You probably have stories like this, but I put solar on someone's house years ago and the inspector wouldn't pass the solar because of something to do with a deck in their backyard. The owner wouldn't fix the deck and we ended up just leaving the solar and not getting paid. Luckily I was a sub and didn't buy most of the equipment, but still ate it on the installation and misc parts.

(You may ask why we didn't fix the deck ---- it would really have meant demolishing it and I wasn't really in the decision loop. I could have put a lien the house but the prime contractor was a regular customer, so I let it go.)

99, here is the pic you requested.

I have the Schlage in both entry from garage and front door and love it more than I even thought I would. Never use the key. No battery issues since October install, but I did make sure to line them up well and used a chisel to clean out as needed.

It is one of those items that makes me happy every time I use it. I have not pulled the trigger on a hub to connect it yet, but even without that it is super handy. My five year old has a code, I set it to self lock after 30 seconds and the few times my parents needed to get in when we were not home it was easy. 100% recommend.

gregorio - i'd be interested to see your neighborhood if you're willing to PM me a google map of the area...it doesn't need to be your actual address, i'm more curious about your comment on other houses in the neighborhood having similar features to yours. NBD if you don't want to.

the way i read what you posted: this particular zoning code doesn't care about ugly. your larger steps may look better than your neighbors but the code won't care. all that matters to the letter of the code is if the ass end of your car is poking out from the front wall of your house.

20 year old home...in the last month I have had my AC system fully crap out (original unit, so got 20 years out of it in Phoenix), my sewer line coming from my house to main sewer line collapse because my tree roots blasted into piping and then all of my Springs failed in my garage door. $7000 + $1500 + 300...kind of an expensive month to be a homeowner for me but I guess it's all pretty standard stuff


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There are just a few houses like mine with the door under the carport:



Here's the original entrance style:



There are also a few back-splits with similar carports with the roof slope following the roof of the house:



The neighbourhood is nice because it's got a little of everything. ~50% 1960s and 70s: bungalows/ranch, side/back splits, 2-story with dormers etc brick houses; a bunch of 19th century stone houses and 2 1/2 story red-brick century homes, and custom homes from the last few decades on severed lots, infill or tear downs, with only a few McMansions. Unfortunately the google car went by in the summer so most of my favourite houses are obscured by trees, but here's a sample of other sorts of houses.







Anyway, sorry for turning this into my blog.

gregorio,

I'm thinking that a potential solution to spruce up your place would be to use wood slats; they are economical, they can be stained to accentuate the wood, and they can be fabricated and installed with just a few basic tools. You wouldn't need to use too many areas of slats and they could be phased as separate little projects.

I would suggest that they be used as an accent in a few specific locations. The style of your house and the colour of the brick would look great with wood slats, perhaps with a mahogany stain at key accent locations above the front window and front door; and, a natural or golden/honey/amber accent stain at other locations to complement the buff brick.

Following, in no particular order, are some random samples of slats I found by googling "wood slats house entrance"... or something like that:

















I'm thinking that you could perk up the look of your place by using slats in the following locations:

1. Vertical mahogany coloured slats above the main window with the window frame painted a dark, complementary colour. The angel stone below the window could be painted a dark charcoal grey. This will create a vertical accent band of richness on your front facade.

2. A band of horizontal slats on the back wall of the carport. It would be a couple of feet above the steps and the top would align with the top of the entry door—so it would be 4 to 5 feet high. The band would be repeated on the other wall of the carport beginning at the edge of the door, it would wrap around the bump-out of the chimney, continue on the carport wall, and then fold around onto the main front facade for 12-18". It is on that folded section where you would install your address numbers in a vertical alignment. I would replace the existing light with something more contemporary and cool looking, perhaps something long and horizontal to illuminate the slats below.

3. You would use a wood screen door instead of a metal one, this way you can control the pattern of the wood supports framework to include some horizontal bands. You could then stain the screen door or perhaps even paint it. I would consider painting the front door and sidelight some colour that complements the wood. Above the door and sidelight there would be vertical slats to match those used at the front of the house. I'm thinking that door style "d" would work for you:



4. I wouldn't paint the carport posts blue. Instead, paint them whatever colour you use to complement the wood slats. It could be a charcoal colour or maybe a rusty, muddy red... maybe a muddy mustard. I would then install a horizontal band of slats to the side of the posts facing into the carport. The slats would be align with the top of the other band of slats but float a foot or so above the brick wall that the posts sit on. This will create a nice screening and shadowing effect.

5. I would consider installing a little bit of vertical slat fence to that little bit of space to the left of the carport, as well as over at the other side of the house; complete with a vertical slat gate.

