Bought My First House

so this is essentially a three story home. how many square feet does this home have? if you do not mind saying. i know i am nosey. but i think i am intersted, also.
 
OI812 said:
On the photo with the whole house there is a white pipe sticking out at the right side of the house about 9' up in the air. I am assuming this is the drain line off the air conditioner that is probably on the second floor.
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If i had to guess, i think he probably has a wahser and dryer up stairs, and the white pipe is the drain to the overflow pan for the washer.
 
I find the pic of the roof interesting, because i have never seen someone put on a roof before without either the front edge of the sofit on and drip edge.

I assume it is going to be vinyl siding, with bent aluminum trim?

How are they going to tuck the edge of the aluminum under a drip edge that isnt there?

This is just an open question, i assume it is being done in a way that works, i just havnt seen it done like this before.
 
Nick,

How large were the gaps between the OSB/foam board? The gap should be about the width/height of a nail, or roughly 1/8".

BTW, Atlanta area codes call for 24" oc framing?
 
Nickc0844 said:
I decided that I would have a 3rd party Inspector come in before closing just to be on the safe side since I don't know everything I should be looking for.

TW85--
Yeah, I went for the smooth ceilings (damn $1500). I just couldn't stand the look of the pattern they had in the rest of the models. I think I might actually pick up around the house of coke bottles and stuff when I'm there. I'd hate for something gross to get sheetrocked into the house for me to find later.

I'm going to assume (for now) that the dryer vent will be on the roof since the laundry room is on the top level and won't be on an exterior wall. I've written down to spot towel fixtures prior to sheetrocking.

Once again, I appreciate all your input!

Jared--
Absolutely, lets make it an Southeast detail weekend then. You won't be very far away at all and are more than welcome to stay over.

Chris--
Yup, it looks that way :) As great of an opportunity Adam's Polishes gave me, Leanna means more to me in the end. I'll still be floating out there a time or two a year it looks like.

Groebuck--
Absolutely brotha, I'm not punching holes to install my speakers again. I will start shopping for the electronics next month.

As for the ring, The Shane Co. did an excellent job of mounting the diamond....but I'll have a polishing cloth in my pocket prior to popping the question :) Here are some pics of it I took that I sent to the family.
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HOLY ICE!! That ring is nice.. That is alot of Adams DS

Greg
 
JeffM said:
If i had to guess, i think he probably has a wahser and dryer up stairs, and the white pipe is the drain to the overflow pan for the washer.
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You might be correct on that one. It's hard to say, where I live we have basement. All the mechanicals end up down there. My brother lives out west, and there are no basements. Mechanicals end up on the 2nd floor. When the A/C is on the second floor you can end up with a pipe like that extending to the outside.


Looks like it is coming nice Nick!!!!
 
Kirk--
The house is 2,350 square feet. It is the largest model in the subdivision of 150 homes. We have all intentions of finishing the basement which should bring it to about 4,000 in the end, although, I might section of small part off for either a workshop or lawn care storage. It's all up in the air right now, and a bit down the road. The lot itself sits on a little more than 3/4's of an acre, and the best part about it is that view I have from my loft and deck will stay that way, as it is protected county land. You can hear the creek easily, which gives me some peace in mind.

By the way, thanks for your Adam's order today. You'll love those towels!

JeffM--
Your right about the washer and dryer upstairs as well as the vinyl siding. I don't know if the aluminum edge will go in before the siding or what. I'm a bit unknowledgable on that. It would be great if you could phrase a question (as if you were me) so that I can email that to the builder. Feel free to email me at Nickc0844@aol.com I really appreciate your help!

TW85--
The gaps weren't that large; I guess I went a little crazy in the beginning with the spray foam. That stuff is so cool to play with! I just figured it would be worth the time and effort to make sure the house is better insulated in the end.

Greg--
I'd hate to even picture how much detail spray that is...actually it's a bit over 800 16oz bottles without your DC discount. I figure she is worth every last drop of it (I'll have to let her read that last statement) :lmfao

Don--
Thank you my friend for all your help and emails. I have the A/C in a loft above the 3rd floor. It's certainly moving along quickly, so I am excited about that.
 
Your right about the washer and dryer upstairs as well as the vinyl siding. I don't know if the aluminum edge will go in before the siding or what. I'm a bit unknowledgable on that. It would be great if you could phrase a question (as if you were me) so that I can email that to the builder. Feel free to email me at Nickc0844@aol.com I really appreciate your help!
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I would start out by stopping by some houses under construction that are already sided. Take a look at how the rake board and the sofit is finished off. Most likely it will have a bent metal-aluminum-covering the wood.

Take a look at the edge where the shingle and the metal meet. How is that finished off? Typically, from my experience, the metal is tucked up under the drip edge, which has to go under the shingles, this is so no water leaks on the inside of the metal touching the wood, and also make a nice clean look.

Everyone does it different. Perhaps you wont get the bent aluminum. Maybe they will nail on a paintable wood for the trim-i doubt it though.

