Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Building Update and How We Stay Organized

The drywall men have been working hard the past week and a half and are just about finished.  The paint was delivered yesterday afternoon and they will start painting the walls later this week!

Here are a some pictures of the house with WALLS.  You'll see piles of drywall scraps in the first two pictures.  Hubby and yours truly cleared that out.  We consider it our aerobic workout!
Great Room
Master Bedroom
Better!

Standing in the kitchen, looking into the dining area.  
The great room is to the left.

We're pleased about how much light there is in the two basement bedrooms.  The first one will be 'Favorite Son's
and this one will be Precious Daughter's and Handsome Son-in-Law's when they visit.
J's Lodge area is roomy and filled with lights.  No 'man cave' in our house!
He will be adding the reclaimed barnsiding from an old building on the property to the unfinished walls.  A more sturdy wall board will be added prior to installation.  
(That's why there is no drywall on those walls.)
Even the lower level bathroom is coming along!

Once the sanding from the drywall process is completed, the HVAC guys will come to hook up the air conditioning/heating unit and we'll see how the geo-thermal experiment works. Keep your fingers crossed!!  The wood floor installers need the air conditioning on to remove the humidity from the house.  We live in Missouri and we have TONS of humidity in the summertime. 

I've made some more decisions this past week.  They include the garage door, shelving for all of the closets and pantry and railings and banisters.  We've also ordered the hard wood flooring.  I've also set up a schedule for flooring installation, cabinet delivery and installation and the finish carpentry work.  J's done a wonderful job on his responsibilities (gravel, concrete, framing, brickwork, etc.).  I want to make my part run almost as smoothly.

Before we began this new home building project, I was worried we might be overwhelmed with the bid process and keeping everything organized and easy to find.  
When I taught school, one of the best organizational tools I used was a simple binder. I still have a bunch of them so I got out the biggest one I could find and set up an organization system that made sense to me. 
I made tabs for all the different types of contractors we would be needing (i.e. concrete, framing, plumbing, HVAC, painting, etc.) and added plastic page protectors. As each bid came in, I printed it off and slipped it in one of the protectors.  
 I also created an Excel-type sheet on Google Docs with pertinent information for the contractors we contacted including phone numbers, addresses, emails, amount of bid, if they were given a set of plans or sent them via email, etc. This was updated each time we received a bid and was a handy way to see them at a glance.  The binder allowed J to compare each bid, analyzing each component.  

Once each contractor was chosen, both he and the other contractors were notified. That way, they knew if they were hired for the job or not.  I discarded the unused bids which, at this point, was a good thing.  Our beloved binder was starting to fall apart!  We took it everywhere from the STL Home Show to the lumberyard to order material.  The lumberyard manager attends our church and ask to look at our 'well-used' binder.  He teased me about being too organized but had to admit it was quite helpful.  There was a concern that a specific truss hadn't been ordered and I had the (ten page printout!!) truss bid and, yes, it had been ordered! 

Once the binder contained only bids for hired contractors, I placed signed contracts, specific orders like faucets, appliances, light fixtures, etc. with that particular contractor. When the plumber asked if I had different faucet choices than his included in the bid, I simple found his section, pulled out the updated order and made him a copy.  When our appliances are delivered, I will double check each is the exact model I ordered.  The receipt is stored in the binder.

I've also included a few other things here, too.  As I mentioned in another post, I'm not very good at using vision boards so if I see something I like in a magazine, I tear it out and slip it in the binder for future reference.  


Earlier this year, before we actually started building, I took the plans and tried to envision how each room might look with furniture.
It's been fun to rework the rooms in different configurations with different pieces of furniture.

That's the update for now.  I hope to show you beautiful painted walls next.  Right now, I'm off to start sweeping up drywall dust.  I can't wait until the air conditioning is turned on!!  Thanks for stopping by!  
                                                                      Zenda



Linking to these great parties:

16 comments:

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Oh wow - I'm so excited to see that you now have actual walls! I'm excited and it's not even MY house, so I can't even begin to imagine how you must feel. Love your binder organization - definitely a brilliant idea and one you should be thinking about marketing.

Creations By Cindy said...

Oh I love seeing how everything is coming together! How exciting. I know you have been one busy lady this summer! It will all be worth it. Love the binder too and how you have it so organized. I couldn't help but chuckle thought because this is SO ME! I love a note book with pictures and notes and tabs! I actually used the same process when my girls for married. They called the note books their Wedding Bibles! LOL! Hugs and blessings to you sweet friend.
Cindy

Kim said...

You are an organised lady, aren't you. My that binder is full with so many ideas. Your home is beginning to come together rather nicely. Love those windows in the dining room. I love the sound of a "great room" and J's Lodge has a wonderful sound to it....so much better than a man cave. My goodness there are so many decisions that you have made; your head must be spinning.

Unknown said...

Those teacher skills are invaluable! I love the updates and am anxious to see the finished product. Thanks for sharing!!

Rosie M. said...

Wow!! Things are really looking up! Your rooms look so bright and roomy. Great binder idea! When we added a Great Room to our home, we also used graph paper and planned where we wanted to place our furniture. It helped so much in the purchase of pieces, knowing what size we had to look for. I can't wait to see your paint colors. What a thrill it must be to see it all coming together. Thank you so much for sharing. Rosie @ The Magic Hutch

Stacey said...

I had no idea you were contracting all of this yourself. That's a huge undertaking but it looks like you are up for the task. It's so exciting for things to come together. I'm so glad you are sharing this with us week to week at Thoughts of Home. ;)

Anonymous said...

Smart lady, It will be beautiful

Anne's Attic - Design said...

Thank you for sharing your progress at SYC. :) Jo

Laura said...

How excited you must be!
Everything is coming together.
I look forward to seeing your next update,
Thank you for joining us at Thoughts of Home.
Hope to see you next week too.

Laura
White Spray Paint

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Things are coming along so nicely. I bet you are so excited!! Always love lots of light streaming into a home. Can't wait to see the barn wood wall. I posted about the junk wood wall we did in the shed today. You really have everything nice and organized! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann

Sahana Ajeethan said...

Wow, so smart. Thank you for sharing with us at #HomeMattersparty. We would love to have you again next week.

The Charm of Home said...

Looking good! That notebook is a good idea. Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home.

Summer said...

Love seeing these photos and the progress ♥

summerdaisy.net

carol@The Red Painted Cottage said...

I love how your house is coming along; and I really like the binder you set up for your house! Such a great and awesome idea. I thought I was pretty organized, but I didn't do this when we put on a huge and major addition to our previous house...banging my head on the table..LOL!

Kailani said...

hi~! new to your blog! You are super organized, like me. Me likey. Can't wait for updates!

Mary K. said...

Zenda I was looking at all these posts and when I got here my mouth fell open. You have it all together in that binder which is super smart. I think I would be all over the place.