Painting Continued / Retention Wall

DAY 97

The painter was in all weekend to finish things up.  We had a few things that needed changed, but he was able to do it without much hassle.

My dad and I are building a small retaining wall on the left side of the house.  Our land slopes down some and we need to build it up at the front of the house, so we will need a small wall on the left side because we have a basement door that needs access.

 

 

We've been told the black block will be painted light grey "at some point"

 

 So, we wanted a teal color for our master bathroom and thought we had a good color picked out, but it turned out SO blue once on a wall.  It was too much.

  

We were able to go get a lighter color and the painter worked his magic the same day to lighten it up.

 A look into our family room/main room.  Red accent wall with light grey other walls.  65" TV will look very nice here.

Looking into the kitchen.  We still have some cabinets to put up.  And yes, that is a chalkboard wall on the right.  SCORE.

This is our powder room, aka the "murder room".  We wanted a white room with black ceiling.  We will eventually throw red paint on the walls with some horror movie art.  Unfortunately, the painter painted the WALLS black and had to redo them.  White over black was tough, but he did a good job.

Black and white master bedroom.

Painting Started

Since Wayne Homes only provides very basic paint colors for the walls and trim, we worked out a deal with the painter to paint the rooms different colors.  Yes, it cost us more money, but man did it save us a TON of pain and time.  We would not have done anything even close to what our painter did, so we were happy with the results.  The company is New Vision Painting and they were/are great to work with.

DAY 95

Pittsburgh got completely dumped on with rain and there was some moisture in our basement on an uphill side.  It was only wet around the bottom and just barely beading up.  Nothing crazy, but still moisture/water nonetheless.

 

One MAJOR complaint about the drywall guys and painter.  Yes, I should have covered my wires up, but a little courtesy please!?!  I should be able to fully clean these off, but there is paint inside USB and component cables.  Not the easiest things to clean.

Accent wall in the family room

Doors set up in our master bedroom.

Banisters covered thankfully.

 

Two GIANT trees fell in our backyard.  Crap.  More clearing/cutting for us.

Trim Installed

The last week has been about the trim being installed and starting on the paint.

Becky and I also picked out our appliances, bought a mattress and handles for the cabinets.  BYE BYE MONEY.  It kills me to pay so much for things, but I know we won't be spending so much money in the future for things, so it's fine.  These pictures were as of yesterday.  Almost done!

DAY 93

Woodland friends.

Almost all doors had door springs or stoppers up high.

Screens!!! No more bugs!!

The temporary stairs were removed and these were put in.  Finally!

I can't wait to see these painted and the glass exposed.  The door on the right doesn't close perfectly well, so we'll have to make note of that.

The basement now has a better banister and hand railing.  I can't wait to get this place cleaned up as it's very dirty and spider webs are starting to form.  NO THANKS.

The biggest eye-sore in the universe.  They have to put it on because of the dropoff outside of the sliding glass door.  My dad and I will build up the land outside there, but even if we don't immediately, I am taking this freaking thing down as soon as I get my keys.

Half wall above the sink capped off.  This could probably be a little lower, but I still like it.

Garage step put in.  Works for me.

Front door lock.  Some rooms had lockable doors, but I expected a few more/

Trim Delivered / Problems and Concerns

The trim was delivered, which had me really excited because I feel like putting in the doors and everything else is a huge step towards making it feel like a real home.

A few things.  I had a concern with the ceiling, which seems can not be fixed.  Since the first coat of paint has been put on and everything has dried, the ceiling doesn't look bad.  I was looking up knockdown textured ceilings and it seems like what we have is that.  I still think there was a BIG miscommunication error and we were not told or shown what we were getting.  Jace told us none of their model homes have smooth ceilings, but I just simply don't remember noticing what the ceilings were like.  I just assumed a smooth ceiling could be achieved.  Either way, most people that come over actually compliment the ceiling before I say anything, so maybe it's not all that bad.

DAY 85

The underlay for the vinyl floors.  We decided to buy laminate flooring instead on our own.  We are still going to get the vinyl and carpet for the first floor, but we won't pay for the labor.  Go Jace on that one!!

So, Becky and I went up late to look at the trim and I was super mad because the french doors had wood paneling instead of glass.  Well, I'm a dummy because it was glass with a film on top for protective.  Crisis averted.

The painter put on the first coat of paint and the ceiling looks a little better, but this tape mark in the sun room is VERY noticeable.  I've spoken to Jace about it and he agrees it is not satisfactory.  If it doesn't get better, he will have the drywall guys redo it.

This weird part above the basement entrance is only there because we have 9ft ceilings.  The still probably could have boxed it off or something, but the real concern was that the angled part was textured like the ceiling.  It looked idiotic, so we had the painter smooth it over and just keep it the same color as the walls.

Uh oh time.  While digging out the downspout drains, my dad hit into the gutter on the front of the house.  It's pretty bad and he felt awful.  We'll get it fixed.

Cabinets / Drains

The last two weeks have been comprised of some small projects around the house while the painters and trim guys did their things.  We are a little behind schedule because the father of the trim guy died, so we are behind a few days.  No major problem whatsoever. 

On Saturday the 15th, my dad, Becky's dad and my Uncle Dwight put in most of our cabinets.  We had to get the base cabinets in because the counter top company was coming in the following Wednesday to measure.  It was an all-day affair, but went fairly smoothly.  We screwed up the cabinet size to the left of the corner wall cabinet and bought one that was too big.  It's not a huge deal and we'll just have to get the proper size.  The base cabinets all look great and we didn't have many problems.  Our only issues were that we had to measure for a dishwasher we don't currently have and ensure the door wouldn't hit the cabinet handles (which we also don't have yet).  I think everything went well and we should be alright.  I am very happy with the black cabinets and think it will look very sleek.

DAY 82

Get the corner squared and the rest falls into place.

Covered up for now.  We still have the wall cabinet to the left of the corner and then the ones on top of and in between the appliances.

Another side project is connecting all of the downspouts and running them to the road.  This is another thing that I would NEVER know to do if not for my dad.  It took a while, but it's done.

DAY 84

Connecting them all together and cutting a line to the road.  Major league roots to cut through.