Mixed news today

After opening up the house, the electrician asked me to go get the bathroom light fixture so he could wire it. After a successful run to the plumbing supply place, I got back to the house and called the structural engineer. There is a concrete foundation in the backyard we want to remove and he was looking at that to see if we could safely remove it. It is framed by cinderblock walls between us and the neighbors on three sides, and since no permits were ever obtained we don't know if the foundation and walls are joined.

At the engineer's request, we had three 12" square holes drilled so he could see what's underneath. The good news is that we can remove the foundation, but we need to build some sort of underground footer to support them. Hopefully, the footer can be buried under the dirt and nothing will show. It may be necessary to leave a curb or a little of the foundation in place. This job seems a bit overwhelming - it was really hard to find an engineer willing to work in my area. This one actually has his office an hour away. He's been a bit hard to get a hold of, and the arrangement has been rather loose - i.e. no contract or payment schedule. Our original agreement was for him to inspect and tell us if we could remove the foundation and to inspect the foundation of the house for structural soundness. We were to have gotten a written report, and then C and I were going to decide what to do and when. Well, so far we've gotten no report, just verbal communication. He is also telling us to remove half of the concrete (the remaining half will support the wall during construction) and then call him and he will design a footer to be built which we will then get a permit for. Hmmm, seems a little fast. I'd like a contract first of all, and now that I know it's even possible I'd like to interview a few more people about the job. So, I'm not sure what to do at this time. The general contractor I hope to bring on to finish a lot of the job also does concrete, so I will talk to him first about it.

We have old linoleum tiles in our master bedroom, and one of the contractors I interviewed suggested testing them for asbestos. It's a good thing we did because they do in fact contain asbestos! I was really surprised because I would not have even thought to test this area. I had no idea linoleum tiles could contain asbestos.

I spent a few hours in the evening researching windows. Ugh! Like everything else, they are extremely complex to buy. Not only are there at least 20 manufacturers, there are different types of windows: those used in new construction, full replacement windows and sash only replacements. Then there is the material - vinyl, wood, aluminum, vinyl clad, aluminum clad, etc. Then there are features to consider such as UV protection. Also, some companies only make their windows in 1/2" increments, so you may need a filler to make it fit in your opening. The can look awkward and can cause you to loose glass surface. Where do you even begin?