Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We've never built a house before and I've finally got a question for that either I'm just not smart enough to figure out the best search terms or a good answer just isn't easily searched out.
Anyway, I keep hearing "You should really take pictures of every unsheetrocked wall before they sheetrock things in to help you know what's behind each wall if you ever have problems".
And yes, I've asked this of those with this very helpful piece of advice and most just say "everything", but I can't imagine they literally have over 50 pictures of just their presheetrocked walls lying around.
So here's my question, I do agree that it can be helpful, but how do I narrow down what's really important and I definitely should get a photo of, vs. what probably won't really help me? If you have a checklist, that would be really helpful. I can guess at some-like perhaps the plumbing in the kitchen-but I also don't know that it will ever *raelly* come in handy and I don't want 50 pictures I'll never really need. So any tips/lists/ideas would be MUCH appreciated if you've done this.
with digital photos as cheap as they are--all it costs you is time--you don't have to print them--
just make sure you give proper orientation of what wall you are taking picture of--and keep digital file of your house build with all significant stages of construction--
take a video as well or instead if you have digital movie camera--then you can do running commentary--zoom in on points like plumbing joins/electric wiring
and it is just as important to take photos of the attic spaces--if you can get up there fairly safely and exteriors-- as well as the interiors
check out site on home building on Gardenweb site
lots of people post their build stages' photos when they have questions about quality/problems-
some people have thousands of photos of their construction cycle
Yes, I really *DO* have 50 or more pictures of my pre-sheetrocked walls. Why not? It's not as if they cost anything anymore. I went into every single room and took 5 shots - each wall plus the ceiling.
They have come in handy numerous times, both during construction (when the can lighting was sheetrocked over in one room), and after construction (when looking for an available wall channel for wiring that didn't have a 2x4 "crossed" in the middle). Have I used all 50? No, more like 3 or 4. But there's no way to know which ones you'll need.
I have a couple thousand pictures of my home when we built, and hours of video tape as well. I still use them all when I have a question about the location of components or method of build.
As pointed out you should buy a digital camera and put the pictures on a DVD when finished. Make at least two copies of the DVD and store one in a very safe place with the other at home for quick access.
When you are taking pictures here are some tips. Take the pictures in the highest resolution mode your camera and recorder can provide. You will be amazed at how valuable that alone becomes later. If you see a spot on a picture and think you need to know what it is you will be able to expand it with great detail.
Since you are using a digital camera it costs absolutely nothing to take as many as possible. The best way to approach it all is like a huge tour of the home using positional pictures to identify what room it is. So pick a starting point like the front door and take a picture from outside. Then using as much of a circular pattern as possible start at the first room to the right or left and work your way around the first floor. Then work your way up the stairs. Once at the top of the stairs use the same direction circular pattern to take pictures in each room. When done go back to the front door and use the same direction pattern and take the exterior pictures.
In each room start first with a distant view of each wall, ceiling, and floor and make sure you get an adjoining corners in each distant view to mark position. You might have to take two distant pictures of each wall to do this. Also take a picture from an angle of each wall to obtain the details on the sides of studs. In each room use the same left to right or right to left pattern you used to move from room to room. This is important as it helps keep you oriented when you look at pictures later.
After you take the wide shot of the wall then break the wall into quarters and shoot overlapping pictures of each quarter. As you do each quarter if there is a stamp or tag on a piece of material take a close-up of it that shows the writing as legible as possible. Do this for all walls in the room and the ceiling as well then move to the next room. The tags and stamps can help you identify what materials were used if there is ever a question as their appropriate use.
Make sure you take pictures under sinks, vanities, inside of access panels, under tubs, etc., etc.
It sounds like a lot of pictures and it will take some time but trust me if you ever need them you will find out how valuable taking that time was! Make sure you have plenty of memory cards or a laptop handy to offload them to as you will fill the cards. Also make sure you have plenty of batteries as well.
As suggested it is also well worth doing the videos too. If you have the software available to extract individual frames from a video, and you can obtain high resolutions like stills, then you can save yourself some time.
Hopefully you never need to use the pictures. But if you do it can save you a lot of time, aggravation, and possibly money removing sheetrock to determine what might have been back there. If you plan to remodel or add they are definitely invaluable as any good contractor can tell you what might need to be done before they remove sheetrock or other materials.
One more thing... when you sell the house eventually, this would be a great selling point for the new buyer. We just bought a house in Sherman that is 2 years old, and have some plumbing issues. What I wouldn't give to see the plumbing pre-sheet rock (or have X-ray vision like Superman).
One more thing... when you sell the house eventually, this would be a great selling point for the new buyer. We just bought a house in Sherman that is 2 years old, and have some plumbing issues. What I wouldn't give to see the plumbing pre-sheet rock (or have X-ray vision like Superman).
