Finally...
Last Friday we failed inspection with 11 items (prob typical). Today we barely passed inspection-- the temporary front railing was too small, but luckily we had a more flexible inspector who realized we were replacing it next week with a new railing.
I wish that the inspection meant all the work was done. Pete and Todd are putting up shoe molding to cover the damaged baseboards (from the hardwood), Brian is still painting (including the shoe molding when that is done), freezer is being repaired tomorrow, broken glass pains fixed today, had to remove the chimney cap because it didn't meet code, had to insulate the basement today, yesterday a couple of plumbing and electrical things were done, cabinets were touched up again today (hardwood stain damage to toe kicks), air ducts were cleaned today, cleaners cleaned the chose yesterday, windows started yesterday, outside of windows to be completed tomorrow, locksmith Thursday, fireplace repair tomorrow. We moved our storage unit in on Saturday, our big move is Thursday, whew...
The end is a killer. We had planned to have a leisurely move with the house ready weeks before we had to move. Now they will literally be painting as we move in. Plus there is still a number of exterior punch list items.
A few quick thoughts if I am crazy enough to do this again:
1.) Read the approved plans. The chimney cap was circled in red saying it had to be approved for use with the appliance. The insulation requirement was also there.
2.) Install cabinets after the first coat of the hardwood is done and/or paint on site. Painting cabinets ahead of time still leaves so much touch up and trim its not worth it. The little furniture feet don't work so well after you sand (in our case twice (: ) the floor.
3.) Budget much more than $10,000 in contingencies. It was more like $50,000 in over budget/ non budgeted items. Plus budget another amount for unplanned upgrades. All told about 10-12% for contingencies and upgrades.
4.) Don't be too optimistic on the schedule. 10 months seemed like no problem in the beginning, but it should have been obvious when we were off schedule around drywall time by 6 weeks that we weren't going to make it up. With the extra hardwood delay we were 2 months late. I originally had thought of using Microsoft Project to manage all the steps and dependencies; this wouldn't have been a bad idea.
5.) Have a system to improve communication with subs. So much information is passed on from the builder to the contractor owner to the actual worker. I was constantly being told I'd didn't know this or that by the workers. A big board with notes and info for the various subs would't be bad. My punch list at the end broken out by trades seemed to be helpful.
We love the house, but with so many people working in it each day it doesn't really feel like ours yet. We're just looking forward to getting moved in and having everyone out of the house.
I wish that the inspection meant all the work was done. Pete and Todd are putting up shoe molding to cover the damaged baseboards (from the hardwood), Brian is still painting (including the shoe molding when that is done), freezer is being repaired tomorrow, broken glass pains fixed today, had to remove the chimney cap because it didn't meet code, had to insulate the basement today, yesterday a couple of plumbing and electrical things were done, cabinets were touched up again today (hardwood stain damage to toe kicks), air ducts were cleaned today, cleaners cleaned the chose yesterday, windows started yesterday, outside of windows to be completed tomorrow, locksmith Thursday, fireplace repair tomorrow. We moved our storage unit in on Saturday, our big move is Thursday, whew...
The end is a killer. We had planned to have a leisurely move with the house ready weeks before we had to move. Now they will literally be painting as we move in. Plus there is still a number of exterior punch list items.
A few quick thoughts if I am crazy enough to do this again:
1.) Read the approved plans. The chimney cap was circled in red saying it had to be approved for use with the appliance. The insulation requirement was also there.
2.) Install cabinets after the first coat of the hardwood is done and/or paint on site. Painting cabinets ahead of time still leaves so much touch up and trim its not worth it. The little furniture feet don't work so well after you sand (in our case twice (: ) the floor.
3.) Budget much more than $10,000 in contingencies. It was more like $50,000 in over budget/ non budgeted items. Plus budget another amount for unplanned upgrades. All told about 10-12% for contingencies and upgrades.
4.) Don't be too optimistic on the schedule. 10 months seemed like no problem in the beginning, but it should have been obvious when we were off schedule around drywall time by 6 weeks that we weren't going to make it up. With the extra hardwood delay we were 2 months late. I originally had thought of using Microsoft Project to manage all the steps and dependencies; this wouldn't have been a bad idea.
5.) Have a system to improve communication with subs. So much information is passed on from the builder to the contractor owner to the actual worker. I was constantly being told I'd didn't know this or that by the workers. A big board with notes and info for the various subs would't be bad. My punch list at the end broken out by trades seemed to be helpful.
We love the house, but with so many people working in it each day it doesn't really feel like ours yet. We're just looking forward to getting moved in and having everyone out of the house.
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