What home improvement work did you do today?

I like everything about this picture. The property toy, you have the biggest smile and even the dog is happy!

 

I called the county inspector office this morning; they apparently have no pending inspections necessary to continue work. I called the main office and haven't heard back but they did just email to say "it is in review and should be done soon, but we have no timetable." I am starting to think they have a bigger job and delayed mine to go take care of that......this is going to get interesting.

 

100% what happened...they had something else scheduled after you and due to the failed inspections, you have fallen behind/out of schedule.

 

You found them based on reviews. Let them know that your current review for them (that you have not posted yet) would be less than glowing and want to give them the opportunity to change that. Also the money always talks, no worky, no money. I do not pay up front for services not yet completed. Ever. Most reputable contractors and subs have accounts everywhere they do business and many won't even ask for materials up front. I am happy to pay for any materials needed to do the job, but I'm not paying for the work until I can see the work. Hate you have to go through this for what looked like a nice project completed. I'm sure it will get sorted and none of this will matter a year from now.

 

Just takes 1 employee to make the company look bad. If one of their lead guys suddenly gets "bottle flu" (very common in the trades) or has a legitimate emergency and doesn't show up for a couple of days their schedule is shot and they're left scrambling. It's extremely difficult, at least was for me, to find reliable, motivated, conscientious workers in the trades. However, communication is imperative. If they're having issues they need to proactively communicate that to the client, no excuses on that subject.

 

Man I need a skid steer for sure

 

I just spoke with the permitting agent at the porch company. There were failures along the way to be sure.......the salesperson that they sent out drew incorrect plans and did not landmark important structures, namely gas line and electric meter that were in the way of a footer that was to be poured on his drawing......So they had to send an addendum after failing the initial inspection. The inspector wasn't happy with the initial solutions and made it known that they were not going to accept an inferior structure or shortcut. After a few attempts the inspector apparently got annoyed and we went to the bottom of the list so we are stuck "in review" of the latest attempt. The permitting agent put me in touch with the office manager and both were VERY apologetic and want to make things right. They are going to request an expedited review and get a a crew out to clean up the mess in the backyard so that we can use the space in the meantime. They're also trying to get a chunk knocked off the final payment once the job is complete. I am happy with their response so far - just a shame that it had to come to this. Sounds like they may have parted ways with the person we were originally dealing with..... or at least put him on notice.

 

Well that sounds like a step in the right direction! Glad that you were able to make contact and make a little headway. Hopefully they keep to their word and get everything resolved. @831Tun is right though, it really only takes one person to make an otherwise good shop look like clowns.

 

He is still a daily struggle and my patience is getting low while my concerns are getting high... but I havent given up on one yet and he is #47ish... so fingers crossed. He is a pretty good dog when I am around, if I leave his sight its a different story.

Excellent comment....

 

Went to bed early for myself yesterday.... I went out to clean up the WIP decking and ended up pushing a little to far. I got to where I needed to get to, but man the heat kicked my butt....

before:



After:



Then we saw these guys right before bed.... Now I know why I am fighting ticks like I am:

 

Neighbor just brought over the other shared asset... so it looks like I am going to be doing clean up and maybe a bon fire when I wrap up this thing that pays the bills...

 

So I jumped ahead on my post. Turns out they were very rough marking the framing. Here is today.

There’s a few fixes I asked. One cripple stud cut short to be redone . And then instead of the blocking for the door frame I said if the drywall is cut out and it’s framed on the frame you can sandwich another stud. More secure and those blocks are already splitting. Other than that it looks good.


Bonus creepy shot of tile start.

 

Alright, couldnt take it anymore and cleaned up the deck project I started. I tore it down to the last section before the door, cleaned up the debris, bolted the railing back on for some peace of mind and then used the ranger to haul it all to the burn pile. I also took the repaired propane tank out of the trailer so I could use that. This will be a good stopping point until I go shopping and start fixing the damage and rebuilding the deck.

Pics, because everyone loves pics...

Also, the property has been named and some additional branding is in the works, because... why not, whats one more?

Huston Homestead:





added a cup holder:

 

Oh, I forgot... also took down my nerd wall and hung it back up correctly. And yes, I will find the cutout for my wire pull eventually and close up that hole

 

Heck yeah that looks like it turned out awesome! If you're taking votes on the logo, the staggered H's on the bottom left gets mine, that's a sweet design.

 

Latest took-too-long, why-am-I-doing-this project. Replaced cheap-looking and non-functional shower insert with slightly better insert. I watched videos, planned and was ready to get it done in a weekend. What I didn't account for was drywall replacement, insulation and a not-great bandaid on old termite damage. Oh, and having to reroute the plumbing. But finally, after taking a few weeks off to heal from a planned surgery, it is water tight and much better than before.

Pic 1: a young naive me back in May starting the demo
Pic 2: discovering the shower base was built on a platform with redirected plumbing, offloading the old insert on craigslist
Pic 3: first trying to install new plumbing for a center drain (didn't work, sat up way too high), deciding to tear out all the old nasty wall stuff
Pic 4: bought an oscillating multi-tool to cut the nails holding the far side of the 2x6, second plumbing attempt to move back to the right-side drain
Pic 5: new faced insulation w/ drywall shims, setting new shower base in mortar
Pic 6: greenboard installed and blended into existing walls
Pic 7: shower wall kit glued up with corner trim, new shower head and handle, silicone everywhere and everything

Learned a lot about plumbing, got a few new tools, cursed a lot, cried a little, and so glad it's done!

 

Looks amazing. That corner needs a zipline down to the river!

Really great job. Someday I hope to learn this level of "handy"

 

LOL. I can just imagine the conversation with my insurance agent to get that covered under a liability umbrella.

 

Great work and writeup. It is never fun when a simple project expands... I am dealing with that on this deck... Turned out great though!

 

Thank you!

I forgot which one she picked out, that was the narrowed down list. I think we are doing a combo depending on the application. I will have some shirts here soon, before the baby is born. He will be my little model for this and my actual brands that currently sell locally. Lots to do and never enough time to get it all done lol.

I know the deck, fence and eventually the gate will be branded, but I am really excited about sourcing someone locally to build me two wall art pieces for the outside and inside of the new shop next year.

 

Steel would be nice if someone made the kit. I built it on the ground and turned it up so I didn’t have to toenail the studs. I also anchored it to the wall with some back braces on the structure. It ain’t going anywhere without the garage wall coming with it.

 

Nice job!

 

Can’t tell true color and style given the amount of spacers . Have to wait until grout is in

 

Also blows my mind the massive color difference I noticed. If I didn’t know any better and someone said the tiles leaning on the brick are the same color as the floor- I wouldn’t believe it

 

My only issue would be that he put a few of the tiles next to each other that have the same pattern but I'm OCD like that.

It's looking really good.

 

Yeah I can see a few groupings like that. It’s a high variation style so I expect it to Hellen. With over 2000 sqft of tile the time to sort would push us into a new lease renewal lol. I’m hoping the chocolate grout helps it to blend .

 

Yeah and I think photos somehow make it stand out more than it would in person. I'd be happy with it.

 

Different angle. Also shows why we chose to match door height. That was a big topic of Reddit of “why such a big door”. Trust me anything else would have been a dwarf

 

I'm with you on the oversized doors, it makes rooms feel so much bigger

 

It was a weird thing when house shopping. The first house had them and I instantly wanted them. I hated the house but loved the doors. Then literally the next 20 houses we toured didn’t have them so I gave up on them until we found this house. It was a deal breaker if a house didn’t have them. It was one weird thing I didn’t want to give up. Although I had to fix the front door and dear god I underestimated the weight of that solid wood door