Another not fun weekend

We spent a good deal of time today shopping for doors. We are having a new back door installed to give us good access to the backyard. Right now, there is no easy way to get back there. We are also replacing the two existing doors because the people that lived here before us were gross. They are covered in nasty looking stains and are disgusting. We want to get a jump on ordering the doors now so we can get to work as soon as our existing permit is closed.

As with all things house, there is no easy answer. Even something as simple as ordering a 4 foot french door has dozens of options. Inswing or outswing? Depends on space available and weather protection. Solid wood or wood inside and something else outside? What surface on outside? Fiberglass, vinyl, aluminum, etc. Paint or stain grade wood? How thick are the jambs? How many hinges? What kind of metal? Brushed or polished finish? Divided light or solid glass? Double paned? Low E (sun protection)? Argon gas? (helps insulate). Etc, etc, etc. This isn't even close to all the questions you have to answer. Add to that the fact that there are dozens of companies that make doors and several stores to buy them from and you have one complicated task.

Gas flame

Here is an interesting tidbit I learned from the city inspector. The reason we had to create airflow for the furnace is that the gas flame needs it to burn the way it should. It should be a steady, strong, blue flame. If the flame doesn't get enough air, it turns into a weak, wobbly, yellow flame that they call a banana flame. It drastically reduces your furnace efficiency and impedes the functioning of the system in the furnace for venting harmful gasses. The flue may not work, and the deadly gasses can accumulate. Interesting, huh? It made it almost worth it to spend a weekend in the attic.

Today I got the last coat of shellac on the bedroom windows. I just have to sand and buff them and apply the trim and then we can put real shades up. Yay!

A day of meetings

I had 4 meetings today, and I clearly remembered why I hated working in an office. I started the day by going to see the city inspector to ask a question about clearing one of our inspection corrections. At noon, another drywaller came by. At 3, a guy came by to repair the bathroom floor that had been messed up. He had painted polyurethane over hair and debris so the finish wasn't smooth and had embedded stuff in it. They were supposed to sand it smooth and repaint it. The guy asked me to check it, and I found a bunch of spots he missed (there were a lot!). After checking it for a third time and still finding marks, I went over every inch with a flashlight and marked them all with tape. I really hope he got them all.

At 4:30, I met another drywaller and at 5 the structural engineer came with the general contractor we are going to be working with. They did measurements for the new back door sketches and also looked at the attic where we need to reinforce the roof rafters to support the new furnace. By the time all that ended, I was wiped out! Too much managment and too much to take in.

Since we couldn't enter the bathroom until 11 p.m. due to the floor being wet, I ran out to do some errands in the evening. I was gone exactly an hour, and in that time, someone dumped a Christmas tree on the median strip in front of our house. It was clear they wanted to just get it on to our property because it just barely across the property line. We think it came from the apartment building next door. How rude, and who waits until almost March to dispose of their tree? So many things about this remodel have really caused me to rethink my opinions of the human race.

Met first drywaller today

After meeting with my first drywaller, I realize yet again what a mess the previous contractor made. The drywaller is going to have to do some tricky thinking to get things right. The second drywaller never showed.

Sick today

I didn't do very much active work today, but I did schedule 4 drywall people to come for estimates. I need the windows, ceilings and outlets patched as well as a bunch of other small drywall touchups. There are some tricky fixes around the bay window as well.

Beat up today!

Ow, I am beat up today! I am covered in bruises, scrapes and splinters. My muscles are sore and I am still exhausted. I did manage to do some work today and called some drywallers to do some patching.

NOT a fun weekend

This weekend we had to clear the air vents in the attic. The furnace was under the house before, but it was over 50 years old and not working when we bought the house. We got a new efficient furnace and installed it in the attic where presumably it will be easier to work on. Strangely enough, there were only two heat vents in the entire house and they were right next to each other. I can't imagine how it heated the whole house. This past week, we had the furnace inspected and the inspector felt that there wasn't enough air for proper combustion. He suggested we clear the air vents. We had noticed that the attic gets unbelievably hot (like a sauna - really!) so it makes sense when he pointed out the air vents are blocked. It's like an airtight space with heat rising from the house and sun beating down. No wonder it gets hot!

