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Tell him your only option is moving in with him. He will gladly pay for your accommodations.
So sorry to hear of your decision dilemmas. Never too late to get a designer!
Not much sweat on finishing choices here. An hour or two at the tile supplier will suffice.
"Boring" structural screw-ups have been my bane.
My new framing contractor is correcting another set of mistakes my new engineer discovered. More than 1,100 bf of TJIs (structural joists) are speced to block the 5,800 sq. ft of flooring.
He concluded that the original carpentry crew paid scant attention to the framing plan, treating all the TJIs as if they were the same. And the first engineer (a referral from the architect) who designed and inspected the finished product never noticed it. Based on that inspection, I paid them in full.
Eh, what's another C$30K?
This is our forever home, hence the teal inside and out. It's a color that makes us happy, why not? And when we tire of it we can change it. That's why I've made my closet and pantry so big too. Our current house has near zero storage, I don't ever wanna have that issue in this house. We also wanted 1 story, (1) we both hate stairs and (2) we can get old in it.
@izzieo, i'm laughing inside at "resale"... This house was designed with our particular needs in mind and no concern for resale. But since I'm going with almost entirely natural materials to fit the site, because I like them and that's what I want, I hope that it will be appealing to future homeowners, too. (I'm using some colorful paint in various rooms, but paint is easy to change.) I figure if they like the landscape, the house is not going to be what stops them--it might be the steep road.
Re countertops, I have granite now, and it's bulletproof, but I've always wanted soapstone, and that's what I'm getting this time. Haven't picked the slab yet. I don't intend to oil it, but to let it darken naturally. I realize it gets a patina, and I don't care. It's impervious, it won't stain, and it doesn't need to be sealed. Regarding quartz, I agree that some of them are beautiful. But I prefer the all-natural stone materials. You can get safe sealers. Fwiw, I sealed my granite once 17 years ago, and never needed to again. Otoh, quartz contains far more silica than natural stone, in addition to other manmade substances, and it has caused a lot of cases of silicosis in workers--so don't let them cut it on-site. One reason I know about silicosis is a neighbor of mine had to evacuate her house and leave all her belongings behind because workers accidentally contaminated the house by cutting a silica-containing material that created silica dust that was then sucked into the HVAC system (which they hadn't blocked off) and spread throughout her house. They had to do a hazardous waste clean up and now they're redoing the whole interior. It has been more than a year.
@A C, all I can say is it WILL get better! If nothing else, it will eventually be done and that will be better! So sorry about the tile drama! I took a long time choosing mine as well and I have not yet picked the kitchen backsplash. When I go there this week, I'll see more of the kitchen installed, and that will help. One thing that really killed me was the paint color choices--I was in paint color hell for both the exterior and the interior. I have so many samples now, I want to donate them somewhere (if anyone has suggestions?). I like your wall tiles! The only caution I have about your bathroom floor tiles is I think they're not slip-resistant (from looking at the web page), which I would think about for a bathroom floor.
@Kelly M, I love that island countertop idea! I think it will look awesome.
Speaking of things a future buyer may not like so much... I laid out my shower wall tiles on the floor, and the tile guys numbered the tiles on the back to make sure they kept the order right, and then put them on the wall. It's supposed to look like falling blossoms and leaves. They just sent me a photo. The sides of the shower will be white, and the niches will be solid blue. The deco tiles are a bit bluer than they look here:
There is Fedex... you can get a sample overnighted for less than the expense of driving 4 hours.
That really is a beautiful slab--is it Taj Mahal? I'd use a small off-white tile on the floor. Perhaps a 1-2" basketweave or hexagon. Unless of course you could find that same stone in a small tile.
I hope you can feel the stress draining slightly. The first thing I did when selecting tiles for my bathroom floor and walls was to look at the most readily available easy to stock options to see if by chance there was something I like. Surprise - there was and for once in my life I took the easy route and love my bathroom. If you end up feeling like things are too boring a great sconce, mirror, and faucet will up the game.
If you are having second thoughts, now is the time to step away and re-evaluate. Much less costly to do when it's only on paper. We pulled the plug on our last construction the morning the blasters were to begin, plans had already been through permitting. Just wasn't' sitting right with us. Took a year to do a full redesign of the plans. Much happier with the result. Sometimes the wish list ("Wouldn't it be nice if...") doesn't match the cost reality and something has to give. If you want to be able to afford to stay - your decision is pretty clear.
