Chris in Lafayette, LA 26 entries to date 0 forum posts to date
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 3/28/2008 7:53:46 PM
Well this has definetly been the week for ups and downs. The wood flooring was wrapped up in 2 days. Tim, Johnny and Casey did an incredible job getting the job done quickly and the floors look great. That was the up. The down came Wednesday when the plumber showed up to do final. Due to a mix up he thought the stuff wasn't there and left. Then a no show on Thursday and finally getting started today. Needless to say this delays us with grouting the tile floors. Final electrical is underway and will be done on Saturday. During this time Tim and Johnny focused on some of the smaller stuff. They got the backsplash done and got the hutch together. Johnny also finished the shower. A whole bunch of 4x4 trav tiles. Things are starting to shape up with a lot of little stuff still left. But it is closer.
Another thing that had been on the list to do was the stone veneer for the fireplace. The stone took a while to come in and on Thursday Travis and a helper came by and put it up. With the multi color veneer and the slate floors, I think it looks really good.
Will update again when plumbing and electrical are completed.
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 3/24/2008 6:45:21 PM
Well Monday started with a bang with our wood flooring started. The guys got a total of 5 rooms done today and it looks great. They got Emily's room, playroom, closet, the dining room and my media room done. We chose Timborana wood from BR-111. It's a glue down engineered that has a really deep color.
The updates will probably be plentiful this week as we are in the home stretch.
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 3/23/2008 5:13:56 PM
Our flooring is still going with Johnny and Tim finishing up the slate and the Travertine in the Master Bath. It really looks good and can't wait to see the wood. Overall the pace seems to have picked up a little.
The granite was installed Thursday and finished on Friday. The granite in the Kitchen is called Amber Fantasy and it really ties the room in well. We chose Santa Cecilia for the master bath and it looks good too.
Final plumbing and electrical should start this week and we should be on the home stretch. Will update in a few days.
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 3/18/2008 11:36:04 AM
Things have moved along better this past week and we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Johnny worked on Saturday and started laying the Travertine in the entrance and formal living and got quite a bit done. For these areas we chose an 18x18 travertine and it looks really nice. We also set a tumbled medallion in under one of the fixtures. On Sunday, Anna and I did some clean-up (never ends) and moved tile in for the next rooms. I also installed the granite on the guest bath vanity. Yesterday Johnny finished up the 18x18 Travertine and both of us started on the Slate in the Family Room and Kitchen. These rooms are a puzzle design using 12x12 and 6x6 tiles. So far all of the flooring choices are looking good.
We also finally got the mounds of dirt knocked down yesterday. It actually looks like we have a yard now.
The granite in the ktichen and master should go in Thursday and I'll update after that.
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 3/10/2008 6:58:52 AM
Well not alot to report after last week. We are waiting for Entergy to come and connect us to power so we can get the HVAc system up and running to get the house climate controlled. I don't have too many pictures of the inside as the guys were doing small touch up things while waiting. Over the weekend, I finished up the whole house audio system by running all of the speaker wires and hooking up the control boxes. We are using a system from home theater direct (www.htd.com). There will be 12 zones in the house, each having the choice of up to 6 sources. This became a do it yourself after we got quotes from some of the local companies and found them to be high in price and short on features. I'll let you know how it sounds once we get power.
I also installed the granite on Emily's vanity. I found a nice one at Lowe's for a great price and couldn't pass it up.
I also included a picture of Emily's playset. This should tell you how the weather's been down here.
Well that's it for a whole week. Everyone told me the last few weeks would be LOOOOONG and its definitely true.
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 3/1/2008 7:42:47 PM
Electrical is moving along with more fixtures going up and its looking good. The entrance, foyer and kitchen hanging fixtures went up today. Overall the electrical is going really well.
We used the good weather and the fact that the stucco work is done to clean up around the outside of the house today. It's just amazing how much better the house looks without scaffoding, lumber, full throttle cans, empty buckets of stucco, tools and anything else that piled up outside.
As next week progresses, my inside guys have told me flooring is going to start. Anna and I are both really excited to see the flooring go in.
Well that's it for the typing update, I just wanted to update pictures.
Be back later.
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 2/28/2008 8:01:11 AM
Well about a month ago I made the comment in the blog that I just decided to accept that 1 day I would be told that the stucco was finished and it really happened. The third crew to work on my house were three guys (Devin, Mike and Greg) and I have to say, I wish these guys would have been the first crew. They did a really great job on finishing the portico despite the weather. I've included pictures of the work progressing late into Sunday evening. But finally, after what feels like an eternity, the scaffold has come off!!!!!
Final electrical has started and is progressing. There are alot of days that go by that don't feel like there is alot getting accomplished quickly, but some of it is due to we are ready to move in now. Apartment life stinks!!!
The inside guys are moving along with the second coat of paint, and it looks really good. Now we are into stages where I need to get electrical finished and the A/C on for the wood flooring. Overall its been a pretty good week.
Be back later with more.
