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Hello, from Bethesda! Glad youre enjoying the build. I have some projects planned i hope you find interesting. :thumbup:

Roscoe, still waiting on the excavator to come back around and finish the drywell and remove the huge dirt pile in front! The job is "on the schedule" but its anyones guess when that might be. Pretty frustrating and the wifes patience is wearing thin.

It was a rainy Saturday in DC. I was able to get in some garage time to start the loft and get a last coat of paint on the walls. The loft will span the full width (25') and it was important that there be no supports in the way. The depth is only 42". I used 3 LVLs from Georgia Pacific for the...

I like this suggestion and had given this some thought myself. There are some aluminum pergola kits on amazon that have decent rating that might fit the bill. I was thinking a combo of pergola plus downcast door lighting might be a nice touch. Ill need to mill this over as I plan out the...

PM Sent There wasn't a discussion about poured walls. The block walls were waterproofed on the external wall and a french drain was run around the sides and back which drains to daylight in the front. They added landscape fabric over the rock to prevent soil fines from clogging the drain after...

Welcome, and congrats on the new place. Yep, lots of DC folk on here :)

A drafting firm designed the foundation and structure. They have a PE on staff licensed in MD.

Agreed. But in this case the GC was 2.5 hrs away. I never met him. He didn't come to the site to size up the job and quote it properly. The excavation was too difficult for the foundation crew, so I had to find someone for that anyway - at substantial added cost I might add. I'm sure if I lived...

This past week the wife and I put up the rain gutters and I painted the block with masonry paint. I also ordered materials for a small loft that i'm putting on the back wall. Pics to follow as the loft takes shape...

If you are reading this thread/forum, you're likely the type who wants to arm themselves with as much knowledge as possible and can handle the role of GC. I wouldn't recommend using this firm as it's just a GC for subs - and not a great one at that. The foundation sub in particular was not...

See my edit in the post above for clarification. I only mentioned this in passing since the folks at the permitting desk had told me this when I was submitting my application. I contacted 311 (county services) to get the full skinny.

Bib, I wanted to comment on this a little further for those readers in MoCo maryland. All new attached garage additions now require sprinkler systems. Not required for detached. So this is a significant added expense vs keeping things detached. EDIT: MoCo only requires sprinklers in attached...

Thanks! We did consider brick to match. The homes in this neighborhood were built with reclaimed brick from old warehouses in Baltimore. It's a really tough brick to match - you would think since it's a hodgepodge of different bricks that any mix would match nice. I've walked around the hood and...

The jack shafts were extended the correct length to fit two 8500 liftmasters in between the doors. Passed final inspection today. No issues except the large dirt pile and worries about wash off into the county sewer. Need to coordinate with the excavator to complete backfill, dig the drywell...

Doors with high lift installed yesterday. The installer took them as high as they could go. On the wall, the crew framed out the door openings and track locations in 2x6 and covered them in Al cap stock. The door installer spaced the track hangers off the bottom truss chords with spacers 1/2"...

My best craigslist story is from when I was just out of college living in a first floor garden apartment building. I was giving away for free a large and VERY heavy solid wood entertainment center. Probably 400+lbs if it was an ounce. I made explicitly clear in the ad that i'm not helping carry...

good luck! the weather has been cooperating well so far. At least your crew isn't getting pushed out on other jobs with all the nice weather we've had. :thumbup:

The poplar is around 15 ft from the foundation. MC didn't have anything to say about the tree. AFAIK, trees don't really factor in the permitting process at all. At least not in my neck of the woods. Surge protection is a good idea - i'll keep that in mind thanks. I won't be pulling service out...

Im on the md side in moco and built this month a 600sf garage into grade, 4' high at the back wall. Im a $60/sf with 2x6 walls, attic truss and 4kpsi fiber mesh slab. Vinyl siding. How in the world do you have room for 40' deep in close in Nova!

Water off a duck's back. He's crazy or an a-hole or both. Craigslist is all about working the numbers whether buying or selling. I've bought and sold tons on that site. You just need to accept that there are people out there who are not honest, sane, or rational. For whatever reason, a high %...