This job rivals the countertops as unfun! Anyone who thinks remodeling is fun needs to spend a few hours doing this job and see how fun they think it is. As with many things in the house, the previous owners did things that make no sense. In this case, it was "insulation is good, so twice as much as you need must be better." There was just so much insulation in the attic. Some of it was over a foot thick, and the joists are only 6", so you can imagine the sheer volume of it. There were piles of insulation everywhere, and it was stuffed down into the crack where the roof meets the walls to block the vents. Nice. Smart.

Well, I discovered I most definitely do not have claustrophobia. Being the smaller and more heat-tolerant of the two of us, it was my job to do the crawling in the attic. Crawling is a generous term however. Even at 5'3", I cannot fully stand at the highest point in the attic so you can imagine how small the space is. Add to that the jungle of heat ducts, electrical conduits and the heater itself and it was a real maze. I also had to move only on the floor joists, so most of my moving around was done by moving like an inchworm along the joists. I had to be really careful to stay on the joists, or I would have found a limb sticking out through the ceiling of the room below. When I was laying along the lengthwise along the joists and had to move sideways, I had to balance on a forearm and two toes and move one limb at a time. I did lay on a board when space allowed, but that required some balancing to move around as well. Try suporting your weight in a variety of odd positions as well as lifting and pulling and you'll see it is REALLY strenuous. Add to that heat of about 120 degrees and no air, and you can tell I was dying. I was so out of breath I had to keep resting wherever I was. We did wear masks, but I had glass splinters all over my body. There was also debris from the roof that had fallen between the cracks when the roofers tore off the old layers. Nothing crawling over a bed of gravel to rough up your skin.

We did a few hours on Saturday and then had to quit. It was just too hot and I was too wiped out. We resumed on Sunday (we considered waiting till next weekend, but this job is so miserable that we wanted it done). The worst came when I had to do the last few windows. I managed to do some strange yoga-ish move to get over a heat duct and behind the heater. I had to squeeze through a triangular opening that was about 2' wide, and about 18" tall on one side and 0" tall on the other. This small opening was about 2 feet long, so I had to inchworm through it. I was concerned because beyond the opening was a huge pile of insulation, and I wasn't sure if I could clear room to turn around and I didn't think I could inchworm backwards. Well, I went for it, managed to hand the huge pile of insulation out piece by piece and get back out. We were so glad to be done.

The floor guy came to put the last coat of polyurethane on the bathfloor today so were were unable to use the bathroom for 7 hours. It wasn't so bad because I was out in the evening. They didn't sweep or clean the floor though, and ended up painting over a lot of debris so now they have to sand and repaint it. Duh.

Here I am moving into the depths of the attic. This was one of the more accessable spots.


Here is just a fraction of the insulation we removed. What were they thinking?

One coat poly today

The installer came back today and put one coat of polyurethane on the bath floor. We had to wait 7 hours for it to dry, so I scheduled some errands tonight.

Bath floor installed today

Today the bathroom floor was installed. C and I could have done it ourselves, but we hired it out for several reasons. First, the job involves pulling up the toilet and reinstalling it at the new floor height when the floor is done. We saw first hand how badly a leaky toilet can damage the subfloor. If this happens, it is a huge and costly job to fix so we wanted it done right. Also, since we only have one bathroom, it had to be done in one day or we would need a hotel room for the night.

The install went ok. The contractor forgot to bring a new wax ring for the toilet (seals the toilet against the floor so there is no leaks), so I had to page him on his way out of town to go get one. He also forgot to tell the work crew that they were supposed to put two coats of polyurethane on the floor. I think he is really disorganized. The floor looks great though - I love my choice and it feels nice underfoot. Pictures will be posted when it is done.

Pictures of new amenities

Here are two of our latest amenities to be added. First are the barstools. It is so nice to have a place to eat rather than on the couch (which is really deep and soft, so it's not the best for eating). Second, since we passed final plumbing cooktop is ready to be used. I haven't used it yet though - the kitchen is still in such disarray that I can't readily put my hands on a lot of things needed to cook. Also, we are so busy working on the house it seems like a waste to take time to cook when I could microwave something in 3 minutes. We've gotten quite used to only having a microwave after 9 months. We have been using the slow cooker more though, which has been nice.

Passed Final Plumbing today!

