Friday, August 17, 2012

Check pre-drywall meeting off the list...and a free light

Had my pre-drywall meeting yesterday.  Overall, it went well.  My PM walked through all the energy star features, what switch controls what, etc.  There were a few things that need to be changed.  Here's what was found:

-No keyless light in the attic.  The plans call for it, but wasn't installed.  Special shout out to CHARISSA for finding that and posting in her blog, it's the only reason I was looking for it, otherwise I would have overlooked it.
-The flex duct from the return air main upstairs is hung from the attic trusses with straps.  The final strap before it turns down into the chase downstairs is right against the bend in the flex duct and its somewhat pinched.  I asked the strap be moved over to give it a nice smooth radius bend to not choke airflow.  Not having enough return air upstairs would cause issues.
-The ceiling fan in the morning room has two switches, one for lights, one for fan rotation.  Only one switch was wired up to the fan.
- I asked the cable location in the living room be moved over about 4 feet to jive with my anticipated furniture layout.  All other rooms looked good.
-We are supposed to have one exterior light by the front door and one exterior light by the sliding glass door off the morning room.  Well, the electrician put them both by the morning room sliding door, one on either side.  It looks awesome and I like it, but I'd really like a front light too.  My awesome PM is giving me a freebee.  The mistake will stay and a light will be installed at the front door.  Yippee!

Some advice going through the process:
- Be sure your kitchen island/peninsula is drawn out on the floor so the electrician knows where to hang pendant lights.  It's hard for them to know exactly without the island there, and it also helps you visualize they're where you want them to be.  My awesome PM took it upon himself to do this and I'm very thankful he did.
-If you want under cabinet lights, pay for the Ryan Homes option to add this.  I first balked at the $500 price and was going to add them myself after moving in.  Well, after you pay the $175 for the additional outlet, buy the lights, you're only about $100-150 away from RH's price.  Trying to do it yourself means all wiring under the cabinet, drilling holes through the cabinet wall to get to the outlet behind the microwave.  Overall, an ugly install and not much savings.  This is one of the few options that is worth it for RH to do.
-Outlets near a corner, in particular I'm thinking in the master bath over the vanity, be sure your electrician adds a block or two of 2x4 so that the outlet box isnt close to the corner of the room.  If it were placed on the 2x4 of the framed wall, when the drywall finisher goes in to do the corner he's going to have a tough time sanding it right and it'll look sloppy.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of everything.  Next time I'm in I will.
Schedule: next up is insulation, then next week start drywall.  Drywall from start to finish should be an 8 day process.  Furnace goes in next week.  Siding starts about halfway through drywall.

No comments:

Post a Comment