow the fan blades to spin clear of the vaulted ceiling.
Once the circuits are trimmed down upstairs, the electrician connects the circuits to the
service panel in the basement.
Another subcontractor that has to wait until late in the process to return to the house
is the heating company.
Sometimes they'll wait until now to make the final connections to the furnace and air conditioner
in the basement.
But usually, all it's left to do is install the registers.
The small part of the job has to wait until the walls are all painted and the floors are
done.
Although in our case, since we haven't installed any carpet yet, we may just ask the heating
sub to leave these registers, and we'll install them ourselves later.
The electrician has a job to do on the heating system, too.
It's his responsibility to wire the thermostat as well as the furnace itself, the air conditioning
unit, and any other appliances.
As general contractor, you'll find times when it's just easier to do some of the work yourself.
Well, like these light fixtures, for example, we selected and picked these up ourselves.
Now, normally, it's part of the electrician's bid to install all the light fixtures.
But unfortunately, the timing worked out such that it would have meant an extra trip form
just to install these, too.
Besides, I was anxious to see how they looked.
Not bad.
Next comes the plumbing trim-off.
It would have been nice to have this done before we did the hardwood floors and laid
the carpet.
But unfortunately, we were slowed down by a few cabinets, which slowed down the countertops,
which held up the installation of the plumbing fixtures.
Throughout this whole process, we've tried to show you the ideal order in which to have
the work done.
But in reality, no house, including ours, ever gets constructed in perfect textbook
sequence.
So use a little common sense like we did and throw down some drop cloths to protect the
brand new carpet from the traffic of the plumbing trim-off.
Even though the installation of the plumbing fixtures always happens near the end of the
construction process, remember that the fixtures have to be chosen and ordered early.
Delivery time can be a problem on some special order items, like we've got.
In addition, the placement of the pipes during rough-in and the openings for sinks in the
countertops are all determined by the plumbing fixtures.
The tough part of the plumbing trim-out is working under counters to connect the fixtures
to the roughed-in supply and drain lines sticking out from the walls.
In addition to the plumbing fixtures, this is when the plumbers will finish installing
the hot water heater, if they haven't done it earlier.
Our tile contractor is back one last time to install a little piece of custom work in
our kitchen.
The standard 4x4 white wall tiles have been hand-painted by a local studio with a design
that runs from tile to tile.
Once this tile work is done, the electrician has to come back to trim out the switches
and lights along the counter, as well as to install the kitchen appliances.
One of the very last steps in finishing off a house, and for us it's the last step, is
to install the hardware, and a lot falls into this category, but mostly it's the doorknobs
and the locks and the handles for the cabinets and the drawers.
This job is part of the finished carpentry bid, and like the rest of the finished carpentry,
entails small, precise work.
Choosing your hardware is something you may not remember to think about.
It's usually ordered from a lumber yard.
Often you can get the best overall price by ordering your framing lumber, windows, doors,
finished carpentry, and hardware all from the same yard.
Pulls and locks usually come with the cabinets.
However, we ordered special pulls to match the rest of the hardware in the house.
At this time, we're also having some louvered shutters installed.
These go on the outside kitchen door and the door out the back of the master bedroom.
They come from a specialty shop, which also provides the installation.
Custom decorator items like these shutters create a distinct personality for a house,
and being able to coordinate architecture and decoration is one of the big advantages
in building your own home.
We are all set.
Great.
And here we are.
Normally, this is the time when the builder turns the house over to the new owners, and
then it's time for the closing and then the moving trucks.
Typically this move-in stage means that the walls are all white with no wall cover.
But remember that one of the advantages to being your own general contractor is that
you can specify colors other than white, as we did in the master bedroom.
And there are still lots of little things that need doing.
Hooks in the closets, for instance.
Shelves for storage in the closets and garage.
Some paper towel holders in the kitchen and laundry room.
You're right.
Now, even though we're taking on the roles of both general contractor and owner, there's
some legal significance to the moment when the house is finally ready to be moved into.
We've been drawing periodically from our construction loan to pay building costs, but so far we
haven't paid any of the principal.
But now we can get a mortgage and use that to pay off the construction loan.
As you can see, we've left quite a few things undone on the outside.
Like stairs, for instance.
And eventually we'll have a deck here.
Now, to get the certificate of occupancy so we can move into the house, we have to build
a couple of sets of temporary stairs next to the two doors.
The other thing we could do is simply secure the doors so people can't either exit or
enter.
You know, I think a deck is something we should move on right away.
It probably isn't a bad idea.
Now here we have a similar situation outside of the master bedroom, where we plan on building
another deck.
Wait a minute.
Wait just a minute.
I thought this was going to be the brick terrace.
Well, we talked about that, but that's something we can debate after closing.
Boy, these planners sure turned out well.
We should get some black dirt and get some flowers and shrubs in here right away.
That's going to take one big load of black dirt, I'll tell you that.
That's true, but speaking of one big load of black dirt, we're looking at it.
What are we going to do about this yard?
We haven't figured that one out yet.
Normally your general contractor will give you a sodding allowance, then you can go ahead
and sod the yard.
We're not exactly sure if we're going to run an underground sprinkler and seed the
area or if we should just go ahead and sod it.
But we've got to think about the landscaping to go along with it.
And what about the house?
Should we go ahead and stain the exterior right away?
Well, I think we should definitely wait about six months so the siding accepts the stain
a little bit better and when we can afford the stain.
Afford is a good point.
In fact, we should go back to the studio and take a look to see where we're at on the final
cost of the home.
Let me guess.
$186,000?
Let's see.
$184,639.
Give or take a few cents.
Well, that's not bad, but not quite as low as we'd actually hoped for.
Remember, this doesn't include the lot.
Let's see how it all breaks down.
Our preliminary cost for plans, permits and such were about $3,000, just a small part
of the overall cost.
The shell of the structure took up well over a third of our money.
The mechanical systems cost about $30,000.
The interior finishing took up about a quarter of our budget.
And the exterior finish materials cost just under $40,000.
Our feeling is we could have bought a house for about the same price, but we wouldn't
have gotten all the expensive finishing items that we installed.
Like the cedar roof shakes, the granite countertops, the quality cabinets and plumbing fixtures.
All the ceramic tile.
Right?
We feel we plowed our savings from being general contractor back into the house itself.
And the result is a house that we can be doubly proud of.
As we've said, this is pretty much what a house looks like in move-in condition.
However, there are a couple of more things we can do once we do move in.
And after a couple of years, the house might look something like this.
This looks great.
How did we go about doing this?
Well, it was simple.
You see, I found this great set of do-it-yourself tapes at the hardware store.
Tapes like landscaping, patios and lockers.
I know the series you're talking about, yeah.
As we said from the start, contracting your own home isn't a job for everyone.
Maybe, after watching what we've been through, you might feel more comfortable hiring your
own professional general contractor.
If so, we hope what we've shown you on these tapes will help you deal better with the contractor.
If you plan on contracting your own home, you might want to take a look at some of the
other home time tapes.
These go into great detail on just about every aspect of home construction.
And please remember that the practices and techniques we've shown you on our house may
not be entirely appropriate for different houses in different parts of the country.
If you want to successfully contract a home, you're going to have to do a lot more than
launch a couple of tapes.
Check the bibliography and the project guide and visit other construction sites in your
area and consult the professionals, your architect, your lawyer and the building officials.
And remember that any general contractor that's become successful has done that through hard
work and experience.
So be prepared for changes, delays and cost overruns.
But also be prepared for one of the most satisfying jobs in your life.
I'm Joanne Liebler.
And I'm Dean Johnson.
So long.
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