6. Finally, I would consider constructing a low-level wood-slat planter-type box along the front of the house where the existing planter is but take the height of the planter up to the underside of the brick. This would run the full length of the facade.

The overall effect would be a cool, contemporary intervention on a classic 60s house style. The fence, planter and horizontal slat bands would visually tie the composition together. The horizontal band leading out from the front door that wraps around onto the front facade, complete with house address numbers, will signal and lead the way to the front door.

With regard to the steps. If I was you I would make a hack adjustment to the steps that satisfies the inspector and then rebuild something better and just never get a permit or variance for it... but thats me. I'm concerned that if you go the legit route the damn inspector will make you install a guard and handrail, cause that's what should be there right now by the letter of the code. If you can get him off your back and not have him think about it anymore then do it.

The blue door at the back looks good as an eccentric yet tasteful surprise—but don't do the same thing at the front. Instead, consider a palette of: buff brick; vertical mahogany slats; horizontal honey-mustard slats; and, charcoal paint at the angel stone.

Can you imagine all that? If yes, what do you think?

Thanks, that would be quite an upgrade to the existing facade. It's much more than I'd ever thought about attempting, but it would completely change the look from bland 60s bungalow to something unique and much more appealing, and I love the idea of the slats leading the eye from the front of the house to the entrance.

I really like that style in general, and in my head I can imagine it looking really nice, but when I look at my house and try to picture slats and brick together it, I'm not sure I see it. I guess a lot would depend on the colour and width of the slats. Is this the sort of thing you have in mind?



What's the material for the slats--higher grade spf 1x3s/1x4s or hardwood, or something else?

oops,

Usually something rot resistant and expensive like mahogany. We might as well go top end for your hypothetical renovation and spec out ipe. You can use it to break in your new table saw and see how many cuts you can make before you dull a blade. It won't be very many.

exterior wood selection really needs to consider the specie and type of finish.
as an example, CVG cedar with a natural finish is beautiful to look at right after installing, but you're also signing up for an annual maintenance program of washing and refinishing to keep it looking the same. some hardwoods like ipe don't need to be finished/sealed (in fact ipe is so dense it struggles to take a finish) but they will weather over time (the Atlantic City boardwalk is made out of ipe). you may also have uneven weathering depending on uv exposure...wood under your overhang that's sheltered from the sun and rain will still look nice while wood exposed to the elements will weather.

Gregorio,

Yeah, that's kinda the idea... but I'm thinking it would come out even better!

It all comes down to the size and shape of the slats, the dimension of the gaps, what is behind the gaps, the detailing of the wood as it wraps corners, etc. For example, on your photoshop concept, I would suggest not taking the wood at the left all the way to the edge of the brick—consider holding it back from the edge a foot or so. On the other hand, it may be that taking the wood all the way to the end is the way to go. This is just one of the many otions you should consider to figure out what looks the best and provides the best effect.

While I would never say no to hardwood, I'm also a realist when it comes to budget. I have had good success with cedar and Sikkens using both mahogany and a golden/amber stain. Sikkens is nicely toxic—which means it is durable; however it is also a pain to apply properly, i.e. multiple coats done properly. But once it's done it seems to last a pretty long time.

The slat and colour accent combo look is really all about proportion, composition and the coordination of the various materials and colours. The location where everything comes together at the door and sidelight could be an interesting piece in itself with some use of colour integrated.

It would be pretty easy to make up some mock-ups with cheap wood to experiment and figure out what you like—and more importantly what you can actually build with your apparently limited carpentry skills.

You could also push your photoshop skills a bit and use better slat images to come up with a bit more accurate representation of what you might be able to achieve. If you do decide to do something like this, consider taking photos as head-on as possible for the various parts of the house to make the visualization and rendering even easier.

The nice thing is that you could break this slat approach down into different phases and take your time at it. Or pay someone to help you out with the more challenging parts, such as fastening the slats to the house. I would suggest assembling the slats as complete panels and then fastening the panels to the house into the mortar. That way, if you ever get tired of the slat look you can just de-assemble them and patch up the mortar.

Or you could just stick with the blue paint project.

Good luck either way!

For our bathroom remodel the contractor wants:

50% up front
30% after rough plumbing and electric is complete
Final 20% upon job completion

Is this normal? Seems to leave us assuming essentially all the risk with almost no leverage at the end if there are problems with the finished work.

The 30% after rough plumbing and electric, does that include having it inspected?

I need more details, but off the cuff that seems a bit high on the front end. Rough in plumbing and electric isn't even halfway, and he wants you to be 80% paid?

Who is supplying the big ticket items? Him or you? In MA it's illegal to charge more than 1/3rd up front unless the funds are required to special order materials.

