@Rebecca - nope doesn’t work. Are you on the app or in the browser (Safari) on the website?

Safari

Please vote which you think looks the best for our brick. We will have white windows, soffits and fascia. Bronze guttering and a teak colored roof. A metal roof on porch, bump outs, and garage eyebrow.

The mortar is the same on all of the samples of whitish brick. It's a white sand/white mortar mix.

The brick skirt going around the house is going to be about the same height on the house as shown on the first sample wall above. Will have the darker brick roll-lock between the brick colors. And believe it or not, the bottom brick/skirt is the same brick on all three walls displays.

The mortar on the bottom brick/skirt is different on all three walls.

The 1st wall has the same White mortar on the skirt.

The 2nd wall has a Buff mortar on the skirt.

The 3rd wall has a Gray mortar on the skirt.

Which look do you like the best? Please vote 1st, 2nd, 3rd. I wish I could make this a Poll.

@nhb22 I like the first one as the mortar ties the lighter color in but they all look nice. Looking again maybe the 1 st will get busy so number 3. This is a tough decision!

nhb22 I like the first one best but I am partial because that is how we are doing our two tone brick. (overlook the shake sample, stilltrying to pick a color)

Brandie May - So pleased to see that you are doing the same with your brick house. I think some people think we are crazy. We wanted something darker to hide the ground dirt. We figure that our plantings will pop against the darker background. As well, the plantings will eventually hide some of the brick. We are also using the darker brick on our outdoor fireplace because the soot will not show as badly on dark. DH will have his gas grill on the backside of the FP. I feel better having it against a darker brick.

And thank you for your vote.

Tanya Shelly - Same to you. I want to wait for a few more votes before revealing our 1st choice. :-)

A side question for you all:

What color is your roofing drip edge going to be. Will it match the roof, or the fascia? Part of me wants ours to be brown to match the roof and give the edge a deeper depth. We will have brown gutters and downspouts, too.

@User I really like the look of the 1st one the best, but I wonder if the white mortar will get dirty and defeat the purpose of using the darker brick skirt around the bottom.

Another vote for the white mortar. I'm surprised the buff color isn't lighter.

@Brandie I'm in love with your bottom brick -so pretty!!

Our drip edge is the same color as fascia and gutters.

Nhb22 - I love the look that you’re going for (both of you!). I’m tempted to say the white mortar also, but, again, it might be busy and take attention away from the star - the white w/ white. Any of them will be beautiful - you can’t go wrong!

@User I love the first one. I found you should pull commons colors from the palette you already have for grout. A dark bronze grout imo is too dark. I would stick with a traditional lighter grout to match your lighter brick. (the grout will most likely darken with weathering right?) But like everyone else said you can’t make a wrong decision here it all looks good.

I also like the white mortar one. But I am used to white mortar. My current home is brick with white mortar.

What's wrong with my bathroom? It feels so random. Would a floor carpet help?

Kat - It could get dirty, but would be less noticeable than on white brick. And by that time, the scrubs, flowers, etc. will be grown.

Keepthefaith MIGirl - Good point about the color of buff. All of these samples were done a day ago. They have yet to completely dry. The white will be come whiter, as well. I had a GS salesman tell me it takes a full 30 days to cure and lighten-up a bit. Here is a photo of our brick on another house after about 6 months.

However, as K H says, over a long time, grout will darken after being exposed to dirt in the air.

Anther fun fact... Because the finish of the white brick does not go through the brick, when there is a hard sideways rain, the brick turns gray. Once it dries, it whitens again. No spray washing allowed!!!

Thanks for all the votes. Our first pick right off the bat is the all white. And most of us made that pick when the others were not around to hear the choice...no influencers. :-)

I was the only one that wavered and had a second pick...the Buff. I like the way it looks now, but probably would not like it if it lightens up. Anyway, I've already sent a text this morning to tell our contractor to get that large load of white sand and bags of more white mortar.

@snowcountry look at that sink! now you're just teasing us - I want to see more! That looks really cool. Are your not liking the floor transition by the shower? Not sure what you mean by random.

nhb22 there is also another advantage to white mortar, some of the colored mortar will mix a different color depending on the temperature/weather. The white mortar should have a consistent color! You reasonings were my exact thoughts when we chose a darker foundation brick. People have also thought we were crazy for the idea.

