24. Wall Tile and Floor Tile

Once your home is painted there are several things that can happen while you are waiting on your kitchen counter tops and vanity tops to be installed. When the drywall was hung and the finisher was doing his work your tile person could and should be installing all of your tub tile. With your tub tile installed prior to interior trim your trim carpenter will be able to complete his baseboard 100%. There also is another reason to have your tub tile complete before texture. If you texture your walls prior to completion of tub tile you will create a cosmetic issue around your tub. Most secondary baths tub tile does not go to the ceiling. So when the tile person grouts their tile and sponges it down across the top and down the sides you will end up with a 4 to 6 inch strip where the sponge went across your texture. After the paint is complete your tile company can install all of your floor tile. This could include kitchen, entry, fireplace, bathrooms, laundry rooms and breakfast rooms. Some great rooms and game rooms are also tiled. You will want to install any vinyl at this point in time also. While all of this hard flooring is going in your counter top contractor, vanity top company, solid surface person and/or granite man can install their tops. There might need to be a little coordination between a couple of these contractors. Remember several of these contractors can work in the home together. The key is to make sure they clean up behind themselves. ALL flooring should be covered by the contractor. Your home is starting to take on your personallity now. When you walk in your paint is complete, your tile is complete, all of your K-tops and vanities are installed - Wow your Dream is becoming a reality.

23. Paint

When your home has all of the cabinets installed and the interior trim 100% complete it is time for the painter to get started. The first thing your painter will do is caulk all of your trim and cabinets. All door jambs, baseboards, crown mold, closet shelving, everything should an will be caulked. Once your trim and cabinets are caulked the painter will prime all wood surfaces for enamel. Some places will not let the builder use oil based enamel with out a special permit because of envoirmental concerns. In this case your painter will probably use a latex enamel. Either case the painter will need to spray an undercoater on all of the wood surfaces, even those which claim to be pre-primed. Now comes some labor. The painter will sand everywhere that primer was sprayed. The easiest way to understand why, is to rub your hand on the edge of an unsanded door or window sill and feel the roughness. The wood should be smooth after the sanding is done. Your painter will also stain anything that requires staining with the exception of the front door. If you have a stain grade front door it will not be installed until at the very end of the construction process. The painter will spray his latex on the walls first (after caulk) then he will undercoat all enamel surfaces and stain where required. At this point he is ready to spray your undercoated surfaces with enamel. You will have overspray on your walls. Your second coat of paint should be applied to your walls using a roller. Your painter will cut-in the latex and enamel.by hand. Any stained areas should get their sealer coats. This will make them smooth like glass, no streaks are acceptable. Once the painter has finished his cut-in the home should look finish with out completed selections. Paint should be 100% complete and all masking tape and paper removed. The home is finally coming together. The exterior is almost complete and the interior is looking more like the dream you invisioned.

22. Cabinets and Interior Trim

When the texture is complete you are ready for the cabinets to be installed. Your cabinet supplier can also be your installer, but with some homebuilders they have their trim carpenter install their cabinets. Your cabinet contractor should measure your home for cabinets about the time your electrician is completing his rough. He will be looking for plumbing stub out locations wall locations and if any doors are going to create a problem for the cabinets and their doors. Once your cabinets are installed you are ready for your trim. Your trim carpenter will install all closet shelving, doors, chair rail, crown mold and interior doors. The carpenter will start by hanging doors and installing shelving. Doors should be level, plumb and blocked on both sides. They should never be nailed straight to a stud. Door casing will be installed on one side of the door from the manufacturer which will facilitate making sure the door is plumb and level. When your doors are hung and the casing is installed on both sides the carpenter will run your baseboards. You want the doors hung before installing baseboard to make sure you get tight cuts and fits at the door trim. He should use the longest length of baseboard possible. If you have (which you will) walls that are longer than 16 feet he will have to splice two boards together. Splices should be 5 to 6 feet minimum from corners. The reason is that if you have a door you are going to have a door stop. When the door opens and hits the door stop there are going to be vibrations which can cause the joint in the base to show. Crown mold chair rail and stair rails should also be installed. On your stairs make sure you have skirt boards. So guys will try to save money by not installing them, but walking up and down the stairs will beat up your drywall especially if you have kids. While the carpenter is installing your trim, your counter top and vanity top supplier will measure for your tops. This is why your Pre-Drywall is so important. We know at this time if you have granite, solid surface and /or marble. Your cabinets are complete, your interior trim is complete and your 'K-tops' (counter-tops) and vanity tops are measured now it is time for the painter. You can start seeing the inside take shape.

