I worked until midnight to get the drain line and water line conduit in. Nothing like digging trenches in the dark.

I ended up putting a catch basin in with a pipe under the pad to a pop-up emitter on the other side.

Any reason you did t put in a roof awning over the garage door opening to break up the profile of the front?

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Any reason you did t put in a roof awning over the garage door opening to break up the profile of the front?

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We tried that design at first, but I didn't like the way it looked.

Not much to report - still getting home too late to take pics.

Driveway is in, and we got rained out yesterday and today. Rough HVAC is almost done. Stairs go in Thursday and rough electrical should start Friday.

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Not much to report - still getting home too late to take pics.

Driveway is in, and we got rained out yesterday and today. Rough HVAC is almost done. Stairs go in Thursday and rough electrical should start Friday.

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Excuse my ignorance, but what do you mean by rough? Does that mean everything is laid out and marked for installation?

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Not much to report - still getting home too late to take pics.

Driveway is in, and we got rained out yesterday and today. Rough HVAC is almost done. Stairs go in Thursday and rough electrical should start Friday.

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Excuse my ignorance, but what do you mean by rough? Does that mean everything is laid out and marked for installation?

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There are two stages: rough-in and trim-out. Rough-in is when the "unseen" stuff is installed like ductwork, wires and pipes in the walls, etc. Trim-out is the finishing for what you will see: air registers, receptacles, switches, faucets, lights, etc.

Enjoying the build and the thread.

Back to the tree as I don't think this has been addressed. I understand that the front corner, closest to the tree, of the original unit had settled a couple of inches. I also understand that this is in Houston, an area that has clay soils highly susceptible to shrinking and swelling with change in moisture. If that is the case, then my concern is that the the root system of the tree will cause the ground to shrink and swell with variation in moisture.

The better constructed slab will help with this issue, but likely not eliminate differential settlement over time.

A good rule of thumb in areas with expansive soils is not to build or plant trees near your foundation.

I didn't read every word of thread, so apologies if this have been covered.

Finally got home early enough to get some decent pics of the progress. We got stairs today. the rough mechanical was finished a couple days ago, and the rough electrical started today. The plumber also started prep for the rough plumbing today.









The stairs are hot-dipped galvanized with precast concrete treads. Low/no maintenance and totally worth the upgrade price over wood stairs.

i dig the concrete

DP

Looks great.

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Make sure to ask who the supplier is for the stair treads. That way when one cracks down the road you know where to go for a replacement.

I'm a huge fan of getting a supplier list with contacts for just about everything on a project like this (including the subs).

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Camp Logan Concrete. they've been around for almost a hundred years.

Rough plumbing has been going in in earnest the last couple of days. I'm really happy about that because they aren't charged contract days. In fact, we've only had two actual rain days in the last 53 calendar days. Today marks construction day 32B (there have been two non-contract days worked since construction day 32).

We ordered appliances already (Black Friday sales- WHOOP!), and my builder said the apartment should be ready enough to take delivery of appliances at the end of January. That's about a month ahead of the contract schedule.

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Looks great.

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EpoxyAg - I talked to the builder, and we should be good to get you scheduled before the plumbing trim out in maybe 6-8 weeks. We have to do it before the WH goes in so you aren't working around it.

Thanks RTT. You seem to be well organized in front of everything. Construction may have been your calling.

Day 36: Rough plumbing and electrical







We had all of our plumbing inspections today (sewer, rough-in, ground-in, and water service). All passed!

Rough-in electrical was supposed to be done today, but I'm pretty sure he needs to come back to finish a few things. I know there is at least one correction to be made because some receptacles were not installed in the proper location.

Next week should get us to mechanical and electrical rough-in inspections, then insulation can go in for sheetrock.

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Day 36: Rough plumbing and electrical



Rough-in electrical was supposed to be done today, but I'm pretty sure he needs to come back to finish a few things. I know there is at least one correction to be made because some receptacles were not installed in the proper location.

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Based on that pic, looks like quite a few electrical things need to be finished!

Just kidding RTT, as I've got quite a few things to do myself on our home renovation!

Retrofits are always so much more of a pain in the ass. My house used to be only 10 or 12 total circuits. Only TWO of them powered all of the receptacles and lights in the whole house - on 14 gauge knob & tube. The house now has 22 circuits.

Nice progress!

Last time I counted we were in the low 40s and I need to run one for the server closet outlets and another for bathroom floor heating.

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What's all the yellow ribbon stuff all over?

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12-2 Romex

Didn't notice before when you posted, but now I see the water lines are roughed in as PVC(?) & wrapped. Any reason you're using PVC over PEX? I understand the cost savings over copper. Were there additional savings by using PVC over PEX?

Note: I work in commercial construction so all i ever see is copper.

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Didn't notice before when you posted, but now I see the water lines are roughed in as PVC(?) & wrapped. Any reason you're using PVC over PEX? I understand the cost savings over copper. Were there additional savings by using PVC over PEX?

Note: I work in commercial construction so all i ever see is copper.

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The sub he uses doesn't install PEX, and it would have delayed the whole thing while he went to find a different sub for my project. There would have been a delta in price, but probably not huge, except for the costs associated with slowing the project. The sub he uses does all of his projects, so it's really quick and easy.

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What's all the yellow ribbon stuff all over?

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12-2 Romex

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YOU'RE KILLING ME SMALLS!!!

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What's all the yellow ribbon stuff all over?

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12-2 Romex

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YOU'RE KILLING ME SMALLS!!!

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I couldn't help myself.

Fair enough, I was just curious. I'd figure most would want to use PEX cause material waste can be significantly cut down if you drill all your holes first then feed it from the source or branch in one continuous pull.

And it's easier to work with than PVC, I would imagine.

But to each their own.

I agree. My house is a PEX retrofit.

Yeah, I got converted to PEX back in 2007 and I'll NEVER go back...just got through PEXing a tub/shower plumb job for our home renovation and as usual, it was a piece of cake!

Passed electrical rough in and HVAC inspections today. That clears us for insulation and sheetrock. My builder tells me this stage puts us 4-5 weeks from completion.

As predicted, things have slowed down a bit as of late. We failed the polyseal and structural inspection (first red tag for the entire project) and had the corrections inspection today. We were cleared to close the walls, and the insulation guys are scheduled to work on that all weekend. Drywall has been staged in the building and will be ready to go as soon as insulation is finished.

I've purchased all of the fixtures except the water heater and am glad I ended up renting a storage unit for a while because we have to stage it all there. We just gave the builder a key and he can go get stuff when he needs it.

The one significant correction we have to make before final inspection is repour the landing for the stairs. The stair fabricator screwed up the measurements and the landing is too short to meet code. He provided the measurements to the concrete contractor.

I should also add that we are currently 47 construction days in (out of 100) and $4,050.04 UNDER budget.

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I should also add that we are currently 47 construction days in (out of 100) and $4,050.04 UNDER budget.

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You realize you just jinxed yourself right?