Snow country: are you enclosing the shower?

@Sherryl No, it will be left open. Do you think it should be closed up? The space is tight. The glass should have extended all the way to the tiles. The opening got too small if I do that. The concrete floor with cracks is rather distracting. And the stain color didn't come out as I hoped.

Won’t you be freezing in the shower?

I rather like this one now for the front door.

As much as I liked the copper one posted earlier, it's too shiny, and skinny, I think I like the chunkier ones. Plus DH didn't like the copper against our blue siding. So, what do you think?

ETA: Dh likes the idea of putting it centered above the door.

Was talking to the lender today and he happened to mention our appraisal isn’t due back until/around February 16th. They ordered it over a week ago so I'd been hoping for maybe end of next week.

Ugh the waiting on this is hard,because I really have no clue where it will come in at.

If all goes well and we’re lucky we’ll close two weeks later putting us at about March 3rd, exactly a year to the date of closing on our lot.

@snowcountry is that a crack in the cement slab or just the way the staining is done?

@User it will look amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing your front door. Hope you are able to share it soon.

Thanks @Kat for commiserating. It sounds like you are in a similar (yet different cause) situation as us, just playing the waiting game. Our original delay was waiting over two months for a surveyor last summer. The first one our builder lined up bailed with no reason given, so he had to find a second one and wait in a long line. Everyone was backed up due to COVID. Then it took awhile for him to do the drafting. If the original surveyor had come through, we would have been 2-3 months ahead of when we did break ground in November and would have beat the rain. Might have been moving in this spring, in that case. Now, who knows if we'll even make the end of the year. Our builder's excavator has other jobs that don't have quite as much clay or long driveways like ours that he can continue to work on while our job just waits until a long period of drying out. Which may never happen! We are done with everything else -- plans, engineering, selections, contract with the builder, financial stuff...just can't get going. Incredibly frustrating! I wish you luck with yours...at this rate, we might be starting about the same time!

oooo Buzz, that's a great choice! Yeah I didn't mean the finish on the copper lights as much as the shape. But I wasn't typing all of what I was thinking. This one looks especially good because the bell is tucked up against the back and won't be as susceptible to wind.

Waiting, Waited, Wait, Wait some more. I had no idea it was quite this much but we are not dealing with ordinary times. We ended up switching lenders after first appraisal was low and based on poor choices. Second one based on homes more equitable and geographically closer. Try not to get too discouraged. Just keep trying if you need to.

@snowcountry, if it were me, I'd add some color...a patterned (stripes?) rug and some colorful towels. It looks nice but a bit "cold". Maybe you are a neutrals person and prefer white towels; I know a lot of folks do. But I am partial to color. I think color makes a house look like a home rather than a hotel.

@Kat It is a crack and some. A piece of concrete broke. They tried to fill it but the color didn't come out right. I have cracks and a patch work. Busy floor.

@Emily Not sure about the color yet. So far, everything is very neutral.

Snowcountry - I don’t have a feel if it would be too crowded with a glass enclosure - I don’t really know why it would. But if it were me, I’d enclose it, because like that you will freeze, rather than have a nice steamy warm shower. All of these car-wash-style huge showers are pretty, but they must be cold! I like your finishes. I agree that maybe just nice rug (Ruggables!) in there with some pattern and solid towels, white or otherwise, would warm it up. I love the wood tones you have!

@Sherryl I was concerned about being cold. It turned out not an issue. It feels just as warm. I think it might be because it is narrow and long.

Snowcountry - now I see you do have glass on the long side. I had thought the whole thing was open!

That will make a mess! Not that brave.

Brandie May - That's nice to know about no color variation. Yay!!!

I also love your base brick. My daughter recommended that we treat our skirt with a messy, thicker mortar treatment like yours. This will soften the sharp look of the brick and help it to be less busy.

You showed "shake samples" in your above post. What type of shakes and where are you putting them? What ever color you have shown looks good with your brick.

