vicarz | Exhausted house post with lots of house

Well my easiest news was he was not expecting a check on the 2nd invoice, in fact he didn't want me to pay it before he did more work on it such as adding other proposed items. So I paid him another round sum after meeting.

Lots of things have happened: the back main floor wall is wrecked as the french door is being set up, there is far more framing in the basement, there are trenches around the basement for the new walkway to the new door and for a window well by the new egress window, most walls are now primed, the main floor - floor is sanded, and some test stains are done.

French door - requires a steel beam, which isn't installed yet.

He thinks I may be able to move in about 60 days from now.

Doors - reclaimed wood doors, after refinishing them, are about 140 each while new wood doors are about 250 each, he recommended and I agreed to get wood doors. He noted they don't have them all in right now but he'd eat the cost on the difference; I suggested instead I don't care much about the back bedroom and closet doors so they could wait to keep the price low. He'll be taking the cost off to reflect the savings.
Radiators - so he went to the guy to trade the 3 for 2, but then had a baby, and curiously the seller sold the 2 planned for him to someone else - so we'll be waiting on new-old radiators. We don't have a bid for "dipping" yet. Radiators will not be done anytime soon. However, it's fucking July.

MASTER BATH oh dear god decisions. We noted I'm happy with the fixtures he's picked out generally, but I need to decide if I want shower jets on one or both walls, body jets (no), shower-bar-jet combo (huh yeah - they had those on clearance in the place I got my awesome wall radiator), but then it gets complicated: he noted he can put in a pocket door. That's what we originally planned but for some reason it wasn't fitting...oh now I remember, I decided to go with a tub. A tub was going to require pipes on (the door side) (or was it take up too much room) but now a pocket door is...money, like $1,000 parts and labor. Also with a pocket door I can't have pipes on the wall side. He also noted depending on what I do with the shower glass, it will make a huge price difference: a walk in no door shower is like $600 (and to me, sexy) while a hinge glass door pops up quickly to $1400-1600. I think I know what I want, jets on one side only, a glass wall, and a regular swing door...but I'm going to check with Scott, Jason, and the girl for input. But I have to choose door,
Laundry - still could move door, didn't really discuss whether / how the machines fit.
Windows - because they're (mostly) wood he suggested I paint them a color - as all the windows on my block are white, but they're also vinyl. I can paint mine and he highly suggested I should. Neat idea - but colors escape me. I will investigate colors and try to pick something that would both match the current gray or match the red brick if I strip that shitastic paint job off to get back to red brick.
Paint - the bid doesn't include paint. He said it would be like 2 grand to paint the top 2 floors of the house, or I could get someone else to do it, or I could do it...he said he's not offended in any case. At 2 grand I'm thinking of doing it myself or trying another painting party.

Dining room:
Coax and cat5 wires in the dining room were sort of not working for him due to wanting to move the radiator from the wall to allow for the custom storage bench; decided to center the radiator to the wall centered to the dining room light, so chairs pulled back can be on each side of it and for visual symmetry. He'll move the wires down and to the side.
Vent - noted a vent in the dining room would be far from the intake to prevent sucking the cold air back up. Main closet - he's going to make it a wood floor. Works.
Wood floor stain - there are 6 test patches, 3 colors with each varied for 2 levels of stain (5 mins, 15 mins). I think I like the walnut light stain version, but he's going to put more test patches upstairs in the master bath. Then it's time to pick the staining for the floor and get that done.

Stairs railing - he noted it doesn't look original to the house, and the color is dark. He suggested I think about replacing it as it isn't likely original, but I can leave it as is (which was my first choice) (but if it's not original I'm less fascinated with keeping it).

Basement - wow. Lights are already installed (spaced to address joists), framing is in for the most part, and that gets us to -
Basement bedroom - he framed in a closet which eats into the bedroom a little, but then the other part of the room is now framed into the bathroom. See, unlike the floor above, we have framing on the wall, and code for a hallway is 36" while each bathroom fixture has code requirements and there isn't enough room to fit it all long-ways. So the bathroom will have a pocket door which opens between the toilet and sink, with the sink in an alcove built next to the closet in the bedroom (picture framing in a S). I think I like it, lots. Also, his setup preserves the line of sight between the bathroom window and the door.

Utility room - is smaller than I thought, some interesting things: it will not have the downstairs hot water heater. Code requirements are stringent for "common space" and it's considered that if anything they need is in there, so he's moving the hot water into the basement laundry closet. The utility room will be for the upstairs only, hold gas boiler and gas instant on hot water (which he notes could run 3 showers at once), contains the sump pump, and could also store things.
Basement laundry - is a huge room (no size issues there) with room for shelves, and will hold the hot water heater for the basement.

Walls / baseboard trim: he suggested a style, that he'll get me pictures of, that runs flush with the drywall. It will look like a continuous piece with molding, but it's actually about 6" of not drywall. The plus there is if there is ever a flood, the drywall won't be damaged.

Back - he's decided to build a deck and not charge me. Sure! No really, he noticed it seemed odd to build a giant french door that just opens into a tiny metal porch, so he wants to take it out (only leaving the 2 metal columns that go up to the upper deck, leaving the upper deck) and replace it with a larger wooden deck that reaches about where the stairs are now - at no charge. The downside is blocking more light from the basement, but I think I could mitigate that by moving the stairs to the middle and making them backless so light kinda goes through. But a deck? Perfect perch for coffee and drinks, hell yeah. He may keep the metal railing.

Grading - he's not remember saying there would be a grading plan, but he intends to raise the grade to about the top of the bottom stair (8"?) and slowly slope to the back alley. However, with regard to drains, he's running the roof drain to the back alley but with a diverter (for my rain barrel). In addition, the design is to ensure everything moves to the alley and away from the walkway, window well...but if worst comes to worst, the drains in the back of the house would carry water away via the drain (for instance, if the alley flooded too).

Retaining wall - when they dug out for the basement door, they realized the retaining wall doesn't extend...well we just made a wall of dirt. Plus the retaining wall was already bowing out badly - he's going to kill and and replace it with a reinforced concrete wall. $1500 on that item, works.

Trim - he showed me samples that were more ornate that the craftman I pointed out, but it looked fine: windows with "Adams casing," but he didn't remember what the other trim was called.

Tile - he strongly suggested I get long (large) tiles for the shower wall, he likes the wood grain or marble style...suggested not using long tile in the guest bath as it's more "broken up." He also suggested dark tile for the floor as I have the skylight. For the master, he suggests something complex that breaks up long stretches of space with color.

So in the near future I have to decide:
basement bath - which I want to be the toilet and which the sink
Paint and/or paint colors
Floor stain color (he plans to have the new area stains, to which he might add more colors) in the master
Tile, always tile.