This stage is called the "rough-in". There is
a specific order everyone follows when completing this stage of construction:
The primary objective is to frame the house and get the roof on.
Then we put in the heating system and after that, the plumbing. I use copper
plumbing. Next week we will start on the wiring. It should take two guys
about a week to do all the wiring in the house. Once the wiring is done,
we get all of our mechanical inspections and than we are ready for the insulation
and dry wall. The interior is primed then all the tile and oak floors are
installed. Now we do all of the interior trim which includes cabinets, window
casings and base moldings. We begin working on the outside (brickwork etc.)
at the same time we are finishing the inside. Each of these stages has to
be inspected by the township. Right now, the inspectors are testing the
gas line in the basement of this home.
I designed
this home with a very grand, open, winding staircase. It has nine-foot walls.
I wanted columns to support this whole wall and I wanted the design, based
on a curve, to flow from the basement to
the first and then to the second floor. One of my goals with the design
of this home is to give it that "grand" feeling as you are standing
in the foyer. I spent a lot of time designing this one.
There are four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a full basement
and two fireplaces. I used my advantage as a
builder to get a free fireplace to install in the bedroom. (The
company will market the product in this way.) There will also be a hot tub.
The walls around the tub, up to the window, will all be marble.
By that time I will probably have a buyer and I will let them pick the type
of marble I install.
This is the largest lot I am building on right now. It has 175 feet of road frontage and backs up to 14 acres of mature woods. When I saw this lot, I knew that if I didn't have a customer to build for by a certain date, I was going to do a spec home. I just wanted the right house on this lot. It is important, with a location like this, to capitalize on the view. You do that with your windows, lots of large windows for viewing the natural beauty. There will also be a deck across the entire back of the house and a large circular drive in the front of the home to take advantage of this location.
This spec house will take another 4 months to complete. A potential customer asked me Saturday if I could get it done sooner. I said, "Absolutely! Sign on the dotted line and see how fast I'll get it done." I can be motivated.
A Day on the Job with Larry
- Home
- Entering field
- A typical day
- Real world decisions
- Business strategy
- Construction
- Interactive floor plan
Construction careers