Lynnette's Forum Posts: 44Journal Entries: 23Interview Answers: 62Average Forum Rating: 3.72 Send Private MessageMy Construction Website Image from Lynnette's blog
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Posted to DreamHome by Lynnette in Orlando, FL
on 10/3/2008 7:29:58 AM
As the summer was ending, my husband's work began to pick-up. He had a pending project that was due to start in June, and once it began, the house had to wait. Wait it has! That is not to say absolutely nothing has happened, but not much. By that time the floors were tiled and the upstairs and back staircase had the wood flooring installed as well. We were able to finally design and order the railings for the staircases and balcony. We also finalized all the cabinet selections and designs and got them ordered. They would be 6-8 weeks for delivery, and half of them took about 12 to 13 weeks. No worries, we couldnt be there to install them anyway. As of today the cabinets are being installed as I type! They look wonderful, and I could not be happier to see that something is happening. We did get most of our interior doors delivered, and all but one were installed downstairs. The upstairs doors have not been installed since they had not been delivered when the initial installation began. We did trim around the installed doors (some of them) and they look great! In the master bedroom the base molding was started and it makes such a huge difference in the look. It truly is one of the last things that is needed besides the granite window sills and they will get done when the counter tops get installed. I am all too aware of the little things that need to be done, however, they will have to wait until my husband is able to be there on site to make sure they are done correctly. The railings cant get installed until the wood floors are sanded and finished and they cant get done until the front staircase gets the wood on the treads. It is a vicious cycle right now but when these things are finally worked on, they will go very fast. All our lighting and outlets and switchplates are installed, and the interior is done from the walls up to the ceiling. The only things left to do besides finishing the cabinet install is the base molding and septic. All the A/C is completely done and the electrical is as well. Once the propane tank is buried and hooked-up to the house, the house can be "functional". I have all my kitchen appliances just waiting to get put in their place, and as soon as the cabinets are complete they will be. My cabinet installer says that he should be done by the end of next week. We have a lot of molding and trim and decorative pieces that will take more time than the actual cabinet installation. The guy that is installing my cabinets works for my husband and he installs cabinets alone. He is not a very big guy, and I was leery of how it is possible for one small guy to install all these large and very heavy cabinets. To my shock, he is doing it and quite well too. What my cabinet designer told me would take a week, he said will only take 2 -3 days. And she was counting on a couple of installers working together, he is doing this alone! I do have some pictures of the cabiets so far, and I will post them here. Technically there are many things that could have been done without my husband being there. He however, wants to be there for not only the quality of work, but the details and changes that could be made during this time. We keep tweaking things here and there as we go along, and it has worked for us thus far. We truly are not in any hurry, and though it would be nice to just get the house done, we keep our eye on the big picture. I truly dont want to move into this house and have lots of little projects that are still left to do. Primary reason being that they would probably never get done. My husband is not big on being a honey-do lister. He would rather find work where he actually gets paid. So anything left to do after move-in will likely not get done. Since we did not finance the build, we are paying as we go and right now, very little can go out until after the first of the year. Then, we will likely get everything done at once. I will try to stay current on the blog, but I have found it very difficult to do with my other responsiblities. Keep checking though.
Lynnette
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| Tile in Master Bedroom |
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| Foyer Chandelier |
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| Kitchen lighting |
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| Pavers in the courtyard |
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| Installing crown molding in front foyer |
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| Brazilian cherry on back staircase |
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| Built-ins for family room |
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| Laundry room |
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| Laundry room |
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| Master bath, missing the vanity cabinets to the right |
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| His sink on the right, hers on the left |
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Posted to DreamHome by Lynnette in Orlando, FL
on 4/10/2008 5:26:50 PM
As the saying goes: "God is in the details." I don't think they meant things like construction details, but it really does suit the subject. After all the drywall was textured, we quickly got in there and primed everything that stood still. We waited for the primer to dry and then began the paint selection process. I already had a pre-selected palette of colors I wanted to use in the house, but determining exactly where they would work best was a bit of a challenge. I spent an entire day with two girlfriends and 12 cans of test paint and proceeded to paint walls in a multitude of colors. It was time consuming and tedious, but it was definitely worth doing. I am happy to say that in one day all the colors of the house interior were selected and ordered including ceiling and trim paint. Originally, I thought selecting tile was difficult, but it turns out paint was tougher.
