2007 03 31

Today I removed the living room pony wall and sheeted underneath it so the electricians can wire up. When he is done in the next week or so I will come back and finish up the rest of the kitchen re-flooring.

Derek, Brandon and another gut started on the soffit today. The did the medicine cabinet area, extended the laundry center, built the tub area, the bedroom pony wall and the shower area. the moved living room wall area was also sheeted/sheered. Also the new window in Trins room was framed and the east wall in her room was furred out. Next week the windows should be in and the next inspection should be done. That means in the next two weeks or so the drywall should be done. We got the canned lights and the french doors. The bamboo flooring is in and we will pick it up Monday.

The old furnace was removed and the hole was sheeted yesterday. The pony wall in the living room is much better now that I have it sheered. Just gotta figure out what to do with the bedroom pony wall to strengthen it. I got a new 4 port video card and will have additional cameras set up soon too. We will pick out siding tomorrow and it looks like based upon Derek told me, composite is the way to go.

2007 03 30

I faxed the cabinetry stuff to Don and sent a couple emails to Mike about various things. Lumber Liquidators called and stated the wood is in. We will pick it up Monday. Megan is off today, stopped by the house and several trucks were there so we shall see what they did later.

This weekend we have these for "to do's":

for sure
move the laundry center soffit line out 3/4"
make a decision on siding
make a decision on canned lighting (have Don confirm next week and then purchase?)pick up french doorssheet area around pony wall and sheet pony wallget second camera going

if we have time... as the above will take most of Saturday plus possibly some of Sunday
mow lawn and weed whackclean truck

2007 03 29

The plumbing in the house was almost completed today. It looks like they should have it completed by tomorrow. The roof nail inspection was done on Monday as that is who Megan saw on the roof with Mike.

Today Mike sprayed for the J bolts that need to be added to the bottom plates. He also maked various things like the back of the house around where the window moved; to be sheeted and the laundry center to be moved out. I just snt him an email about the soffit going to need that same bump too. The attic access is going to go in between the two canned lights in the walk in closet. Mike said I can use whatever wood I want to shore up the pony wall. Maybe I should ask him if I can use some more of the wood to sheet the bedroom pony wall as I am worried about it wobbleing after time.

We met with Don the electrican today. He instructed us to get the pony wall completed so he can run the electrical through it. We are also to pick up 14 low volt ICT canned lights (HALO - 50 watt MR16). He told me to get "silve ones and not the white ones" as I need to get ones that can have insulation go right over them.

I forgot to ask Don about doing a phone line in the master bedroom. I will include that with the FAX I send him tomorrow as he wants the cabinetry plans and the bedroom bed placement.

Bedroom Electrical
two lights over our bed on both sides with switches on both sides that operate one or both
two lights over the vanity sinks
one light over the shower
one light over the tub
two GFCI outlets in between the two sinks
two lights in the walk in closet
two or lights in line with the four bedroom windows
switches will go east of the tub on the southern tub wall
fan in the middle of the room operated by its own switch
there is going to be cable run to the south bedroom wall up about eye level with an outlet, below it will be a run it is connected to sop a flat panel will have no cables going to it - it will also have a feed that runs to the walk in closet so we can later add a flat panel near the jacuzzi tub
outlets on all walls off the floor per code with one or two on the bedroom pony wall

Living Room Electrical
Three way outlets at the bedroom door, north stairs and southern wall door which will operate the rooms canned lights
three lights in line with the east wall windows
two lights where the DVD rack or fish tank will be going
no lights above the entertainment center
two lights above the desk
a fan in the middle of the room
outlets all around the room with a dedicated 20 amp two 4 gang outlets for the computer area
one four gang outlet for the entertainment center

Kitchen
three way switches at the sourthern wall doorway, the north stairs and the west entrance
one light in the laundry center enslosure
two hanging lights above the island
two or three by the oven wall
two by the sink wall
two or three by refridgerator wall
outlets for the fridge, microwave, hood, stove, island fridge, garbage disposal, and dishwasher
GFCI outlets all around per code
outlets on the pony wall
two outlets in the island
I'll also add to the FAX to Don that we want a cable run to the southern wall of kitchen, in the corner

Old Living Room
The double switch outlet that now resides in the new laundry room center is going to be moved to the old living room

Trinity's Room
Two outlets on her east wall as they touched it, or the addition of the double outlet that also used to service the office area

2007 03 28

No work was done today for the tird day in a row, however the dumpster people came by to pick it up but it was blocked by the car we are borrowing from Kasey. The windows were delivered today too.

