Archive for July, 2007

23
Jul

Busy, busy, busy!

I haven’t been able to blog much lately–too busy with the remodel! I took a “vacation” from my regular job last week so that I could devote all my efforts to the addition. I’ll post more on the project status later (hopefully tonight), but right now the only thing I’ll mention is my telephone/internet connection. When we finally got our telephone service underground, I jury-rigged our existing telephone line by running a cable through one of the window openings. But last week we got our windows installed so I had to do something else. We had other, higher-priority projects to work on, so I just disconnected the phone line and figured I’d get around to it later. “Later” ended up being several days–I finally got the underground conduit extended into the attic, but I still have to get some telephone- and network cable rated for underground usage. (The conduit is buried about two feet, and in the summertime the temperature within the underground conduit is low enough to cause moisture to condense inside the pipe, to the point that the cable will effectively be underwater.) In the meantime, I’m going to continue using the indoor-rated cable until it fails (or I’m able to acquire some underground cable).

I’ve got some pictures, but I haven’t had a chance to upload them yet. Hopefully tonight I’ll have a chance to wire up the phone and internet, then I’ll try to post a real update on the project.

14
Jul

Our roof is finished!

Our roof is finished! Bill and his guys came by this morning and got it done in a few hours.

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I didn’t have time to go up and take a picture of Barb’s shop. There is some extra roofing material stacked up on the back of the house roof. We’ll use that for my shop in a few months. But in the meantime, we’re going to haul it off the roof and store it in Barb’s shop. No time for that right now, since we’re getting ready for out demolition party tomorrow.

13
Jul

Remodel subcontractors’ business cards

I’d like to recommend some of the great subcontractors that we’ve worked with. Unfortunately, many of them don’t have web sites for me to link to. I’ve got a few business cards in my wallet, and I started scanning those in and putting the images up in my remodel subcontractors “photo” set on Flickr. Currently I’ve only got the three cards I had in my wallet or already scanned, but I’ll add more to the set as I come across them. Later on I’d like to do a separate post about each of our subs, at which time I’ll include their business card.

12
Jul

Roofing started

Our roof was “loaded” (i.e. the material was delivered and distributed around the roof) on Tuesday. The truck just barely fit down the backyard driveway.

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(More photos on the Roofing photoset on Flickr.)

Hall’s Roofing started putting up our composition roof on Wednesday. Bill and his crew made a lot of progress on Thursday–by the end of the day they had most of the house covered:

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They hadn’t started on Barb’s quilt shop yet, but that’s an extremely simple roof–no penetrations, valleys or hips, just a simple gable roof with an easy 4/12 pitch.

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Bill expects to finish the roof on Friday if it doesn’t get too hot; otherwise, they’ll knock out the remainder on Monday morning.

10
Jul

Gutters are in

Louie Lodi installed our gutters over the past few days. The took measurements late last week. Gutter material was delivered on Monday, and they were able to install the gutters on the front of the house that afternoon. I didn’t even notice them when I first came home.

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The gutters for the back of the house and Barb’s quilt studio were installed Tuesday. Downspouts will be installed after stucco.

09
Jul

Remodel week #12

We’re into the 12th week of our remodeling project. Barb and I both had five days off for Fourth of July, and we spent most of that time working on the house. We got a bunch of stuff done over our “holiday”…

We met with Eric, our cabinet maker. He should be contacting us today or tomorrow for final approval of the cabinet plan. Cabinets should be done in about 2-3 weeks, and installed shortly thereafter (assuming drywall is done). Eric suggested that we look into prefabricated vanity counters for the new bathroom. Tile Outlet had these for ~$375 each (’Uba Tuba’ 37″ granite with sink bowl installed and pre-drilled faucet holes). No grout lines to clean, and it’ll look great! Eric also suggested that we order the cabinet trim piece for our microwave, so I stopped by A&A and talked to Gavin about that. ETA is about 1.5-2 weeks (2007-07-20).

Barb got all the exterior sheathing removed from the back side of the original house, which should make for a quicker demolition party.