Woo hoo, this is a big milestone. We have now passed two out of 3 or 4 final inspections. The inspector was really cool and not only did the plumbing inspection today but also did the mechanical that I had scheduled for tomorrow. We had some corrections on the mechanical, which is really bad since it forces me to deal with the abusive, incompetent plumber I used before. We had a phone call today and it already got nasty, and he is already trying to charge me for his mistakes.

One big thing he missed is that he hung the heater from the rafters in the attic. Now the inspector is concerned about the structural stability of the roof (if may bow inward). We have to have a structural engineer do calculations to show that the roof can support the weight and we may have to add additional rafters. Back when the heater was installed, it could have gone on the floor of the attic with no reinforcement. Or we could have put it on the ceiling and paid the engineering/framing fees. The thing is, we were not given a choice and now the plumber is saying that he has always done it this way and that it has never been a problem so he is not responsible (a line he often uses when trying to duck inspection corrections). We maintain that knowing the codes is his responsibility and had we known we may have opted to put the heater on the floor. The heater will be slightly noisier on the floor, which is why is hung from the rafters. But still, we are not pleased at having a surprise expense the plumber should have caught.

2 final inspections scheduled

I finally heard from the general contractor that the cooktop is ready for inspection. This means I was able to schedule two more of my final inspections and that I have zero or one to go (I'm still not sure if I need one last one - everyone gives me a different answer). I am still not sure when the general contractor is coming back - he still has to install the bathroom floor. I am very much looking forward to having a real floor and no holes in there!

I am really nervous about the two inspections. If we pass, it would be so great. If we don't, then it will be really bad. I may have to try to get people back in to make corrections to their work and they will not be pleased! The previous plumber I worked with is a royal jerk and vebally abusive. He balks at any correction and claims he shouldn't have to make them because the inspector is being unreasonable (not true for any corrections so far). Then he tries to charge me to correct his mistakes. I am not looking forward to dealing with him.

A good meeting

Well, I think the plumber may have finished the cooktop last night but I can't be sure because the general contractor who hired him never called me back today to confirm that it is done. I don't know if it is ready for inspection or not, and he has not returned 3 calls. Ugh.

But, onto bigger and better things.... I had a meeting late today with the new general contractor we are probably hiring to do the back door and deck. He had a structural engineer with him, and we discussed various option of where to put the door. Putting it where we want will be a REALLY big deal involving very complex engineering and lots of inspections. We have a window in a bedroom we can turn in to a door which will be a lot less work, less cost, less headache and less engineering but we don't like the door location as much. We will probably end up putting it where the window is because it is just not worth it to put it where we want it. But, it was a really good meeting and these two seem like really great people. They were actually trying to talk me into the cheaper, easier option (which means less money for both of them). The other thing I liked is that unlike many contractors I've dealt with, they actually tell me when what I say isn't feasable. Most of them have just said OK and then I find out later that something won't pass inspection.

Ugh, not fun

There should be a limit on the number of incompetent people you talk to in a day - something like the RDA, but with a limit of no more than 2 hours or something. I spent all morning trying to track down a part. Nobody could give me any more info than I could get on the web. Not one person could do anything but pull up a parts diagram (which I can access online) and ask me which part I wanted. Ugh. I ended up getting a good price and fast deliver from an online company. I did end up ordering more than I needed, but at least the problem is solved.

The installers realized last night that a small part was missing from the cooktop. I never unboxed it when it got delivered because it was in protective packaging. Unfortunately, you only have one month from delivery to inspect it so the manufacturer will not replace the part. Fortunately, it is an optional part, so it is not a big deal. The lesson is unbox delivered items right away. Although, I wouldn't have spotted this part until the the cooktop was installed anyway.

When the general contractor first came out, he and I worked out where the cooktop vent would be on the outer wall of the house. He and I went through it with the plumber and his helper when they arrived. We marked a big "X" on the wall where it should go. The plumber ran into problems, and talked to me about a few alternative locations, but all along the one thing I was insistent upon was that the fumes from the cooktop not vent behind my trashcans. I was concerned about fumes being trapped and getting greasy fumes on the trashcans. I wandered out after they had been working a while, and find the plumber about to drill a 6" hole in the side of the house behind the trash cans! Why????? I immediately stopped them, and then they tried to convince me to vent it there because they were close to done. NO! I finally just had to put the kibosh on it and said if necessary, I'll call your boss (the general contractor) because we already discussed it. They eventually gave in and did it right, but jeez, what is wrong with people? Do they think I made emphatic points and marks on the wall for my health? How many different meanings could "Not behind the trashcans" have?

caught vent going in wrong place at last minute - why did they change it? talked to gc, talked to gc with them, talked to them, and they still put it in the wrong place. looks done, waiting to hear if ready for insp

cooktop install, part 1 of ?

