Anyone will tell ya that 5 weeks to remodel a 2 story, 2600sf home from top to bottom is pretty tight never mind while reconfiguring the entire kitchen, removing an Arizona room and refinishing and retrofitting a 1920's clawfoot tub. Needless to say the #LamFam moved into a home with still a few things left to do.
Here's what was left:
- More insulation blown into the attic
- Exterior paint job
- New Roof
- Window washing
- Sunscreens
Doesn't seem like a big deal, right?
Here are the things you don't think about...
More Insulation blown in the attic: This sounds easy. They just hoist the small hose up the back balcony and through the sliders and should just take a few minutes and they'll be out and cleaned up shortly after. Wrong.
First off, they had to come twice because they noticed that the original batt insulation was actually falling off of the walls and it was going to be a little bigger of a job than they had planned for the day as there was so much undone up in the attic and so many things that weren't sealed, etc.
The "hose" isn't that small either, btw. If it is being pulled from around the corner, put rubber, tape or something that will protect your baseboards from being scuffed...especially if they are bright white. Also, keep in mind the door has to stay open which totally sucks in the summer when it's 115 degrees out. If you are planning to add more insulation in your attic (and it's a great idea to do so) it's more comfortable for you and your home to do it when the weather is cooler.
I didn't enclose the entrance to the attic completely in plastic but I wish I did. My attic access is in the master closet and there were and still are pieces of insulation on clothes, in shoes and shelves. I can't recommend enclosing the area in plastic enough. The guy did his best to keep it as clean as possible but it's impossible with all of that flying around
It took about 3 hours from start to finish and that's including some sealing and different things they needed to do to prepare. The difference in the overall comfort of our home was recognized immediately and I am sure we will see a difference in our utility bill too. We used and were very satisfied with EnergyRite LLC.
New Roof: We have a tile roof which means they remove the tile and replace the underlayment then put the tiles back. Some of the materials used when replacing the roof gave off a very strong asphalt smell. I work from home and started noticing it a few hours after they started reassembling the roof.
Opening the windows weren't an option because it was June.
We have jump ducts above the bedroom doors (they open the rooms to a register on the other side of the wall into the hallway). I remembered that the guy from EnergyRite said that our jump ducts weren't sealed and they were just open to the attic which meant that nice, cool air was being released into the bazillion degree attic. Wow, that's awesome of the builder to not seal those 😳 I quickly realized that #1. it's hot and #2. those jump ducts are open to the attic so that asphalt smell is going to just keep getting worse especially since we can't really open the windows.
Panic. I can barely be inside my house at this point let alone sleep there or let my 4 year old sleep in that chemical smell. I grabbed the plastic wrap from the kitchen and the blue painters tape from the laundry room and wrapped all of the jump ducts in plastic. I threw open a few windows and set up some fans. It took about an hour but the smell went away for the most part thankfully.
Lesson learned. If possible, replace your roof when it's cooler so that you can keep the windows open or do it before you move in. Hopefully, the home is sealed, including registers and ducts, from the attic. We used Prime Roofing for the replacement.
Exterior Paint: This was pretty painless, was only outside and only lasted a few days. We used an epic painting company that we love and refer to all of our clients, Sharper Edge Painting, LLC.
I would absolutely recommend getting this done AFTER the new roof if possible. We did it the other way around and there are a few spots that we have to have the painter come back and touch up because the roofers didn't put the tiles exactly in the same point in a few spots so some of the old color is exposed.
Window Washing: You'll want to line up window washers especially if you have large windows or a two story home. The painters will power wash your home and the windows will get wet and likely streaked, etc. The window washing company will remove the screens and clean them as well.
The company we used is South Mountain Window Cleaning. They were awesome and my windows are so clean and clear.
Sun Screens: I recommend getting the window cleaning the day before or the morning of the day that you are getting new sunscreens. The window cleaning company will remove the screens if you ask them to and then you'll be clean and ready for the new screen install.
I caution getting the window washing more than a day before the sun screen installation. It can get really hot on windows that need sunscreens especially once the old ones are removed and you were used to the comfort they provided.
The sunscreen company that we used is ScreenMobile and it's made a huge difference in the comfort level of our home already.
We still aren't done but we are getting there even though it's been a little stressful as we ride this crazy real estate market while also raising a 4 year-old. The boxes are finally almost all unpacked, the punch list is getting shorter and we more than grateful to be fortunate enough to live minutes from the preserve in this cool little town called Ahwatukee.
Speaking of this cool little town...here's an awesome new listing of mine that's 3/4 of a mile up a mountain offering the most epically epic views and privacy that you would expect from the top of the world. Call 480-250-0023 for more info.