2007 03 27

It rained a bit today so no one showed up to the house. It does not look like rain tomorrow so they should be there.

2007 03 26

No work was done today although Mike was at the house with the HVAC guy up on the roof and I would imagine up in the attic. It is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow morning so nothing may get done tomorrow also.

Mike responded that it should be okay about my email about the pony walls and the sheetin of the kitchen floor. He said its cool to do this weekend but I'd like to talk to him about it first in person this Thursday and I'd like to first have the plumbing and electrical moved out of the way.

2007 02 24

We want the pony wall stopped ~1.5' short allowing a wider entrance to the bathroom. We want the living room pony wall strengthened by adding a sheet of plywood to the east side and l brackets on the west side. I just sent an email to Mike about the two pony walls.

Today the old dinning room ceiling was removed and the kitchen window was removed.

2007 03 23

The roof sheeting has been completed. Mike and I completed the soffit layout yesterday and the west wall of the living room will be used as the soffit start. We will have a 3.5" soffit all the way around the kitchen cabinets and wall areas. The kitchen opening is going to be closed up per the plans as the west entrance to the kitchen is going to be 4', not the 8' or so that it currently is. Derek will be extending the laundry center by 3" to make it deeper and also have it be 40" outside to outside dimensions. The inspector will need to know the 4x4 holding the west end of the beam is supported well, so Mike will need to get images to him. I'll also check it out myself.

The cavity under the kitchen where the office used to be is going to be filled with insulation. The new bathroom medicine cabinets are going to be set centered on our sinks and at a normal height... centered more or less on my face. The kitchen window was measured and ordered incorrectly and Mike stated we would not be paying for it. We will layout electrical next week is sparky is there.

The plaster in the kitchen is going to be removed to make the matching go easier. The east wall in Trins room is going to be furred out ~1" as the ceiling drop in our new bathroom protrudes into her ceiling. This way we do not have to do crown in there or double the drywall. The pony wall in between the living room and kitchen is going to now be 36" instead 42.

Derek had a good idea... to bolt the desks to the pony wall, which will help to stabilize it; otherwise it will get loose over the years. Trinity's second window is going to be set at the same header height, protruding down ~5" lower than the old one in her room, which I will be doing later. It is going to be set with the same reveal as the old window which is ~14" from the wall.

2007 03 22

The beam was put in yesterday and that is about it. I need to confirm if the 4x4 post supporting the west end of the beam has a footing underneath if, if not it will need one. Derek and I talked about the medicine cabinets. He asked that I give the specs to Mike which I did, again. I'll also hand them to Derek today. Derek and I also discussed the laundry center walls. Instead of a 36" opening, it will be 38" on the exterior measurement.

Today we are supposed to lay out (snap the lines) the soffit/coffered ceiling with Mike and if time permits, walk the electrical.

2007 03 20

The three framers were working on the flashing, overhang, trusses, and sheeting today. Th e beam is in the driveway and they will be tieing it into the tripple truss that seperates the new living room from the new kitchen... good, no post.

They said they should be done sheeting in the next day or two, do the flooring where the office was and then onto the new bathroom area.

Its gonna rain tonight so last night and today they tarped off the roof.

2007 03 19

They are back working on the house today, looks like more work on the roof and maybe onto the old office floor. Then I guess they will need to rip into the old roof. Hopefully soon Jackson/James will come back with a solution to get rid of the lame assed answer of a post to remidy the span issue.

2007 03 17

James the architect is a real idiot. He comes over to layout where the beam is to go to hold the old kitchen/dinning room ceiling and comes up with the brillant idea of putting a post going from the pony wall to the ceiling. What a moron.

I called Mike and he was aware and said he will go back to Jackson and possibly the architect, as I told him a post was unacceptable.

Jackosn had previously confirmed last week that we had $1100 allocated in our remodel budget for a beam. the whole point of a beam is to hold weight over a span, not half ass it with a post. Come on now, this is not a tree fort...