The house was painted inside and we began installing the crown molding. The double-step crown in the downstairs hallways looks great. My husband really spent a lot of time paying attention to the details in the ceilings and it definitely payed off, since no one that enters the house ever looks anywhere but up. :) There really is a lot going on up there and I can't imagine building this house without taking the extra time and money to do such a nice job on the ceilings. There are still many things that need to be done, such as touch-up the paint here and there, but we are moving through room by room and making sure we go over every square inch and miss nothing.
The tile has been installed in the master bathroom and downstairs guest room shower. Upstairs, the theater room/man cave bathroom shower tile has been started as well. The exterior window and door trim installation has been completed, and the stucco guy has filled everything in very nicely to give it a very seamless look. We now need to be concerned with the paint outside which needs to be completed and touched up in some areas. The stonework on the exterior of the house has also been done. I have to admit I really love the way everything is turning out. It never ceases to amaze me that the house looks exactly like I had pictured it in my mind inside and out. We are really enjoying watching it all come together.
There are still some things left to do, like install the floor tile and interior doors. We have the granite window sills still left to install as well. When those are put in, we will be trimming below them with molding. The staircases have to be completed with the wrought iron that I have not yet selected. A/C, Septic, Gas, & Electrical need to be completed as well. The driveway needs to be set up and poured and the cabinets need to be ordered and installed. Lots and lots of details left to go, but we are handling it with patience. I look forward to posting lots of pictures as things start to come together. I have many pictures to share already of the tile and ceilings. The exterior pictures will also look slightly different since it is complete except for the paint touch-up. I can't wait till we pour the driveway, because cleaning the dirt that gets tracked inside is starting to get old fast. The budget has not taken too much of a hit so far, and because of the slowdown in construction we have actually been able to benefit quite a bit. The photos will follow:
Photos
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| Ceiling in the family room. |
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| Double-Step crown in hallway leading to mudroom area with plaster detail over arch. |
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| Family room and breakfast nook. |
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| View of kitchen and breakfast nook from family room. |
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| View from kitchen doorway through dining room to front foyer. |
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| An upstairs bedroom. |
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| Dining room ceiling with chandelier. |
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| Tile in bath of theater room/man cave. |
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| Master shower. |
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| Master shower, other end. |
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| Master tub. |
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| From another angle. |
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| Full view. |
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| Guest bathroom shower. |
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| Bottom half of guest shower. |
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| Other end. |
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| Garage, lighting has been installed. |
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| Road-facing part of the garage with stonework. |
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| Front of house. |
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| Rear of house. |
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| Rear of house. |
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Posted to DreamHome by Lynnette in Orlando, FL
on 1/31/2008 2:31:56 PM
The drywall is in and we are almost done with mudding. It is truly amazing at how quickly a crew of about 8 men can hang drywall. Our entire house was done in a matter of three days. Add to that one and a half days to completely mud the first layer, and in less than a week, our entire house actually seems to have taken shape and seems like the home it should soon become. No small feat, considering alltogether it is somewhere in the neighborhood of about 7,400 sq. ft. That includes drywall in the garage. It is very impressive to walk around and calculate the rate at which they had to move to accomplish such a feat. My husband calculates that they are hanging around 300 sheets a day. If you take into account how high the ceilings are that is a big deal. We also have lots of architectural details in the ceilings which I am sure added tons of extra time and work for them. The hallways downstairs are all coffered, as well as the office, master bedroom, dining room, breakfast nook, and family room.
The exterior work has continued with the window sills and trim around the windows and doors. The arched windows are still untouched since the radius has to be made special. Hopefully, our foam guy will get off his duff and get this done soon. He also needs to install some stone on the outside. Since the only work done recently has been drywall, that is all there is to update. However, I have tons of photos. Seriously, there are a lot of photos... sorry!