If you would like to PM or email me (see my profile) I would be happy to work with you via email. Possibly we can help determine the "what" before you remove sheetrock.
This is a great example of how these pictures would be very useful in the future. Thanks for sharing ggolf!
I have a couple thousand pictures of my home when we built, and hours of video tape as well. I still use them all when I have a question about the location of components or method of build.
As pointed out you should buy a digital camera and put the pictures on a DVD when finished. Make at least two copies of the DVD and store one in a very safe place with the other at home for quick access.
When you are taking pictures here are some tips. Take the pictures in the highest resolution mode your camera and recorder can provide. You will be amazed at how valuable that alone becomes later. If you see a spot on a picture and think you need to know what it is you will be able to expand it with great detail.
Since you are using a digital camera it costs absolutely nothing to take as many as possible. The best way to approach it all is like a huge tour of the home using positional pictures to identify what room it is. So pick a starting point like the front door and take a picture from outside. Then using as much of a circular pattern as possible start at the first room to the right or left and work your way around the first floor. Then work your way up the stairs. Once at the top of the stairs use the same direction circular pattern to take pictures in each room. When done go back to the front door and use the same direction pattern and take the exterior pictures.
In each room start first with a distant view of each wall, ceiling, and floor and make sure you get an adjoining corners in each distant view to mark position. You might have to take two distant pictures of each wall to do this. Also take a picture from an angle of each wall to obtain the details on the sides of studs. In each room use the same left to right or right to left pattern you used to move from room to room. This is important as it helps keep you oriented when you look at pictures later.
After you take the wide shot of the wall then break the wall into quarters and shoot overlapping pictures of each quarter. As you do each quarter if there is a stamp or tag on a piece of material take a close-up of it that shows the writing as legible as possible. Do this for all walls in the room and the ceiling as well then move to the next room. The tags and stamps can help you identify what materials were used if there is ever a question as their appropriate use.
Make sure you take pictures under sinks, vanities, inside of access panels, under tubs, etc., etc.
It sounds like a lot of pictures and it will take some time but trust me if you ever need them you will find out how valuable taking that time was! Make sure you have plenty of memory cards or a laptop handy to offload them to as you will fill the cards. Also make sure you have plenty of batteries as well.
As suggested it is also well worth doing the videos too. If you have the software available to extract individual frames from a video, and you can obtain high resolutions like stills, then you can save yourself some time.
Hopefully you never need to use the pictures. But if you do it can save you a lot of time, aggravation, and possibly money removing sheetrock to determine what might have been back there. If you plan to remodel or add they are definitely invaluable as any good contractor can tell you what might need to be done before they remove sheetrock or other materials.
Good luck and enjoy the home!
mrsamandal,
One more thing for you. Obviously this should be done before the insulation has been placed in the walls and ceilings. We call that the "Pre-sheetrock" stage. If you have not started building yet I would advise that you visit the site regularly and take photos at every stage, and as often as possible. Of importance as well is when the foundation form boards and all reinforcement is in place and just before they pour the concrete. There are many photos to be taken here as well that can be very revealing later if needed.
I did take 5-6 shots at each stage thus far, but now that we've got studs and wiring, and ductwork, I'll go back and do the full 360 views of walls and ceilings.
I guess I just needed the extra kick in the you-know-what to go do it in this crazy heat!
YES!!!!!!!!! We have built 2 houses and I had over 100 pictures of the entire building process. Current house we bought from the ones who built it and they passed on their photo album of all of their construction photos.
On our second house those construction photos paid for themselves. We had a plumbing leak and did not know where it was coming from as it was coming from under the carpet. Plumber showed up that the builder sent and started cutting holes in the sheetrock only to find nothing. No plumbing in those walls. After the 3rd hole I said, STOP!!!!!!!!! I have pictures. Pulled out the album and found the pics from pre sheetrock with the plumbing in and saw where in that area the hot and cold water pipes were. He cut a hole there and there it was.
In times like the one above a photo album of still pictures is MUCH EASIER to flip thru and find the exact area and stage than film/video would be. Video is fine but still pictures can be quicker when trying to pinpoint an exact spot of a certain stage if something should come up. And that is only ONE instance of when those pictures came in handy.
I did go to the sites every single day and sometimes morning and afternoon. On one such visit we found a plumber cutting OUT pipes from the utility room. WTH!??!?!??! He had gone to the wrong address. He was in there cutting out the water pipes for the utility sink we had paid for. If it had not been for us coming that instant he would have ripped out all of the plumbing and the room would have been sheetrocked the next day.
You MUST stay on top of it the ENTIRE process.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If it had not been for us coming that instant he would have ripped out all of the plumbing and the room would have been sheetrocked the next day. 
