by Alison Moore Smith | Oct 14, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Once our new stairways were installed, we needed to add handrails to pass code. The lower stairs were easy, needing just a single, long handrail, attached to the wall. The upper stairs were more problematic. One side was open, about half way up, so the banister would...
by Alison Moore Smith | Oct 13, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Selecting products for the two staircases was more involved than I had imagined. On our first semi-custom build, the stairs were fully carpeted. On the second, they were carpet with wood on the open edge. These experiences taught us an important lesson: we never want...
by Alison Moore Smith | Oct 8, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home, for Money
Just got a “congratulatory” letter from Washington Federal. In part, it says: It's hard to believe the construction phase of your new home should be rapidly approaching the finishing stages. Key words: should be. In other words, since we've given you more...
by Alison Moore Smith | Oct 5, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Over the past couple of weeks I've received a number of emails asking when we are going to move in. All I can say is that I wish I knew! After moving out of the rental, we've just been hanging around my dad's house with minimal supplies trying to keep our lives in...
by Alison Moore Smith | Oct 2, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The premature packing and move have put the construction updates way behind. There are a number of things to report. The back patio and walkway cement was poured months ago, but we still had lots of front yard concrete work to be done. A few weeks ago the driveway and...
by Alison Moore Smith | Sep 28, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
This blog began as a means to dig into the nitty gritty of building a custom home and to openly evaluate the pros and cons of those working on the project. You all know I'm not afraid to give an honest critique. But once in a while you run across a subcontractor who...
