You may want to install the garage door
motor operator yourself (see Chapter 16) in order to save a little
money, and since you need to be present on the job for other reasons.
I normally would do some odd jobs, so that I could justify waiting
around the job site for deliveries, or to lock up after subs. Your
trim subcontractor will have to case the large garage overhead door
opening before you have the door installed, since the rails mount
against these 1x4’s framing the door opening. Following that you
can install the motor operator if you are not having a door company
do it. We could either pay the overhead door company an extra $250 to
furnish and install a half-horsepower motor, or we could buy one for
$125 locally and do the labor ourselves. It took about two hours,
which was equivalent to $50 per hour pay. This could not be
considered after-tax money, since it contributed to sweat equity
that would be taxed as profit later, (not as homeowner.) That
income was fairly good compensation, especially since we needed to be
present on the job a good deal of the time anyway, without the luxury
of a full-time super (superintendent.)
The builder must call a cultured marble
supplier, if desired, for vanity tops, before the plumber is to come
to final his work. The marble company will measure the installed
vanities for tops and built-in lavatory bowls, whirlpool tubs with
splash and skirt, perhaps shower walls or tub surrounds, and caps for
shower knee walls and curbs. This product is not satisfactory for
kitchen countertops, since it is easily stained, porous, and not heat
resistant.
We found it was less expensive and more
satisfactory to furnish an acrylic whirlpool tub than a marble one.
Acrylic is more comfortable with ample body-fitting curves, and it
keeps water warmer than the heat absorbing thermal mass of a marble
tub will allow. The difference is that an acrylic tub requires a knee
wall or other support to be built, and a marble tub comes with its
own marble skirt, which was self-supporting. Both types required
access for servicing the pump underneath. The acrylic tub’s skirt
was usually a piece of cement board covered with tile and held in
place with caulk that could be cut later for service. Sometimes a
service access door is provided in an adjacent toilet room. I often
wanted to install a large soaking tub rather than a whirlpool tub,
since the latter is harder to clean, costs more, requires electrical
work and access, and most buyers report whirlpools are rarely used.
However, though little used, buyers usually requested the jets and
pumps.