Today the general contractor I spoke to sent his plumber and a helper to install the gas cooktop. I think they were in way over their heads. I was concerned when they started asking me what size ducts to use, and I got really worried when they still were flummoxed and needing my help 4 hours later. I was exhausting to me. 4 hours of questions from someone who should know how to do this. I got really concerned when I said, with respect to duct size, that it has to pass inspection. The plumber said he didn't know local codes. WHAT?!?!? Then why are you here? It's your job to know codes.

Have you ever heard the math enigma that says if you start out 6 feet from a wall, and keep walking halfway to the wall you will never get there? That's the way I feel about many things in this remodel. We just keep getting half way. I told a few people that someone was coming today to begin install the cooktop today, and the response was, "Oh, you'll be able to cook tonight!" and my answer is no, probably not, I'd be surprised if it went smoothly and was done in one day. This isn't negativity on my part, it is simply reality. I spent many days early in the remodeling high with excitement that something would happen, then it wouldn't and then I'd be disappointed. Now I've learned to only get excited when it is done.

Lots of small progress

This week, we have made lots of small progress. We are both feeling more content and settled in the house, and we are looking forward to the future when more of this is behind us. We absolutely love the location we are in. Life and our surroundings continue to become less chaotic (although still very chaotic). It feels so good just to be making progress even if at the pace of cold molasses. It sure beats sitting and waiting! I have a new guy lined up to finish the work needed to close our old permit. This will be a huge relief since it has been open over 13 months. I had to get an extension because you normally only have a year. The work on this permit was only supposed to take 6 months. Ugh, contractors! Event he inspectors expressed surprise that the work is not done. I am working on a contract with a new general contractor to put in the deck and back door, and you never know until the work is done how things will go, I am hopeful that this permit will be less painful than the last.

Our prior general contractor who had to be let go because he stopped showing up finally renewed his business license, which is necessary for me to close my permit. It was supposed to be done last July1, and he let it lapse. I bugged and bugged him, and he refused to do it. The city has no recourse for me - either I pay or he pays it. In his separation agreement, I specifed that he had to renew it by yesterday, and he waited until the last possible minute to do it. One last opportunity to thumb his nose at me? I was honestly shocked he actually did it though. He emailed me last night and I went to the city this morning to check it out. I made them give me a printout just to be sure!

One of my projects this last week was to buy and install a closet system in an unused nook in the hall for a coat closet. We have no coat closet or hall closet, and our entryway is very awkward so things like backpacks, purses, wallets, cell phones, keys, etc ended up in all sorts of weird places and added to our chaos. I am really happy with the final result, and it feels good to have something done, especially something that cuts down on chaos. It is also good to have something completed - so many things are in various stages of completion.

Here is a shot of the hallway before:


And here is the completed coat rack. I generally like things like this covered and behind closed doors, but if I had to drywall this nook, I would have lost a lot of space and it wouldn't have been big enough for coats.


I also got prepped for the new guy coming in to finish the permit work. I had to pull all the parts and documentation to the cooktop together. Our prior contractor had a nasty habit of opening boxes, scattering the contents and leaving it that way. He tended to mix, meld and pile things around, and as a result I have a whole box full of unidentified house parts. It is really aggrivating to me, since I hate clutter and disorganization. His sloppiness added a lot of wasted time to the job. I also had to pull together everything needed to do the bathroom floor. I took the flooring out of boxes (to let it "acclimate" before installation), and got the underlayment out. I also had to make sure I had painting supplies because once the toilet is pulled up this will be my only chance to paint behind it.

Here is the cork floor for the bathroom ready to be installed. Now that I see it with my tile choice, I am really pleased.



Here is a close up to show the texture of the cork. It is really warm and soft underfoot.