Plumbing Estimate

We recently received our second estimate to install the plumbing in the basement. It was pretty much in line with where the first guy was, but I am still working out the details of exactly what part of the labor I would like to undertake and what part I would like the plumber to be responsible for. I asked him to revise the quote based on me taking on some more of the responsibility of the job. I also asked him to provide me his thoughts on the fixtures I have chosen. 

I had the idea before receiving his estimate that I may be able to keep some cost of the project down if I could offer him something in exchange. He has accepted my offer to design a simple website for his company in exchange for a credit towards the overall cost of the project. I am hoping that in the long run this turns out to be a successful exchange and doesn't backfire on me down the road. After signing up for Angie's List recently, I have tooled around on some other peoples sites as well and noticed that there seems to be a lack of well designed sites for most service providers. This might be a hidden diamond in the rough that I had the initial thought. Once the basement is complete, and I can work something into my schedule, it might be a worthwhile investment to contact some of the other occupations on Angie's List (electrician, dentist, etc.) to see if I can make a little extra freelance dough on the side. I attended a class last fall that covered designing websites for service providers, so I feel fairly confident in taking this additional workload on.

I hope to go get the supplies this weekend to start putting up some insulation on the walls and moving this project along. I still have yet to submit the building/electrical plans, so now that I know the plumbing is pretty well figured out, I hope to do this by the end of the week as well.

Lancaster Trip

Well the building supply search was a bust. The Habitat for Humanity ReStore was really great, but just didn't have what I was looking for at the time. I think going back with a mission for a specific item would yield better results. I found several items, but the savings wouldn't have been worth the hassle of strapping it to my roof or trying to jam it in the trunk. I wouldn't consider the whole trip a bust, because we made a great day out of it with Mark & Kate. The fresh fruit picking was over the top awesome, the pretzel tour was great too. I will say hands down the best hard pretzels I have ever tasted. Visting the outlets was really nice because the weather was gorgeous the entire time. I picked up some great items, basement unrelated, that I am pretty amped about. We capped off a great day with dinner at the Fireside Tavern, where I had one of the best salads of my life and enjoyed live music and great conversation. I have always said that I love the location of our house because it is within 2 hours of New York, Philadelphia, and Ocean City, but now I can add Lancaster to that list as well. What a great time, I definitely look to revisit for round 2.

Amish Deals!

In my quest to stay on budget and get high-quality items for low low prices, I am making a day trip out to Lancaster to see what I can find. I am going to visit the Lancaster ReStore and see if I can pick anything up there, and if not try the outlets. Were going to make a day out of it with our friends Kate & Mark. Were picking fruit, taking a pretzel tour, and getting shunned by the Amish. I hope to return with a bounty of fresh fruit and building supplies.

Bathroom Vanity

Purchased a piece tonight from Just Cabinets that I hope to use for our bathroom vanity. I saw an example online a few days ago that I hope I can ultimately recreate. This option will take a little more work on my part, but I think it will turn out really nice and functional in the end. I hope that I can replace the knobs, stain this piece dark and install a bowl sink with a single-hole faucet on the top. I am thinking that staining will make it a little more water-proof than if I paint it. In the end, I think it will save cost if I can find a cheap bowl sink/faucet.

Getting Started

I wanted to keep a documentary of all the hard work that will go into finishing our basement over the next several months. This way I can look back and appreciate where it was when I'm finished.

I hope to pick up the pace here in the next few weeks, as I feel like I have been moving at a snail's pace recently because I got bogged down with the bathroom after the first plumber came out for an estimate. I had drawn all of my building plans and budget around the option of using an up-flush toilet in our full bath; however, the plumber pointed out their downfalls. He suggest using a sewage ejector pit, which is quite a bit more money, and a lot more work upfront. I have been working with the building inspector and plumbing inspector to determine the best layout and the plumbing code approved vents. I have another plumber coming this week to give me a second estimate and then I hope to get down to business. The first step will be to cut up the existing concrete slab, as my builder did not install rough-in plumbing. I will need to rent a walk-behind concrete saw that runs off of 220vAC. After some initial hesitation, I talked to the builder and they explained to me how the slab was created and the best way to go about demo.