Just wanted to say your book has had a huge impact on our plans. We are building a large custom home… and your book convinced us to take on the job as owner-builders! I’ve read through it several times and have gained a lot of confidence from its pages. Mike in Orange County, CA

Adam's Forum Posts: 27
Journal Entries: 20
Average Forum Rating: 3.63



Image from Adam's blog

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Tile finished, Cabinets painted

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 3/18/2010

The rooms are really starting to come together now. The cabinets are mounted and looking great, and the floors are grouted. Many thanks go out to Robert and both Moms for all the help! We couldn't do it without you guys :)

Photos

Master-bath floor grouted		Master looking back towards door/cabinets
Cabinet model	Kitchen cabinets wearing paint and almost ready for doors and drawers. Looking good!

Posted by Mark in APO, AE on 3/18/2010 Mark's Forum Posts: 12 Interview Answers: 63 Average Forum Rating: 3.93 Mark's Selected Image 3/18/2010	The tile and cabinets look great!  Nice job.
Posted by Adam in Southport, NC on 3/19/2010 Adam's Forum Posts: 27 Journal Entries: 20 Average Forum Rating: 3.63 Image from Adam's blog 3/19/2010	Thanks! It has been a lot of work, but thanks to the help of family and friends we are making great progress :)

Even more tile!

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 3/8/2010

Will the tile ever end? No, I don't think it will. I'm not sure who talked me into the whole hopscotch pattern in the master bath, but I may need to have a heart to heart with them before this is over.

At any rate, here is the guest bath mostly tiled. I forgot to measure and make my cuts early on, so I will have to go back in a day or so to fill them in.

Also, here is the progress on the master after about an hour of layout and two hours of laying. Me and Ang are beat, and we have a long way to go. We will tackle it again tomorrow night and try to make a dent in it.

Photos

Guest	Master
Tired Ang rinsing the perpetually dirty thinset bucket :)

More cabs and tile

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 3/3/2010 4:45:16 PM

Me and Ang worked late this weekend and got the tile down in the utility room. It still needs grout, and tile experts will catch one obvious mistake if they look, but we are pretty happy with it for our first-ever tile project.

Robert and Mom worked tirelessly on cabinets, and now we have pretty much all of the boxes complete. They started on drawers yesterday, so the end should be quickly approaching regarding cabinets. There is a massive amount of cabinetry in this house. I don't know how we talked Mom and Robert into this one :D 

Photos

		Ang presenting her work
Looking into master closet. Drawer and cubby bank	Further into closet. Shoe racks	From back of closet to master

Posted by Tim in North Pole, AK on 3/6/2010 Tim's Forum Posts: 17 Journal Entries: 25 Interview Answers: 66 Average Forum Rating: 4.20 Tim's Selected Image 3/6/2010	Nice built ins!
Posted by Adam in Southport, NC on 3/19/2010 Adam's Forum Posts: 27 Journal Entries: 20 Average Forum Rating: 3.63 Image from Adam's blog 3/19/2010	Thanks, the wife is very happy. Now if I can just find a place for MY things...

More cabinet and floors

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 2/26/2010

Mom and Robert have been working really hard on cabinets for the past couple of weeks. The kitchen is pretty much done as far as building the boxes. Today, Mom, Ang and Robert were on their own, as I was (and still am) sick as a dog. I have been on the couch all day trying to recover.

Anyhow, we also got the HardieBacker down in the utility room, and I hope to be feeling well enough to tile within the next few days.

Photos

Island nearing completion, and uppers finished and mounted.	Hey, somebody left pizza in the oven :D	Back (kitchen side) of island
Ang mixing thinset	Sanding down minor ridges where subfloor panels meet.	Getting the thinset down
Viola! Instant HardieBacker :)

Paint and more cabinets

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 2/21/2010

A lot has been happening over the past couple weeks. Ma and Ang got quite a bit of painting done on the exterior, and even some inside. Also, we started the kitchen cabinets. We also picked the tile for the baths and utility, so only the kitchen tile remains to be picked.