21. Finish Drywall and Texture

Once your drywall is hung and any required nailing inspections have been completed you are ready for the 'Finisher' to start the tapping and bedding. This a multi-step process and the weather will have an impact. The first step is to tape all of the drywall joints. This does not use tape like we know it with a sticky side, this part is using drywall mud and what is called tape. The tape will be installed using the drywall mud and cover all joints and crinkles. A crinkle is where a sheet of drywall might of been dropped and developed a crack in the drywall. These crinkles are not very noticeable until after paint. Your finisher should be tuned into looking for them and you might not even notice one. If you see a tape joint in the middle of a board or where you know there wasn't a joint that is what it is. After all joints have been taped the next step is to bed the joints. The first phase has to be dry so it might not take place until the next day. If you live in a humid climate or if it is the rainy season, or the winter where the mud can freeze it could take longer. Your mud might look dry to the untrained eye, but your contractor will know when he can move forward. The last stage is floating out the joints. Your joints will be somewhere between 8 and 12 inches wide. All joints will be smooth and the finisher will sand and and touch-up as necessary. Your builder and texture person should walk home prior to spraying.
There are several types of texture and your builder will have one or it might be a selection option. The part of the country live in will also determine what type of texture is offered. Some builders do not texture and offer slick finished walls. This is popular in the North and Northeast. Once your texture is complete you are ready for your cabinets and interior trim to commence.

20. Exterior Cleans

Cleanliness is next to Godliness! Your new home has several times in which the exterior will be cleaned. Each contractor has an obligation (contractual) to clean the job site at the completion of their job and some need to clean every day. Your builder will have an exterior clean contractor who will clean the home at various stages. Listed are the minimum cleans you can expect. Some builders might break up the cleans slightly different but these are the basics.

Clean 1; Form Clean - after the slab is poured and the forms are racked the lot is cleaned. Concrete over pour is picked up and all trash is removed. This clean can also have your flat work clean in it. If your builder installs flat work prior to dropping his frame package this will be the case. If this is the case the clean will take place after your flat work forms are racked. Now the lot is ready for your rough grade.

Clean 2; Frame Clean - This is done when the frame, cornice, shingles and mechanical roughs are complete. So you can see this clean could be done in stages depending on the home's size. The clean crew will pick up all returnable material and stack in designated location for return and haul all other unusable material away and sweep home. There should be no trash in home. You should have clean floors.

Clean 3; Drywall Clean - When your drywaller has completed the finish work and/or texture, (depending on your region of country) the clean crew will pick up all trash and sweep home. Your drywaller and texture crew both should scrap your floor to remove all of the drywall mud that might of fallen. Your drywaller should have two piles of trash, one in the front and one in the rear.

Clean 4; Brick/Masonry Clean - Your contractor will stack any usable bricks in a pre-determined location for the home owner and/or for unforeseen repairs and haul the unusable away. Around the foundation the mortar in the yard should be racked up and removed. You should be ready for your flat work installation after this clean if it wasn't installed at slab pour.

Clean 5; Trim Clean - This clean is done when cabinets, interior trim, interior paint and mechanical trims have been completed. Your vinyl, floor tile and wall tile are also included in this clean. Your home should get another sweep with this clean also. Every contractor should clean and sweep when they finish their job. When this clean is completed your home looks like a home and should just need some fine tuning and final selections.

Clean 6; Carpet Clean - When your homes punch is complete, your appliances are installed and carpet is completed this clean takes place. The interior cleans are complete and your landscape is finished. Your contractor will power wash your flat work, (some builders have the flat work cleaned by the interior clean crews).

Clean 7; This is a miscellaneous clean. If you have repairs on your home prior to move in, anything needs to be changed out or whatever, this makes sure that it can be taken care of.

Every contractor has clean up responsibility for their work. In most cases they will use a pile in the front yard or the garage. In rare cases the rear yard will also be utilized.
No matter, the lot and home should always look organized.