If you can find an empty house take a pic of the finished area, i will see how they did it.

Also, if there is any carpenter people here, chime in, i am a mason :angel

...but i have been around and in construction my whole adult life, and part of my not so adult life :nono
 
Judging by the excessive overhang of the shingles, the soffits/facia will be out of wood. I really hope that is the case as having 3"+ overhang is just asking for broken shingles, be it from a ladder or a tree branch.
 
I can't believe how fast the house is moving. It just amazes me. I totally think our initial closing date of May 27th will be moving on up quickly. Anyway, here are some pics of the house really starting to take shape. I'll be there tomorrow as well to take some more.

Yes TW85, soffits are out of wood. Siding being installed tomorrow.

The driveway was poured the day after these shots. I saw them at about 5pm Tuesday night laying the footing for it, so Leanna and I went to HD and picked up some 3/4" PVC to lay under. One will run the future sprinkler system and thus save $500+ from trenching under the driveway. The other will be for the hardwiring of the outside lighting.

I was able to catch a pic of my daily driver with new tires from the neighbors master bedroom at a cool angle :)

Groebuck, just for you buddy, here is the central outlet for the surround sound where the receiver will go.
 
Here are some updated pictures. There are also some pictures of my new neighbors as well :lmfao Actually, they moved in just a few weeks ago and are about the same age as Leanna and I, so that will be cool.

You guys were right, this thing is certainly moving quickly!!
 
Looks nice. Is the counter in the picture corian (or similar) or formica? Hard to tell.

BTW, why was a moisture barrier not put up over the sheathing?
 
The counters are fomica...for now. I have a good family friend who is in the counter top business, but Venture wanted an absolute ton for their premium tops, so this one will do for now.

The Moisture Barrier is a sore subject....not only did they not do one, they wouldn't even sell it to me, nor would allow me to get one put up by another contractor. Their claim was that the siding is u-hooked and that I shouldn't have a problem. If our weather was severe here, I could see it being "essential", but oh well, there's bigger fish to fry.
 
Will they put in writing that if not having it causes any problems, they are liable? Then again, they probably will not even be around once a problem shows its evil head.

Have you had any other sore subjects?
 
Congrats on the new house and the upcoming engagement.

As for the house I second the advice that you visit frequently to keep track of the build. Remember nothing is free. Look for wasted space and think storage.

The garage is usually set up with to small light fixtures. Go to homedepot or lowes and buy some eight foot shop lights. Speaking of lighting. Contractors usually go for the cheapest fixtures out there. You may find some good stuff on your own. You want the driveway to drain away from the house. Flat will pool in the middle after settling.

Before they start the landscaping buy some sprinkler system goodies and run the lines and you will save a ton of headaches trying to water the lawn. Very easy to hook up before they lay the grass or hydroseed. Make sure your windows and doors are not crap for big bucks. You may find a nicer door for less.
 
Funny you say that mix; take a look at the photo of where the laborers are installing the footing for the driveway. I came back at about 6:30pm that night and ran two 3/4" PVC's underneath. One is for sprinklers, the other is to run wiring for lighting. I was very glad I did that, as the next day I came, the driveway was being finished. :D

There is a very slight slope away from the house that runs towards the street. This is a vast improvement from the steep driveway that I have now, where the guard on the Vette gets scraped everytime it is driven. :doh

The backyard hill is pretty steep, but I was very impressed with how far out they were able to level the lot during final grading. They easily added 5-7 feet to lay more sod...I was happy. As opposed to laying a weed barrier and then pinestraw (like the neighbors have) and having it all run down and having to replace it annually, we opted for the builder's suggestion. He wants to try a new hybrid Fescue/rye roll. The day after, they were rolling, like carpet, a seed and straw mix that was tacked down at the top. He said it'll probably get to 10" max, so we'll see how it goes. We also threw down some wildflower seed as well to brighten it up.
 
Some good news, we finally got a freebie!! We purchased the level 2 upgrade on our deck (16x12) because the level 3 (20x12) was $800 more. I thought it was a jip and know the industry well enough to vouch for that. I have business partners who do deck additions that said they were crazy. Well, I measured it out the other day, and ended up getting a 21x12....I'm not complaining ;)

As per Norah's request, here are some updated pics.

1) Leanna catching a couple nail pops (her with a hammer...now that's dangerous!)

2) Finished off fireplace and mantle. I'm not the biggest fan of gas fireplaces, but we had no choice. There are some good advantages with them, and the cool part I haven't seen before is that the gas is turned on my a seperate light switch

3) Cabinets and countertops installed (island waiting to get power routed to it (sitting in living room now))

4) Wrought Iron Staircase installed (handrails not stained yet)

5) Checkin' out the new gutters. No trees around, so contimplating guards on them or not. I'll evaluate that in a few months.

6) Figured since I was on the roof, might as well take a picture of it after some Butter Wax was put on earlier in the day

7) Arches being installed

8) Columns being finished

9) We've got steps
 
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