Happily, we got most of these right, though we learned a few of them too late…
Stonework
- the mortar for setting limestone veneer should be wetter than you think, and the scratch coat should be dry – the scratchcoat pulls the water from the setting mortar in about 15 seconds, and then the veneer sticks tenaciously
- when pointing the stones, wait for the mortar to start to set before tryng to tool it, that will keep the stone face from being stained
- if you build a jib boom, you can use an ordinary loader tractor to move stone and mortar to someone building a chimney on the roof
Contractors
- add a clause to every contract requiring written approval of any overruns or additions, before the work is done – you’ll still pay for the routine overruns but they can be somewhat controlled
- Update 2022: We used Angie’s list with great results to vet contractors, but, sigh…, HomeAdvisor now controls “Angi”, and you can no longer get independent reviews on contractors
Soil
- soil thaws from the bottom up (from the heat of the earth) – Thanks Jim Vail!
- even experienced site contractors won’t put enough pitch away from the house – keep after them until it’s obviously sloped away
Heating
- you MUST put a CO detector in a project when using portable propane or kerosene heaters
Finish Woodwork
- you need to have sophisticated tools and be prepared to hold tolerances to 10 mils or less when doing finish woodwork
- use drywall screws behind the base molding in the corners to square and true the corners before nailing in the base
Electrical
- no holes in engineered structures such as trusses or joists
- only meet code on arc-fault breakers, use regular breakers elsewhere – they’re an expensive nuisance
- GFCI for all kitchen outlets, not just 6′ to sink
- staplers for Romex only work for about half the cabling, plastic straps with nails for the rest
Tile
- mortar the mortarboard to the floor before screwing it down
- a mortar and tile shower is worth the considerable expense and time
Deck
- get stainless wire railing parts from a marine supplier, not a deck supplier (half price!)
- use 70 lb/sq ft design limits instead of 50 for a solid deck (we used 70 for the trusses, and 50 for the cross-beam, with nice results)
HVAC
- put in as many zone dampers on your forced air system as you can afford – at least 3
- have a contractor put in A/C compressors – early failure is common and you want no warranty questions
Plumbing
- use copper elbows to bring PEX out of the wall, don’t bring the PEX out
- using a contractor for waste plumbing reassures the building inspector
- septic designers drift toward overkill designs which are more readily approved, but can be very expensive to install – get recommendations for the designer from your installation contractor
Carpentry
- you will own every type of pneumatic nailing/stapling machine before you are done building – hammers are only useful to finish the occasionally machine-driven nail that doesn’t set
Foundation
- don’t accept 3 steps into the house – push to use top-bearing floor joists, and carefully plan how grade interfaces with the foundation
Utilities
- just because a utility says they will serve a site, doesn’t mean they will serve a site – CenturyLink (confirmed availability) wanted $3000, MidCom wanted $30,000 and Xcel (confirmed availability) gas wanted $300,000
Money
- yes, it will cost more than budgeted
Great Contractors
- Vail Builders
- Dalum’s Electric Service
- Hugo Painting and Drywall
- Penguin Insulation