Picked out the roof yesterday. Went back to the OC Duration Weathered color instead of the Teak. The main reason being that we were going to be 30 bundles short with no guarantee we could get the rest in the same lot. The two are really very close in color, so I was OK going with a slightly lighter version for the roof.

Keeping a bronze drip edge, bronze guttering and downspouts, and a soffit and fascia color called Linen. Linen is a few shades darker than White. Yet it still looks good with our windows. Has a slight grayish tint, I think. From the name, I was afraid it might lean to a yellow tint. See it on another home, below. We will tone down the white painted trim on our house to match the Linen.

I think we are going with the metal wood grain look on garage doors. Now I have to find a wood grain match that will blend the bronze metal used on the house. It never ends!!!

No work on the house this week but we did spot this guy. Weekly meeting with GC this morning. I always get my hopes up.

That is a big woodpecker! My builder wants to bill me for talking to the GM. I don't even know what to say. Crooks?

Gorgeous pileated woodpecker!
Snowcountry: is the GM your “super” - construction manager - on your house? I talk to ours and text and email all the time! I’m sure he’s sick of me, but oh well.

@snowcountry I’ve never heard of getting billed for something like that. Why aren’t you allowed to talk to the GM?

@snowcountry, WTH? Your builder can’t be serious because that’s insane!

@bytheriverbank They say I talk too much. What do they expect? They are trying to frame it "consulting" and charge $90/hr and bill for emails and texts like lawyers do! It is getting comic. I am not paying. I will let it go to court if they push. Bring it on!

@shead They acted serious but who knows. I got the final bill about two weeks ago although I have 5 pages of to do's. They are NOT touch up type small items. Doors are missing, bath sink faucet and the drain weren't installed, no railings, etc. It will never pass the inspection as it stands. The builder mentioned he will send it to a collection agency. The final bill isn't even a month old even if it is legitimate, which it is not.

Ugh, how frustrating! I hope you know a good attorney as unfortunately it sounds like one will be needed :(

I am looking around just in case. I don't see how it can go too far tho. Telling your contractor what I need done isn't consulting. Besides, they never read my emails. The neglect led to waste subs' time that I was billed for.

@snowcountry did your contract have anything in there about mediation for resolution of issues?

I'm sorry he's being a jerk. Charging you for talking too much. Wow! Nobody forced him to listen and they should have informed you of any charge for his time. If that wasn't in the contract, good luck to him. Sounds ridiculous.

@snowcountry The builder is threatening a collection agency rather than a lien. I think that’s probably a good thing. How much do they say you owe them? I’d definitely find your contact and see what it says. I wouldn’t pay it either, especially if you were communicating about issues with the house. I’m rather jaded at the moment regarding builders so I’d fight this even if it’s a small amount.

snowcountry That is absolutely awful. I have no experience with this at all but I wonder if a pro on here could help with it? They'd likely want to know what your contract says. Are you close enough to being done that this is the last bill? Plus the doors, railing, drain(?!) you mentioned. I'm thinking if it is, depending on the contract, I'd maybe pay the parts that are legit, get a handyman and be done. But that's my guess. Prayers for you!

We are so close to finish if they just get to it. They would need less than a week, again if they get to it. I told them if they get it done, I will pay on the spot. They will be paid sooner that way than going through a collection agency. Guessing they were bluffing. I can't imagine they are that stupid. Or they made some costly mistakes that they can't fix that I don't know about.

I don't know what the contract says in details. I think it is pretty standard. I am guessing the contract can't address the gray area, like what is considered "consulting" and whether you can charge your client when you weren't clocking. In some ways, I am not worried. They made many costly mistakes so far and I picked up the bills not to hold back progress arguing. They are well documented. I will push to get them reimbursed if they push. That will be expensive for them.

@Keepthefaith MIGirl I am practically doing the GM job myself. The contractor isn't communicating properly to the subs. I told him what they need to bring to finish the job. The GM didn't pass it on and the sub shows up without the parts. It is hard enough to get him out once. The finishing carpenters were here and they were twidling their thumb for hours because the supply isn't here. This happens again and again. The painter said they had to come back 5 times because the site wasn't ready for them. Now that I am here, I get to talk to subs. They are all nice, fun to talk to. I don't mind taking it over rather than trying to talk through someone who loses half of what I said on the way to subs. And they want to get paid for consulting! In my mind, they don't have a case.

