Chapter 9: The Long Road to DONE

Coming down to the end, it's always a little slow going. We received our final inspections at the beginning of August, so the house is finished in the eyes of the building department, but there is still a good bit to go. According to my budget, we are at about 90% of the spend on the job.

I'm now down to 16 items on the punch list, but one of those items is to finish the exterior, so.....these are not small details left to complete.

How is it that while I've lived this process on countless jobs, I am still somehow convinced things will go faster with my own project? I must be more of an optimist than I give myself credit!

Most of our stone counters are in. The exterior stone and veranda construction is... moving along.

My estimate is that we will be in a position for final photography in May of next year. That's right - May, 2022.

We finally felt the hit of COVID on many of our interior products - including a range hood that has still not arrived for above the kitchen stove (ordered in February, 2021). And, for those working on furniture purchases - my heart goes out. Unless it's a completely stock item, lead times have been killer. We ordered two sofas and several lounge chairs nearly a year ago, and are hoping to have them in time for Thanksgiving. It really is the wild west out there. We have had some good luck though. Our stone counters came in ahead of the originally quoted schedule (thank you Lee Tile and Stone). The Trex decking for our veranda came in on time (thank you Dettingers), but our front door was nearly two months delayed.

And can we talk about material costs? The exterior work was left to the end, rightly so, but now that we are in the middle of the veranda and deck build, we have felt the pain of soaring lumber prices - even as they are supposedly coming down. I will tell you: the deck that was budgeted at $16,000 has ballooned to over $30,000. But what can you really do? As an advisor to corporate real estate clients, in my profession I usually avoid advocating phased work. When you stretch the work out, you simply end up adding more scope, not completing the final phases / postponing the work indefinitely, and/or redoing much of the finished work due to use (think - repainting everything - not just touching up).

So, we are trudging on!

Below you will find images of progress on not only the exterior, but of the interior stone installation as well. And, even though we are not yet done, the house is becoming quite enjoyable. As I type this, I am invigorated by the breezes of the swaying trees in the back yard, and I have to say: it is REALLY nice to finally entertain and enjoy a glass of chardonnay on the deck, even if I have to tightrope open deck joists to make it to the door :)

Enjoy the imagery, and stay tuned for things as we finally begin to wrap up the MEGA Project.

Exterior Progress

Our GC, Al Monti, marking the edge of the main rear deck.

Our stone masons beginning work to rebuild the stone steps Brian and I built just 5 years ago. I may have cried a bit when I saw them use a suction device to lift the massive steps, making the task look so easy. When Brian and I installed them, we were not that smart.

Al's lead framer, Trevor, marking joists for the back deck.

Below are two videos:

The first video is just before installation of the main Technopost supports, which are basically fancy screws driven into the ground to support most of the weight of the deck. Each Technopost is staked for location, and then driven into the ground until the post hits resistance to bear the correct weight according to calculations. A very efficient and effective solution for most exterior deck projects.