Roof ventilation today

Today the roofers were here installing the ventilation for the fan. They are putting in 7 dormer vents and 40 feet of ridge vents, which run along the very peak of the roof and are almost invisible from the ground. I think it's a good combination because it avoids too much visual clutter on the roof and allows for hot air to float up and out at the peak of the roof.

We tried the fan out on low and it seems to work great. The roofers will finish tomorrow and then we can run it on high. Yay!

More wood chips

Today was a lot of running around and recovering from the last two days, which were very stressful. I ran to Home Depot to get 8 more bags of wood chips (40 total now).

It had to happen sooner or later....

I knew that we had to catch a break sooner or later. The odds of every job going bad for so long is very slim. That break came today. I had an electrician come out at 10 a.m. and hired him on the spot. His guys were free this afternoon and finished the fan and some work in the kitchen that needed to be done. I had already checked him out on Angie's List and checked his contractor license, Better Business Bureau rating and insurance, so I felt comfortable hiring him.

I originally wanted him to just move electrical stuff in the attic so the fan would fit, but it turns out his guys could do the whole installation. The prices was right, so I gave the go-ahead. It was very worth saving us the effort. The finished today and the fan works. We can run it yet though since the ventilation isn't in the attic yet.

I called the roofer who put the roof on in 2006 and asked him to give me an estimate on the ventilation. I decided to hire him as well. I called a few other roofers as well, but several did not return my call (What economic crisis?) and one acted like I was an idiot for making the request. I have the roofer scheduled for Tuesday.

We ended up saving a ton of money on the fan installation, so I am glad I stepped in and acted as general contractor.

I also got the fire pit fixed and found a great handyman. We bought a gazebo and table and chair set back in APRIL, and it is finally done. It took the store 3 weeks to get the items ready for pickup, and then it took a few weekend work sessions to get the gazebo and chairs assembled. When we started on the table, we found we were missing a few parts. The company is in Canada and it took 2 months to get a few washers sent. Then we traveled for 9 days, so by the time I got the table assembled, 5 months had passed. The table has a propane fire pit in the middle, and I was SO excited to get it done, but when I finally turned it on nothing happened. I found a guy that repairs gas grills on Angie's List, and he's a handyman and former general contractor as well. I decided to take the path of least resistance and pay to have it fixed. It would have been a triangular battle between me, the seller and the Canadian manufacturer and I just wasn't up for it. The handyman diagnosed the problem as a faulty design, and bent some parts of the ignition system to make it work better and poof, we have fire! After so many months of this hanging over my head, it feels great and I am looking forward to using it. In fact both this and the whole house fan have felt like a ton of bricks on me, so it is a huge relief to have them done.

I also got some ivy cut, but not much it seems.

Here is one of the other jobs the electricians did today. They installed under-cabinet and in-cabinet lighting that I had purchased. This is the in-cabinet lighting, which looks great with the rest of the lights out. They also installed under cabinet lighting under this entire bank of cabinets, which has added so much light to the kitchen and adds a lot of lighted workspace. That's my drills and handles sitting on the counter top. I've been just leaving it out between work sessions since we have the space and because the whole house is such a mess that it doesn't make things any worse.

More whole house fan frustration

I am amazed that anyone has a whole house fan. How do they get through the process? I assume not everyone is willing to crawl up into the 130 degree attic and do measurements. Part of the problem is that our attic is so tightly packed that there are very few places the fan can go. The attic is small to begin with (less than 6' at center, and sloping to zero at the sides), and all the heating ducts and a lot of the electrical conduits are up there. In some of the places where the fan could fit area-wise, there isn't adequate vertical clearance for the insulated doors to open.

I finally got the General Contractor's quote, and it was way too high. It was more than the entire heating system cost, and that included the heater itself, thermostat, all new ducts and removal of old heater. Part of the cost, however, is not really related to the fan. We should have ventilation in the roof and the fact that we don't is a building defect. If the building was up to code, we could just put the fan in and

C and I decided to hire out the various jobs and see if we can save some money. We can do the actual fan installation ourselves, but need a roofer to install the ventilation and an electrician to move some electrical components to make room for the fan. The fan installation itself would mean removing the trim from the trap door and enlarging the opening so the fan can fit into the attic. Then we would cut a hole in the ceiling drywall in the hallway. We would frame the opening of the hole by adding two pieces of wood between the joists to form a box. Then you apply weatherstripping to seal the hole, drop the fan in, bolt it down, connect the parts, install the grill on top and plug it in. A lot more work than it sounds like, particularly in the very tight, very hot space of the attic.

I also started installing the kitchen cabinet handles. The cabinets have been in about two years, and I am finally getting to this. It will be so nice not to have to use my foot or pry with my fingernails to open a cabinet.

These lower cabinets are used almost every day, so this is where I started. I'm saving the drawers for last because they are much more difficult.

This is a trick I learned watching home shows. Since the prior incompetent contractor installed a few of the handles already, I used his work to make a template of where the holes go. I put the box on the corner of the door, use a marker to mark where to drill and viola, no measuring.

So frustrating

Remodeling is not at all like they show on television. 90% of my time is spent dealing with people who are stupid, uninformed, dishonest, apathetic or some combination thereof. I've spent surprisingly little time getting dirty and working with my hands, which is what I would much prefer to do.

There is also way too many ignorant people giving me unsolicited advice.

I didn't count on how bad contractors really are. That out of dozens of jobs, only 2 have gone smoothly. Almost everyone we've worked with has been bad or mediocre.

