Step 9 - Interior finishing

   Certainly finish work is what a lot of folks will feel comfortable doing themselves.  However, by the time your house is this close to being done, it might make more sense to keep the work moving along rapidly so you can get moved in.  You can keep yourself busy acting as a general contractor at this stage, scheduling and  watching the performance of the various finish trades.

   Before, or right after the drywall is up and finished, choose and order all plumbing and electrical fixtures, flooring, paint, and interior door and trim handles.   As you begin interior finishing, you will also need to order all appliances.

   The first work to be done is to install the trim, doors, and cabinets.  I had my trim crew hold off on nailing down any baseboards in rooms that were to get laminate, tile, or vinyl flooring.  I had them cut the pieces and just set them in place.  That prevented me from needing any 1/4 round trim to hide flooring blemishes.

   Get the cabinets installed just as soon as they arrive and then get the counter top company out to measure them.  They will create a template from the installed cabinets that they will use to cut out the counter tops.

   Once the trim is in place, it is time for the first coat of paint.  The painters will caulk everything, prime, and spray enamel coats on baseboards.  A good crew will remove all door hinges to spray the doors.  You might work with them to trim the bottoms of the doors while they have them down.  Otherwise, you may have to pull any doors that will be over carpet down again to trim them later.  You will need a gap of 1.5 to 2" from the bottom of an interior door to the unfinished sub-floor.  The gap is needed to prevent dragging on the carpet as well as for return air to pass out of rooms.

   Once the painters are done, it is time to install all the electrical plugs, switches, and light fixtures.

   You should also be able to get the flooring crew started at this time.  It was my preference to wait until the flooring was finished before installing any toilets or baseboards.  That's the cheapest, easiest way to get a clean look around the edges.  Be careful when ordering vinyl flooring as it is often overpriced.  But, if installing tile over a wooden sub-floor, make sure to use cement backer board.

   Hopefully your counter tops are in by the time all the above activities are complete.

   Finally, install appliances and plumbing fixtures as the areas they rest upon are completed.