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 2/18/2008 7:34:05 AM
First, it's good to see my friend Brandon has jumped into the fun of building. Two guys from southwest Louisiana on the blog at the same time.......... we may not survive.
I've got some more cabinetry in since the last update. I spent the weekend laying out the master bathroom and kitchen cabinets for install. The laundry are another set of oatmeal glaze in a different doorstyle that Jamie (the cabinet shopper) found for me. Once again props for Jamie. It really made it worthwhile to shop with Jamie and pay for freight shipping when you factor in the rooms that were covered. We also built the support for the drop down in the kitchen. When we drew the houseplan, we decided to get rid of the breakfast nook and add dropped down section of granite to the island for seating. I think this is where we will end up eating most of the meals instead of the dining room.
I also put together the vanity in the half bath. It came out really nice.
I also included some pictures of the shelving work Tim, Johnny and Dennis did in the master closet and pantry. It was great to have these guys help design how the shelving would go. My wife can't wait to go shop at Sam's to fill up the pantry.
My HVAC guy should get everything in place Tuesday and I'm trying to get my electrician back this week to do his final stuff.
You may have wondered about the outside and why no updates for there. The weather has been such a pain that we can't get the stucco finished. We have forcast for 3 days of good weather and I'm hopeful that we can finish up and get the scaffold off the front of the house.
Be back later in the week.
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 2/13/2008 7:15:36 AM
Over the weekend I moved all of the cabinets to the house for install.I had not commented about the cabinets in previous entries because I wanted to wait until they went up. If you've been to Home Depot or Lowes looking at Kraftmaid cabinets, you've probably experienced the same sticker shock that we did. My wife had seen the Oatmeal Glaze from Kraftmaid in a house we looked at and she loved the way they looked. I was intially excited that it was Kraftmaid because of the ease of just going to Home Depot and getting them. We made an appointment and went to design the kitchen. To make a long story short, by the time we were done with the kitchen, bathrooms and laundry the quote was $48000. With that price tag, my wife was very disappointed. I started an internet search to see if there was a way to cut those costs down. After some searching, i came across an entry for "the cabinet shopper" Jamie Williams. His webpage is www.cabinetshopper.info. Jamie shops at the Kraftmaid outlet in Ohio and there were alot of hurdles to overcome. We live in Louisiana and we wanted a specific finish and doorstyle. After talking it out, we figured it was worth a shot, so I called Jamie. We spoke for about 20 minutes and he was hired. In this adventure called home building, I am reserving high recommendations for a very few, but Jamie is definetly worthy of my highest recommendation. He is truly one of the good guys. When we talked, he told me the Oatmeal Glaze was not a finish he would see alot of, but you never know. Well over the next few weeks, Jamie went to the outlet and one weekend hit the jackpot. Not only did I get the Kitchen and a great hutch, we got cabinets for the laundry, bathrooms and I have enough left over that I get an outdoor kitchen. The next hurdle was getting them from Ohio to Louisiana. Due to my work schedule, taking time off to drive to Ohio, pick up 60 plus cabinets and drive back was not in the cards. So I got back online and went to Uship and arranged with Champion Express to deliver the cabinets for me. If you have to ship, I highly recommend these guys too. Within 4 days all of the cabinets arrived in great shape. Now the most important part, the price. All the cabinets, Jamie's fees and shipping cost us 1/4 of the price we were quoted. I also left out that we got numerous upgrades to the cabinets, a more expensive door style and quite a bit of decorative stuff by going this route. If you can be flexible in the layout and have just a little bit of time on your side, give Jamie a call. It's definitely worth it. I've included pictures of the kitchen in progress and will include more when its done.
The hood vent was also found online and we think it looks really cool.
Be back later with more pics.
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 2/7/2008 6:25:41 PM
The interior keeps on going at a great pace. The first coat of paint is on the walls and the colors are looking great. My little girl loves her room and playroom (yes its really that pink). The guys will be finishing up the walls tomorrow and will probably start cabinets Monday.
Outside is still a struggle. The second stucco sub has bit the dust. If you have read the previous posts, you know that my first stucco guy had some personal issues that caused him to be removed. His brother had taken over and was trying to make good on the deal, but I think it boils down to he was too far from his home base and the job was taking longer than expected due to weather. I found a new crew this morning and they were all set to go, but just our luck, there is no more Sealmark product in Lafayette. We had to call the distributor in New Orleans (120 miles away) to get more. The guys agreed to drive out there tomorrow and come back and get started. We'll see how these guys do.
Be back next week with cabinet pictures, I hope.
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Posted to Louisiana-Mediterranean by Chris in Lafayette, LA
on 2/5/2008 5:37:02 PM
Things are still moving fairly well inside. Tim and the gang worked on the master closet and pantry shelves over the past week and they look great. All of the Crown has been painted with the first coat and today ceilings started. The colors are looking really great. Hat's off to my wife and Cherie of Dunn's Designs for picking colors. The double tray looked awesome with the color |