The one decent contractor we have is a general contractor who has done several jobs for us. He's the one who has now kept us on hold for several weeks on the fan. After the first one,which was small and went well, I said that I really liked him and that I could see a long business relationship ahead. C predicted "You'll hate him too eventually." How right he was!

Almost 3 weeks for bid

Argh, I am so frustrated. This contractor has really painted me into a corner. People don't believe me when I tell them just how bad contractors can be and still be super busy in this area. How do you let a customer wait 3 weeks for a bid on a simple job? I could have had it done by now.

Since our time to return the fan is getting close, I have to decide if we are going to keep this fan. I can't do that until I see his bid. I don't have anyone else I trust, so anyone else is an unkown with a high likelihood of messing it up. I told the contractor I needed his bid by tonight and he said he would have it in the morning. What part of tonight don't you understand?

I'm not so much concerned about his price relative to other contractors, but his price period. At some price point, it will be too much and we wont do the fan or will do a different model. What other contractors would charge isn't very relevant since its not comparable - he's a known quantity and is reasonably good. Other guys are unknown and have a high likelihood of screw ups and headaches for me.

I called the only other guy we know, and was not happy about how the call went. Do all contractors have ADD issues? I said 5 times that we need ventilation in the roof because we have none. 5 times. On the 5th time he said "Oh you have no roof ventilation?" Why does it take 5 times? What is hard about "I have no roof ventilation" to understand?

People often give me a hard time because I watch the contractors like a hawk. They often say "Why not just hire someone and let them figure it out?" Why? Almost nobody knows what a whole house fan is or how it works. I have to tell them how to install it. The general contractor was arguing with me about the ventilation when I need it not only for the fan (the manufacturer is VERY clear about how much ventilation is required) and to bring out house up to building code (I don't know how we didn't get dinged for this with all the inspections we had). Today's guy was telling me that his insurance will not allow him to do roofing, which is fine so I said he needed to bring in a roofer. His reply was "Oh that's easy, all you need to do is x" meaning he wanted ME to bring in a roofer. I said, no I want you to do it for coordination of schedules and specifics (after all, he is a GENERAL contractor). Oh, I have a guy but he's busy. If you have trouble getting someone, what makes you think I can get someone and get him to work around your schedule? I do not want to get in the middle, especially when I don't speak contractorease. That's why I'm hiring a general contractor, I don't want to be the general contractor on this job. Even though I've been the contractor for most of the job, when it makes more sense to bid out the whole job, that's what I do.

still waiting

The general contractor was here two weeks ago tomorrow and we still have no bid. How long can a simple project bid take? We are kind of in a bind because we don't know any other competent contractors, and if I hire one randomly there is a good chance he will bungle the job. We are running out of time to return the fan, and the place isn't a retail outlet so it's not like I can return it and rebuy it later if we want.

I continue to cut the ivy back, and I expect to have it done by year end.

Other than the ivy, all of our major projects are stalled. On the firepit, I need C to look at it and see if I missed anything before I pay someone to fix it. He can only do stuff like that on weekends, so sometimes it takes us a while to get to things. The garage - I was going to put in slatwall, but one wall was going to be $500 just for the slatwall. Add to that the trim and any accessories, and the price will easily go way over that. So, I am back to trying to figure out what to do with the garage. We desperately need some storage. I'm tired of my air compressor, sawhorse and extra kitchen shelves being in the den. We still haven't even fully unpacked because we haven't created the space in which to put thigs.

I've been trying to get the shower enclosure done so I can have a shower, but I need C to snap some chalk lines with me and the weekends are always so packed we haven't gotten to it.

Frustrating

What a frustrating time. The contractor doesn't know what he's doing on the whole house fan. What is the point of hiring a general contractor if you end up managing the project anyway? I've been waiting 11 days for his bid.

After a 5 month saga, the fire pit is finally assembled and doesn't work. The worst part is that it is probably outside the warranty period, so that might be a hassle. I think I am going to just hire someone to fix it. Sometimes the path of least resistance is the way to go.

People often ask when we'll be done, and I simply don't know but it's not anytime soon. No sooner do I update my schedule and I'm behind again. Remodeling is not fun like they show on TV - it's frustrating and slow, and you spend a lot of time managing other people's incompetence. I actually enjoy the project where I use my hands and do something, but many of the projects involve lots of research, shopping and information gathering.

lots going on

We trimmed the palm trees out front last weekend, and we are getting closer to deciding to get rid of them. They are just too much work, and neither of us loves them. Also, they provide no shade, and the house gets hit with afternoon sun from midday on, so it gets really hot. After we trimmed the trees, there was no room left in the yard waste bin, and won't be for a few weeks, so no cutting back the ivy. Not only does it delay my ivy cutting, but the ivy continues to grow while all the time. The worst part is that no sooner had we cut and a few new branches popped out, one of which hit wires. The trees also drop large, heavy leaves which could hit someone walking by. The trees have to go! Several people have told us we can sell them though, which makes me glad not only for the money but also for not having to kill a mature tree.

I drove about an hour to pick up the whole house fan we decided on yesterday. I'm meeting the contractor tomorrow - I hope it works out!

I also started working on the shower again. Even though we got advice from two bathroom places and the incompetent general contractor, we ended up with the wrong kind of tub. It's a drop in tub, so there is no lip for the water to run back into the tub. Thus, I have to make an all-around enclosure like you would with a clawfoot tub. I purchased hospital trac (like you see for hospital bed curtains) and need to install it in the ceiling. It's quite tricky, and comes with no instructions so I have to reinvent the wheel.