Nearly all of the construction debris has been loaded up. The back yard looks much better now, and it’s a lot easier to move around. We’ll be buying the bathtub tomorrow, since we’re finally able to drive the truck into the back yard again.

We met with the roofer, Bill Hall, after we passed our roof diaphragm inspection. He gave us a bunch of new chores, almost all of which are done. Barb went to the supply house and picked out our roofing material: Owens-Corning 40-year “Oakridge” teak.

Our HVAC contractor, Jose, came and looked over our project. He needed us to make copies of the floor and electrical plans, including any changes we are considering for subsequent remodel phases. He took care of most of his venting/roof penetrations today. We still have to figure out exactly where the furnace is going before he can place the flue vent.

Windows for our addition should arrive sometime this week, in which case they will be ready to install next Monday (right after our demolition party this weekend).

We got all of our non-glass doors ordered from U.S. Building Materials (off Sunrise Blvd, south of White Rock Rd). Great folks, by the way! ETA on the doors is about two weeks (2007-07-23).

I started working on our electrical installation. I got most of the outlet and switch boxes positioned in the bedrooms, hallway, laundry room, nook, and the added-on area of the living/great room. I still need to do the bathroom. The kitchen and the rest of the great room may have to wait until after the demolition party.

Lots of stuff done, but quite a lot left to do!

Update: Added a bunch of tags to this post.

08
Jul

Our house, then and now

I dug up some pre-remodel pictures of our house. I thought it might be interesting to see the “then” and “now” pictures:

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I’ll have to see about taking a new picture from the same viewpoint as the 2005 picture above…

07
Jul

Final demolition party!

We’re getting ready for our final* demolition party–tearing off the back wall of the original house. We still have to cut a score line around the ceilings (which we’re trying to save) then brace the ceilings near the walls that will be removed.

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Barb has been removing the exterior wall boards, and I’ll be pulling the power lines out of the walls the day before demolition party. Speaking of which…

Our final demolition party will be next Sunday, July 15. We’ll be starting at 7:00 am, but if that’s too early for you feel free to show up during the heat of the day. ;) Our objectives will be:

  1. NO INJURIES!
  2. Salvage the windows (6) and interior doors (6).
  3. Demolish the kids’ bedroom entirely and take down the south wall of our bedroom.
  4. Strip the kitchen: carefully remove the dishwasher we installed two years ago; remove countertop tile; pull out cabinets (all five of them!); salvage the range and kitchen sink; pull up the linoleum.
  5. Take out the south and west kitchen walls.

If you’d like to come and just gawk, that’s fine too. We’ll provide food, drink, and as many tools as possible. Please bring a pair of gloves, safety glasses, hammers/sledge hammers, pry bars and wrecking bars if you have them. Be sure to write you name on everything! We’ll have sharpies if you forget…

RSVP via email or by commenting here so that we know how much food and drink to have on hand.

* “Final” for phase 1.

06
Jul

Roof inspection

We just passed our roof diaphragm & shear wall inspection–woo hoo! Next up we’ve got to schedule a whole bunch of jobs:

  1. We need to paint the barge rafters before the shingles are installed over the gable edges of the roof.
  2. (Roofer) Flashing for our chimney.
  3. (Plumber) Roof penetrations for vent stacks in kitchen, laundry, and bathroom.
  4. (HVAC) Roof penetrations for laundry room and bathrooms (2) exhaust fans, and the kitchen hood.
  5. Gutters have to be fabricated and installed. (Downspouts won’t be installed until after stucco.)

We’ve contacted all of the tradesmen and most of this work should be completed by next Tuesday. The roofer might be able to start on Tuesday, and hopefully we’ll have a finished roof by the end of next week.

02
Jul

Petaluma pictures

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I’d forgotten about the pictures we took in Petaluma. We didn’t get any photos of “The Creamery”, so I guess we’ll have to go back and rectify that. (And as long as we’re there we may as well buy some more Spring Hill Cheese!)




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