Is the rough electrical installed yet?

Around here, you can't sheet rock until all your rough electric is in and inspected and approved.

My electrician would not finish a run of interior electrical that his assistant had started for our downstairs bar, even though he trusted the assistant to do it right. He said that the assistant started it and he should finish it, that it was dangerous for him to step in on it.

The other question that begs to be asked is how comfortable are you with nailing sheetrock in? Up here, we only use screws, to decrease the chance of nail pops. Maybe it has something to do with our cooling and heating up here in Minnesota, but I sure wouldn't accept nails.

Here is a link that might be useful: My House Building Blog

I'm surprised that you would even begin sheetrock if the electric is not done! What if the sheetrock is covering an area that still needs the wiring complete? Generally wiring is completed before sheetrock begins. In our area (and most areas I'm guessing)zoning also requires an inspection of the electric by building inspector before sheetrock can be done.

Usually sheetrock is glued and screwed to prevent nail pops and sagging. Most rockers will tack the sheet with a few nails to hold until the screws are in. My concern with just using nails would be nail pops and eventually saggy ceilings.

I think you really need to push your electrician to get the job done now before you work to far ahead.

I think she's saying he just hasn't set the pole that's attached to the transformer. So they have no actual power to the house. Our electric isn't hooked up to the house but we have the pole set. I'd call your builder or the electrician everyday I think until they got it there. Ours was there for the framers.

Jeannekay is right, the rough electrical is all in. We are waiting on the electrical box that attaches to the house and the main electrical line hooks up to it. The pole that we pushed and pushed the electric company for is just sitting there waiting! After DH and I went back out to the house they had screwed nails into the sheet rock. I guess I just saw them nailing the sheet rock in. But yes, there are screws. I knew I heard he generator going

The electrical guy is starting to tick me off. The sheet rockers told us that there were two areas where the electrician did not have the, oh gosh I guess they are the junction boxes, not sure but there was not one in the laundry or one above the kitchen island. Just the wire hanging there. DH told them he knew about and kept telling the GC and all we get is "he is not done yet". I know they are friends and have worked together for some time but I think we have been more then forgiving and honestly I am tired of waiting for this guy to work on our house during the weekends that he decides to show up.

As far as inspections and such, we are in a county that does not require any inspections believe it or not. The only thing we needed was a signature for our septic tank. We did have a inspector come out during the foundation and framing and will have a final inspection.

So anyway, the sheet rock is completed. One day! I could not believe it. Tomorrow another crew is coming to tape and float then texture and then paint! The house looks so different it is unreal. Looks like a house!

As far the electrical guy, I will call the GC tomorrow on him. I am sure DH is right and to try and get another guy to come out might not be so easy esp. now that the whole place is sheet rocked. I guess I need to be that squeaky wheel so I can get some oil!

Somehow I suspect that there is part of the story that we have not been told. As presented thus far, the electrician will have extra, unnecessary, work to complete that job after the drywallers finish. Not logical to be sure. But hold payment until the electrical is properly completed. At the risk of angering some people, the drywallers are typically less conscientious than are electricians.

What do you mean there is part of the story that has not been told?

I have a great electrician, I am lucky. I still had to make sure that everything was in place before sheetrock. I walked through each room with him and we made sure the switches were in place, all the plug-ins were in place, the cans were where I wanted them, etc. He did have some wires that would be buried and fished out later, mostly wall lights. Maybe this is what is happening in your place, although all the boxes should be in place before sheetrock. I can't see how he would add those later. I would not have OK'd sheetrock before this was done. Then I made sure I knew where everything was, how many cans and plug in boxes were in each room, so in case the sheetrock crew missed one, I knew it. I had them go back into two rooms and have to cut cans out. They just move too fast and do miss them occasionally.

I think I hear you saying that the wiring is not finished in the house since you said one or two junction boxes are not finished/up? If so, the builder should have waited on the drywall. Our electrician checked everything with us and then at the box to make sure it was "right" before we went forward. Of course, we also had to have an inspection. I would even if it wasn't required. Even so, we still had one problem in the kitchen but it was the drywallers fault; they had pulled a wire to the wrong side of the cabinet in the kitchen which meant the electrician ripped a hole in the drywall to fix it and the drywall guys came back and patched. I hope your electrician shows up this weekend.

