Ordered a staircase - installing 500+ lbs of steel isn't too fun on your own but just be careful.



Sheetrock Crew was Crap






Don't trust anyone. And this time, I didn't. Contract, clear deliverables, punch list - still screwed up so bad had to doc over 5k from the price. Had a lot of work and issues I had to fix on my own.

First time doing a cabinet install. Did okay.























Master Bath

Next was prepping for tile and the shower











Used a custom one piece shower pan, didn't trust myself building a mud deck or standard waterproofing











Found a waterproof Hardie product they don't sell to residential customer anymore, commercial only. Managed to get some of the last stock.

Waterproofing down











Waterproofed all the bathroom, kitchen, main, and laundry room floors











Kitchen

Hired a crew that did okay tile work for the larger areas while I did the bathrooms and laundry rooms











Master









Laundry






Main

Tiddle Bits and Lessons Learned:







1. Inspectors are not your friend. They are so dumb, they don't know the code, they don't know why the code is written, how it was written, nor care. They forget why they are there and will hurt your build just to make themselves feel superior. My latest inspector attempted to toss out the entire floating staircase because I didn't have toe kicks on each tread. It isn't a standard stair... it's a floating staircase that has 4" between each tread per the code requirement! Don't let these stooges bully you. Learn the code and fight back.







2. No one will do a better job than you. Tile guys, good guys, said a tile I wanted cut could not be done. They tried three times, each time it shattered. I took the challenge, one try - perfect. What was the difference? This was a job for them, for me it's a passion. I wanted the tile to look the way I wanted it and was willing to TAKE the TIME to get it right.







3. Six years gone. I hope it was worth it. If I could do this over, I would have hired someone but that was before the market fell apart and we had a commie figure head in the office that launched inflation into the stratosphere while working hard to destroy the republic. This will be the second biggest mistake I have ever done by not hiring someone. As it stands - we would have been in the house 4 year sooner, paid almost the same and gotten a bit worse product but potentially "good enough". Only I will know all the little changes I made along the way that I hope my family will love.