Building a home

[Asher]

[notyoueither]

It looks like when it's down it will funnel water to the neighbors foundation.

Another sure fire way to get it destroyed...

[Dinner]

We're not going to even do it until Summer 2013, so haven't given too much thought yet. The backyard will have a large patio with seating and a (natural gas) firepit, though. That's as far as we've thought.

We're waiting for a full year of the freeze/thaw cycle for the ground to settle before spending any money on it.

It kind of looks like there is a lot of gravel on the side of the house near the main entrance. Is that right? If that's so you might want to make a wire screen and sift the gravel out so you don't end up with lots of gravel and stones in your garden. Also if you're going to wait one whole freeze and thaw cycle you might want to rotor till it now and put in some soil amendments so that way the soil is prepared in advance but still has a year to settle.

[Asher]

They haven't even graded the yard yet or given us our topsoil.

[Thorn]

Asher I'm probing all the gay members to see if either they are available or have advice for Al.B.? for his new dating thread? ideas?

[Evan Madrigal]

Don't threadjack Thorn.

[Dinner]

They haven't even graded the yard yet or given us our topsoil.

Wouldn't it be easier to remove the gravel now then wait until it gets buried under a couple of inches of top soil?

[Asher]

There's no gravel, it's just dirt with stones in it. I can't be bothered, it'll be under 8 inches of topsoil.

[onodera]

Just 8 inches? Isn't there enough chernozem in Alberta?

[Asher]

No clue.

[Flubber]

Asher

Nice house!!

Actually several things are the same as mine (built 10 years ago with a different builder-- but maybe some of the subcontractors are the same or the choices were timeless!)

Things I noticed that were identical

Kitchen Granite
kitchen cabinets even down to the glass fronted cabinet-- but handles were different
Bathroom cabinets including medicine chests
shower enclosure (I think they are pretty standard
think we have the same brand washer-dryer set
Carpet colors were close but not matching

Overall great looking house-- Jealouse of the TVs and tech infrastructure

Oh and LMAO st the blinds thing-- In the picture you can even see the control strings but if the idea of you parading naked suited someones's homoerotic fantasies, so be it

[Asher]

I don't know if you remember the subs, but we went to Granite Gallery for the granite (Silver Pearl is the specific stone) and Bjornson Designs for the cabinets ("Shaker style"). The shower enclosure came from Home Solutions.

I'm very pleased to hear it's similar to what you've done -- we must've been thinking straight.

The builder is actually going to come take some photos of our kitchen next week to be included on their website as part of a customer testimonial.

[Flubber]

Just 8 inches? Isn't there enough chernozem in Alberta?

There's lots but not to such a depth that you have any significant topsoil left. When they strip and level an area they seem to take the topsoil away and I always figured they were using it elsewhere. The developer usually just commits to a fixed amount of soil back per lot . When I did my lawn I purchased an additional 12 cubic meteres of topsoil to help fill areas where it had settled unevenly .

[Flubber]

I'm very pleased to hear it's similar to what you've done -- we must've been thinking straight.

.

Thats double-edged -- were we thinking "gay" (I actually chose almost NONE of it and merely exercised a veto power--- once we were partway into the process-- At the start my feedback was sought constantly but when I started giving it emphatically I achieved the desired result of avoiding most of the choosing )-- None of those suppliers ring a bell but our cabinets were a shaker style IIRC-- The granite name was different too but in the pics it looks like the very same stuff

We matched ours with a very dark hardwood floor which looks awesome when clean but which shows up every crumb my two little anklebiters drop.

Great that your builder is proud of their job and also great that you are so happy that you are willing to give a customer testomonial

[Dinner]

Just 8 inches? Isn't there enough chernozem in Alberta?

Most top soil sold in North America tends to be mulch mixed with some regular clay or loam soil. In addition you'll find some wood chips or peat moss added in to help the soil retain water. The end result is some pretty dark soil.