19. Flatwork

When your exterior masonry work is complete you are ready for your 'Flat work' to be installed. Most flat work is poured concrete with a minimum psi of 2500. The exterior borders are usually 2x4 material with the expansion joints being 1x4 redwood. Up against concrete that is already in place like garages, entry porches and foundation steps you want to use black joint. Your concrete should be a minimum of 31/2 inches thick. There should be at least 1/2 inch of cushion sand under the concrete. When you set your exterior form you want to check for straightness and you want to look at your drainage situation. Concrete can act as a dam if proper planning does not take place. Your builder should be looking at his drainage plan along with the slope of the land so that when he is cutting out your flat work he make sure that water will not run into your home or garage. He should also tilt your concrete so as to allow water to easily flow into the planned drainage for the lot and not to stand o your concrete. You do not want standing water or blocked drainage. Your builder should of looked at his drainage situation prior to or during your prestart meeting. Concrete expands and contracts, so expansion joints and control joints are required to control where it will happen. Most municipalities require an inspection for city sidewalks and for your driveway approach. If you can, try to walk your flat work prior to it being poured. In most cases this is not necessary, but if you have extensive flat work, taking a look prior to concrete placement makes sense. Once all of the forms are racked, (stripped and removed) you we be able to really visualize the finished exterior.

18. Masonry

When the exterior elevation has been verified as correct and your builder has passed his required inspections you are ready for the mason to get started. Some municipalities will require that all wall ties are installed and some will require them installed to the first floor plate line. If you are using colored mortar the mason will write down his mix or it will be determined by the builder. This will insure that the color will be consistent. When laying brick the mason should always complete the front of your home fist. Mason's like starting on the sides because in most cases they are runs and go up pretty quickly. The reason you want to complete the front first is that brick like most things that have color are manufactured in 'runs' or 'lots'. Color and patterns are only guaranteed for the run or the lot. If you run out of brick before the front is complete your builder will order the same brick but he might not be able to get the same run. This could mean color variations on the front of your home. If the variations is on the back or side of your home it will be less noticeable. Bricks are a porous material and because of that there should be weep holes installed where the brick meets the foundation. If you live in a cold climate area where your brick ledge is at the bottom of the frost line, then your weep holes should be located about 4 to 6 inches above your final grade line. When the brick is going up your mason might leave the fourth or fifth brick out at the brick ledge. This will let the mason clean out behind the brick and make sure that water can flow down the back side and leach out of the weep holes. You have to realize that when you are laying brick and/or stone you are going to have excess mortar that is on the backside that will build up and fall in the cavity between the masonry wall and the vapor barrier. If your weep holes do not work properly you can get water build up behind the masonry wall and penetration into the home. Another thing you want to see on your home are expansion joints. Brick, stone or brick/stone combinations will expand and contract with the weather. Expansion joints control where this expansion and contraction will take place. There should be no wall over thirty five (35) feet long that does not have an expansion joint. You should have an expansion joint every twenty-five feet minimum. There are some cases where thirty-feet might be acceptable. Your builder and mason will try to put these joints at windows to make the breaks easier. They should run from the bottom of the foundation all the way to the brick freeze. If you have flaws in your cornice the mason should always tear the cornice down and brick correctly. Walking soldiers will hide a lot of imperfections. Hose bibs, electrical outlets, exterior doors and any other penetrations that require the mason to cut brick or mortar around them should be looked at tightness. These are great places for bugs to enter the home. When the masonry has been completed and the mason has cleaned the brick/stone you should stand back and look at the finished job. You are looking for straightness and for levelness. At this point you have trim boards, soffit, freeze boards, lintels, doors, door trim and other lines that should line up plumb and straight. Once the painter completes the exterior caulking and paint, your home should look great.

17. Hang Drywall

Your drywall is hung after all inspections have passed and you have had your pre-drywall walk. There are just a few things to be aware of with drywall hanging, you always hang the second floor before the first floor and you always hang the ceilings first. The reason is that drywall adds weight to the home and in the process along with gravity it is pulling all of your wood tighter together. The hanger will cut out for all of your electrical outlets, around plumbing pipes and any other penetrations. Corners that will transfer vibrations should not have joints. Doors and operable windows should have the drywall cut in what looks like an 'L' going around them. Dry wall comes in several sizes and several thicknesses. You should have 5\8 inch on your ceilings and with an attached garage the common walls with the home should have fire rated drywall on them. In most cases this drywall is identified with an 'X' on it. Different municipalities have different fire code requirements, some might require one hour fire rating and some are going to require two hours. For hanging walls the contractor should use the largest (longest) board possible. Drywall is usually 4x8, 4x9, 4x10 and 4x12. Because of the design of homes and hallways you can not always get the larger sheets in every part of the home. Dry wall is hung on its side with the 4ft side going up. This way if you have an eight foot wall you will have two sheets on top of each other. On 9ft ceilings you want to hang the board on the ceiling and the board on the floor prior to the middle board, which will have to be cut to fit. You never want the seams of two boards lining up with each other. All of your vertical seams should be staggered. How ever your horizontal seams will line up by the nature of the hanging process. You will also get a drywall nailing inspection prior to the 'Tape\Bedding-Float and Texture' contractor starting, if you are getting texture. Drywall is attached to the studs two ways, drywall nails or drywall screws. Both are designed for hanging drywall and are excellent when they are used together. Now your drywall is hung and inspected, your home is ready for the 'Taper'. He is the guy who walks on stilts!