I'll vote for 100% shingles. Ask your architect to refine the design and provide renderings showing shingles and windows in various colors.
Here I raised the roof over the center section, and changed the gable pitch to match what's on the far right. Removed the first floor gable on the left.
Ok, I get that southern farmhouses don't use shingles.
The thing about farmhouses is that they are region-specific. The farmers usually weren't wealthy so they built the houses out of the the materials that were local in their area. So in the Northeast they used shingles and clapboard, in Pennsylvania you will find lots of stone farmhouses, and in the south Mrs. Pete can tell us what they use there. Probably used adobe in the southwest, but I'm not an expert on that type of architecture. Board and batten was usually reserved for barns.
^^^This. Farms are frequently constructed of available and not expensive materials- there is nothing as beautiful as an old farmhouse and bank barn constructed from fieldstone.
"She claimed nobody uses balconies so it is a waste of money."
Ask her if she can recommend a local architect that can design a house the way you want to use it, and not the way others will not use it.
Replace the black with Duradek. Same rubber membrane but comes in like 20 colors (go under Duradek>colors in the link to see them). Made for walking on but I'd use it in your case. I used it on my own house for a deck over living space. Looked great. Duradek | Vinyl Decking - Roof & Deck Waterproof Solutions
Pay to reinforce the structure enough to support the outdoor use that you wanted. It isn't cheap to retrofit. But it's cheaper than being mad for 10 years every time you look out the window.
Ah thanks @vinmarks, missed that.
Looks to me that newel post should have been installed further onto the landing from what see.
The winders may be code compliant; you'll need measurements per this picture to verify:
If you aren't compliant here, you're getting a red tag which will make the rail problem look like a walk in the park.
I'm not seeing why blocking the post out at the riser wouldn't have been a better trade off than the jogged rail; certainly less conspicuous. I'm not buying the inability to secure argument of the builder.
And speaking of conspicuous, wait until the apparently flat sawn custom made jog piece takes a stain compared to the apparently quarter sawn main rail. You better have a hell of a finisher.
We are building and installed white oak cabinets. The sealer we used was Bona natural sealer. It gives a nice natural look, although there is some golden/yellow in it. Your cabinet maker should give you a sample of each of the types of cuts you can get so you can see them in person. I think we did a Select. I didn't care as much for the Rift. Once you select that, ask for samples of some different stain options on the actual lot of wood that your cabinets have been made of. The wood you get may be different than another one and the stain may look slightly different. We learned this the hard way with some alder. Here is a picture of our white oak cabinets.
You should watch this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaeCREsM024
I also have no idea where you are in Canada, but do not give veneer a bad name : )
You can control it......and the consistency. You want "modern organic?" I wouldn't even think of inset. Lends itself far more to a more traditional look jmho.
Nothing wrong with mixing painted and oak, either!
Go back and look at this island - the man is a craftsman major league: ) and built every inch, painted, oak and all.
The rest of the house with that other kitchen that actually WAS quite modern and organic: ) AND YES, VENEER. and paint. Slab too. Factory custom color and stain/Pioneer
Interview local residential architects and you will see what they can do with you for you. They are educated, trained, and experiences in designing home and many times other building types.
Choosing a building lot is mostly a function of location, size, view, solar orientation, slope and cost. I suppose an architect could be helpful choosing a building lot, but that's not their area of expertise, and I assume you have some sort of real estate professional helping in your search. Mark is right, though, what you do need is an architect to design the best home possible for the site that you select.
" What can expect from most designers as far as services advice and cost? "
Potential for a hot mess and empty pockets. There is no true required training or understanding to call yourself a "Home Designer". You typically need to know how to use a CAD program and then learn as you go. I would want someone designing my home to work for me and not a builder, but maybe that is just me. This is the most likely the single most expensive purchase in your life, you owe it to yourself to spend it wisely.
Try no restitution for years. Or ever.
