Status Report

Work on the new home is nearing completion. The primary holdup is the concrete work for the driveway, front walk, and east side pad. The landscaper needs to complete a paving stone patio and walk in back. The weather has either been too cold or too wet to permit the work to proceed.

We also need stairs built for garage and deck entry.

Need to have a concrete walk laid up to fence line in back.

Electrical work needs to be completed. The light fixture outside the garage door needs to be changed, a blank needs to be installed for the great room light switch, and a number of outlet covers need to be installed. Light fixtures above vanity in powder room are crooked and need adjustment.

An additional outlet has been installed in the hall bathroom. According to Todd of Silverline Electric, the circuit for the bathroom will handle 1440 watts. Our current space heater pulls 1320, so we'll have to get a smaller heater. The 3rd pendant line has been installed in the main kitchen, and an additional switch has been installed for the can lights over the downstairs kitchenette. The LED covers have been changed.

There's still work to be done in the storage room, including installing the vent cover, wrapping the furnace ductwork, and covering a hole in the ceiling.

Trim around fireplace needs to be reattached, and floorboard in front of hearth needs to be installed.

Toilet seat in hall bath is missing.

Temporary shower panel for hall bath remains to be installed.

Touch up painting remains to be done (paint cans in utility room).

Talon Homes, Inc. performed a thorough walkthrough to identify drywall repair and touch up painting required.

Chip Grisham, Talon Homes, Inc.

Mike Creamer, Talon Homes, Inc.

Atrium delivered window screens Thursday. They are stored in the garage. Also in the garage are excess light fixtures that KIE needs to pick up.

There's some hardware (e.g., mudroom closet door pulls) that needs to be attached.

There are items in the garage that need to be retrieved (e.g., old kitchen window, lumber).

Northwood is scheduled to do their "bump and adjust" on the cabinets next Tuesday, the 11th.

Northwood will add hole and grommet to desk to allow electrical/phone wires.

Other fixes are shown in the photos below. Cleaners are working at the house this weekend and any further work in the house may require that they return. Subs should be instructed that shoe/boot covers are mandatory. Laying cardboard will not suffice. Painters should use measures (tarp, tape) to avoid spills.

Access door in master WIC needs to have a handle attached.

Talon is going to arrange to have a lattice work fence built to protect the compressor wire by the deck.

Stuccoed deck posts need to be painted.

Some laminate flooring is not flush. The gaps need to be filled/caulked somehow.

Washer drain needs to be installed.

Bottom of door frames in places not flush with flooring (this is entry to master WIC).

Cabinet Changes

The Richland-Northwood office has emailed Talon Homes, Inc. a list of items that they consider changes to their original quote. The items and my reaction are shown in this blog post.

Northwood-Richland stated that they "reduced" the kitchen cabinet uppers by 3". They did in fact build the uppers to 33" instead of the 36" called for in the approved drawings. This was an unauthorized change and caused considerable rework for Talon. Northwood raised the cabinets and used a larger crown molding.

This 06/01/2010 email from the owner to Northwood-Richland confirms plans for the kitchen cabinets at 36", as well as other facets of Northwood's work, including the desk, and the built-ins around the fireplace.

Northwood-Richland claims that they added a roll-out tray in cabinet #15. There is a roll-out tray in this cabinet, but there's no way to determine from the original drawings provided whether the tray was included initially, or not.

Northwood-Richland did build cabinets in the mud room that were not part of the original plan.

Northwood-Richland states that they "added a bank of 3 drawers" to the utility room  lower cabinets.  They replaced a swing-out cabinet door with three drawers.

Northwood-Richland states that they installed a hanging rod between cabinets. They did,  in the space left by the removal of the 60" of cabinets over the washer and dryer

Northward-Richland states that they "enlarged" the corner upper and made the wall uppers deeper.  The cabinets as shown here appear to be the same as those shown in the drawing below, except that the cabinets over the washer and dryer have been removed, as stated above.

Northwood-Richland stated that they "added two drawers to the vanity" in the master bath. They in fact changed the configuration on the left and right ends of the vanity from one standard drawer and two oversized drawers (3 drawers) to four standard drawers.

Northwood-Richland states that they added medicine cabinets to the master (shown here) and "main" (actually downstairs) bath (shown below). They did.

Downstairs bath showing medicine cabinet.

Northwood-Richland states that they made "multiple design changes" to the downstairs kitchenette/wetbar design. This photo shows the original drawing posted by Northwood on the framed kitchenette wall. The change requested was to combine the two narrow cabinets on either side of the microwave shelf into one larger cabinet (see below). This is the only design change requested.

This is the drawing of the redesigned kitchenette cabinets.

The new drawing showing the redesigned kitchenette cabinets was not posted on the kitchenette, resulting in the soffits built to accommodate the cabinets being incorrect.

The finished cabinets did not align correctly with the soffits, which caused Talon Homes, Inc. considerable rework.

This photo shows the reworked soffits over the kitchenette cabinets.

Northwood-Richland states that they made "design changes" to the built-ins around the fireplace, and built a floating mantle for the FP.  This is the original drawing for the built-ins.

The design change called for reducing the height of the built-ins  from 84" to 48" around the FP, as shown in this Northwood drawing.

Northwood-Richland offered to build the FP mantle in lieu of Talon building it.

Northwood-Richland built the mantle, drilled numerous holes attempting  to locate studs , then hung the mantle  in the wrong place. When they moved it, they damaged the wall, causing Talon additional work to plaster and paint the wall over the mantle (see below).

Northwood-Richland states that they provided particle board tops and "self edge." They don't specify where, but one assumes it was for the bathroom vanities. Someone had to top the vanities. As for the self edge, it was to have been Formica, but Northwood took it upon themselves to do it. JJ Gonzales was there when we discovered they'd done this, and we decided to leave it rather than have them remove it and have JJ do the Formica edge.

Northwood-Richland's email states that they provided a wood desk. They did. It was called for in the original drawings. The only change was that they were asked to provide a wood top (see below), which we opted for instead of quartz.

Reconfigured Cabinets

The reconfigured kitchen cabinets are shown in this post. The soffits had to be firred out and the cabinets raised an inch and fitted with a larger crown molding. The photos below go from left to right, clockwise, around the kitchen.