2007 03 16

Another day, more shit to deal with...

The shit for brains architect did not investigate the top plate height and due to the roof pitch and the fact that he decided to go with trusses instead of a conventional roof. When we got to the house for our Thursday meeting yesterday (2007 03 15), we saw that they were removing all the existing top plate and having to cut down 3 inches (thickness of two 2x4s) to drop the ceiling. This is being done so the trusses will fit.

Instead of making them waste the trusses I decided to settle on either raising the roof the couple inches or dropping the ceiling a couple inches. The end decision is to drop the addition ceiling a couple inches and going into the kitchen a little bit, then it will bump back up a couple inches to the existing ceiling height. The soffit will follow the cabintry lines so next week or the one there after, Mike and I will snap lines to get the soffit area built.

2007 03 14

The trusses are going up today, the old doorway to the hall has been framed, the office area has been framed, more walls are coming down tomorrow and the beam should be going up tomorrow to I guess.

2007 03 12

They finished the walls on Friday (2007 03 09) and started on the outside sheeting. Saturday they finished the sheeting except for where we want the window moved to butt up against the other living room window. I ahev asked Jackson for a price on a second window for Trins room. The french doors we have picked at Lowes as it comes with locks and the three lock mechanism. Will make decision today after second trip to Dixiline.

They are ripping the roof off today to prepare for the trusses, and they are removeing interior walls.

2007 03 09

James the architect finally calls me back after I send an email to his work. He was all upset that I was trying to get him in trouble. I just want the damn CAD files. He stated he will put them on a CD and get them to Jackson. What a dumbass. All he had to do is do what he said he was gonna do.

Mike called me and said part of the celing in Trins room is gonna have to come down as they need to tie into a beam that is a couple feet into the ceiling from the East wall. Looks like Megan is gonna get her wish about re-doing Trins room.

2007 03 09

They are starting framing today as they poured the slab yesterday, 6 guys are there and Mike is there also. He called and asked for measurements for the vanity and I provided them, I also sent them again to his email address. Once again, once they are in go mode... they are really going.

2007 03 08

Mike stated today that the driveway gravel mess will be cleaned up at the end of the job and new mulch will be laid down. I just sent him an e-mail about the driveway as there is now a larger section that is tore up.

2007 03 08

The slab was poured today and the studs were put in, two more will be added as the spread is supposed to be 36" and there were two large gaps, on on bathroom west wall area and one in the bedroom north east wall area. The west bathrron stem wall is out of plumb and will be ground so the wall does not need to be bumped out. We met with mike and gave him a check for $37,797 something...

He says they should have wood delivered tomorrow and should start framing. We went over the closet extension, the pony walls for the shower to be 42", the other pony walls to be 36". The north wall of the closet may move a couple inches south to accomodate the shower being made square. The pony wall seperating the bedroom may move a couple inches east for toilet codes. The heater unit will be placed out of the way of bringing stuff into the attic.

2007 03 06

Tuesday the gravel was put down and the rebar was laid. Suppports were placed on the east perimeter wall at the north, middle and southern sides. The inspector signed the foundation paperwork. I called Mike and told him about the signature and he stated the pad may be poured tomorrow or Thursday (March 8th).

The guys that laid the gravel made a mess in the front yard on top of the area I park my truck. There is now what looks like, several hundred pounds of gravel on top of the bark I paid for just a couple months before the remodel began.

2007 03 05

Took pictures on Sunday as Friday more work was done. Unfortunatly the North set of steps was not set correctly. Mike is going to look at them today as they need to be lenghthened almost two feet to butt up against the proposed North living room wall.

Rebar has been laid in the stem walls and drilled/epoxied into the existing footings. Looks like gravel can be done and then the rebar. If they every get two consecutive things done correctly we will finally pour sometime soon.

2007 03 01

The "dirt guys" arrived after noon or so and from 1:00 to 4:00 or so they removed the forms, went down deeper on the footings and it looks like they took the slab area down some, but we will confirm that tommorow with photos.

2007 03 01

Mike said Tuesday the 28th they should start today the 1st of March and as of 12:04 PM, no one has shown up. I guess we shall see if anyone shows up tomorrow. No response from James the architect regarding getting the CAD files on CD, will call him again in a bit.