Apparently month 2 got lost somewhere in the framing, fascia, roofing, and sawdust. Time sure flies when you’re having fun working a couple of jobs and building a house.
While Month 1 was all about the framing crew, the house-building responsibilities shifted over to our resident roofer (MysteryMan) and demolition crew (MysteryMan). I was a little bugged about this at first, because I wanted to be involved in all of the house building– but MysteryMan has a couple of awesome friends who 1.) are unlikely to trip over their own feet and fall off the roof, and 2.) are stronger than me, and there are some jobs for which he prefers their help.
I console myself with the fact that, building the cabinets, installing the tile and floors, texturing the walls, and putting the trim everywhere will fall squarely on my shoulders. MysteryMan is thrilled that this will happen during football season, rendering him unnecessary.
Month 3 Progress : Somewhat weather tight.
Here’s a quick timeline of our progress so far:
- Mid-April – Project starts with serious hole digging.
- Mid-May – Framing complete after 4 weeks.
- Early-July – We have a finished roof.
- Mid-July – Ready for utilities and siding.
Start:
Month 1:
Month 3:
Month 3 Financial Status: 55% Spent; 10% over budget.
In the first month of construction we spent about 50% of our budget (on excavation, foundation, lumber, a framing crew, doors, and windows). In the last two months the only big-budget purchase has been roofing materials. And beer to pay our slave labor with.
As we move in to month four we’re about to dole out the second half of that budget for siding, rough plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and insulation.
When that’s finished, our last 10% will go to drywall, flooring, cabinets, and appliances. We don’t actually have that 10% in our pockets at the moment – we took a close look at the budget and saw that there were some unforeseen expenses in the first half of building – $1000 for an egress window in the basement, for example– and that we had deliberately chosen to go over budget on a few items, like solid wood doors (instead of those fiberglass-pretending-to-be-wood kind).
I’ve been saying since the beginning that I’m happy to throw a rug over the subfloor and live like that for a while to save up money for the type of flooring I really want, and that’s about where we’re at. When the reserves dry up, we’ll still be in good shape to get a certificate of occupancy, and that’s what we’re after.
Month 3 Injury Report: One tetanus shot required.
Other than the fact that MysteryMan bleeds from the hands on a regular basis, we both still have all of our digits. I had an unfortunate incident involving flip-flops and one old crusty nail, which resulted in this.
Otherwise, we’re injury free.
Month 3 Lessons Learned: Sanity breaks should be a part of the project plan.
After MysteryMan busted his ass getting the roof on in 90-degree weather, I practically shoved him out the door to spend a weekend up North, golfing with his buddies. My sanity breaks don’t involve golfing, but being able to work on other side-projects that have been swimming around in my brain for a while.
We try to make time to go out to dinner together every other week or so, to just get away from the craziness. We’ll have one more insane push to get everything closed in before winter, and then I’m going to need a weekend on a beach somewhere.
Month 3 DIY Did & Didn’t: This one goes to MysteryMan.
Things we DIYed :
- Installed the fascia (MysteryMan)
- Installed the roof (MysteryMan)
- Interior demo
- Replacing rotten sill (MysteryMan)
Things we Didn’t:
- Install the front doors
Slightly disappointing on my end, although I was in charge of moving us out of the old house, and finishing the station so we had running water — Things that cannot be discounted, though sometimes MysteryMan tries. Month 4 is going to belong to the professionals, but Months 5-10 are going to be mine all mine.
One Response
I thought we were doing a lot of work, but wow – this is quite the project! Lookin’ good!
(And as a side note – you can totally rock the subfloor as finish floor for a while. I actually kinda like the way it looks in our house.)
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