DH spoke with the GC, our plans called for a fluorescent light box in the laundry, I guess they will finish that out and that is why the wire was there. As far as the light over the island, he is going to fish out that wire for the fixture. All of our cans, plugs, lights are all in place and in the right places. We counted everything up before and checked last night and checked it with the plans and everything was trimmed out. I never in wildest dreams would have thought they would have the sheet rock done in a day.

Now to just get the electrician back out to add the electrical box. GC has of course not paid him, he said he will not pay until the work is complete. I told DH this morning the electrician has until the end of the weekend to get out there or I will have my brother in law come out and finish. (He is a retired electrician). My brother in law said electricians are one of the worst subs to deal with next to plumbers. Our plumber was a pain to try and get out there as well at first but he came through in the end.

Glad to hear they were screwing the drywall instead of just nailing it. You will generally get a combination of both. I believe our sheetrockers nailed the perimeter and screwed the field for the most part, but there are more screws than nails for sure. Isn't it amazing how fast they work? I think it took them 3 days to do our house, and we have a bunch of square footage. They walk around on those stilt things like they are extensions of their legs!

I know we had tons of pictures of every stage to refer back to, and I caught a couple of vents that the drywallers forgot, and some wires in the wall for the speakers. It will all get fixed. At least that's what my DH tells me every day!

Amy

I had no idea about the nails but when I called DH at work and said that the one guy was not happy about hammering DH flipped out at first thinking they were only putting in nails. I had no clue! LOL! He was happy last night to see they used screws. I guess I just walked in on the hammering stage! LOL!

By the time we got there last night, around 7pm there was only one guy on stilts and DD cracked up and of course asked for her own pair. I think I counted 9 guys there maybe ten.

I had heard from my friend who is building how her sheet rockers covered up a bunch of things. We were happy to discover everything was ok. DH did ask me to go back out today in look in the clear day light to just double check, plus we forgot about the air vents. So I am on my way out now. I will snap some pictures and try to post them. I can not wait to see it in good lighting!

Glad it's being worked out Kel. I loved when the sheetrock was finished. It really came to life. Can't wait for your paint to go up!

P.S. Okay, not to worry you too much but aren't you a little concerned about the lack of inspections? I would hire one myself. Just my .02.

Lindybarts - yes I was very worried in the beginning about the inspections. For some reason in this county we live in you only need a test for the septic system called a perk test and that is only if you get a certain septic. That was the only paper I had to sign (short of the banks)that needed to be notarized.

One of the reasons I am not to to worried is our GC really is a great builder, I know him, my sister knows him well and worked with him before and I have some great references on him. BUT....we did get a home inspector to come out. They come out in three phases, foundation, framing/roofing and final inspection. The inspector said the framing was one of the best he has seen in a some time. Our builder only uses these guys for his houses and he told us up front, if we have to wait a month for the framers we will wait! Same with his masonry crew. The GC has family in the masonry business but he does not use them, he uses the crew that did our house. I had a person leave us a note wanting the masonry crews info. I thought that was neat.

I know I go on and on about this and that which I think is normal in the building process. I my head I want things to go faster and perfection to be done but that of course is not reality. It nice thought that every person who has walked through our home has made comments about how well the house is being built. My friends husband is a builder and he said the framing crew did a really good job so that made me feel good! He said from what he saw the only problem we had was the plumber making two measurement mistakes that the builder fixed. I guess that is why am at some what of ease on the inspections. Still you always worry because the GC is not there everyday so you really have to be on your toes. So far though it has all been good. I am just waiting for the cabinets to be wrong or something! My friends cabinets where all wrong and it put them two months behind. YIKES! I guess we will see in the couple of weeks. I just can't wait to see paint on the walls. It is getting exciting now!

Whew! I thought you were saying your house didn't require ANY inspections. I was about to fall off my chair. Glad you at least get foundation, framing/roof and final inspection. That makes me feel better. I just couldn't understand how you could have no inspections. My misunderstanding!