Photos
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| One of the hallways downstairs. Note the ceiling details. This view is from mudroom looking towards family room. |
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| Front entry. |
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| Front entry with view of dining room to the right. |
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| Dining room ceiling. |
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| Master bedroom. |
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| Family room. |
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| Hallway leading to room above the garage. |
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| Bonus room. |
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| One of the girl's bedrooms. |
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| Garage. |
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| Garage from the opposite end. |
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| Kitchen. |
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| The other side of the kitchen. |
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| Ceiling in the family room. |
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| View from the dining room. |
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| Office. |
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| Master bathroom, tub and shower area. |
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| Master bathroom, where the cabinets will go. |
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| Master bathroom, area in front of the tub and doorway into the bathroom. |
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| Laundry room. |
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| Back stairwell. |
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| Room above the garage. |
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| Other daughter's bedroom which faces the front of the house. |
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| Living room which is behind the curved staircase. |
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| Current elevation of the house (still needs stone and window trim). |
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Posted to DreamHome by Lynnette in Orlando, FL
on 1/5/2008 4:35:15 PM
From the last post, I definitely underestimated how long the foaming would take. Let's just say that post was on the 11th of Dec. and today, on the 5th of January, we should be completing it. So much for one week of spraying. My husband hates the foaming with a passion, mostly because he hates the spray suit and ventilator he has to wear. He feels way too restricted in those items and I think slightly claustrophobic. He will be overjoyed to be completed with this particular aspect of the house building. He keeps saying when this foaming is done he never wants to see that machine again! This coming from a man who does not shy away from hard work, so it must be a miserable job. I know it took us two full days to cover the house with plastic so as not to have too much of a mess left over. Thank goodness we did not skimp on the use of plastic. That stuff gets on literally everything. After the foam is complete, we will have to trim the foam flush with the studs anywhere they will be hanging drywall.
The architectural foam guys came and started installing some of their stuff. They only got as far as the front portico and installed the decorative brackets. They look really good. There is a lot more architectural foam that will be going up as well as stone on the front of the house. They will be handling all those items. From the sketches, it is going to look fantastic and I am so excited to see it completed.
Our stucco is finally, absolutely, and definitely done! After we had painted the whole house, there were some "touch-up" areas that needed to be re-stuccoed, and so those will have to be re-painted. But, we are just glad that the stucco is finally complete because that also created quite a mess. Since we used the commercial-grade synthetic stucco you don't have to wait for days of dry time and curing. We will be painting the areas that need to be re-done this week. There is still so much left to be done. I certainly hope we can keep focused.
We are going to take a good long hard look around in the interior before the drywall goes up and make sure that any and all wiring that we could possibly ever need or want is taken care of now. It is much easier to do those things before the walls get closed in. This is something that I have already done about three times. One more wont hurt. Also, the areas in the bathrooms where we will need to hang any towel bars or hooks will be looked over so they can have extra reinforcement installed before the drywall goes in as well. All interior decorative architecture will also be evaluated such as niches and such. We don't want to have any regrets in these areas and make sure we have those things where we want them now. I have only a few pictures to post, since there is not enough visible change right now from the last post. The front porch with decorative brackets installed as well as more interior insulation...
Photos
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| Front porch with decorative brackets. |
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| View from another angle. |
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| Grand entry with foamed walls. |
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| More foamed walls. |
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| Our daughter standing in the attic space looking at the foam. |
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Posted to DreamHome by Lynnette in Orlando, FL
on 12/11/2007 4:14:20 PM
Just a short update. We have started to foam the house. This is a job we are doing ourselves and it is going to take about a week to complete. We started out with 2lb. foam, but that only covers about 4,500 board -eet at one inch per drum set. The 1/2 lb. foam covers 14,000 board-feet at one inch. We have two sets of 55-gal. drums of the 2 lb. We will be spraying the inside of the exterior walls upstairs with that, and when we run out we will finish up the rest of the job with 1/2 lb. foam.We are doing it at four inches thick, so at that rate of coverage it would take us about 9 drum sets more, minimum, to do just the rafters in the 2 lb. foam. I won't even get into what that cost is. So, since foam at 1/2 lb is still very good, we will just use that and also under the floors upstairs for sound.
The insulation is put on hold until next week, since our outside lift will have to go back on the 21st and there is exterior painting to do. My husband has a job to do for a client the rest of this week starting tomorrow, so nothing will be done. Then, starting on Monday, they HAVE to get as much paint done as possible to finish before the lift goes back. The photos are just from two days worth of painting, and they will have it done well before the 21st. We got the drawings back from our architectural foam guy on the details around all the exterior windows and doors as well as the columns. They are going to look great. We will also be adding some stonework to the bottom part of the columns and the bump-outs in the front of the house. The drawings look great and I can't wait to see the final product. That job will be started in about two weeks.
Today I also finalized and purchased all the tile for the showers and baths. What a daunting task that was. I however am very happy with all the selections and hope that everyone who comes over will love them as much as I do. The faucets for the master bathroom tub and sinks were also ordered this week as well as the sinks and faucets for the kitchen. I have had as much as I can handle of money spending this week, and do not want to think about buying anything else. Unfortunately, it is the Christmas season and it is inevitable. So I will just put the brakes right now on the house spending and concentrate on family for now. I have some pictures of the paint, as it was around lunchtime this afternoon and the insulation from Saturday.
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