16. Your Pre-Drywall Walk

You should meet the CM on the job site. It would be nice if your sales person could be there also. All builders do not require sales participation for the sales consultant on the job site. You should request his/her presence just to insure that communications that you have had with the consultant have been relayed properly to the CM and change orders discussed are installed according to your wishes. You want to have a copy of all change orders for your home. You should of received a copy of the paperwork from the builder. Most builders have an approval process for change orders. You should have copies with the proper person's signature approving your change orders. The first thing you want to do in your meeting is verify all of your change orders were received by the CM. This will probably to the first order of business. The builder will verify that all selection are made and what those selections are. Your brick will probably be on the job site at this point and your exterior paint, depending on the part of the country you live in, will be complete or being completed, so those verifications are easy. Once you verify that every one has all of, and the correct change orders you are ready to walk the home. You want to start from the front curb. Just hold the plan up and see if it looks like the picture. Once you have verified that the elevation is correct walk through the front door. Hold the plan as it is on the ground and walk the home. What we are doing is just making sure, that yes the walls and doors are where they show. You shouldn't have to pull a tape on every wall, hall, or door, but if something looks strange don't hesitate to ask for a tape to be pulled. You can now go back to the front door and start a room walk. You really do not want to combine these two parts. On the second time through the home you are reviewing rooms, any and all change-orders, cabinet locations, and all low voltage wiring locations. Once everything has been verified on the interior of the home we should go through the back door to the rear of the home, (some CM's will walk the entire exterior in the beginning which is fine). We want to look at the rear of home to insure it looks like the plan, talk about the patio, fence location and which side of the fence is going to show on each side. You should be shown your sewer line location and clean-out. Your water meter location, water line and where it enters the home should also be identified. Drive way location and entry walks and any other flat work should be discussed. At this point of construction several contractors will be able to work at the same time which will make things go a lot faster. Remember your home is running on two schedules, one inside and one outside. Once you are finish with this walk you should be preparing for closing and move-in.

15. Minimum Customer Walks

During the construction of your new home there should be several formally planned homebuilder and homebuyer interactions, or homebuyer walks. You should have at least four of these walks. There should be a check list to make sure all relevant topics are covered for that stage of construction.
They are;

Pre-Start/Lot Walk

Pre-Drywall walk

Buyer Introduction Walk

Buyer Acceptance

Each walk serves a purpose and is a good way to keep the homebuyer and the homebuilder on the same page.

The Lot Walk is where the homebuilder will show you how the home will sit on your lot. Driveway location will also be determined. You will also be shown water meter and sewer locations. You could even have a 'Plot Plan' at this stage. If you want to change your foundation location closer to the street or move it back, maybe even flip the home, now is the time to have that conversation. You might want to identify trees you are trying to save, this is the time to have and finish those conversations. You should also discuss the entire process. Time lines will be discussed and limits on what can be done will be set.

Pre-Drywall is where you get to review your low voltage locations, check any framing issues that might give you concern. You want to verify masonry selections, exterior paint colors, and most homebuilders will require you to have completed your interior selections. You will also check your phone, cable, and any computer wiring locations. Remember that once you complete this walk your home will become essentially two homes - one interior and one exterior. Weather will have an impact on the exterior schedule, but should have minimum effect on the interior finishing.

Buyer Intro Walk should be an introduction to your new home. This is 'NOT' suppose to be a punch out session even though there will be a formal list of corrections that should be made prior to your acceptance walk and closing. Your home should be finished and clean. The person doing the intro will explain your appliances, electrical, plumbing, HVAC and anything that operates. This walk could take as long as two hours, but most can be done in one to one-half hours. The home should look ready for move-in.

