The Hardest Day

So let's fast forward a little bit.  We set the footings, ran the in-floor tubing (purchased on eBay), and poured the foundation.  Framed the shell, moved into the garage and let's not forget showering with hoses.  Ugh, does that bring me back to some memories.

Mom & Dad took us on a trip to Disney and we had an amazing time (THANK YOU MOM & DAD!!!),



but of course the house was on our minds.  One of the best decisions we made was to have someone else, Alvord Drywall, hang our ceiling sheetrock while we were away.  They apparently got it done in just one day and did a FANTASTIC job!  It cost us $1,056 but probably the best money we could have spent.  It would have taken us WEEKS to do it ourselves even with the drywall lift we bought.  It saved us time, and time is money!

The day we got back home from Disney there was no time to spare.  We ran to Menards and rented an insulation blower.  The 1st hour is $35 and then it's $5/hr after that.  We blew in insulation in all of the ceiling.  We used batting for the bonus room ceiling and the walls.  If I have all the insulation receipts correctly:

BUDGET: $6445
ACTUAL: $4859
SAVINGS: $1586!!!

Other options would have been to spray foam - incredibly efficient but also incredibly spendy and something we were unable to do ourselves.  We did not go light on the insulation and also insulted the interior walls for a sound barrier.

Now onto the hardest days - sheet rocking.  Now hanging the sheetrock itself on the walls really isn't too bad.  It's not the most fun part of the project but it's not too bad.  The bad part is hauling it!  We carried approximately 278, 4x12 and 54"x12 sheetrock into the house.  The worst part and again HARDEST DAY was hauling the 35 sheets up the stairs to the bonus room.  It was incredibly exhausting and pushed me to my physical limit.  I would literally have to tell myself, "you can do this, you are a beast, pick up this f*#%ing sheetrock!!!" and then we'd lift and start up the stairs again and again.  So my recommendation - get a couple sets of these:























Now sure you can pay the lumber yard to boom it in for you.  And if money were not an issue, you better believe I would have had them do this.  However, once you see the numbers you figure out a way to do it yourself.

BUDGET: $5273
ACTUAL: $2294
SAVINGS: $2979!!!



And once we were done hanging drywall it looked a little like this.



We then had Dennis Schmiesing (Breeze - 320-987-3662) mud, tape & texture.  No one else could touch his bid and from previous experience we knew he did great work.  Trust me when I say unless you are good at mudding and taping, pay someone else to do it.  Dennis does an incredible job and is a great guy to top it off!  His bid and bill were the same so our budget and actual are the same at $4216.68.  If you've never hung drywall before talk to your mud and taper to get tips on how they like it done.  There are right and wrong ways to do it.

Last tip before I go.  We opted out of having a dumpster on sight.  We had a dump trailer from my dad instead.  We had to dump it only twice but did it with 2 different companies for 2 completely different amounts!  Waste Management (who we have service through) charged us a whopping $103.62 to dump a trailer.  Then I got smart and called around.  Alex Rubbish & Recycling was only $37.80!  What a difference!  Kudos to Alex Rubbish for having great prices - we may be making a switch simply because of this and their amazing customer service!

I know those of you that are just reading for the design aspect are getting impatient but this was such a huge part of the process.  It's a part that I'll never forget but I also hope it gives encouragement to those that are about to build themselves.  I hope you find the information helpful and again if you have any questions on vendors or process please do not hesitate to ask!

In My Toolbelt:
-Mask
-Work Gloves
-Safety Glasses
-Insulation Cutter
-Drill
-Sheetrock Screws
-Sheetrock Bit (helps sink the screws perfectly)
-Panel Carrier
-Utility Knife
-Sheetrock Saw
-Chalk Line
-Drywall Lift
-Tape Measure
-Hammer
-Pencil(s)
-Rotozip (to cut our boxes & windows)

2 Shakes & a Lantern Short

As we wrapped up work tonight we are officially 99% done with the exterior of the house!!!  We are, however, 2 shakes and 1 lantern short.  UGH!!!  Sometimes these "projects" we start feel never ending.  We have to order yet another box of shakes for the foyer and I still have to find my lantern that I'm turning into a light fixture that's in storage...somewhere.  All she needs now is a concrete slab in front of the garage door, sidewalk and of course grass and landscaping - all summer projects.

It's time to get back to business and share this crazy journey we've been on.  Building came before blogging and I couldn't manage doing them both at the same time.  Sorry to leave you hanging!  So I'm going to give you a little update as to where we are today and what recommendations I have if you're starting a project of your own.

Where we are today:

After 5 months of living in a garage we are now officially living in our house, cooking in our house, and we even sat down for about 30 minutes the other night...let me just say it feels amazing!!!   We are due to close the end of this month and couldn't be more ready to settle down and have some family time.

Getting down to business:

If you are planning a big project this summer the time is NOW to solidify your bids and lock in your vendors.  The longer you wait, the more booked they become and the higher they bid out your job.  That's right, if they have enough work, they will bid your job extra high that way if they don't get it, it's no sweat off their back but if they get it, it's a bonus for them.  So get them now while they are shaking in the knees not knowing what this year will bring!  And if you use any of my recommended vendors please tell them the Bertram's sent you :)  Oh and always, always, ALWAYS get 3 bids!  Yes it will take time but it will save you a ton of money!  But don't always go with the lowest bid as you might not be happy with their work.

Drafter:  We did all of our initial building materials through Hilltop Lumber so we used Nate as our drafter.  I drew up my own plans already with ideal sizes and he fine tuned it.  When it came to making changes I gave his a numbered list of things I wanted changed.  He said because I was so detailed and gave it to him in list form it saved him time and us MONEY!  We came in under budget for the drafting along with partial credit back on building materials.  Then we went to Ed for the sales end of things.  These guys will work one-on-one with you in making some key decision.  Be sure to ask a ton of questions and write it all down.  www.hilltoplbr.com

Excavator:  I highly recommend Jamie with Seph Excavating.  First of all, he just a hoot to talk to, but beyond that, the guy is a work horse.  They came in less than ideal conditions during less than ideal times of the day to get the job done.  He was a connection through Mr. Bertie so it was easy to ask the questions and find out where we can save money and what needs to be done and what doesn't.

Framers: Lennes and Lorentz was our number one choice when we went into this project as the Lennes is family and we trust him and know he does excellent work.  We were right with this decision to go with them because it really went without a hitch...well maybe a few changes but for the most part, it was smooth sailing.  Their bid was what they charged us except we did have an add on when we had them install the soffit and facia because when we came to that point it made sense to just hire it out.



Concrete:  We were recommended to use Lake Mary Concrete and yet again, it was a great choice.  Frank and his crew were by far the hardest working vendor we had throughout the entire project.  They were there sun up to sun down.  They let Jackson help with the footings and even got us set up to put our handprints in the corner of the garage.  Everything was incredibly level and there has been very little settling.  I would recommend them 100 times over.  The amount they bid was the amount we paid.  There were no unexpected charges which was nice.



I'll leave it at that for now, but if you have any questions about these vendors and others that we have used please just ask.

Thanks for checking in and I promise the next post will have some fun pics :)