I went to three places with slabs. All were wholesale and would not tell me prices directly. I found a fabricator and explained that I needed prices before committing to slabs or to him. He was fine with that. Through him, I got prices on about five different countertop options for the entire kitchen. From there, I had him give me quotes on if I did the island different stones. He was very willing to work with me and help price things out before I committed to using him, which I ultimately did. It makes for a more time consuming process, but I did get to know my fabricator a bit better, which I think was helpful in the long run as I trusted him more.
I am a fabricator. In 20 some years I have done thousands of quotes. My quoting process is set up so I can easily quote multiple stone colors. The customer gets an indication of eventual cost by the various levels the slab supplier assigns to the different colors. It can get complicated because in addition to the price I pay per sq. ft. to the slab supplier I have to look at layouts as slab size can have a big impact on the jobs waste percentage and seams required. The material also can have a significant impact on shop hours as some popular stones like quartzite take a lot more time in the fab shop because the material is so hard. All that said a competent fabricator should be able to provide a quote for different colors within a day or two of the customers selection.
"what should we know for becoming a GC for our new home"
Psychology, economics, sociology, contract law, psychology, urban planning, physics, construction sciences, architecture, a rich uncle, first aid, mathematics, psychology, law in general, and marksmanship.
Mark,
If you're open to an addition to a pretty comprehensive list, I suggest "marriage counseling."
You can end up with a great house and a small fortune in savings by GCing your own home. You just need to start with a large fortune in savings.
In my opinion, GCing is a great way to end up with a house that you appreciate and really value more than a home GCed by someone else, but it is not normally a path to major savings.
I'm only 5' 5", but I find the apron-front sink comfortable to work with. What I also really appreciate is that any errant drips and splashes run down the face of the sink, thus doing no damage, unlike non-apron-fronts where water gets on the cabinetry below and can ruin finishes (happened at my old house, I'm careful but DH is not...).
"this would assume the faucet is placed closer to your body.... as well....which I'm not sure it really is.....since farmhouse sinks tend to be deeper AND wider by default.... right?"
Apron sinks are available in a variety of widths which will determine the distance from the front of the sink to the faucet. Examples (at build.com):
- Ruvati RVL2018 or RVL2100 sinks: Length: 30" Width: 18"
- Elkay SWUF28179 sink: Length: 30", Width 19-15/16"
- Ruvati RVL2300 sink: Length: 33", Width: 20"
- Elkay ELXUFP362010 sink: Length: 36-7/8", Width: 21-9/16"
Remember also that you should buy a faucet whose spout reach is properly sized for the sink.
Consider rethinking the design.
I have a 10 ft high front door, custom built by a local door builder in my area. Not something you buy off the shelf!
I have found tall doors come in handy when you do not want to reel in the string on your helium balloon.
Work the numbers backwards. I wouldn't want the bottom of the chandelier to be lower than 8 ft, so that gives you 4 ft for the fixture and chain.
I am going to guess that the ceiling peak in that photo is 16 ft.
Linden, Crabapple and Scots Pine are not remotely similar to each other in habit, size or appearance, so not really alternatives to each other. What features are you looking for in a tree? And how much space do you have for it?
You can have a no lawn garden without xeriscaping. Using drought resistant plants and rock isn't necessary at all. Indeed using rock in a climate which gets a reasonable amount of rain leads to weeds and algae. You could have an excellent no lawn garden using ordinary plants and mulch.
Unfortunately, your city has used that terminology incorrectly. 'Xeric' means dry or arid and 'xeriscaping' refers to a landscape that thrives in a very dry or arid environment. A no lawn front garden is just a front garden that lacks any turf grass - rainfall or moisture has very little to do with it. No wonder it was confusing!!
Thanks for asking about the difference.
1st Attempt photo is not shown,,
it was a stacked tile layout and was demolished.
2nd Attempt is one photo, but reproduced and placed side by side, with itself with the view on the right showing duplicated tiles.
Your front yard needs a landscaping update including addressing the slope at the sidewalk.
I'd spend the money there and then see if the windows need attention. I agree with the others that window boxes can be a PITA.
" Problem is we're on a tight schedule to tile and stone the walls and they do not have any more of the same quartzite material....and the time to replace everything is not possible with paid contractors lined up to finish the job."
And that's what they are betting on.
"How do we fairly compute the damages on a $24,000 job to discount the job respectfully?"
"Fairly" depends upon how much money you owe them. The more you owe, the stronger your bargaining position.