We figured out that something got cross-threaded during framing and the refrigerator niche ended up two inches too small. The sheetrockers tore out the rock, and I modified the framing to accommodate the  fridge. Now we have to wait for that to be patched back up before setting cabinets. Hopefully, that happens in the next day or two.

We have five weeks to get a CO if we are to maintain our time line. It is going to be very tough, but we are giving it our best shot! Robert and Mom stayed until 10:30 PM on Saturday building cabinets and painting. We really could not do this without the help we are getting from family and friends.

Thanks again to all involved!

And now the pics...

Photos

Getting some paint on the walls	The scary high work...	First coat is on... Oh, I forgot to mention it snowed :D Cool, huh?
Ang really got in the spirit and made a snowman...	First coat in the utility room. It's not quite as neon in person...	First coat in master bath. I couldn't get a good angle with this camera.
Kitchen cabinets started	More cabinets.	Lowers are pretty much roughed in. Ang is presenting them for the studio audience :)
Group photo after a long day :)

Interior framing pics

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 2/5/2010 3:08:28 PM

Its a bit out of order, but here are some interior shots of the framing.

Photos

In living looking to dining	Dining	At master looking to living, dining and hall.
Guest bath	Living looking to stairs	Bonus looking down stairs
Master	Looking "through" guest into living	Bonus
Bonus, small dormer	Bonus, large dormer. Nice header huh? Thanks Robert! :)	Feeding the Sundrop addiction

Another update

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 2/5/2010

Here are some more pics of the progress.

We are working on cabinets, the insulation is in, and sheetrock is in progress!

Photos

Mom and Robert at work	Robert getting the finish juuuuuuuust right.	Robert telling me something important, though what is was escapes me now...
The ever-popular planer		Robert setting up the router bench
	Getting there...	No backs, but getting close
Back installed and top test fit	Insulation!!
Insulation and corner tub	Sheetrock started. Check out all my cans!!! :)

Finally an update!

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 2/5/2010

I have been slacking off on my journal updates due to being so busy. You people who make time to build a house and update blogs on a regular basis have my respect!

Since the last update, the house was sided, the front door FINALLY came in, the trades were completed, insulation went in, and the sheetrock is currently up and being mudded!

Also, the tray ceiling was built, central vac was roughed in, the bathroom cabinets are built and ready for paint, and the exterior is being painted as weather allows.

Attached are several pics of the progress... More pics to come!

Photos

Siding installed	More siding
Building the access door...		Finished door!
Ang was impressed with my Ninja carpentry	David doing some plumbing
Me supervising...	Ang "helping" me with the corner tub	You can't set a tub without a sawdust smiley. It simply won't happen.
Starting paint, the mother-daughter team	There is always time to pose!
Family porch picnic after a long day of caulking, wiring, and other random stuff.	Thanks for the feast, Sis!

Brace yourself...

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 12/7/2009 5:19:19 PM

They have made some more progress on the roof. Here are some shots of the dormers, bonus, bracing, etc. Moving along ...

Photos

Sheathing and trusses

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 12/4/2009 8:08:49 PM

The walls are complete, and mostly sheathed. They set the trusses today as planned. Be sure to watch the time lapse video of them going up :) It was nerve-wracking watching them set the trusses in person, but the video is pretty entertaining now that I am sure it did not end in disaster ...

Photos

Videos

More framing, and the lake...

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 12/3/2009 1:06:00 PM

Framing is moving very quickly. I even made myself useful and helped to stand up the front wall. :) Also, I took a nice pic of the lake that blew in last night. Thankfully, the trusses are mostly out of the water... Oh well. The crane will be on site tomorrow at 1:00 to set them, so they only spent a day in the water. I have been assured that they will be fine.

Photos

Framing begins

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 12/3/2009 8:43:50 AM

So the floor is framed and inspected, and they have started the decking and walls. They hope to set trusses by tomorrow.

