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.