We are looking for appliances for our new home. We are prepared to order online, but could be persuaded to order locally if the prices are competitive. Below is the package we have decided on. If you’re interested in bidding, please comment below or use the contact form. Kitchen Appliances Refrigerator/Freezer Frigidaire Professional FPRH17D7KF Frigidaire [...]
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While getting countertop and tub surrounds bids, we learned a lot about various surface options and how they compare in today’s market. (Things have really changed since we last built in 2003.) Unfortunately there are no perfect home surfaces. All have pros and cons. While I love the look of tile, I really hate grout. [...]
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If you’re thinking the house building has come to a stand still, think again. The reason I’m not posting about it — or about much of anything — is because I’m too busy with the details. Painting, cabinets, trim, hardware, flooring, decking, landscaping, fixtures. Not to mention stupid budget overruns that never should have happened. It [...]
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After grinding through subcontractor after subcontractor — and wishing we had personally done the footwork on some subs selected by our general contractor — choosing a painter for our home was a breeze. Maybe it’s just the nature of painters (are they always just easy going and generally positive?), but it wasn’t painful at all. [...]
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Choosing cabinets was, I think, the most difficult single decision on the entire house. It was grueling. Not just for me, but probably for the cabinet makers as well. With budget overruns in engineering, footings, lumber, electrical, and plumbing (oh, yes, you’ll hear about all that later), cabinets (unfortunately!) was one of the few places [...]
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Raised panel doors are just so every-single-house-on-the-block. We really wanted some clean flat panel interior doors instead to compliment the simple lines of a modern craftsman style home. But such doors aren’t easy to find. Because Stock Building Supply’s lumber invoice was $14,000 over the bid price (!), they promised to give us a killer [...]
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The crew is building the custom closet organizers for the entire house. Having these done with finish work (instead of the cabinet-style closet systems) saves a bundle and still works just to your specifications. These easy closets make organizing a breeze. Half of the closets in each kids’ bedrooms and the guest bedroom will feature [...]
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We are looking for bids for qualified painters. Since the mud is almost completely applied to the rock and finish work has begun, time is of the essence. If you’re interested in bidding, please either leave a comment below or use the contact form. Specifications are as follows: 6,000 square feet Please bid both 2-tone [...]
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There is just something about sheetrock. When lumber turns into walls and the spaces are all defined, it turns a construction site into a home. A sheetrock crew arrived Wednesday and it looks like they’re going to finish the entire job today. Sounds of drills and hammers and a bustle of people, that’s happiness in [...]
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Our new, craftsman-style front doors were installed this morning. Both doors are on the porch; one is the main door, the other the office door. They were custom made to our specifications by Meadow Wood Custom Doors and are absolutely gorgeous! Both doors features a dark stain with light distressing. The main door also has [...]
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We are ready to select interior doors. The sizes are listed below, by floor. If you are interested in bidding, please either comment below or use the contact form. We’d like: White Hollow core Pre-hung Prefer very plain, flat panel craftsman look. The picture is of a Jen-Weld Craftsman III door. While flexible on style, [...]
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Our Jeld-Wen windows are now completely installed. We purchased them through Stock Building Supply. We chose white frames to match the white trim we’ll be using. We also went with a very plain window, no muntins or mullions. We even got rid of the transoms, except the one over the front door. Less lines, less [...]
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We have spent the past week looking for the exterior doors for our custom home. The variety and selection of doors is enormous and it can be difficult to compare from one product to the next. Make sure you know precisely what each manufacturer is bidding on, since there are many variables. We spoke to [...]
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Nice surprise today! Consumer Reports rated the 1 horse power Waste King Legend 8000 as the best garbage disposer on the market. With excellent ratings in speed, fineness of grind, and handling of vegetable scraps — and a good rating on noise — it outranked the other units tested. And it has a lifetime warranty, [...]
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We have decided on our exterior doors and are looking for bids on them. If you offer a similar door and would like to bid on it, please use the contact form or comment below. I’m not particularly conversant on door construction, but hopefully this information is helpful. I have not found an image that [...]
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After trying most flooring surfaces known to man, including carpet, laminate, ceramic tile, natural stone tile, and hardwood, we decided our new custom home would have polished concrete on the main floor and stained concrete in the basement. After extensive discussion and comparing, we chose Stewart Specialty Services to lay and polish the main floor [...]
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It’s been over three months since the tubing for the basement radiant floor hydronic heating was installed. Today sheeting was put down and the tubing for the main floor radiant was put in place. Later Sam took the boys to see the progress and spend some grand time taking advantage of the enormous dirt hills. [...]
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The builders — waiting for it to stop SNOWING IN APRIL — installed a makeshift staircase from the basement to the main floor yesterday. Alana says they look like “the depths of hell.” Truth be told, it was a little scary for Samson to climb them. But better than a ladder, if you ask me. [...]
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In order to meet code, we had to screw straps through the base floor and into the floor trusses with the end attached to the cement wall panels. This was completed today.
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In our last home all our sinks (with the exception of the laundry room) were either integrated or undermount. In the new house, there won’t be any exceptions. Undermount sinks don’t have nasty lips that trap gunk and debris. When you have food and liquid on the counter, wiping them directly into the sink is [...]
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