@snowcountry If you've picked up the bill for their mistakes, they may just see you as someone with deep pockets.

Also, if they turn it over to a collection agency, they'll only get pennies back on the dollar. The collection agency gets most of the money so you can leverage that if you decide to negotiate the total down.

@bytheriverbank I am in a rural area. I think things run a little casual. My impression is people don't hold others accountable for their mistakes. It started early on. The surveyor used a hand drawn plan to stake the site instead of asking for a CAD file . It was off by a few feet and a few degrees. It may not matter for a big house built on a flat , large land. In mine, every inch, and every second of the angle counted. He did that twice and I was billed for three visits albeit with discounts. It took two years to get through the permit process and get to that point, I was eager to just get on with it and paid. A couple of months later, the GM misread the plan and made framers do weird things. When I got there, they were almost finished with it working for two days. They had to take it down and redo.. That's about 4-5 days of 5 men crew. Another time, they didn't read install instructions for the fireplace and put that hot box on a piece of plywood and 2 x 4"s. The manual cautions many times nothing flammable below the unit and 48" around. That cost me a pretty penny. Those are big things. There are numerous other small ones. They together cost me more than the final bil he sent. He owes me if we are starting tit for tat. I didn't want to be the first one getting litigious.

@snowcountry

Wow, sorry to hear about your troubles. You're building an interesting & challenging home.

Learned the hard way about surveys. My preference and path to accuracy is to have a detailed survey performed on the lot or parcel prior to creating a civil plan for grading, placement and retaining walls. Surveys supplied with subdivision maps are often not accurate enough, leaving us building walls taller or longer to compensate.

snowcountry - Such a shame what you are having to go through. I feel for you, but you seem to have it much worse than many of us.

Building a home is not all that fun...especially when you are building long distance. I don't know how you stood it! We get to at least see our progress every few days. If we lived even closer by, I would be at the house every day.

The building process has to be constantly monitored for mistakes, or watching for where certain installs are placed. I've had to ask HVAC, electrical, and plumbing subs to relocate outlets and plumbing. The latest was that a central vac outlet was placed in the foyer on a wall where I had a large piece of furniture going. No way to get to the outlet. And I have learned not to leave things up to my DH to tell subs where to put things. :-) I am not innocent in all of this. I have made some mistakes for placement of windows and walls...even electrical, and have asked for them to be redone. Just this past week I had the electricians redo the whole front porch lighting locations. That, and other changes have cost us!!!

Hope you can get things resolved. I would submit TO DO that list in writing via a registered letter...not email. Give a time limit on getting everything finished. And no more payments until it's done!!!

Time limit? I gave 5 weeks to tie up all the loose end. Their answer? They don't want to give me a specific date!

@Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor Yes, it is a challenging build. And they did get enough allowance to make up for that, time and otherwise.

Time limit? I gave 5 weeks to tie up all the loose end. Their answer? They don't want to give me a specific date!

I left out the part about hinting of a law suit. Maybe I am confused. Have you closed, and are living in the house? That's when the letter should go out.

They said the house could be ready in mid-November. I drove out here with a car full of household stuff. Not quite ready but in two weeks, they said. I told them they can have 3 weeks but make sure it is done this time and that I was arranging movers. It came and gone, then may be the following week, the following week comes and goes. I said I have to move in before xmas. I was living on the street hotel hopping for about 6 weeks. So the township allowed a temporary c of o and I moved in. Living in the house helped me interact with subs and I began to realize how negligent the builder is. The builder's claim is since I have c of o and living in the house, I have to pay the final draw according to the contract. He is on a thin ground. The town can always revoke the c of o since they attached conditions to it. The conditions are not met to this day.

Shall we return to the regular programming? I am sure you all have a lot to discuss other than my troubles.

WOW, just wow. So upsetting. Feel free to express your frustrations. We care.

Yes, see everyone in February. :-)

Link to the February thread.