Days fly by, and more rain

I don't know what it is, but every day seems to fly by with not a lot of progress to show for it. I was supposed to meet the contractor at 8 a.m., and the plumber at 10 a.m. Both were running really late due to massive rain. It was about 11 before the plumber arrived and about 12 before the contractor arrived. Things went well with the plumber - he just came by to check up on things before tomorrow's inspection.

The contractor had a draft of the kitchen plan he had done on his computer with a CAD (Computer Aided Design) program. It looks really good and is almost done. I actually found out I had a bit more room than I thought once we combed through it. Yay, more cabinets for me! The layout is pretty much done, and now I just need to figure out details like in each space do I want drawers, slide out shelves, cabinets, etc. He and I spent some time on that. Working on the kitchen plan is several hours of every day and has been for weeks now. It's been a lot of work, but it will be really nice and very worth it.

The contractor and I also looked at his revised shedule. He was originally planning to be done April 11, but now the date is April 21. This is partly due to my adding more stuff since he's been here and partly due to losing time because of the rain.

It rained really hard for most of the day. The contractor's crew didn't come in at all. They were working on breaking up the concrete outside, and they can't do that in the rain. I'm thinking I may have to make another trip to the city and extend my dumpster permit (I have a permit that lets me have a dumpster in the street because it's too big to fit in the driveway).

As I've mentioned before, there is a mysterious pipe in the back yard that vents water under the house. It's a 4" plastic pipe that looks like a sewer pipe, but there is no clue where it begins. Every time it rains, we get water (not sewage, thank God) under the house. Getting the pipe taken care of is definitely on our list soon, but we've had a very rainy month so it seems more urgent now. Today with all the rain, we had so much water under the house. It was several inches deep in an area of the foundation about 12' wide by 20' long. There was so much water you could see it flowing like a small stream. Yikes! This is definitely serious, and I talked to the plumber about getting it fixed ASAP after the rain lets up. It's a more complicated fix than it sounds like. They have to go under the house and put a locator ( a metal snake that can be detected above ground with a metal detector) or a camera in the pipe and find out where it starts. After we figure out how much pipe there is, where it runs and where it starts, we can make a plan to deal with it (e.g. dig it out or cap the other end and leave it buried). They also have to cap the end under the house and reseal where it penetrated the foundation. So, hopefully this can happen soon and we won't have more rain for a while.

I think the reason there was so much water is due to the penetration in the foundation, and not the pipe itself. A trench in the yard for the electric is dug up and it's collecting water which is entering through the hole around the pipe. The fact that the yard slopes toward the house doesn't help either. Sometimes I really wonder what the prior owners were thinking when they did certain things on the house.

These small pictures don't really do the water situation justice, but here thay are. This is a shot of a puddle/small stream under the house. The water was actually moving!



This is a shot from under the house looking toward the front of the house. The partially submerged grey pipe running from the front right toward the back middle is partly under water. It is usually almost completely visible.


This is a shot of water pooling at the back of the garage. The yard is graded so that the water pools near the house and garage. The slab out back also makes it worse because nothing soaks in. The water is 3"-6".



The other major project of today was talking to asbestos removal contractors. I didn't realize how complex it was to hire someone for this. We have one small bedroom that has square linoleum tiles that have asbestos and we need to have them removed. In addition to all the things to do when you hire any other contractor (specify the job, check references, check license, check Better Business Bureau, check insurance, etc) there are some other things that need to be done as well. Government websites recommend that you also check that they are certified asbestos abatement contractors (this is in addition to being a licensed contractor). You should also ask things like will everyone on the job be certified, how will waste be handled, do they have asbestos insurance, if so what kind (different types allow for different window for claim filing; as a consumer you want a longer window), and a bunch of other stuff. It's a lot of work, but the stakes are really high considering that they are dealing with a lethal substance in your house. Once I hire someone, they have to notify some regulatory board 2 weeks before beginning work. So, I am hoping to have someone selected and booked by the end of the week for sometime near the end of the month.

It is possible to leave asbestos in place as long as it will not be disturbed, but we don't want to take the chance and we also can't be sure it won't be disturbed. We need to install some sort of flooring in that room and there is a good chance of it being disturbed then. We also don't want to have to disclose that at some later date if we ever sell (not that I ever want to after all this work!)

I have to admit, I am feeling really weary of remodeling today. It feels like it's been going on forever and will never end. I almost can't even imagine living there.