25. Mechanical Trims

Once the paint is complete you can have your HVAC trim installed. This will be your air supply grills, return air vents, your thermostats and your outside units will be placed and hooked up. You need to wait on your tops to be installed for the plumber to start his trim, but once all of the vanity tops and kitchen counter tops are installed you will get your plumbing trim. You also need your flooring so that the toilets are installed on top of your vinyl or tile floors. If you have pedestal sinks they also will be installed on top of your flooring instead of being cut around. During this phase of the construction process if you have a tile or a special type of back splash it will need to be installed prior to your electrical trim. Once all of your Plumbing, and HVAC trims are complete and your wall tile is installed you will get an Electrical trim. During the electrical trim all light fixtures will be installed, all outlets trimmed out, and everything that is electrical will be hooked up with one exception - That exception being your appliances. All breakers and service panels built and installed. Everything should be labeled, like GFCI's and all breakers in your panel boxes. When the electrician finishes the home is really looking finished. I try to get the low voltage contractor in the home to do his trim on the electrician's last day. This will be your security trim, intercom, central vacuums, speakers, etc. During this whole process your mechanical contractors will be getting their final inspections. Depending on your area these inspections can take place in different combinations. Some places require each mechanical to get an individual inspection and will install gas and electrical meters based on these inspections. Some places the gas company will inspect the gas prior to installing a gas meter, and some cities will do the inspections for the gas companies. This will allow for completion of the home and then your builder will have to get a building 'Final Inspection' or an 'Occupancy Inspection' for move-in. Some places will let you temp in the home with power so you can finish it and then you would get your final building and/or occupancy inspections before they will allow you to get your permanent meters.
We have gotten ahead of ourselves just a little bit. Finishing a home is one of the two most difficult stages of the building process.

30. Exterior Completion

When your flatwork is poured your homebuilder will continue with the completion of the exterior of your home.  This goes pretty quick depending on time of year and the weather.  Once your flatwork is poured and the forms are racked your homebuilder will final grade your lot/land.  The drainage will be touched up to ensure that it is working and the lot will be smoothed out and prepared for sodd and landscape installation.  Your drainage was established during your rough grade.  Your gutters will be installed after the final grade and prior to the placement of the sod. Different builders have different packages and address sod differently.  Some will sodd the front yard, some will sod the front and side.  Some will 'Sprigg' the rear yard, some will 'Hydro-Mulch' the rearyard, while others will completely sod the rear yard.  You should know what you and your homebuilder signed up for at the beginning of the process.  If you are having a privacy fence installed the fence contractor will need to be 100% complete prior to the installation of your sodd. This is so the sod can be watered without having someone track through it.  In neighborhoods your homebuilder should have a pattern established for how the fence installation is going to take place to avoid any confusion with his clients.  As you know, on fences you have a finished side and the side with the cross boards showing.  There are a lot of reasons for having and not having either.  Some are the boys will use the cross boards to climb on, or the cross boards will be great for the strings for my garden.  Here are a couple of things you can count on - Corner lots will have the finish side out, you will get one side run with the cross boards in your yard and the rear run will be determined by the homebuyer who's fence is installed first.  Now some homebuilders and communities require 'Good Neighbor' fenceing on the rear run and sometimes even on the side runs.  A 'Good Neighbor' fence is one where the panels are alternated,  finished side - cross boards -finished side - cross boards, all the way.  Usually the exterior of your home is completed around the time your mechanical trims are being punched and inspected.  This will mean your homebuilder will have to water your yard and he should mow it prior to move-in.  The exterior is complete and most homebuilders do not care if you come out and help with the watering of your grass and plants.  Don't abuse the privilege by leaving the water on all night or letting the sprinklers water the streets.  Your home is starting to  look like a Home when you drive up to it.

29. Finishing Your New Home

Your painter is finishing the last touch-ups in the home. Your appliances should be going into the home on or about the painter's last day in the home. You do not want to have them installed too early because the contractors might use them and you risk them getting damaged with all the people moving around the home. If you have wall paper being installed in the kitchen you will have ladders and other tools which could scratch or ding your appliances. You do want to have them installed prior to your carpet installation being completed. If you have wood floors going into the home they should be installed the day after the painter walks out. You reduce the probability of paint being wasted or painter tools scratching your wood floors. Once the wood has been installed you can install your carpet. The flooring contractor should have the home all by him/herself when this job is being done. Depending on the size on the home this could be a two to three day job. Before any work is started the installer will scrap and sweep your floor to make sure all debris is remove and the floor is smooth.  This might require your flooring contractor to float your floor.  Don't get excited this is normal and it ensures a flat level surface.  Your contractor will lay tack strip and 'GLUE' your pad down prior to laying your carpet. While the carpet is being placed the flooring contractor might have someone install your transition strips throughout the home. These strips are between the varies types of floors and as in the name, make the transition from one material to another materail look finished. Some contractors will wait until their punch out person inspects the workmanship of the installation job to install their transition strips. Immediately after the carpet is finished, this could be the next day, the interior cleaning crew will do their carpet clean. This entails vacuuming the carpet and polishing the entire home. The home at this point will look livable. When the cleaning crew has completed their carpet clean you will need several contractors back in the home. You will need the trim carpenter to check door stops and install shoe mold on your wood floors if the flooring contractor does not. I know, sounds funny - some homebuilders prefer to install painted shoe mold on their wood floors versus the larger shoe mold the wood floor manufacturer has. You should know what you are getting when you do your selection back prior to your Pre-Drywall.  When the trim carpenter finishes the painter will need to go back in the home and do his after carpet touch up. Your home should be getting the final touches completed on it at this time. You will be getting your certificate for occupancy from the municipality that you are in, all systems in the home are being rechecked to ensure they function the way they were intended to function. The home will get a 'Quality Inspection' from the build if they have a 'Quality Assurance' (QA) process to make sure the home meets their quality standards. Your home will be in the fine tuning stage for a few days. If your homebuilder has a few homes being constructed in the community it could take just a day or two, depending on the completeness of the work that was done along the way. These days finishing your home should ensure that your buyer introduction to your home is truly an introduction and not just a punch out section.