Excited for your paint too!

Oh no you are right! LOL! We are not required to have any inspections done. NONE...ZIP...ZERO! BUT, DH and I hired a home inspector who does new home construction just for our peace of mind :-) But yes, the county we live in there is no inspections. There are codes you still have to go by but no one checks....scary isn't it?!?! DH and I have walked through some houses in a subdivision and I wouldn't have who ever was building that house build a tree house for me! And we do not get a CO. At least I do not think so. Maybe the bank does it? My sister built a house and she never heard of a Certificate of Occupancy when they finished building. It took me forever to figure out what everyone was talking about with a CO. Matter of fact a friend of mine moved into her house before they even closed on it! Mind you we are not in Travis County where Austin is but one of the surrounding counties. We did a one time close but we still have to convert the loan and I don't think the bank would be to happy if we were living there. But hey, I could be wrong, I'm not sure! LOL! I am riding this wave learning as I go.

Lindybarts, where I live we have no building inspections. Not even septic if you have more than 10 acres. (Someone is supposed to look at your water line if you hook onto the rural water system.)

I just sat through a quorum court meeting this week (I'm a reporter) where they were debating whether to start implementing some building regulations in the county, but it won't pass anytime soon. Local people don't want it. The only reason it's coming up now is that we have so many retirees moving into our area from places where regulations are the norm. They move here for the low taxes and then complain when there aren't government services.

Kelntx, I'm sorry to get OT on your thread!

We don't have inspections required here out of city limits. Maybe it's a midwest thing.

Our inspections were required by the subdivision, not the county. We would have had them regardless. They cost $50 each and are worth every cent. The county inspects the septic system before it is covered and that's it. We also did a one time close and the bank told us they didn't care when we moved in. The subdivision, however, did. Had to wait for the CO. It was comical; we were out the evening before moving in shoveling the ditches because the lady that grants the neighborhood co's did not like the grading around our driveway/culvert. :)

One day? one DAY?!? and Amyks, three days?? We've been told, for our 2500 sf two story house, about three WEEKS. Has it got it's finish texture done too?

We have inspections in our part of the PNW, and just passed our framing inspection.

(. . . one day . . . *grumble* . . .)

Kate - they have not tape and floated yet...were suppose to do that today but they did not show up. The builder said it would take 5 days to do it all, put it up, tape and float and put on the texture. They were suppose to start Monday and be done by Friday but looks like middle to end of next week unless they work on the weekend.

We also only need a septic system inspection and an electrical inspection in our county. We do have an inspector come out from the bank when I do our draws, but only to make sure what they are paying for is being done. Not to make sure it is done right.

We have about 5,000 sq ft finished and it took our rock crew 1.5 days to hang the rock, but it has taken 2 weeks so far for tape and mud, with another 4 days or so left to go.

Glad to hear, Kel, that everything is going well with the sheetrock. Now you get the fun job of choosing paint color when all you see in front of you is white sheetrock. It is awful!

Oh, thank you so much! I feel lots better with our three week estimate. (Now, if I could only be sure that the three weeks includes the tape, mud, and whatnot  not just the drywall itself!)

Kate.

Yes, happykate, that was just to hang it. Just hanging it. It took weeks more to tape and mud, then sand, then mud, then skim coat. Then sand again. Weeks. and weeks.

It was just astounding to me how quickly 20 men on stilts could throw some drywall up. They were not messing around!

Amy

WEEKS?!?!?! weeks?? Oh don't say that. I was told the whole thing would take a week.....not weeks! LOL! *sigh*

kelntx, I just talked to our builder and he told us start to finish about a week and a half (we have about 2300 sq ft and 1100 in the basement).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it goes this quickly!

That is great Jenny! They are starting the tape and float on Monday!! All of the stuff was in the garage today. We are going at the same rate! We are 2178 sq ft but no basement :-)

Keep up to date on how yours is coming along!

We went out to our place last night and they had taped and floated!!! It is so exciting :-) No electrician though........I am about ready to knock that guy!

Knock 'eem and send him into next week... Onto your property to finish his obligation!