It could be fair if you do have a lot of stuff to order, so he may not be out of line. In general, the payment schedule should be structured so that neither party is ever in a position to lose bigly.

Not sure I'll ask.

Yes.

They are supplying all the materials. The 50% up front is pretty close to materials cost - at least after their mark-up. But in any case it's doubtful NH has any such protections.

I don't mind the 50% up front but I'm a bit worried about being 80% paid with not much work done, and also having little leverage at the end if things need to be corrected or whatever. We're spending a lot of money (to me) and want things done right.

I agree with you that the structure should cover both parties asses, but this structure seems to leave us holding more risk than them. I'm going to talk to them about it.

I've heard often that contractors on home projects charge money up front, and they obviously do. I had my first ever work done on my house a year ago and both the flooring guy and kitchen guy asked for money up front, I forgot what amount. I put it to both of them simply, I'll pay for material delivered to the house, and for work completed. I said I'd make weekly payments. End of discussion. Plenty of blah blah this and that, but they both agreed. Well good they did 'cause I wasn't, and never will, pay for work that's not completed, simple as that. If a contractor absolutely insists, I'd get another contractor.

And this is completely reasonable. If a contractor is so cash poor that he can't finance the materials up front or mobilization to a site, then I'd be worried about that contractor. And you should always retain money at the end, until you are completely satisfied with the work, then you make the final payment.

There's plenty of experienced folk in here on how to pay contractors, so is this approach reasonable?

In California a contractor can only get $1000 or 10% up front, whichever is smaller. On commercial or as a sub you can get whatever you agree on. Sometimes I get half, but more often I get zero and everything on the end.

On most contractors you have have a lot of leverage no matter what. The license board (don't know the laws there), bonding, yelp, etc..

If you want to protect yourself more, try to not pay so much for the material until it is onsite and then get a lien release for that portion. (CA law is really all I know, so it might be different)

Divide the 30% up into two different payments and leave the 20% for passing final inspection/your approval imo.

It's all negotiable. Like I said in my last post, sometimes I don't get paid anything until the job is totally complete and finalled, but I charge extra for that. I don't really think of it as extra, but if you told me you'd pay everything up front I would charge less. People act like only contractors run out on homeowners, but homeowners stiff contractors at least as often.

I've also had enough annoying clients that I won't take them at all. If someone thinks they need to whip out their copy of The Art of the Deal to negotiate a payment schedule, then I've got better things to do.

I agree with your general approach to things and think the payment schedule should try to protect both parties.

I'm wondering what you think of the 50/30/20 schedule my contractor wants? Like I said, I'm willing to pay the 50% up front because it's pretty close to the materials cost, so it's really just being 80% paid when only the rough plumbing and electric is complete that's bugging me. Is that unreasonable on my part in your opinion?

The finish work is going to be a huge part of how satisfied we are with this job, and we're paying wayyyy more than I ever thought we would for a bathroom so if the finish work isn't done really well it will bug me for years.

The 'delivered to the house' part is a bit extreme and you still seem to be pushing for adversarial relationships with contractors, but overall I think this is pretty reasonable. However, many contractors are that cash poor, and you probably should be worried about them, but... those are exactly the contractors many people insist on hiring because they don't want to pay a fair price for quality work.

microbet makes a couple good points. Contractors get screwed over by customers pretty frequently, and good contractors don't need to waste their time with crappy customers because they have plenty of work already. If you start with the assumption that all contractors are trying to rip you off and you need to beat them down on every point, then that's exactly the sort of contractor you're going to end up with.

Just compromise imo.

"Can we do 50/15/15/20?"

Pick a different milestone for the extra payment. Make the last one after final inspection passes. Ask for lein releases when appropriate. Just don't say that you're uncomfortable paying so much before work is done. Everyone knows you have an interest to protect, but you don't say it outright any more than the contractor outright says they are afraid you'll skip out on the bill.

Can you explain this lein release thing to me? I mean I know what a lein release is but I'm not sure why it's applicable here.

In California anyway the contractor, any subs, employees, and suppliers can all file leins against your house. Any time you pay, you can get a partial lein release, and a final at the end. You should look up the details though as it may vary by state and it's not exactly my strong suit.

I wouldn't worry about it, but I'm not a worrier. There was one case I know of though where a contractor disappeared and the customer had to pay for all the material twice. But that's just once ever and I wasn't even involved. It was at a prior job of one of the guys who worked for me.

Hmm I've only heard of a lien being placed after a dispute and a judgement against the debtor in court. Never knew they could be placed ahead of time.

Could a lien be placed upfront without a homeowners knowledge and/or consent?