28. Paint Four

While the contractors are completing their punch the interior trim carpenter will do his 'Lock-Out '. This will be when your towel bars, toilet paper holders, door stops and all of your door knobs get installed. You should also have your good front door installed. Your carpenter will complete any trim or carpentry work that needs to be completed. Once the carpenter and the other contractors have completed their punch the home will be ready for it's 'Final Clean 1'. (refer to post 27)
The home is ready for a 'Paint 4', this is where everything that is not painted or not acceptably painted gets done. Your front door will be stained and sealed. All drywall patches should be completed and textured and every thing that is going on the inside and the outside of the home is in place with the exception of appliances, wood floors and carpet. Once the first final clean is complete your screens should be released for installation. The exterior fencing and landscaping should be finishing. Your painter should have the homes interior to himself. Paint is one of those things that can be difficult to say it is complete. If you paint a wall today and we accept it, tomorrow your brother will come in and see some thing else. The best way to punch paint is to be approximately 3 - 5 feet away from the wall and look at it. To see the painters detail, go in a bathroom and sit on the commode. While you are sitting there look at your baseboards, look at the bottom of your window sill and take a look at the corners. If they are acceptable then you will find that most of his work will be. The painter will pay more attention to areas that he knows you will spend a lot of time, like the kitchen , bathrooms, water closets, breakfast room and master retreat. When the painter has finished and had his 'Paint 4' accepted by the construction manager the home is ready for wood floors to be installed along with your carpet.

27. Interior Cleans -

Keeping the home clean during construction is a very important task. Every contractor has a cleaning clause in their contract. There are several reasons for the job site to be kept clean. Two of the more important ones are for job site safety. People are working on the job site and boards with nails and garbage all over a site will not lend itself to being safe. Second is to keep the insects, rodents and pest away from the home. You want to control where the workers eat and where they put their trash.
Once you have your mechanical trims complete you will receive your first interior clean. Here are your basic interior cleans;

1) Final Clean 1

2) Final Clean 2 (Carpet)

3) Final Clean - Buyer Walk

4) Final Clean - Buyer Move-In

1) Final Clean 1 is when you get the bathrooms cleaned, all the windows are cleaned inside and outside, the kitchen is cleaned, cabinets inside and out. Light fixtures cleaned, floors scrapped and swept and baseboards cleaned. When this clean is complete the home looks ready for carpet and to the untrained eye and might and should look finished. This clean makes it easy for the painter to finish all of his caulking, the trim carpenter this install hardware and put the finishing touches on his work. All of your contractors will finish the punch that they have not completed due to back orders or whatever after this clean.

2) Final Clean 2 (Carpet) is after all your flooring is installed and the carpet is installed. Usually this clean takes place the day after your carpet is installed. The main reason is that you want to check the installation and make sure the seams are done correctly. All appliances are unpacked. All missing light bulbs or burnt out bulbs are usually replaced by the cleaning crew at this clean. The home really looks ready for move-in.

3) Final Clean - Buyer Walk is the clean you do the day before or the the morning of your Buyer Introduction. Your cleaning crew will wipe down all cabinets and sinks with lemon oil. Wood floors are cleaned with a wood floor cleaner, windows are wiped clean of dust and window tracks are checked for cleanliness. The home should be ready for move-in.

4) Final Clean - Move-In is after all of your buyer items are completed and you are ready to sign off on the construction of the home. You might be on your way to the title company or lawyers office to close. This is it. Your home is complete and you are ready to  take possession. Congratulations - You are now the owner of a new home built just for you.

Some homebuilders might have more cleans and do those cleans at slightly different stages, but all builders will have these four basic cleans and implement them as stated above as a minimum to insure that they are getting and giving the quality that their home owners deserve.

26. Finishing Punch

Now comes the detail. When the mechanical contractors are finish with their trims your CM will walk the home turning lights on and off, checking to see if your water faucets work and all of your stoppers actually stop water from draining. He is looking for leaks in drain pipes, seeing if the toilets work and the toilet paper holders are where they need to be. He will also be looking at your drywall for repairs and touch up. This is the time to catch and fix all imperfections and make sure light fixtures are not scratched and smoke detectors work. This is when you make sure cabinets are not scratched and the doors work properly. Any missing trim is installed and all doors are adjusted if required. As you can see this is when the detail work takes place. Each sub contractor will also walk his/her work for completion. This process could take one to two weeks depending on what is needed. To replace a light fixture might take a week to come in where a cabinet might take two weeks. This is one of the reasons why we schedule contractors like we do. If something gets damaged during their time in the home they are charged for the damage. This helps keep cost down and insures that everyone is respecting each others work. Once all of the 'Punch' work is complete along with the dry wall punch your home is ready for the painter. Remember, at this point you 'DO NOT HAVE THE CARPET OR ANY WOOD FLOORS INSTALLED'. If you are having a wood entry installed it could be there. Painter is ready for his paint '4 ' when the home is cleaned.