Extra Hardie

So, what do you do with $900 worth of pre-painted hardie siding? Why, you use it to make louvers, of course. Most people use lattice to add a bit of privacy below elevated houses. Some use 1x6's to create louvers. That's what we planned on doing, probably painted dark green. But since we have so much extra hardie siding, David decided to try using the siding for the louvers. This is the first one set in place, filling in the lower left opening. I am trying to convince David that the heathered moss looks great - truth is, I don't want to paint all of them dark green. We'll drive by it for the next week and see how we like it lighter.

Sheetrock started a couple of weeks ago. The first coat of mud is on - I am guessing they will be done sometime this week. There are several crews and they work multiple houses. They let the mud dry for several days, so it is taking a couple of weeks. The big decision for sheetrock was the finish that we wanted. So we talked orange peel, knockdown, and smooth for a week, but after looking at a couple of houses, we both decided that we like the smooth finish for both the walls and the ceilings. Of course that costs more! We are going to have the same crews paint the primer, and probably do the finish paint as well.

We purchased real beadboard for the sunroom ceiling. The beadboard sheets are 8'x4', and our ceiling is 10' and 12' wide, so we purchased the "sticks" in 10' and 12' lengths. More work for David! That will go up after the sheetrock is primed.

We are also picking out tile - lots of choices, but we found one porcelaine tile that we both like, so will be using that for the floors and/or the shower walls. It's hard to look at tile without knowing the prices - the fandy border tiles that they suggest to use with one of the tiles we looked at cost $40/ft. That's for a 3" wide strip, so that's $160/ft². We're not that in love with that border! But the border can really make the shower surround look really nice, so we'll probably do something. Maybe something in the $10-$20 per foot range!

Gustav Gone, Ike heading to Texas

The biggest casualty from Gustav was the computer, which didn't take well to evacuating. 12" of water in the shed which did little damage.

More to come when (if?) I get the computer back.

Gustav

I was hoping to have time this weekend to post an update - we passed the rough-in inspection and have insulation. Things are moving well.

The latest storm surge predictions are 15'-18'. The house is at 20' so should be ok. But anything over 10' will probably flood the shop, shed, and FEMA trailer. We're probably riding the storm out in Biloxi; not the ideal situation but we need tomorrow to keep moving things into the house. I'll post after the storm when I can.

Air Condioning Started

The first stage of the siding is done - they will need to come back to do the underside of the porches after the insulation is in. Everyone agrees that the porch columns would have looked nicer white. I chose the dark green because of how the center post is off-center. I was thinking that with the white column, the off-center column would be the first thing you would notice. I'm hoping that the dark green shutters and stair risers, and dark railings will tie it all together.

We picked the air conditioner installer who bought our house on Hwy 49. We are getting two 2-stage compressors with variable speed fans manufactured by Maytag. Well, branded by Maytag, made by Nordyne. They come with a really good Maytag warranty - ten years parts and labor, full replacement if the compressor fails. We are getting a 3 ton for downstairs and a 2 ton upstairs - more than the 3.5 tons that was calculated, but the 2 stage runs at 2/3 capacity 18.5 seers or full capacity 16 seers. So the majority of time they will run at 3.33 tons.

We are not going to make David's 4th of July goal for the rough-in inspection. The inspector wants the upstairs electrical done before they issue a certificate of occupancy, so David has spent the last couple of weeks finishing the framing upstairs and running electrical. The new goal is July 22.

It's green!

First Inspection Post-"Lawsuit"

David asked the inspector to inspect the hurricane straps since they will be covered by the siding. As we expected (and hoped), the inspector did not give us a hard time "just because". David will need to add some straps around the door and window framing upstairs, and there needs to be brackets on the back porch pilings. The inspector did not comment on the fact that the those pilings (4x4) are way undersized for how long they are!

The siding guy's 1.5 to 2 weeks are up on Monday. My guess is that he is still another week or two out. I'll probably wait until next Friday to call him.

David has been working electrical - all the boxes for the under-house lights are in. We are still getting quotes on AC. We have two more to get and then we'll make our decision. David is aiming for the 4th of July to get the rough-in inspection. Once that's done, we can start sheetrock.

Help! I need intervention!

David asked me tonight if we were building the space shuttle. Apparently I've bought too many lights. But he's the one that thinks we need three lights in the kitchen, each with 3 bulbs! Here are two of the three lights (without the glass). They are hanging from the trusses with bungie chords while we argue over whether they should be over the walking space as general light (me) or bunched over the island as task lights (David).

Having no idea what we wanted when we started looking at the lights, and the difficulty of looking at the lights in boxes, has resulted in numerous trips to Hudsons (Gulfport, Gautier, and a wild goose chase to Mobile). And just when I think I am done, I think of a place I can put that "xyz" light. The selection is somewhat limited, but there are only 6 or so brands, so we have been able to find some "families" of lights. It's probably costing 50% more to get lights 4x nicer than what we would have! (Well, except for the ten $13 lights I bought for under the house on sale for $5.)

Here is one impulse buy - Minka Lavery Aston Court. We have 4 matching wall sconces for the 1/2 bath and stairs. We will probably order 1 more on-line.



















We didn't plan the carriage lights in time - they really should go to the side of the parking openings (can't have garage doors, part of our "enclosure" battle). It would mess up the stucco, so they'll be mounted centered over the openings. These were an impulse buy during lunch a couple of weeks ago. And will cost a bit since we decided to get matching lights for the front door. But wait, on another impulse trip to the Gautier Hudsons today, I found a smaller version of the light, so now we only need to buy 1!


This is the light I went for - Susan (my sister-in-law) gave us the good advice to match the glass color throughout. But we ended up with beige in the front entry and white alabaster in the kitchen. So what to put over the dining room table? Why, stained glass, of course! My thinking is that it is different enough from the beige and the white to not clash with either. Ok, so it will be an eclectic house, but that suits us.

As for the rest of the house - David is finally working on electrical. I think most of the framing mistakes have been fixed. And our decking arrived yesterday - gotta love the high tech delivery. Luckily none of the boards broke.

I'm not sure how the pictures will look in this post - they look one way when I compose & preview, and totally different when it's posted. Oh well, you get the picture! :)

Gotta go - I just remembered that there's a Hudson's in Picayune. Maybe they'll have that other carriage light, or the funky vanity light that will match the master bath lights...........