BM Solitude may work for you.
yes, the blue shades match the quartz.
very pretty. hate those floors though.
If they wanted the checkerboard, they should have done this
Your cabinet builder should be applying the finish, in a clean room at the shop where the cabinets are built. The painter should have nothing to do with the cabinets - or the floor, for that matter.
What kind of paint does he use?
Update: Beeboo22 and I had a long talk yesterday. I told her that renos/additions are tough enough when I can walk the project and impossible to do remotely. We need to see the existing structure. Which is why we only do new construction on a remote basis.
I'm familiar with the area she lives in and trust me, it's REMOTE. But there's a major university about 90 minutes away with many architects in that town so I suggested she try to reach out to one of them. A ninety minute drive isn't that big of a deal. I moved from Annapolis but still have a client base down there and it's a two hour drive one way and I do that about once a month. I have to charge for travel time as opposed to when I lived there but folks don't seem to mind.
Anyway, a very nice lady and we wish her the best of luck and to keep us "Houzzers" updated.
Awesome update Architectrunnerguy. A true example of what makes this forum awesome.
@architectrunnerguy is truly a gem! So knowledgeable and friendly! We talked through my project and he gave me great feedback and confirmed my reservations about trying to do this project remotely. I’m going to recast my net locally and find an architect that can evaluate the site in person. Thanks Doug!
I purchased an SKS Combi/Steam Wall Oven. I am very disappointed with this product and the customer service. 4 service calls within the first 2 months of ownership, my new kitchen cabinets were damaged by their Tech and it's been 5 months and I still can't get it resolved. They have some work to do to grow into the luxury line they *think* they are. Make another choice if you haven't purchased already.
They factory sprayed the double hung but had to brush the oval custom windows (and they did a horrible job). This was ALL done at the factory. We ordered through Coastal Sash & Door. Our salesman came out last week and he was also horrified but now we have to wait for a rep. The windows and doors were delivered over three days last week and we didn't realize the awful quality until we unwrapped them. My husband is going to unwrap more today and take more photos. Also, the wrapping job at Marvin was done poorly. The plastic and cardboard surrounding the windows was so thin. My husband called Marvin last week to make sure these were actually Marvin (and that Coastal Sash & Door didn't scam us with fake windows) and Marvin confirmed that they fulfilled the order. They said there are still some on the way (two very large custom arched windows) so I can potentially block delivery of those. Our installers are using white gloves to handle the windows and we've been there for every step of the way. We only allowed install of 3 windows and unwrapping of one door before we pulled the plug to check more of them. We are super involved in this build and this is our fifth project, but first time using Marvin. Previously we used Andersen with no issues. I've contacted our architect since he specs Marvin windows to see if he can help us. Our contractor mostly deals with another brand and we pushed for Marvin, which I now regret.
Wow, sorry you are dealing with that. Our experience and most of the feedback we had gotten on the product and company was all positive. Have to wonder if they are going through management, supplier and/or manufacturing changes?
You just need to make sure that Coastal Sash & Door is doing most of the complaining and pushing for the appropriate resolutions, as ultimately they are Marvin's customer.
I am pained to hear this. I've bought a lot of Marvin Ultimate Windows over the years, and they were top-notch, great. But that was all pre-Covid. It sounds like the quality that Marvin was known for is no longer. That is really a shame. I hope this is just a temporary down period for Marvin and they will get back on track.
No to stone anywhere in your space. It doesn't suit your transitional home and you already have focal points with the fireplace, dry bar and the dark accent wall. Sometimes less is more and that is true in your space. Not every room or home needs to be blinged out. If you must have stone, get some stone coasters.
I want to add to my previous post that you as a first time homeowner may not be aware that when you move into a new home, there will always be a surprise repair or repairs. That is as sure as the sun rises in the east. Each time I've moved into a new home I've had surprise expenses. Just MHO, but your kitchen being so nice should not be where you dive into spending money right direct when you move in. Things that I've needed to do right after I moved in but was not aware of beforehand: the furnace breaks a month later, or the garage opener needs to be replaced, or the front door leaks water and needs to be replaced, a tree needs to be cut down, or sliding glass doors need to be replaced. Oh, and window treatments - do not underestimate how expensive those are.