Photos

	Hope that Advantech is as good as they say regarding rain resistance...

Foundation complete!

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 11/19/2009

The foundation was finished up yesterday, and looks pretty good. Flooring should start Monday (weather permitting as always). My framer told me we should be in the dry within a week or maybe two depending on... the weather! It is funny how you go through life not really noticing precipitation patterns until they hold up a massive project such as home construction :)

At any rate, here are a couple pics of the completed foundation:

Adam

Photos

Foundation 1

Foundation 2

Footers and foundation...

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 11/17/2009 11:25:14 AM

Footers were dug Sunday, poured Monday, and block work began today. They are already making great progress, as can be seen in the pics.

Woohoo! I guess we better be happy with the footprint, as there is no going back from this point :)

Photos

Footers 1	Footers 2	Blocks 1
Blocks 2	Blocks 3

Rain, rain, go away!

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 11/11/2009 2:05:30 PM

Well, so much for a foundation this week :( Rain is in the forecast until Saturday. I called the foundation contractor, and he is willing to dig footers Sunday, pour Monday and lay block through Wednesday. I am keeping fingers crossed that next week is nice. If all that pans out, we can still start the floor next Friday.

On a positive note, my GC supplied me with a t-pole and we got power hooked up yesterday. Saved a couple hundred in materials there, so I can't complain. Also, the water is plowed in, and all I have to do is find a break in the weather to install a temporary hose bib so they can set the meter.

The truss guy called me today and sent me more drawings and specs in preparation for the roof. Everything is looking good there both availability and price-wise. We hope to have a roof on this thing in the next three weeks, weather permitting...

I am still waiting on window, door and soffit quotes to come in. This will be our third window/door quote, and I hear this supplier kills everyone else's prices... I can't wait to see where they come in.

Adam

Clearing complete!

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 11/9/2009 3:48:33 PM

OK, so the clearing is complete. It does look a little barren now without the pines, but we will be planting plenty of trees and shrubs, and I despise pine trees. So, here it is ready for the foundation guy, who is coming Thursday. I spent the rest of today window shopping... literally. I have also been getting my material and pricing nailed down a bit tighter on soffit, siding, shingles etc.

Fun fun fun!

Photos

Left	Middle	Right

Clearing the way

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 11/4/2009 6:30:13 PM

Well, clearing began today. The guy says he should be finished by Friday, and looking at the lot today; about half the trees are down and stacked so it's looking pretty good so far.

My foundation guy told me three to four days for the foundation should be plenty if the weather cooperates. It is supposed to rain Tuesday, but I am still shooting to get the foundation finished by next week or possibly early the following week.

More as it comes...

Adam

Photos

Clearing the way...

Picked up the building permit today!

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 11/3/2009 5:07:49 PM

I am one day behind schedule, but I got the building permit today. My clearing guy will be out tomorrow morning to start the clearing process. He should finish by Friday, and I hope to have my foundation guy in on Monday to start laying out and digging footers.

The water company already came out and located all underground utilities and marked the meter location, so we hope to have water within the week for the foundation guys.

I'm going to build my t-pole this weekend so I can have it set and ready ASAP.

More as it comes...


Adam

Closed! Sort of...

Posted to Southport-NC-Home by Adam in Southport, NC on 11/1/2009 3:11:43 PM

So, we sort of closed Friday as planned. I say sort of due to not being able to record until Monday :) Of course there were some errors in the docs regarding the property address, but we got those sorted out and it seems we are on our way now.

I am supposed to be introduced to the local branch money handlers this coming week, and our GC has been very proactive with filling out all the permit apps. The building inspector called me Friday and said everything looks fine, including the plans I drew up and printed myself :) At this point, I need to drop him a copy of our latest survey, give him a large quantity of money and we will be ready to roll.

Hoping to get the permit this coming week and my clearing guy is loaded and ready to go.

Attached are some pics of the lot. They are not much, but its still a bit "unpolished".


More to come!!

Adam

Photos