Buyer Acceptance is for you to sign off on the home being complete. During your intro you might of found some paint touch up or something that needed adjustment. You will check those items for completion and sign off the formal list generated during your intro walk. the customer service policy should be reiterated and you should be 'Welcomed to the Community'.

These planned meetings will hopefully give you confidence in the quality of your home. You also get to see the inner works and understand the complexities of new home construction. These walks will make the process less complex, more understandable and maybe make you more comfortable with something that just might be be largest purchase you have made.

14. Insulation

There are several types of insulation. The most popular is fiberglass. No matter the type it is installed in the cavities created between the studs on the exterior walls of your home. Sometimes the ceilings are 'Batted' also. In most cases the flat ceilings have blown insulation. Insulation is given an R-rating based on the material and the material's thickness. All sloped ceiling should be batted. You will notice that the batts on sloped ceilings are not has thick as those on flat ceilings. The reason is that the thickness is measured straight up and down, so the thickness is the same. You can have your C.M. demonstrate this on your pre-drywall walk. All batts should be installed with the paper side towards your drywall. The paper backing (moisture barrier) should be stapled to the studs to ensure that it stays in place. If you have blown insulation in your attic you will have 'Baffles' installed everywhere you have soffit venting. This will make sure that the blown insulation does not block the air flow from the soffit venting into the attic. All small cavities should have insulation stuffed in them, these might be openings between the blocking for doors and corners. The home is also 'Poly-Sealed' at this point. Poly-seal is an expandable foam that is used in all drilled openings on exterior walls, any and all exterior penetrations like hose bibs and electrical outlets along with top plate penetrations. Your exterior bottom plate (treated plate) should also have a bead of poly seal. You need to be aware of 'Cold Floors'. A cold floor is a floor where the bottom is exposed to the unconditioned air of outdoors. If you have a room over a port-a-cache or if you have an unfinished basement these are examples of cold floors. The space under them is not heated are air conditioned. On something like a port-a-cache or second floor room over a patio you have to check that the insulation was installed prior to the soffitt being installed. If you are installing sound proofing for a music room or home theater now is the time for that to happen. Once your insulation is completed, your insulation inspection has passed you are ready for your pre-drywall walk.

13. Cover Inspection

Once we have all of your mechanicals installed, and the framer has come back and completed his punch list from the construction manager you are ready for your "Cover Inspections". You will get your plumbing, electrical, and HVAC inspected for proper installations. Plumbing will be checked for leaks and to make sure drains works. You should have your water line installed to home and your sewer line should be in and inspected. Your hose bibs are on and working. Your plumbing system is functional at this time. Your electrical gets checked for size of wiring, and the location of panels. The inspector will also look for distances of boxes from water sources, and locations of smoke detectors and alarms. Your HVAC inspections will make sure that your equipment matches up, the sizing of your duct work and return airs will be checked to ensure they match your manual 'J'. Location of duct work and return airs will also be looked at. Your framing will get most of the attention. Some places have a separate inspector for each item. Your building inspector will make sure that your framing is structurally sound. He will be looking for bracing, purlins, rat runs, joist sizing, rafter bracing, load transference, anchor bolts, tie downs, and all of the 3,000 things you need to check on. On all inspections reports you will find a disclaimer which states in so many words that items noted are the items that were visually seen by the inspector, and its report does not in any way mean that there are no other violations. In other words he could miss something. The inspector is not going to catch it all. No one is. That is why the more eyes the better. Once every ones punch list (inspection list) has been completed the home will be called for re inspection. The inspector can not add items at this stage unless the item will effect the health and/or welfare of the home buyer. Generally they come back and review only the items on their report. They sign off on the corrections and the home is ready for insulation. You are also ready for the installation to commence on any exterior masonry work.

12. Mininum Inspections for your New Home

Inspections are for your safety and to make sure a certain level of workmanship is adhered to. Different municipalities have different inspection requirements for your homebuilder to comply with.   Along the gulf coast you have hurricane straps and wind requirements for windows. Here are the minimum you should have;



Plumbing Ground

Foundation

Plumbing Top-Out

HVAC Rough

Electrical

Frame

Insulation

Plumbing final

HVAC Final

Electrical Final

Building Final



Each municipality might have a few added inspections like drywall nailing, flashing, or different types of inspections for mechanical contractors. The above inspections are the bare minimum you need to ensure that your home is built to acceptable building standards.